The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 841 - 841 387 The Majesty of an Emperor (One More )

Chapter 841: 387 The Majesty of an Emperor (One More Chapter) Chapter 841: 387 The Majesty of an Emperor (One More Chapter) By this time, even if the Empress Dowager Jing suddenly became a master of the martial arts, the Emperor would not have been surprised in the least.

The death of a person’s heart is but a momentary affair.

Or perhaps, his heart had been slowly withering for a long time, yet he refused to believe it, always waiting for so-called evidence, always hoping they could return to how things once were.

As it turned out, the past was nothing more than an illusory bubble.

With the Dragon Shadow Guard present, no matter how formidable the expert, they could not break through.

Behind him came Empress Dowager Jing’s cries and roars, tinged with a hint of hoarseness and exhaustion, along with her low sobs and loud weeping.

The Emperor did not look back even once.

It seemed that the heavens were not in tune with his mood at that moment; they did not bring the abrupt storm he might have expected, and the night was unsettlingly still.

He returned to Huaqing Palace.

The night had deepened; apart from the night-duty eunuchs, the rest of the Palace maids had gone to their residences to rest.

Eunuch Wei walked ahead of the Emperor with a lantern in his hand.

Perhaps sensing the Emperor’s poor mood, he had dared not speak along the way, but concerning whether the Emperor wished to sleep, he still mustered the courage to ask, “Shall your servant prepare the bathwater?”

The Emperor said numbly, “I’ll go to the Study Room to look over some documents for a while.”

He could not sleep.

“Yes.” Eunuch Wei did not insist further; after escorting the Emperor into the Study Room, he stepped out and instructed the junior eunuch to visit the Imperial Kitchen and have them prepare some clear porridge and snacks.

The Emperor had been spending a great deal of time in the Study Room lately.

Eunuch Wei, observing the Emperor’s face that looked as if it had been struck by lightning seventeen or eighteen times, leaving it a mess, did not even dare to step forward to offer tea.

Sighing, Eunuch Wei stood guard at the door, thinking to himself what a mess it had been. How had Empress Dowager Jing ended up completely torn apart within a single day?

He always had a feeling that something was off, but he could not put his finger on it.

The Emperor was truly pitiable.

The Emperor was truly suffering.

The Emperor…

What sort of Emperor indeed… A eunuch like himself pitying the Emperor, had he become ridiculously idle?

Eunuch Wei continued to wield his feather duster, quietly standing guard outside the door.

The Emperor was immersed in the tremendous shock brought by a series of truths, whether it was the true nature of Empress Dowager Jing, the imperial edict of the deceased Emperor, or the grievances of the Dowager Empress, his mood remained unsettled for a long time.

What probably grieved him the most was the shattering of the mother-son affinity he had with Empress Dowager Jing, but somehow, it did not hurt as much as he had imagined.

He felt more anger at being fooled, shame at being manipulated.

Compared to the disillusionment of this mother in his eyes, it was the imperial edict of the deceased Emperor that he found harder to let go.

He did not understand under what state of mind the deceased Emperor had left an imperial edict that decreed both the Virtuous Empress and Empress Dowager Jing to be buried with the Emperor; he looked over the content of the edict very carefully.

Though both were to be buried with him, only the Virtuous Empress would lie in the same casket with the Emperor and be buried in the imperial tomb, truly sharing life and death together.

Empress Dowager Jing would be buried in the concubine’s tomb.

As Empress Dowager Jing, her heart must have been filled with more unwillingness, unwilling even in death to be the one left on the outside, like an eternally superfluous third party.

He could guess a bit of Empress Dowager Jing’s jealousy and unwillingness.

The intentions of the deceased Emperor were, however, beyond his understanding.

Could it be that the deceased Emperor had long noticed something amiss with Empress Dowager Jing, and anticipated that she would incite discord between him and the Dowager Empress, and, for the stability of the court, decided to be resolute and bring both women to the grave?

Or perhaps, did the deceased Emperor truly wish for the Virtuous Empress to accompany him to the afterlife, foregoing a bowl of Spicy Soup on the bridge, to be husband and wife again in the next life?

The Emperor pinched the bridge of his aching nose.

He suddenly realized he did not understand the deceased Emperor at all.

This imperial edict must not be kept; rather than letting worries breed overnight, he threw it directly into the brazier and burned it.

As the flames danced, the face of the Dowager Empress, not as it was now, weathered by time, but of her youth when she surpassed all in the Imperial Harem, flashed inexplicably through his mind.

The legitimate daughter of the Zhuang family, a smile that captivated the city, a second smile that captivated the nation—the collective beauty of three thousand ladies in the harem couldn’t compare to a fraction of her charm.

He still remembered the first time he went to her presence, merely looking at her caused him to blush.

After returning, he told Empress Dowager Jing, “Mother is truly beautiful!”

Was it that time… that the seeds of jealousy had been sown in Empress Dowager Jing’s heart?

The Emperor closed his eyes in self-reproach.

“Why did you harm Empress Dowager Jing? Why didn’t you save Father? What exactly are you planning?”

“For the sake of holding all power to yourself, you didn’t spare even those closest to you, you are a poisonous woman!”

“The Liu family plotted against you, and it was Empress Dowager Jing who took a stabbing for you, she almost lost her life!”