Drunk Bamboo

King Wen sent someone to pass on the message that he wanted to see the emperor.

The emperor looked gloomy, but finally summoned him into the palace.

"You should know why I have confined the Imperial Concubine and you. What else do you want from me?"

"I really don't know what the earth-shaking changes in the past few days are all about. I also don't know why my father is angry with my mother and me. But my father is the king of a country. What he says and does must be reasonable. I dare not object."

Hua Qinming knelt on the spacious ground of Baoping Hall, and the emperor looked down at him with narrowed eyes.

"You, really don't know?"

"Perhaps I had a dispute with His Royal Highness in the past, and the cause led to this bad result. I am greedy, and I accept the punishment from my father."

"I have made a vow. As long as Qi'er and the fetus in the mansion are safe, I am willing to give up all the vanity."

Hua Qinming raised his head slightly, and on his face, which had been bloodless for many years, there was a faint smile of relief.

"Maybe God heard my plea. Now that the plague in Zhongdu has been resolved and my wife and children are safe, I couldn't be happier."

The emperor's sharp gaze softened slightly.

This is the child he watched grow up. He has always been well-behaved and obedient. Due to congenital deficiencies, he has not been able to play like normal children since childhood. The attention and love he shows to him are given sincerely.

The emperor asked again tentatively: "Do you think that I closed Fu'an Palace and confined you to your room because of the fight with the crown prince?"

"It is my greed that I want things that do not belong to me. I have been confined to my house for the past few days. I have thought it through. I am born weak. What is the point of fighting for those vanity things? The relatives around me are the most important."

Hua Qinming said sincerely, "I am begging you to let me leave Zhongdu and take my family to my fiefdom, away from all the troubles in Zhongdu! I wish to never return to Zhongdu and live in peace in a corner."

After he finished speaking, the emperor stared at Hua Qinming at his feet for a long time.

Everything that happened in the past was more or less due to his indulgence and acquiescence.

When Zhang Xinghe handed in the case file on this plague incident, there was nothing involving Hua Qinming.

After seeing you today, no matter it’s true or false, I will leave Zhongdu and never come back. This is the greatest punishment.

"Is this what you want?" The emperor's eyes were gloomy.

"Your Majesty, this is what I request. I hope Your Majesty will grant it." Hua Qinming prostrated himself on the ground with a firm tone.

"That's good. Although Tianbao is far away from Zhongdu, the scenery is pleasant. It is suitable for Qi'er to take care of her pregnancy and for you to recuperate."

"Thank you, father, for your grace!"

The emperor waved his hands, and his heart seemed to be a little empty.

"Go."

Hua Qinming stood up and saluted, "Father, I want to see my mother."

The emperor did not object, "Go and meet him."

Maybe it's the last time.

Fu'an Palace.

The Buddhist temple is tightly closed and is almost always shut except for the three meals a day when Xuan'er delivers food.

How could it be open at this time?

The Imperial Concubine slowly opened her eyes and was slightly surprised to see Hua Qinming.

"why you?"

"Are you disappointed, mother, that the person you saw was not that person?"

Hua Qinming walked into the house slowly, his steps lighter than those of an ordinary person.

If the Crown Prince and King Feng were present at this moment, they would be able to clearly see how thin Hua Qinming is.

The Imperial Concubine closed her eyes again, faced the Buddha statue, and clasped her hands together.

"Why did the emperor let you in? Didn't he suspect you?"

"After Gao Yin's affair was exposed, my father put me under house arrest." Hua Qinming stood beside her, looking at her face carefully.

"Mother is very smart. Nothing happened directly through her. Even if those people were arrested, no one would confess to her. Without evidence, father could only seal off Fu'an Palace and confine me."

"Why did you enter the palace?"

Although the Imperial Concubine looked a little pale, her spirit was not diminished.

There was no panic or fear. When he turned around, there seemed to be anticipation in his eyes.

However, after seeing him, her eyes became dim again.

Hua Qinming retracted his gaze and said, "Mother, I am going to my fiefdom. I am here to say goodbye to you."

The Imperial Concubine suddenly opened her eyes and said excitedly, "A fiefdom? What are you going to do in a fiefdom? Don't you want the throne? Don't you want the power?"

Hua Qinming stood straight with a faint smile on his lips.

"Aren't these all what mother wants? Ever since I can remember, mother has told me that I must win my father's love, compete with the crown prince, sit on the highest throne, and become the one who controls power. Only in this way can I survive."

He asked, "Mother, are these what you are thinking for me? Is this what you are thinking, or what that person is thinking?"

The imperial concubine was surprised. "Of course it's for the future of us mother and son. Everything is for you!"

He suddenly sneered, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Mother, please stop lying to me and yourself. He is just using you, he will not come to save you. Now that the plague has been lifted, he has missed the best opportunity. You don't have the trust of my father, and if I leave Zhongdu again, he will just abandon you completely because there is no use for you."

"Shut up! He promised me..."

The imperial concubine was furious and asked in astonishment, "How did you know?"

She never told him anything about Prince Jing, so how did he know?

Did the emperor know about this too?

The vigilance and viciousness in her eyes chilled Hua Qinming's heart. It felt like a sharp sword was piercing his chest, and he felt so painful that he couldn't breathe.

"At this moment, the person my mother is worried about is still him!" He laughed towards the sky, with a tear in the corner of his eye.

Tears fall and dry in the wind.

Vanish into nothing.

"I... am really a chess piece. Mother, you hold the Buddhist beads in your hand every day and pray towards the north, it turns out it's all for him. It's not me you're thinking about, it's him."

In an instant, all the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness on his face were revealed.

"Is this why you like the red maples in Daci Temple so much? They were transplanted from the north, but you like them so much."

Hua Qinming felt that his life was really miserable.

The Imperial Concubine stopped pretending, and her beautiful face suddenly turned hideous.

"You can go if you want to. You are the emperor's son after all. I have taught you painstakingly for twenty years, but you are still such a failure!"

Hua Qinming stopped smiling, stopped being angry, stopped all his emotions, and looked at her indifferently.

"Yes, this broken body of mine was also given by my mother. I have to wear thin clothes in winter, kneel in the snow with a high fever, can't take medicine when I'm sick, can't apply medicine when I'm bleeding, can't eat too much, just because I'm sick and weak, people feel pity for me."

"It's all a lie."

He raised his head and pushed open the door.

"What happens to you in the future has nothing to do with me."

"From now on, I will only live for myself, for my wife and children. My child will never be used as a pawn. I want him to live happily."

Seeing him leaving, I felt as if something was missing, but I tried desperately to grab it.

He said angrily, "Naive! Ignorant! Do you think the emperor and the prince will let you go? Will King Feng let you go?"

"If they knew what you had done, would they still let you stay safely in your fiefdom?!"

"Mother, do you know why I wanted to go on the southern tour at that time?" He looked at the vast sky.

"Because I want to leave Zhongdu and see the outside world. It's just such a simple thought."

After saying that, he walked out of the door without looking back.

The Imperial Concubine stretched out her hand, but could not catch anything.

"Waste! For twenty years, I have raised a waste!"