The emperor just doesn't treat everyone equally, and it's none of my business!

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the virtuous prince died in his palace and ultimately did not live to see the next year.

After Lu Junze learned the news, he sat alone in the Yangxin Palace for two hours, and no one dared to disturb him.

"Is the emperor still in there?" When it was almost time for dinner, Gu Shijin came over with the meal.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Su Deyuan looked a little anxious. He had served the emperor for many years and had never seen the emperor like this.

Su Deyuan: "Your Majesty, do you want to come in?" He hoped that the Imperial Noble Consort could go in and persuade the Emperor, as his body would not be able to bear it.

Gu Shijin didn't think that her body would be unable to bear sitting for a few hours, but she really couldn't remain indifferent at this time.

"Give the food to me." Gu Shijin took the food box from Xingzhu's hand, "I'll go in and see the emperor."

"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty." Su Deyuan replied with a smile.

The lights in the Yangxin Palace were very dim today. Gu Shijin was stunned for a moment when he pushed the door open, and then he guessed that it must have been Lu Junze who turned off the lights himself.

Fortunately, Gu Shijin was familiar with the layout of the Yangxin Palace, so he could find where Lu Junze was even if he couldn't see him.

"Jin'er is here?" Lu Junze knew who the visitor was before he even saw the person. After all, the only one who dared to come in without notifying others was Gu Shijin.

"Greetings to the Emperor." Gu Shijin bowed while holding the food box.

"Hey, Jin'er, there's no need to be so polite." Lu Junze came over and helped Gu Shijin sit down on the Luohan bed next to them.

Gu Shijin smiled softly and said, "Is Your Majesty in a better mood?"

"I'm fine." It's just a little hard to accept for a moment.

"Your Majesty is the ruler of a country. You must take care of your health for the sake of the people of the world."

After saying this, Gu Shijin paused for a moment, then continued, "Your Majesty, please take care of your health for me."

"I remember the emperor told me that he wanted to grow old with me."

"Jin'er, call me Aze." Lu Junze grabbed Gu Shijin's hand and whispered.

Gu Shijin leaned his head on Lu Junze's chest and whispered, "Aze."

Lu Junze wasn’t actually that sad, he just felt tired and a little regretful.

When Lu Junze was young, he was not close to his brothers because of his father's favor. He had a better relationship with the Xian Wang who was raised together. Even though Lu Junze knew that the Xian Wang had some bad intentions early on, he did not rush to deal with him, but wanted to give the Xian Wang a chance.

But people are not what you want them to be, and the wise king ultimately went against Lu Junze.

Lu Junze had never thought of killing the virtuous king from the beginning. Anyway, the virtuous king's rebellion did not cause any harm and he just made a lot of trouble in the palace. Who would have thought that the virtuous king himself was already seriously ill.

"Your Majesty, please eat something." Gu Shijin placed the meals on the table one by one.

She knew that Lu Junze was in a bad mood, so she prepared some light food, and also prepared a bowl of winter melon and pork ribs soup, which is suitable to drink in winter.

Gu Shijin scooped a bowl of soup for Lu Junze, "Aze, drink some soup first to warm your stomach."

"Thank you for your hard work, Jin'er." Lu Junze took the bowl and drank slowly.

"I just opened my mouth to give orders, it's not that hard." Until now, Gu Shijin would not be too polite to Lu Junze.

In fact, Gu Shijin had already discovered that Lu Junze privately didn't like people being too disciplined. It was understandable. He had to behave properly when facing court officials during the day, so he must want to relax more in private.

Especially when you are with someone you like, of course you want to be more casual.

Maybe it was because Gu Shijin came, or maybe it was because he had eaten something, but Lu Junze seemed to be in a much better mood. He suddenly said, "He probably chose this time because he knew his body was about to fail."

Lu Junze had found it strange before. The Xian King’s army had been almost wiped out by him, so why would he choose to take action at this time? Now he finally found the reason.

Gu Shijin was silent for a moment. To be honest, she didn't want to talk about this. She never asked about the affairs of the previous dynasty over the years. Even if Lu Junze occasionally mentioned it to her, she would find an excuse to avoid it to avoid giving people gossip.

The Great Xia Dynasty had a rule that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs.

But when Lu Junze brought it up at this moment, it was obvious that he wanted to hear Gu Shijin say a few words. But fortunately, the virtuous king was a clan relative after all, so it was okay for him to say a few words.

"Maybe. After all, it's something I've been planning for my whole life. I'm afraid I'd be unwilling to see it end in vain."

But if Gu Shijin were to say, the virtuous king deserved it. The Great Xia Dynasty implemented the system of primogeniture, and the virtuous king was neither the legitimate son nor the eldest son, so there was really nothing for him to fight for.

After living in this era for a long time, Gu Shijin felt that she could empathize with some of the rules of this era. There was no other reason. Even if she could not adapt to it, she, as a concubine, could not change anything.

Lu Junze nodded. He just wanted to say a few words to Gu Shijin. In fact, after being locked up in the Yangxin Palace for an entire afternoon, Lu Junze had almost figured it out.

There is nothing to be confused about. It is lonely at the top. Sitting on the position of emperor, he is destined to lose something. Fortunately, Jin'er is by his side.

"Your Majesty, do you want to send someone to tell the Concubine Dowager?" Gu Shijin asked.

"Send someone." Lu Junze said, "Send someone who can talk to explain to the concubine what's going on, so that she won't have any wild thoughts."

"I just did."

Just go and tell the Queen Mother that the virtuous prince died of his own illness, and was not killed by the Emperor because he could not tolerate him.

However, Gu Shijin felt that it would be useless. Based on her understanding of the Concubine Dowager, she would definitely put the blame for the death of the Virtuous King on Lu Junze.

After all, judging from the Queen Mother's appearance, the King probably didn't tell her that he was ill.

"Forget it, I'll ask my mother to send someone to talk to her." Lu Junze said suddenly.

He also knew the Dowager Concubine's temperament. The people Jin'er sent would probably be useless and suffer at the hands of the Dowager Concubine.

"Okay." Gu Shijin didn't refuse. This was a good thing. She was not stupid. If possible, she hoped to have no contact with the concubine in this life.

In Shoukang Palace, when the Concubine Dowager heard what the person sent by the Queen Mother told her, she lost her balance and almost fainted on the spot.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, please accept my condolences." The Dowager's maid supported her and said.

"The virtuous king..." The concubine suddenly grabbed the hand of the person who came to deliver the message and said, "The virtuous king... the virtuous king... how could he die of illness?"

"Is it the Emperor? Is it the Emperor who killed the virtuous king?"

"My Lady Dowager, please be careful with your words."

"Please get out of the way. I want to ask the Emperor why he treats us like this?"

"Your Highness, it's getting late. You should go to bed early." The guards guarding Shoukang Palace would not let the Queen Dowager go out.

The concubine struggled with the guards and finally fainted. The guards looked at each other and finally sent the concubine back to her own bedroom.