The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

"No need to thank me. I only saved you once, but I couldn't save your life."

Xie Run said this, his expression turning a little cold.

Xie Run rarely spoke harshly: "The palace has only held three funerals, and you ran out to make trouble in such a cold and snowy day. Are you dissatisfied with the peace and quiet of life and want me to prepare a fourth one?!"

Concubine Wu's expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously wanted to explain: "Your Majesty, I..."

Xie Run said calmly: "You went to see the Seventh Prince secretly, didn't you?"

Concubine Wu was so frightened that she almost fell off the bed. "Empress Zhao, I know I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I beg you not to tell Empress Jingshu."

"It's too late. I've already sent someone to call Concubine Jing Shu over."

Lady Wu looked ashen, bewildered and frightened.

Xie Run: "Why, are you so afraid of Concubine Jing Shu?"

Lady Wu had a hard time speaking out her feelings and suspected that Xie Run was deliberately taking the opportunity to take revenge on her.

Xie Run: "You are the biological mother of the Seventh Prince, so it is not wrong for you to go and see the Seventh Prince."

"But you don't take care of yourself. You're here in the middle of winter, courting death. Do you truly love the Seventh Prince, or is it selfish?"

Lady Wu stared at Xie Run with wide eyes, as if she didn't understand the implication of Xie Run's words.

Xie Run simply said it bluntly: "If you really love the Seventh Prince, you should take care of yourself and live longer."

"If you live, the Seventh Prince will be a person who has a mother to love him. If you die, the Seventh Prince will be a child without a mother."

"You've lived your whole life in vain, and you don't even understand this?"

If it weren't for the fact that Concubine Wu was in poor health, Xie Run's words might have been even more heartbreaking.

"Now that you've looked at him a few more times, it won't do him any good at all. Instead, it will only reveal your love for your son and Concubine Jing Shu's indifference."

Lady Wu listened in a daze, and suddenly burst into tears.

Lady Wu: "It's not that I'm selfish, but I really have no other choice!"

"The imperial physician said that my health is depleted and I may not survive this winter."

"Her Majesty Jingshu is holding the Seventh Prince hostage and won't let me see him, so I have no choice but to resort to this last resort."

"These few days are all I have left to live, and every moment I get to see the Seventh Prince is a blessing."

"I only hope that before I die I can remember the Seventh Prince's appearance, at least to preserve the mother-son relationship I had with him."

Concubine Wu cried so sadly that her body twitched.

The next second, Concubine Jing Shu opened the curtain and came in, saying coldly, "So you're tossing yourself like this, trying to torture yourself to death, so that the Emperor and the people in the six palaces will think that I'm mean, that I took your child away, and killed you?!"

"People like you, who talk about the deep love between mother and son, are actually selfish!"

"You've exhausted yourself to death, and you've made the Seventh Prince bear the grudge at such a young age. If some traitor instigates a quarrel and alienates me and my son, will that satisfy you?"

As Concubine Jing Shu spoke, she felt like laughing. "Sometimes, I really don't understand. Are you the Seventh Prince's biological mother or his enemy? How could you not want him to have a good life?!"

Concubine Wu said in shame and indignation, "Empress Jingshu has already given birth to the Seventh Prince, why must she humiliate me like this?"

"I carried the Seventh Prince for ten months and sacrificed half my life to give birth to him. Naturally, I value him more than my own life!"

"I am of low rank and unfavored, and I am not qualified to support the prince, but Concubine Jing Shu's words are too heartbreaking."

"Could it be that I am now ungrateful even for visiting the Seventh Prince?!"

Concubine Wu could no longer bear it and said, "If it weren't for Concubine Jing Shu's obstruction, why would I have risked my own health and braved the wind and snow to secretly take a look at the Seventh Prince?!"

Concubine Jing Shu curled her lips in a sneer, "Oh? So you ignored your own health and braved the snow to go to Yongning Palace, but did you see the Seventh Prince?!"

After hearing this, Concubine Wu became even more sad and embarrassed. "Yes, I was not able to see the Seventh Prince, and now I have to let Concubine Jing Shu mock me."

"Is Consort Jing Shu satisfied with my reduced state?!"

Concubine Jing Shu looked at her coldly for a long time before she uttered, "Selfish fool!"

Even now, Concubine Wu still refused to listen to a word others said, and thought that Concubine Jing Shu was talking back to her.

Concubine Wu argued in every possible way to prove that she was not a selfish person, but that she was a poor mother whose child was taken away and who was abused in every way.

Even though I know I won't be able to see anyone, I still go through the trouble regardless of my health.

Concubine Jing Shu just glanced at her and her eyes fell on Xie Run.

"Did Concubine Zhao call me here just to have a fight with this idiot?"

Xie Run said calmly, "Help Lady Wu back to bed first."

Then he said to Concubine Jing Shu: "Let's go to the main hall and talk."

Concubine Jing Shu turned around without even looking back.

Xie Run also walked away slowly.

Lady Wu looked at the backs of the two men and felt anxious, but she was powerless to do anything.

After leaving the bedroom, Concubine Jing Shu asked in a harsh tone, "Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine Zhao summoned me here, but did she want to give me a lecture?"

Xie Run raised an eyebrow: "Why do you say that, sister? Do you think you've done something wrong and need me to scold you?"

Concubine Jing Shu: "...Since Sister Zhao Guifei has nothing to say, I will leave first."

Concubine Jingshu made a gesture to leave, but Xie Run did not try to stop her and just sat down slowly.

After taking two steps, Concubine Jing Shu turned around and walked to Xie Run in two steps.

She was quite aggressive, which actually frightened Dan Tao and Xiao Shu. They both stepped forward to block Xie Run and said, "Empress Jing Shu!"

Xie Run: "Dan Tao, Xiao Shu, please don't be rude. Leave!"

The two of them retreated immediately.

Concubine Jing Shu glared at Xie Run. "Noble Concubine Zhao summoned me here today specifically because she wanted to be a good person, save Concubine Wu from her misfortune, and rebuke me for being such a vicious woman who stole someone else's child?"

Xie Run sighed softly, "Sister, why are you so excited? I haven't said anything yet."

"You didn't say it, but you did it!"

Concubine Jing Shu: "The Seventh Prince cannot be raised with her. It's not that I'm forcibly taking someone else's child, it's the palace rules!"

"If anyone is dissatisfied, please go and speak to the Emperor and the people who make the palace rules!"

Concubine Jingshu's words were referring to Concubine Wu and Xie Run.

Concubine Jing Shu: "I believe I have done my best to serve the Seventh Prince. I have cared for him like my own son and done my best. But now, because of Wu's behavior, I am being blamed for everything?!"

She questioned Xie Run, but met Xie Run's calm eyes, and suddenly became a little angry and embarrassed.

"I know you think I shouldn't stop her from seeing the Seventh Prince." Concubine Jing Shu said, "Noble Concubine Zhao raised her own son, so naturally she can't understand the hardships of a foster mother."

"If you were the fifth prince's adoptive mother, having painstakingly raised her, pouring in countless efforts, and suddenly a biological mother came out and started making such a fuss, saying she'd be content just to see her child once in a while, would you find it disgusting?"

"I am devoted to him, so he can only recognize me as his mother!"

"If you continue to show affection to me just because I'm your biological mother and remain fickle towards me, how can I tolerate this?!"

In other words, Concubine Wu thought that Concubine Jing Shu was the one who picked peaches, and Concubine Jing Shu also thought that Concubine Wu was the one who picked her peaches.

The child she raised wholeheartedly was not allowed to care about two mothers.

This is not reason, this is human nature.