Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

The moment Xiao Zuochen stepped into the palace, a young eunuch was already waiting for him at the gate.

"Your Highness Prince Yun."

The young eunuch bowed respectfully. Xiao Zuochen had some impression of him. He seemed to be the godson of Eunuch Mu Yi, the young Eunuch Mu Dai.

"The emperor asked me to wait for you here, and said that if you enter the palace, I will take you to a place first."

Xiao Zuochen did not expect that his father had sent people to wait for him. It seemed that the person who switched the bag was really his father. He must have sent people to keep an eye on Mingxiang Pavilion, and only then did he know that the bag had been taken away. He should have known that Chu Yao was in Prince Yun's Mansion at this time.

Xiao Zuochen's face had darkened a little. He didn't know what role his father played in this matter.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You will know it naturally if you go with me."

After the young eunuch finished speaking, he turned around and made a "please" gesture. Xiao Zuochen wanted to confirm what he was thinking, so he had to follow him.

After following the young eunuch around and around to the depths of the inner court, what caught my eye was a magnificent two-story attic with golden lions standing all around it.

Although Xiao Zuochen lived in the inner court when he was young, there were some places he was not allowed to go. Later, due to health reasons, he left the palace and stayed in Hanshan Temple for three years. Later, the emperor made him a prince before his coming-of-age ceremony and allowed him to live outside the palace. Therefore, he was not very clear about some secrets in the harem when he was ten years old, and he did not investigate some things that were not important to him after he was able to do so.

This shouldn’t be Mingxiang Pavilion, right?

Xiao Zuochen looked around. There were clusters of flowers and lush branches and leaves, which seemed to be taken care of regularly. Not far ahead was his mother's residence.

Following the eunuch to the second floor of the attic, the emperor had been waiting there for a long time. At this time, he was standing by the window on the second floor, looking out at something, and when he saw Xiao Zuochen coming, he looked a little surprised.

"Why did you come so fast?"

Xiao Zuochen glanced at his father with complicated emotions in his eyes.

"Is it fast? Not as fast as you, Father?"

My father knows the purpose of my coming, but he pretends to be ignorant. Why is that?

"what?"

The emperor looked puzzled, and Xiao Zuochen saw it but ignored him.

"Why did you ask someone to bring me here?"

Seeing that his beloved son looked unhappy, the emperor couldn't help but put on a flattering smile on his face.

"Come here and take a look outside~"

The emperor waved his hand, motioning Xiao Zuochen to stand with him.

Xiao Zuochen didn't think much about it. He walked straight over, stood by the window and looked out.

There are no other buildings around, so the view is very wide.

Seeing him looking around aimlessly, the emperor raised his hand and pointed in a direction in the distance.

"Look over there."

Over there? Xiao Zuochen looked in the direction his father pointed, and saw a woman in white lying on a beauty couch in the courtyard. Although it was a little far away, he could tell from her posture that she was a beauty. There was also a maid sitting at the corner of the couch, leaning on her forehead with her hand, and she was also asleep. Although Xiao Zuochen had never been to that courtyard, he was very familiar with the scene.

"It's my mother's yard!"

The emperor put down his hands and laughed out loud.

"Yes, that is your mother's yard. From here you can see what she is doing in the yard."

Xiao Zuochen, who was originally preparing to question his father Chu Yiyi about the cause of death, is now completely attracted by his mother.

Although Concubine Yun was his mother, he had never formally met her. She stayed in Yun Garden all year round and never stepped out. He couldn't go in, and neither could his father, because his mother had her maids keep everyone out. But despite this, whenever his father got any rare treasures, he would always send them to his mother first, letting her choose, and he always showed favoritism to him, which was why he and his father had never been estranged.

The emperor saw him staring at Yun Yuan and spoke again.

"When I first saw your mother, I fell in love with her at first sight. Later, with my unremitting efforts, I finally married your mother into the palace, and then she became pregnant with you. In the days before you were born, I had breakfast with your mother every day, and then I went to court, and your mother took you for a walk or did needlework. After I left court, I had lunch with your mother, and I reviewed memorials while she took a nap. After dinner, I watched her fall asleep. Life was really beautiful.

But until the day you were born, your mother suddenly changed her temperament. She didn't see me, nor did she see you who was just born. I know that women will be more irritable after pregnancy, but your mother was also very gentle when she was pregnant. I don't know why she became like this after giving birth. Since then, I have never been able to step into Yunyuan again, and you have never set foot in it either.

Your mother has a maidservant who is loyal to her and has been serving her. I have also arranged for other maidservants, but they were all sent away by your mother. However, I feel more at ease to have a maidservant serving her.

All I can do now is run to this attic every day and secretly watch her from a distance."

The emperor spoke in a low voice, with a gentle tone. He didn't even use his own honorific title, and in front of his son, he only said "I".

Xiao Zuochen listened silently, he didn't know what to say, maybe he didn't say anything because he felt it was useless to say anything. No one could change anything, his mother had never given him the maternal love he longed for. At this moment, he actually envied the third prince! No matter what the third prince did wrong, the queen would always be on his side and help him.

"Let's go. If you miss your mother in the future, you can come here to see her."

The emperor patted Xiao Zuochen on the shoulder and motioned him to follow him down, but Xiao Zuochen refused.

"I want to stay here for a while longer."

The emperor was not angry at being rejected by his son, because he always knew how to tempt his son with benefits.

"But I want to go to Mingxiang Pavilion, do you want to go?"

Mingxiang Pavilion! Xiao Zuochen then remembered the purpose of his entry into the palace today. He was even a little scared of his behavior just now. Just now, he seemed to be brainwashed, forgetting his purpose, and his heart and eyes were full of his mother. And his father, the man who had favored him since he was a child, had never used any tricks or schemes on him. But at that moment just now, he seemed to feel that he was being plotted, but he didn't realize what he was being plotted against.

Xiao Zuochen looked up at his father, trying to see what tricks this man was playing. The emperor was also looking at him, with a playful smile on his face.

"I'll take you to see my other woman!"

Chu Yiyi!

Xiao Zuochen already knew who it was. But wasn't she dead? How could they meet? He had just shown his deep affection for his mother in front of him, so why was he going to see another woman now?

Xiao Zuochen had a lot of questions in his mind. Looking at his father's attitude, he didn't want to go, but it was related to Chu Yao, and Chu Yiyi had no grudge against him, so he should go.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Xiao Zuochen followed his father again.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, I came to an abandoned attic. The first thing I saw was a desolate scene. The weeds around were already more than a person tall, and the plaque on the attic looked gray. When I stepped into the attic, there was dust and spider webs everywhere, but I could tell that people often came in and out of this building because there were shoe prints everywhere on the ground.

"You brought me here, do you have something to say?"

Xiao Zuochen stood behind the emperor. He wouldn't come to tell her about his longing for Chu Yiyi again, would he?

"Come on~"

The emperor did not intend to stop on the first floor, but he did not go to the stairs either. Instead, he walked towards the empty bookshelf on the first floor and reached out to touch something on the back of the bookshelf. He exerted a little force and the bookshelf slowly opened to both sides, revealing a secret passage leading to the underground. He looked inside and it was pitch black.

Xiao Zuochen was secretly surprised when he saw the secret passage. Chu Yao had not mentioned that there was a secret passage in Mingxiang Pavilion just now, so he must not have known about it.

"Moonless."

The emperor called out to the sky, and a dark figure flashed out. A man wearing a mask and holding a long sword appeared on one knee in front of the emperor. The man was slender, so Xiao Zuochen couldn't tell whether he was a man or a woman.

These should be the emperor's secret guards. Xiao Zuochen thought to himself: I heard that the emperor has four secret guards with strong martial arts skills, I wonder how they compare to my twelve guards?

"Go."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Yue Wu took out a fire starter from his bosom and walked into the secret passage, lighting all the lamps on the steps, and then walked underground and continued to repeat the action. Judging from his skilled steps, he must come here often.

This also made Xiao Zuochen even more certain that the person who switched the items was the emperor's man.

The emperor slowly walked down the stone steps, and Xiao Zuochen followed closely behind him. But just after taking a few steps, he felt a chill coming towards him.

When they came to the bottom of the secret passage, they found it was wider than they had imagined. Looking around, the layout here was like a miniature underground palace, and in the middle, there was an ice coffin. The ice coffin was surrounded by a visibly cold air, which made the weak Xiao Zuochen shiver.

Could it be Chu Yiyi lying there?

Xiao Zuochen stared at the ice coffin. She had been lying here for so many years?

"Are you curious about the person in the ice coffin?"

Seeing Xiao Zuochen staring at the ice coffin, the emperor couldn't help but ask him.

Xiao Zuochen turned around and looked at the emperor and asked back.

"Didn't my father bring me here just to let me see the person in the ice coffin?"

"Haha~"

The emperor laughed.

"You have always been so calm about everything since you were a child, even if it's just something you're curious about. I also know what you were thinking about on the way here. Emperors have always been passionate and ruthless. One day, when you sit in my position, you will know what it means to be helpless..."

The emperor walked to the ice coffin, raised his hand and stroked it, not afraid of the coldness on his palm. At first his eyes were gentle, but soon they became fierce and tough.

"...But you will also know what power is!"

After the emperor finished speaking, he pushed the coffin lid hard, and a large amount of cold air rushed out instantly, rushing towards him. The emperor was not affected at all, but closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he was enjoying it. But Xiao Zuochen was hit by the cold air and couldn't help but lean back.

I thought I would stumble back a few steps, but I felt someone holding my waist, and I was pushed forward and stood firm again.

Xiao Zuochen turned around and saw that it was Yue Wu who had pushed him just now.

"Your Highness Prince Yun, I am sorry for the insolence."

Yue Wu bowed respectfully, apologizing for touching King Yun just now. His voice also made Xiao Zuochen unable to distinguish whether it was a man or a woman, and he couldn't help but become more curious about Yue Wu.

"Come closer and take a closer look."

The emperor spoke.

"It's too cold here, I can't stand it."

This is the truth. Xiao Zuochen's lips turned pale at this moment.

The emperor did not look back at him, but spoke in a way that seemed both threatening and tempting.

"Only this time, you can see her here."

Xiao Zuochen didn't quite understand what the emperor said, but he still went over. It wasn't a big deal, but when he just stretched his head and took a look, Xiao Zuochen was stunned!

The woman in the coffin looks exactly like my mother!

Looking at the person in the coffin, Xiao Zuochen felt his mind go blank for a moment.

How could Chu Yiyi be so similar to his mother? Now that he thought about it carefully, Chu Yao did look somewhat similar to his mother.

Xiao Zuochen looked at his father in shock. Now only he could give him the answer.

"Are you scared? I was scared too. At that time, your mother had locked herself in Yunyuan for many years. Every time I went there, I could only see her from afar outside Yunyuan. I couldn't see her in person at all. So when I saw Chu Yiyi for the first time, I thought it was your mother who sneaked out of the palace."

"Then how did you confirm that Chu Yiyi was not my mother? After all, you saw Chu Yiyi, but you still couldn't see my mother."

"Of course, even if I met Chu Yiyi, I couldn't confirm whether your mother was still in Yunyuan. Moreover, Chu Yiyi didn't recognize me, so it was possible that your mother was pretending. So I decided to take Chu Yiyi with me and force my way into Yunyuan! Let's see Chu Yiyi's reaction and whether your mother is in Yunyuan."

"What's the result? How can you be sure?"

"Although I didn't see your mother in the end, she used her inner strength to stop me outside the door. I am familiar with that move, and the person inside must be your mother. And Chu Yiyi was completely unaware of this, so I am sure that the two are not the same person."

"So you're treating Chu Yiyi as a substitute for your mother?"

"In the beginning, it was true. After all, I loved your mother very much. If they didn't look so alike, I would never have brought her back to the palace. But later, I found that Yiyi was different from your mother. They had different personalities and liked different things..."

"The identities are different too~"

Xiao Zuochen pointed out directly that her father treated her like that just because she was the young master of Shenyin Pavilion, and that was how she ended up.

The emperor neither admitted nor denied anything.

"Her identity does affect our relationship, but if she truly loves me, how could I betray her?"

"How could you betray her? The Queen was sincere to you at first, and you betrayed her. You were not sincere to Chu Yiyi, so why did you let her be sincere to you?"

The emperor glanced at Xiao Zuochen and was not angry at his unreasonableness. Instead, he smiled and said to Xiao Zuochen.

"I thought so at the beginning. I was sincere to Qing'er's mother. But she chose to leave me because it was just a queen position. Oh, when you sit in my position, you will know that a woman's sincerity is far less important than the power in her hands!"