Chapter 120: I Want To Hear Your True Thoughts
The next evening, Mo Ziyuan accompanied the Crown Prince to the Emperor’s sleeping palace.
“Your humble subject will wait outside. Your Highness, please take extra care with everything.”
“Zi Yuan, don’t worry. I know.” The Crown Prince patted his shoulder and stepped onto the steps of Lu Quan Palace.
In the spacious sleeping hall, an elderly man lay on the bed. He was extremely emaciated, and beneath the bright yellow brocade quilt, the outline of his body was almost invisible. His grayish-white hair was messily spread on the pillow. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, no one would think he was alive.
The Crown Prince slowly paced over and stood at the bedside, looking at the most powerful man in the world. A flash of mockery passed through his dark eyes, then quickly vanished.
Perhaps sensing he was being watched, the Emperor coughed twice and opened his turbid eyes.
“Father Emperor!” The Crown Prince respectfully knelt at the bedside, looking at him with filial affection.
“Cough cough, it’s… it’s the Crown Prince!” The Emperor stared at him for a while before recognizing him.
“It is your son, Father Emperor. What do you want?” Seeing the Emperor reaching out to him, the Crown Prince hesitated almost imperceptibly before gently grasping that skinny hand and asking.
“Help me sit up! Lying like this day after day tires me out!”
The Crown Prince stood up, gently supporting the Emperor’s shoulders. With a slight exertion, he easily helped him up to lean against the bed.
The Emperor looked at his young and strong son with a complex gaze. After a long time, he withdrew his sight and looked at his hand resting on the quilt.
It was a pair of aged, bloodless, skeletal hands, completely different from the steady, powerful, flesh-filled hands that had just helped him up.
Once upon a time, he had also possessed such a pair of hands and had held the owner of those hands in his arms, cherishing and protecting him.
“Father Emperor?” The Crown Prince’s call interrupted the Emperor’s recollection of his youthful days in an untimely manner. He looked over displeased. “What is it?”
Noticing the Emperor’s displeasure, the Crown Prince pursed his lips. “Your herbal medicine is ready. Eunuch An asks if you wish to take it now.”
“Oh, take the medicine,” the Emperor murmured dazedly, then said in a low voice, “Bring it in then!”
“Yes, your son will let him in right away.” The Crown Prince stood up, took two steps back, then turned and walked to the door. He opened it and let Eunuch An in.
“Your Majesty, this old servant will help you take the medicine!” Eunuch An was an old servant who had attended the Emperor since his days in the estate. Seeing the Emperor, who now struggled even to sit without support, he couldn’t help but redden his eyes.
“Give it to me to drink myself! You old thing love to torment me with spoonful after spoonful of bitter medicine. This time, no matter what, I won’t give you the chance.” The Emperor squinted at the medicine bowl with a spoon in it.
“Alright, alright. This old servant won’t torment Your Majesty. Your Majesty, hold it and drink yourself.” Eunuch An placed the tray on the small table beside, wiped his face, and handed the medicine bowl to the Emperor.
The Emperor reached out, but found his hand trembling uncontrollably. An ordinary bowl now felt like a thousand pounds. When he held it, his hand shook even more, and the dark medicinal liquid spilled out, staining the bright yellow bedding that symbolized supreme status.
“Father Emperor, let your son help you!” The Crown Prince did not take the medicine bowl from his hands but instead cupped his hands firmly with both of his own, steadily bringing it to his lips.
The Emperor fell silent. He downed the bowl of herbal medicine without a word. Though his sense of taste had deteriorated greatly, he could still feel the bitter taste spreading in his mouth.
At that moment, a preserve was popped into his mouth. The cloying sweetness dispersed the medicinal taste, and the Emperor involuntarily smacked his lips hard, making the medicine taste even fainter.
“Why give me this?” He spat the pit into the Crown Prince’s open palm and suddenly asked.
“When your son was little, after drinking the herbal medicine, Father Emperor would give your son preserves. Eating them made it not taste bitter.” The Crown Prince lowered his eyes and replied.
Reminded by him, the Emperor also recalled the scene. Back then, the Yuan Empress was still alive. The sick Crown Prince was not as obedient and sensible as usual and refused to drink his medicine no matter what. He had held him in his arms, coaxing him to finish the medicine and eat a preserve so it wouldn’t taste bitter.
Though the scene back then was a bit chaotic, it was warm and full of affection.
The Emperor looked around: the spacious sleeping hall, his aloof son, the timid and humble eunuch chief. Suddenly, he felt very cold, a coldness that could not be warmed no matter what.
“Father Emperor?” Noticing the Emperor’s body trembling slightly, the Crown Prince looked up at him and tentatively called out.
“I am fine.”
“Father Emperor, would you like to lie down and rest?” Seeing the Emperor’s weary expression, the Crown Prince asked softly.
The Emperor nodded almost imperceptibly and lay back on the bed with the Crown Prince’s assistance.
After settling the Emperor, the Crown Prince had just turned to sit on the chair nearby when the Emperor’s weak voice suddenly came from behind: “Sit down and talk with me!”
Stunned for a moment, the Crown Prince slowly turned back and sat sideways on the edge of the bed. “What does Father Emperor want to say to your son?”
“…Tell me about the Crown Prince’s views on court affairs!” The Emperor said after pondering for a long time.
Unsure of the Emperor’s intent, the Crown Prince carefully selected some vague remarks.
“I want to hear your true thoughts.”
“This…” Seeing he couldn’t fool him, the Crown Prince picked some less sensitive topics to mention.
At first, the Crown Prince spoke and the Emperor listened. Later, it became both speaking. Then, it turned into the Emperor speaking and the Crown Prince listening.
After talking for more than an hour, the Emperor finally fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Looking at his aged face, the Crown Prince’s emotions were complex and indiscernible. He and the Emperor had not communicated like this for a long time. Once upon a time, they had such harmonious moments, but as the Emperor aged and he grew up, their relationship quietly changed in many ways.
Gradually shifting from father and son to sovereign and subject.
His position became increasingly awkward, eventually unable to even protect his own Crown Princess, and his son had to be sent away.
The Crown Prince’s gaze gradually became resolute. He didn’t know how long this warmth could last. Rather than pinning hopes on a vague father-son bond, it was better to fight and seize everything himself.
Because he had no right to fail. Once he lost, all those following him would fall into irredeemable ruin. He neither wanted nor could bear such an outcome, so father-son sentiments could be dispensed with!
Once again armoring himself, the Crown Prince’s gaze gradually turned cold. He stood up and sat straight-backed on the chair at the bedside, quietly awaiting the start of the show.
Eunuch An stood at the entrance of the sleeping palace, occasionally stealing glances at this pair—the most noble father and son in the world, yet the least like one—wondering what was on his mind.
At the third watch of the night, light footsteps sounded outside. Then, a somewhat pungent fragrance wafted in through the door crack.
