Harem Daily Life

Mu Yu lowered his head and didn't dare to look into the Queen Mother's eyes.

"Why?" The Queen Mother stood in front of Mu Yu: "Didn't we agree to let you return to Penglai Island? Why are you still staying?"

Mu Yu's eyes widened: "Queen Mother, you... recognized me?"

The Queen Mother rolled her eyes at him speechlessly. "Your disguise is convincing, but you haven't mastered the way you walk." Eunuch Qin had served the Queen Mother year after year, and he would walk with a slight stoop, but never too servile, always with just the right amount of grace. The Queen Mother had been with Eunuch Qin for decades, and they were familiar with each other. So, when this "Eunuch Qin" appeared, others couldn't tell it was fake, but the Queen Mother recognized him instantly.

Mu Yu himself may not have known that the look he gave the Queen Mother was too fiery, causing the Queen Mother to be startled for three seconds when she suddenly saw a pair of eyes as fiery as Mu Yu's hidden under Eunuch Qin's face.

Mu Yu felt a little ashamed and said helplessly, "I... have been living in the capital since I left the palace. I haven't returned to Penglai Island. I just wanted to live closer to you, so... you don't have to worry about me. I came to the palace to see you specially. I will leave tomorrow."

Although Mu Yu said this, his tone gradually became sad.

The Queen Mother twitched her lips and coughed lightly: "You are too foolish. What if someone finds out? Have you ever thought about the consequences?"

Mu Yu glanced at the Queen Mother and said aggrievedly, "Except for the Queen Mother, no one else recognized me. Anyway, as long as the Queen Mother doesn't report me, I'm safe."

"There's a reward for reporting, there's a reward for reporting." The little parrot suddenly spoke excitedly.

Mu Yu: “…”

"You still want to report me for the reward? Don't forget who bought you, fed you well, and taught you to speak." Mu Yu admonished the little parrot.

The little parrot tilted its head, as if trying to figure out who had just spoken.

The Queen Mother sighed and said, "Forget it. Then you can stay in the palace for one night and leave early tomorrow morning."

Mu Yu smiled widely. The Queen Mother agreed to let him stay overnight, which showed that their relationship was much better than when they were in the palace.

After dinner, Mu Yu accompanied the Queen Mother for a stroll in the garden. The palace maids and the court ladies kept a distance from them. The two of them originally walked one in front and one behind, but later they walked side by side.

"I didn't expect the palace to be so quiet." Although the lights were bright and dazzling, the entire Changchun Palace was as silent as death, and no one dared to speak loudly.

The Queen Mother looked at the few faint stars in the sky and said, "It's been decades. I've long been accustomed to it."

Mu Yu looked at the Queen Mother, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a little depressed.

"I entered the palace as the Crown Princess at the age of sixteen, and now almost forty-five years have passed. Forty-five years, I couldn't feel it when I was asleep, but when I was awake, I was immersed in this silence for a full forty-five years." The Queen Mother stood under a tree and touched the trunk: "This tree has been there for many years. When I was canonized as the Queen, the late Emperor planted this tree with me. He said that when the branches were full of fruits, he would pick them for me with his own hands and make preserved fruits for me. Look here--" The Queen Mother pointed to a place on the trunk for Mu Yu to see.

Mu Yu walked forward and saw marks on the tree trunk, as if they were carved with a knife.

"This is?"

"The flowers bloomed, the fruit ripened, and the person who had promised to pick the fruit for me to preserve was now enjoying the plum blossoms with someone else. So, I took a dagger and slashed a line through the tree." The Queen Mother traced the lines, "Forty-one now."

Mu Yu stepped forward and gently took the Queen Mother's hand: "Whatever you want to eat in the future, I will find it for you."

The Queen Mother looked up at Mu Yu and slowly withdrew her hand. "When Zhang'er was ten years old, he was made Crown Prince. That was the twelfth year since I married the late Emperor. From that year on, my son was the only thing in my life. I devoted all my energy to teaching him how to be a king. I made many plans for his future, and I don't know how much blood is stained on my hands."

Mu Yu knew that the road to becoming an emperor was not an easy one, and that for the emperor to reach where he was today, he and his mother must have paid a lot.

"Fortunately, God rewards those who work hard. He ascended the throne smoothly, wiped out the rebellion, and after his father's death, he firmly grasped the Great Zhou Dynasty in his hands." The Queen Mother seemed to be recalling the past events, her eyes a little vague.

"I didn't expect that fifteen years have passed since the rebellion of the royal family prince." The Queen Mother sighed, "Time really flies by like a fleeting horse."

As Mu Yu looked at the empress dowager who was telling him about her past, he felt more and more that the woman in front of him was a great woman - determined, indomitable, intelligent, wise, brave and resourceful.

"You don't have to admire me so much. Who doesn't do this when they achieve something?" The Queen Mother chuckled. "Later, as I watched Zhang'er becoming more and more like a king, I, the Queen Mother Shu, finally felt inspired to find and do things that Shu Jinse would enjoy. I go to the palace twice a year, once in the winter to soak in the hot springs, and once in the summer to escape the heat. I'll be gone for a few months each time, and then I'll continue my lonely life in a new place."

"So... do you want to live alone like this forever?" Mu Yu looked at the queen mother and asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

The Queen Mother didn't avoid his burning gaze and smiled, "My life was destined from the beginning. I am the daughter-in-law of the royal family, the Crown Princess, the Empress, and the Empress Dowager. When I die, I will be buried in the imperial mausoleum. My tomb will be with the late emperor, and the posthumous title chosen for me by Zhang'er will be inscribed on my tombstone."

Mu Yu's nose was sore: "This is Empress Dowager Shu's life, what about Shu Jinse? Does Jinse like it?"

"Jinse?" The Queen Mother said her own name: "Haha, it's been many years since anyone called me by my name."

"Jinse, do you like it? Answer me." Mu Yu continued to ask.

"It doesn't matter whether I like it or not. This is the only way I can live my life. Do you think I have any other choice?" The Queen Mother looked at Mu Yu and said earnestly, "I know your feelings, and I have never doubted your friendship for me. It's a pity... I can't choose you."

It is destined to be fruitless, and even the slightest temptation is a mistake. This mistake will drag people into eternal damnation.

Mu Yu's eyes were a little moist: "It doesn't matter. Life is short. For the remaining five, ten, or twenty years, I will accompany you silently, not too close, not too far away. You just need to know that there is someone somewhere outside this palace who will always be with you, without asking for any result."

The Queen Mother frowned. "Why are you doing this? If you want to find a companion for your old age, there are many suitable women."

Mu Yu smiled: "But they are not Shu Jinse."