Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Truly Care for the Emperor
Ming Hao shook his head solemnly . “I have sent our people to look for his whereabouts, but nothing has been found . ”
“Humph! It seems that this obstinate and unruly fellow, who has been trapped in Fengyang for so many years, is finally going to take action?”
After that, he looked up and said to Ming Hao, “Remember to control the whole situation well . The Ninth is smart . Since he could disappear right under our eyes, he must have prepared well for everything . ”
“Lord Seventh, please don’t worry, the overall situation is under our control and there will be no serious disturbances . ”
“Um! Keep looking for the Ninth . Maybe he’s already in the capital . ”
“Yes!”
At the same time, Bai Qingqing, who came to the Palace of Harmony, put all her thoughts on Zhao Rui, the little emperor .
For this lost and found son, she really had an unspeakable bitter feeling in her heart .
She wanted to get her son’s approval as a mother as soon as possible, but she was afraid that any impulsive behavior would frighten her son .
For the world, Su Ruoqing was already a dead person . No one would believe in the reincarnation of soul . She could not tell the little emperor that she was his biological mother .
“Bai Jiejie (a respected way to address young girls by younger peers) . . . ”
The soft and endearing voice pulled her back to reality from her confused consciousness by the little emperor immediately .
“They all said that you cured father's eye disease, but in my opinion, Bai Jiejie is so young and maybe less than twenty years old, but amazingly master such great medical skills . May I ask how old Bai Jiejie started to learn medical skills and who your master is?”
Even though the little emperor was only six years old, he was somewhat sophisticated because that after all he was in a different position from others and had the royal blood with the education of the Grand Mentor of the Emperor .
Bai Qingqing could be impatient with all the people in the world, but with her son being the only exception .
She gave the little emperor a gentle and harmless smile and answered softly, “My master’s name is Mo Shoude . When I was twelve years old, he formally taught me the art of healing . So far, I have learned for six years . ”
“Bai Jiejie is really talented . After only six years of study, you are better than those Imperial Physicians who have been practicing it for decades in the Imperial Palace . ”
Bai Qingqing laughed and said, “Your Majesty is more capable and has already ascended the throne and ruled the Kingdom being only six years old . ”
This topic made the little emperor’s bright face instantly stained with sadness .
“But I don’t like to be an emperor . ”
Briefly panicked, Bai Qingqing asked: “Why?”
“Because it’s not fun to be an emperor . Every day there are endless lessons, endless memorials, and all my activities are monitored and controlled . If you do something wrong, you will be blamed by a large group of people . The most annoying thing for me is that since I came to the throne, my father has moved out of the palace and we can only meet for few times throughout the year . ”
After that, the little emperor lowered his head in grievance and pouted his pink lips like a pitiful child who could not be affirmed by his parents, whispering his discontent from his heart .
Nobody knew whether it was that Bai Qingqing was too kind, or that the little emperor could feel the deep maternal love from her .
He could never say the things he just said to Bai Qingqing to anyone else in any situation .
But he could not help trusting and depending on this Bai Jiejie who he only met a few times . Invisibly, the idea that accumulated in the bottom of his heart for a long time got expressed naturally .
He had only father in his memory but no mother growing up .
The Grand Eunuch Li once told him that his mother died soon after he was born .
Although he was only a six-year-old child, living in the palace like a big dyeing vat, he somehow heard some rumors about his mother from others .
The father had suspected that his mother was unfaithful to him and thought that he was the illegitimate son of his mother and the ninth uncle .
In order to show her loyalty to the father, she ended her life in a fury . After the father lost her, he was so sad that he cried so much that he lost his eyesight .
Of course, he did not dare to confront the father to verify these secrets, so over the years, he could only bury his pine for mother in his heart . Only when he occasionally saw those minister’s children who were held in their mothers’ arms, did he secretly miss his mother who he had never seen .
When Bai Qingqing heard this, her heart suddenly clutched .
Of course, she knew that to be an emperor was never easy, let alone that her son was only six years old this year .
In an ordinary family, a six-year-old child was just in his age of being playful and enjoying the parents’ care .
But her son Rui was tied high up at the dragon chair every day, listening to the ministers in the palace talking about some national events that he might not understand at all, and was also restrained by so many regulations .
It was too cruel for a six-year-old .
“It's all your father’s fault . It’s clearly his responsibility, but he left his responsibility to others . The most selfish person in the world is him . ”
Bai Qingqing’s words were full of resentment towards Zhao Yuchen, not only out of her son’s unfair treatment, but also for all the grievances she suffered in those years .
“Don’t blame father . In fact, it is not easy for him . That year, he accidentally hurt his eyes because of his mother . Others simply could not bear the pain for him . ”
The little emperor hastily defended his father for fear that the Bai Jiejie, whom he liked very much, would have prejudices on his father .
“Weren't you angry with your father for treating you like that?”
The little emperor shook his head . “Of course not . Although the father was very strict, he truly cared for me . He is always unwilling to go back to the palace, so I miss him very much . ”
“So you were at wit’s end so you pretend to be ill to lure your father back to the palace in such an old-fashioned way?”
“En . ”
At that moment, Bai Qingqing was touched by the puppy-eyed little emperor and his soft and glutinous tone of voice, and her motherhood accumulated in the bottom of her heart for many years was also flooding at once .
Although she blamed Zhao Yuchen, she could ask herself in turn, had she ever fulfilled her duty as a mother' to her son in the past six years?
Hiding in Lin'an, a thousand miles away from the capital, she closed her heart like an ostrich who dared not face the reality .
But as long as she kept an eye on who the emperor was today, she would not let her baby son suffer alone in the huge palace .
If Zhao Yuchen was not a good father, then she was definitely not a good mother .
Thinking of this, Bai Qingqing’s heart was full of guilt . She wished she could impose all the maternal love that had been accumulated for six years on the little emperor overnight .
It was late in the night and it was time for the little emperor to go to bed .
Bai Qingqing boiled medicine for the little emperor herself, and carefully attended the little emperor to wash up and get changed . She accompanied the little emperor in bed and tucked him like the way all the mothers in the world took care of their sons .
“Bai Jiejie…”
Before going to bed, the little emperor called her vaguely and lightly, “Bai Jiejie, I don't know why, suddenly I think you are like my mother . If only . . . I wish you were my mother . . . ”
At that moment, Bai Qingqing instantly welled up .
Lying in bed, after saying this, the little emperor went to sleep in a daze .
Bai Qingqing held the soft and tender hands of the little emperor tightly across the quilt . Her son had just said to her personally that he wished … she were his mother .
“My son, Rui, do you know that I am your mother? Although it was a different body, the soul inside me was your maternal mother”, Bai Qingqing thought to herself .
Over the past six years, your mother had been dreaming the same thing over and over again . She had dreamed that her son, Rui, had not died and had grown up .
Mom really thought that such a picture would only appear in a dream, and did not expect God to pity her . She never thought she could see her son again in her lifetime .
At this time, Bai Qingqing’s eyes had been full of tears until a big hand gently patted her shoulder . She was just like a frightened deer, regained consciousness in a sudden .
“Qingqing, are you okay?”
The voice was light and soft, mixed with heartwarming consideration and ambiguity .
Only then did Bai Qingqing see clearly that it was Zhao Yuchen that appeared behind her in silence .
She hastily wiped tear drops on her face with her sleeves, and explained superfluously, “I . . . I just felt that the emperor had a mother but had no father to accompany him . It was so pitiful that I couldn’t control myself and cried out . ”
Of course, Zhao Yuchen knew why she cried, but she did not want to tell the truth, so he would not point it out first .