The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 761 - 761 353 Heartwarming (Second Update)

Chapter 761: 353 Heartwarming (Second Update) Chapter 761: 353 Heartwarming (Second Update) If he didn’t leave now, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to cut off Gu Chao’s head!

Although, he deserved it!

“Your Majesty —— the Consort Dowager ——”

Nurse Cai uttered a miserable shriek.

The Emperor swiftly turned around, only to see Consort Dowager Jing with a pallid face, trembling like a withering autumn leaf about to fall.

With tearful eyes, she took one last look at the Emperor before falling unconscious.

The Emperor rushed forward to catch her, clutching her emaciated body and cried out desperately: “Mother Consort! Mother Consort! Summon the royal physician ——”

Only in the late night did Consort Dowager Jing regain consciousness.

The Emperor was reviewing memorials in his study, with the old Marquis kneeling in front of him.

Without deciding on the appropriate punishment yet, leaving him to kneel in the courtyard was too humiliating, it would discredit the royal family!

A junior eunuch arrived in front of the study. Eunuch Wei walked over, listened to his reporting, nodded, and returned to the study, whispering, “Your Majesty, Consort Dowager Jing has awakened.”

But the Emperor, unlike usual, didn’t have the urge to visit her. Perhaps her abandonment had wounded his heart.

He never imagined that in her heart, he was less important than an outsider, a rogue man.

The Emperor gave the old Marquis a cold glare, summoning an enormous amount of strength to resist issuing a decree ordering the execution of his entire family.

Eunuch Wei sighed, “Your Majesty, don’t you want to go see her? The royal physician said Consort Dowager Jing’s condition isn’t good, she even coughed up blood a moment ago.”

Hearing about Consort Dowager Jing coughing up blood made the Emperor’s heart squeeze.

After all, it was the bond of mother and son that had formed over so many years, it couldn’t just be severed.

He stood up and went to Consort Dowager Jing’s sleeping palace.

Consort Dowager Jing had just taken her medicine, her complexion was even more pale compared to a few days ago.

The Emperor suddenly remembered that ever since she returned to the palace, she had either been sick or injured. She had not had a single peaceful day, was her desire to escape because she was too tired, too miserable, too scared?

“All of you, leave.” Consort Dowager Jing instructed Nurse Cai and the rest.

“Yes.” Nurse Cai left with the palace maids.

The Emperor stood not too far and yet not too close from the bedchamber, not going over immediately.

Consort Dowager Jing propped up her body with her elbow and lightly coughed twice. Her frailty wasn’t feigned. The wounds she got from being covered with a sack hadn’t healed yet, and just now she forcefully ruptured two of her veins, causing her to cough up blood.

She asked, “Your Majesty, is there anything you want to ask me?”

The Emperor tightened his fist.

Consort Dowager Jing gave a bitter smile, “Never mind, I’ll say it myself. Just now, did Your Majesty think I would abandon you and leave? Cough cough…”

Her chest hurt terribly, and she couldn’t help but cough again. “If I were to tell you that I had no such intention, and have never even thought of leaving you, would you believe me, Your Majesty?”

The Emperor didn’t say anything.

“Yes, I did not let the Dragon Shadow Guard stop the old Marquis. He did, after all, save my life once. I couldn’t just let the Dragon Shadow Guard kill him without knowing what he was planning to do.”

“Then, he got anxious, thinking that I was suffering in the palace, so he wanted to take me away. I didn’t react in time. I was about to refuse when you arrived, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor’s fist tightened further. His gaze was icy cold, “So… did Mother Consort ever have any emotional attachment to him?”

“No.” Consort Dowager Jing said.

“Is Mother Consort sure?” the Emperor asked.

Consort Dowager Jing unflinchingly met his gaze and firmly replied, “Yes, I am very sure about my feelings. There has only ever been the former Emperor in my heart, no room for any other man. I have always considered him as my life savior, harboring no romantic feelings for him. He just misinterpreted it.”

As she finished, she suddenly sensed something. She sharply turned her gaze to the doorway and saw the old Marquis there, standing in complete shock and hurt.

She froze on the spot.

“Don’t be so impulsive again, it will bring our family down. I was born into royalty, destined to serve royalty even in death. I will never escape it in this lifetime. I don’t want you to risk your family’s extermination, they are innocent!”

“Think about Changqing, think about Chengfeng and Chenglin, and that child who has had a heart condition from a young age. Are you willing to let them die with us for your selfish pursuits? I am not afraid of death, but I don’t want to harm them!”

“From now on, pretend as if you’ve never seen me. Only confess to the Emperor that it was a momentary impulse, not romantic feelings.”

“The debt I owe you… I will repay in the next… next life.”

Originally, she could have said so many, so many things to calm him down without offending anyone.

But now, it’s too late.