Chapter 120 I Want to Hear Your True Thoughts
The next night, Mo Ziyuan accompanied the prince to the emperor's bedroom.

"I will be waiting outside. Your Highness, please be careful."

"Don't worry, Ziyuan. I understand." The prince patted his shoulder and stepped onto the steps of Luquan Palace.

In the empty bedroom, an elderly man lay on the bed. He was very thin, and the outline of his body was almost invisible under the bright yellow quilt. His gray hair was spread messily on the pillow. If it were not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, no one would have thought he was a living person.

The prince walked over slowly and stood beside the bed, looking at the most powerful man in the world. A hint of sarcasm flashed in his dark eyes, and then disappeared.

Perhaps feeling that he was being watched, the emperor coughed twice and opened his cloudy eyes.

"Father!" The prince knelt respectfully beside the bed and looked at him with admiration.

"Ahem, yes, it's the prince!" The emperor stared at him for a while before recognizing him.

"Yes, your son. What does your Majesty want?" Seeing the emperor extending his hand towards him, the prince hesitated slightly and then gently grasped the skinny hand and asked.

"Help me up! I'm tired of lying like this all day long!"

The prince stood up and gently put his arm around the emperor's shoulders. With a little effort, he easily helped him up and sat him down on the bed.

The emperor looked at his young and strong son with complicated eyes. After a long time, he withdrew his gaze and looked at his hands on the quilt.

They were a pair of old, bloodless, bony hands, completely different from the steady, strong, flesh-and-blood hands that had just helped him up.

Once upon a time, I also had a pair of hands like this, and I once held the owner of these hands in my arms, loving and caring for them.

"Father?" The Crown Prince's voice interrupted the Emperor's memories of his youth. He looked over unhappily, "What's the matter?"

Sensing the emperor's displeasure, the prince pursed his lips and said, "Your medicine is ready. Eunuch An asked if you would like to take it now."

"Oh, bring in the medicine," the emperor said in a daze for a moment, then whispered, "Then bring it in!"

"Yes, I'll let him in right away." The prince stood up, took two steps back, then turned around and walked to the door, opened it and let Eunuch An in.

"Your Majesty, let me serve you the medicine!" Eunuch An is an old man who has served the emperor. He has been with him since he was in the Qiandi Palace. Now, seeing the emperor who has difficulty even sitting without anyone's support, he couldn't help but redden his eyes.

"Give it to me to drink myself! You old man love to torture me with bitter medicine spoon by spoon. This time, no matter what you say, I will not give you this opportunity." The emperor said with squinted eyes and looked at the medicine bowl with a spoon in it.

"Okay, okay, I won't torture Your Majesty. You can drink it yourself." Eunuch An put the tray on the small table next to him, wiped his face, and then handed the medicine bowl to the emperor.

The emperor stretched out his hand, but found that he was shaking unconsciously. An ordinary bowl seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. His hand shook even more when he held it in his hand. The dark medicine juice spilled out and stained the bright yellow bedding that represented the supreme status.

"Father, let me help you!" The prince did not take the medicine bowl from his hands, but held the emperor's bowl firmly with his own hands and brought it steadily to his lips.

The emperor was silent. He drank the bowl of medicine in one gulp without saying a word. Although his sense of taste had almost deteriorated, he could still feel the bitter taste spreading in his mouth.

At this time, a candied fruit was stuffed into his mouth. The sweet taste dissipated the smell of medicine. The emperor couldn't help but smacked his lips hard, and the smell of medicine became lighter.

"Why are you giving me this?" the Emperor suddenly asked, spitting the core into the Crown Prince's open palm. "When I was little, your father gave me candied fruit after taking medicine, and it didn't taste bitter after I ate it," the Crown Prince replied with downcast eyes.

After hearing what he said, the emperor also remembered the situation at that time. The empress was still alive at that time. The sick prince was not as well-behaved and sensible as usual. He refused to take the medicine. It was the emperor who held him in his arms and coaxed him to drink the medicine and eat a candied fruit, so he didn't feel the bitterness anymore.

Although the situation was a bit chaotic, it was warm and full of tenderness.

The emperor looked around. At the empty bedroom, his son with dull features, and the timid and humble chief eunuch, he suddenly felt very cold, a cold that could not be warmed no matter what he did.

"Father?" Noticing that the emperor's body was trembling slightly, the prince looked up at him and called out tentatively.

"I'm fine."

"Father, would you like to lie down and rest for a while?" The prince asked softly, looking at the emperor's tired eyes.

The emperor nodded imperceptibly and lay down on the bed with the help of the prince.

The prince settled the emperor down and just turned around to sit down on the chair next to him when he heard the emperor's weak voice behind him: "Sit down and talk to me!"

After a moment of hesitation, the prince slowly turned around and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Father, what does your Majesty want to say to me?"

"...Let's talk about the prince's views on state affairs!" The emperor said after pondering for a long time.

The prince was unsure of the emperor's intention, so he picked out some clichés and said a few words just to show his sincerity.

"I want to hear your true thoughts."

"This..." Seeing that he could no longer fool the other party, the prince picked out some less sensitive aspects to talk about.

At first, the prince spoke and the emperor listened, then it was changed to both of them speaking, and later it became the emperor speaking and the prince listening.

After talking for more than an hour, the emperor finally fell into a deep sleep exhausted.

Looking at his old face, the prince felt complicated. He and the emperor had not communicated like this for a long time. Once upon a time, they had such a harmonious time together. However, as the emperor grew older and he grew up, their relationship had quietly undergone many changes.

Gradually, they changed from father and son to monarch and subject.

His position became increasingly embarrassing, and in the end he couldn't even keep his own princess, and his son had to be sent away.

The prince's eyes gradually became firm. He didn't know how long the warmth he just felt could last. Instead of pinning his hopes on an illusory father-son relationship, it would be better for him to fight and grab everything on his own.

Because he has no qualifications to fail. Once he fails, those who follow him will all be doomed. He is unwilling and cannot bear such an outcome, so forget about the father-son relationship!
After arming himself again, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's eyes grew colder by the second. He stood up, sat down on the chair beside the bed with his back straight, and waited quietly for the show to begin.

Eunuch An stood at the door of the bedroom, and from time to time he would steal a glance at this father and son who looked the most noble and least like father and son in the world, and no one knew what he was thinking.

At three o'clock in the morning, light footsteps were heard outside, and then a somewhat pungent fragrance drifted in from the crack in the door.


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