Professional Ethics of a Concubine

"It must be that your mother has been sending people to watch you and collect some of the toys you have played with for her to ease her longing for your mother."

Ye Qingzhi said confidently, "She sent His Highness here because she was ordered to enter the palace to become the empress, and she had no choice but to separate mother and son."

Xie Jin was still immersed in shock and did not respond when he heard this.

This completely overturned his previous guesses.

It turns out that his biological mother didn't abandon him on her own initiative, but actually cared about him?

Xie Jin couldn't believe it, but the things in the box in front of him reminded him that it was indeed the case.

Among them, he remembered the small silver dagger most clearly.

This was a birthday gift given to him by his adoptive father when he was seven years old.

He couldn't let it go and carried it with him everywhere. Later he couldn't find it and felt lost for a long time.

Later, his adoptive father gave him a new dagger, which was more valuable and sharper, and even the handle of the dagger was inlaid with gems. He said it was a special gift for him.

It turned out that his silver dagger was stolen by someone around the empress and sent to the empress.

Xie Jin couldn't help but recall the past, trying to identify among the people who appeared in his past life which one was the empress's man, but after thinking about it, he couldn't be sure.

Xie Jin was immersed in the past and couldn't extricate himself. Su Ting, who was standing next to him, heard Ye Qingzhi's words and started coughing in shock.

"Ahem, um, can I take a look at what's in this box?"

He is so curious.

What did the emperor send that revealed his identity?

The emperor didn't tell him that she was going to reveal her identity.

Although Su Ting complained, she was used to the emperor's style of doing things. She was too lazy to inform you of the trivial matters.

"Sure." Seeing that Xie Jin didn't respond, Ye Qingzhi took the initiative and made a gesture of invitation to Su Ting.

Su Ting walked over, looked at the various old children's things in the box, and sighed.

Ye Qingzhi said to Su Ting, "Sir Su, when you came, the empress must have told you that she is the biological mother of my prince."

Lord Su kept a stern face and said nothing.

"You must know, otherwise you wouldn't be so calm."

Ye Qingzhi continued.

Su Ting, ...

I can't stand facial paralysis!

"Don't be nervous, Lord Su. The Empress asked you to deliver this box because she wants us to know the truth.

In order to cooperate better in the future, it would be better for our Highness to know the truth.

Only in this way can we know what to do to better preserve the reputation of the empress and her throne."

Ye Qingzhi spoke again with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Su Ting looked at Ye Qingzhi deeply and knew that she was not an ordinary concubine in the harem.

Su Ting bowed to Ye Qingzhi, then bowed to Xie Jin who was still petrified, and then he said,

"Yes, Your Highness, you are indeed the biological son of the Empress. You look and feel like your mother. If you appear in the palace of Gulan like this, anyone who sees you will say that you are related to the Empress.

Therefore, if you are to go on a diplomatic mission to Gulan in the future, please disguise yourself a little to avoid unnecessary suspicion."

Xie Jin, ...

Ye Qingzhi asked with great interest, "Is it really that similar? I really want to see the empress's divine face. I'm excited just thinking about it.

The Empress has always been an extraordinary woman whom I look up to and admire. My prince has also admired the Empress for a long time. Every time he talked about her, he said that he wanted to learn from her.

Now she is actually the biological mother of my prince. Lord Su, you see, my prince is so happy that he can't even come back to his senses."

Su Ting, ...

This Concubine Ye speaks so pleasantly, no wonder she is so favored.

Xie Jin came back to his senses, looked at Ye Qingzhi with a smile, then looked at Su Ting and said,

"Thank you for the box, Master Su. It is the best gift I have ever received."

"Your Highness is too polite. I am only carrying out His Majesty's orders." Lord Su continued with a stern face, "After Your Highness learned the truth, does Your Highness have any objection to His Majesty's decision?"

"I have no objection and will cooperate." Xie Jin shook his head.

"However, I want to tell my father that the Empress is my biological mother. I hope Lord Su will understand and go back to tell... the Empress."

"Your Highness, this is unnecessary. Less trouble is worse than more. The fewer people who know the truth about your biological mother, the better."

Su Ting said, "The emperor said that the emperor of Great Zhao does not know her identity or her appearance, so there is no way to verify it."

"The emperor is not an outsider, he is one of the parties involved." Xie Jin shook his head and insisted.

"You've already said that I look like my mother, and that can't be changed.

Rather than letting him know the truth from somewhere else and causing unnecessary suspicion in his heart, since I know the truth, I should take the initiative to tell him. "

Su Ting felt that this was true, but he was a little uncomfortable with it.

Are all of you in the imperial family of Great Zhao so sincere?

The relationship between the emperor and the prince is so open and honest.

"It is entirely up to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to decide on this matter." Su Ting compromised, "I believe that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince knows how to do it. It is the best choice for you and the Empress."

Prince Xie Jin nodded, said no more, and asked the eunuch to send Su Ting back to the guild hall to rest.

-

Xie Jin and Ye Qingzhi also returned to the East Palace.

"Your Highness, do you want to go and confess to the Emperor now?" Ye Qingzhi asked Xie Jin.

"I haven't figured out what to say yet. Let's go back later." Xie Jin opened the box again and said as he looked through the things inside.

He had looked through this small box all the way and touched the things inside many times. Ye Qingzhi complained in his heart, but he didn't say it out loud and just let him do it.

Suddenly your mother, whom you haven't seen for thirty years, appears out of nowhere and is full of love for you. No matter who you are, you would be stunned.

As he looked at it, Xie Jin's expression changed. He poured out everything in the box, then knocked around and found a secret compartment in the box. He took out a letter from it.

Ye Qingzhi's eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly moved closer, leaning against him, craning her neck to watch.

"Your Highness, is this a letter from the Empress?"

"Yeah." Xie Jin responded without changing his expression, but in fact, his hands were shaking a little bit when he opened the envelope.

The letter was quite long, and it began with the four words "Written personally by my son."

Xie Jin stared at the four words for a long time before reading further.

Ye Qingzhi stretched her head and finished reading the first page. She waited anxiously for a long time before he turned the page.

In the beginning, the empress mainly explained what happened that year and told Xie Jin the truth about his birth and being sent away.

"Wow! It turns out that the emperor is just a tool. As expected of a heroine who can become an empress, her ability and courage to kill the father and keep the son are so strong. I love it..."

Ye Qingzhi was reading the letter while scrolling through the comments.

Xie Jin, ...

Your angle is very unique. He saw the mother's helplessness and struggle.

Further down, the empress said that there were always two of her loyal servants staying in the capital, secretly protecting Xie Jin and delivering news about him to her every two months.

Moreover, the empress also said that he was raised by Marquis Jiangyang in his mansion, and there was also a shrewd old lady in charge, which made it safer and more comfortable than if he returned to the royal family. This was very good, so she never thought about helping him to trace his ancestry.

"It turns out that the empress has really been asking someone to look after His Highness. Perhaps she can only feel at ease when she knows that His Highness is doing well."

Ye Qingzhi continued to comment.

Xie Jin couldn't help but nod, feeling warm in his heart.

The empress also said that she did not expect that he would suddenly be recognized into the royal family. When she received the news, he had already been named Prince Jing, and it was said that he had a good relationship with Prince Su, and seemed to have established a firm foothold.

She had originally planned that if he did not recognize his ancestry, after the old man passed away and the new emperor took the throne, he might be liquidated. At that time, she would bring him to Gulan, recognize him, and start training him to take over Gulan.

However, he had already returned to the royal family of Great Zhao, so she changed her strategy and thought of making some arrangements to help him win the throne.

However, just as she arranged for his biological mother, he succeeded in winning the throne and was about to be named the crown prince.

In less than a year, the speed is amazing!

The empress praised her son generously, praising him for his courage, resourcefulness, and ability. She also praised him for having many noble people around him, saying that this was a good thing.

The empress also earnestly told him to cherish and be tolerant.

"As a mother, even if she is an empress, she is so talkative. The words of praise and advice to His Highness add up to three pages."

Ye Qingzhi sighed, "Looking at the previous part, the part that mentioned the emperor was only half a page, with only a few words."

Xie Jin, ...

After being treated like this by her, all his sadness and touching emotions disappeared.

Should he sympathize with his father?

Unconsciously, I turned to the last page, and the empress wrote at the end,

“I planned everything and went through so much trouble to bring you into this world, but in the end, I had no choice but to choose my family and give up on you.

I feel deeply guilty for not being able to raise you and grow up with you.

I've thought about it and I know that when you become an emperor in the future, you will definitely have the ambition to expand your territory. Fortunately, I have not been idle over the years and have earned a fortune. Now that I have become an emperor, I can help you in this regard.

Otherwise, if I want to help my son, it will be useless.

Gulan is too far away from the conflict between Zhao and Chu to be reached. Even if I favor you, I cannot openly help you in this matter.

However, it is completely possible for Dayan. You have a ten-year ceasefire agreement with Dayan. I think when the agreement is about to end, the old man will abdicate, and you will ascend the throne.

At that time, my mother and I will join forces to see if we can destroy Dayan.

If we can really destroy Dayan, I will be too old to abdicate by then, and you can take over.

In this way, it will help you unify the territory north of Da Zhao.

With this achievement, my son will surely become an emperor whose name will go down in history.

However, this matter is still a bit far away, we will talk about it later.

Mother would like to wish your enthronement ceremony goes smoothly and gloriously.

Thinking about that day when people all over the world will admire my son's outstanding demeanor, I am very proud of you.

……

When Xie Jin saw the end, his nose felt sore, his eyes turned red, his heart felt sour and warm, and he felt sad and regretful because he couldn't see her.

After Ye Qingzhi finished reading, she looked at Xie Jin with envy and sighed,

"As expected of an empress, she gave so much! She said she wanted to give up the throne of Gulan to Your Highness! Your Highness, what do you think?"

"Of course I can't accept it. Taking over the throne from her, let her bear the infamy of being a scoundrel and a queen who ruined the country. The old faction of Gulan will curse her to death..."

Xie Jin tapped her forehead to calm her down, and then said,

"This matter is too far away. There is no need to discuss it now. Let's talk about how to tell Father the truth first."

"For the sake of the emperor's physical and mental health, I think it is necessary to embellish it a little, tell a little white lie, or keep half and let the emperor fill in the rest in his mind."

Ye Qingzhi said,

"Your Highness, just say that you only know that the Empress is your biological mother, and you have no idea what happened back then. This is reasonable."

Xie Jin nodded in agreement, "Indeed."

My father probably doesn't like to know the truth that I am just a tool...

I'm already old now, and I shouldn't care about love anymore, but when I was young, I probably still cared about it.

Then again, no matter whether his mother gave birth to him out of love or for some other reason, his father did not suffer any loss, as he got a son for free.

I was not born by him, nor was I raised by him, and now I am still providing him with 'old age care' and taking care of his bunch of rebellious sons. My father is taking such an advantage!

-

Royal study room.

"I heard that you went to meet the envoy of Gulan Kingdom. What happened? Has something happened to your biological mother?" the emperor asked Xie Jin.

Before, when Xie Jin received the spy's letter, he told the emperor about his biological mother and the empress's decision, and the emperor had no objection to it.

The prince's biological mother should be posthumously honored, not to mention that she was his first woman, the woman he truly loved.

"Replying to Father, something has indeed happened." Xie Jin said directly,

"I carefully questioned the envoy Su Ting and received a special gift from him, so I learned that my biological mother is actually the empress."

"…Who are you talking about?!" The emperor was shocked and stared at Xie Jin in a daze.

He really never thought that the woman who talked about poetry and painting with him under the moonlight would become the empress of Gulan.

This completely overturned the impression of the other person that was left in his mind. He remembered that she was gentle, caring, weak and simple.

Maybe all those impressions of his were false, he imagined them, she pretended.

How could a woman who could become an empress be simple and weak?

"My biological mother is the Empress." Xie Jin said.

“She must have willingly given birth to me, and later on, she had no choice but to send me to Great Zhao.

She has always been thinking about her son, and she has sent people to keep an eye on his growth, because she asked the envoy to send a box of things that he used when he was a child. "

The emperor was shocked again, and his mind immediately filled with a lot of thoughts.

She loved their son and gave birth to him willingly. Later, she was forced to separate and enter the palace, and she missed her son very much.

Back then, she didn't completely deceive him. She must have been deeply in love with him.

Otherwise, how could she have given birth to his child despite all the difficulties?

You know, if a lady from a noble family gives birth to a child out of wedlock and keeps the child with her, it will really ruin her life.

If you abort the child and conceal it well, you can pretend nothing happened and continue to get married.

"I am sorry for her!" The emperor said with a guilty look on his face, "I left her back then, and she must have suffered a lot."

Xie Jin, ...

He would not get involved in his parents' emotional mess. If there really was a chance, the two old people would meet and talk about it on their own.

He is just an honest child, what could he know?