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Inside the desolate Buddhist hall, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing sat alone on the ground. She tried to straighten her back, but couldn't resist the relentless passage of time and the weariness of the years. Her body showed a hint of dispiritedness from old age.
The Emperor's heart suddenly felt a twinge of pain, "Imperial concubine mother..."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing didn't turn around. She spoke in a cool and indifferent tone, "If Your Majesty has nothing important, please leave."
Listening to her emotionless voice, the bitterness in the Emperor's heart grew stronger. "Imperial concubine mother, are you blaming Zhen?"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing smiled self-mockingly. "Blaming Your Majesty? For arbitrarily taking away Grannie Cai? Or for treating me like a ferocious beast in your nightmares? Or perhaps blaming you for bringing me back from outside the palace, only to hurriedly send me away from Huaqing Palace? Your Majesty, what am I? How many mothers in this world hope to be called 'mother' by their own sons?"
As she spoke, she turned around.
There were no tears in her eyes, only endless desolation.
The Emperor looked at her in this state and felt a pang of pain in his heart.
How could he doubt his Imperial concubine mother?
How could she have her own secrets?
How could she possibly send assassins to target the Empress Dowager?
Ning’an had married far away, she was forced to go to the nunnery, and her only son couldn't be by her side. How had she endured all these years in loneliness and destitution?
Had he forgotten all of that?
He approached her, kneeling in front of her, and held her hand. "Hong'er will never doubt again. In Hong'er's heart, you will always be his only mother."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's fingertips trembled, and her eyes turned red.
The Emperor, filled with guilt, tightened his grip on her hand. "Mother, have you not eaten yet? Hong'er will accompany you for the meal."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing asked in a steady voice, "Then, Your Majesty... Will you no longer doubt me?"
"Zhen..." The Emperor hesitated for a very brief moment. "Zhen won't."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing lowered her gaze.
……
"It turns out Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was hiding so deeply." Inside the carriage, Gu Chengfeng couldn't help but exclaim to Gu Jiao on the way back.
Gu Jiao wouldn't talk to him about these things. Gu Jiao was not very talkative. It was Eunuch Qin who had told him everything, thanks to the revolutionary friendship that was formed through Gu Chengfeng helping Eunuch Qin feed the turtles.
What surprised Gu Chengfeng the most was that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing even dared to harm the Emperor. He was her adopted son, how could she bear to feed him so many strange medicines? Wasn't she afraid of driving him insane?
"The heart of the most wicked woman!"
His words originally had double meanings. He wanted to take the opportunity to ridicule Gu Jiao as well.
However, Gu Jiao didn't respond at all.
Gu Chengfeng felt like his fist had landed on cotton.
The carriage swayed as it moved along. Suddenly, Gu Chengfeng smirked, "You switched the black medicine and the white medicine just now, didn't you? So, the next time she tries to drug the Emperor, won't it backfire?"
….
Under the dark moon and the gusting wind, the nunnery was secluded, with only the sound of sizzling coming from the small kitchen.
The Emperor went to another room to wait.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing pushed open the door to her own quarters and entered slowly. Then, she waved her sleeve backward and closed the door using internal energy.
She opened the wardrobe and took out the black and white medicine from a small box.
She removed the lid from the white medicine bottle and poured out a dark brown pill, wrapping it in a white cloth.
After finishing this, she intended to leave, but suddenly she stopped.
Her gaze fell on the small box, then she looked at the original place where the imperial decree was placed, and then at the two bottles——
Suddenly, she put the pill back into the white bottle and poured out a pill from the black bottle.
She took the pill from the black bottle and went to the adjacent room.
The vegetarian dishes were all served.
She knelt on the cushions with the Emperor, and the Emperor personally arranged the dishes for her.
"You should eat, Your Majesty." She said.
"There is no Emperor here, no imperial concubine dowager, only Hong'er and mother." The Emperor picked up a piece of tender bamboo shoot and handed it to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing. "I remember that mother likes bamboo shoots. It's not the season for fresh bamboo shoots now, so I've prepared pickled ones. When winter comes, I'll have someone dig up a basket of bamboo shoots for mother."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing said, "I can't eat so much."
"Your Majesty, this is a mushroom soup made by the imperial concubine dowager herself!" The young nun happily brought a bowl of soup.
The Emperor said, "Imperial concubine mother, please don't go through so much trouble."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing replied, "You rarely come here."
The Emperor said earnestly, "I will come every day, every day."
It was unclear if it was these words that touched Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's heart, but her expression finally softened.
She sighed, picked up the spoon, and ladled a bowl of mushroom soup for the Emperor.
"Everyone, please withdraw." She instructed.
"Yes." The young nun and the serving palace maids gradually left the room.
"You too, step down." The Emperor told Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes."
Inside the room filled with the lingering fragrance of sandalwood, only the two of them remained.
The so-called white medicine and black medicine were not necessarily about who fed the target, but rather about the person the target saw the moment the medicine took effect. It would make the target deeply remember the other party and that was enough.
"Drink it while it's hot." She handed the bowl of soup to the Emperor.
The Emperor took a sip and smiled. "Your culinary skills are as good as ever, mother."
"As long as you like it."
"Your Majesty! Empress Dowager summons you for a discussion!"
Suddenly, Eunuch Wei's report came from outside the door.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing looked at him with a slight flicker in her eyes. The Emperor felt his heart ache at her anxious gaze and said, "Zhen is having a meal. We'll discuss matters another day!"
"Alright." Eunuch Wei reluctantly agreed.
The Emperor picked up the spoon and drank the mushroom soup that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing had personally cooked for him, sip by sip.
After finishing the bowl of mushroom soup, the Emperor put down the bowl and held his forehead. "Mother, I'm feeling a bit dizzy."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing looked at him tenderly and said, "It's alright. If you feel dizzy, just take a rest, and you'll feel better when you wake up."
The Emperor leaned on the table, looking at Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing in a dazed manner. Before him was Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's smile, in his ears was Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's voice, and at his nose was Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's scent.
All of this was deeply imprinted in his mind.
He wanted to remember this person, though he didn't know why he wanted to remember her.
But he remembered her deeply.
On the carriage, Gu Jiao lazily leaned against the carriage wall. "I did swap the white medicine with the black medicine, but then I swapped them back again."
Gu Chengfeng was shocked and pale, "What are you saying? You... You swapped them back again? So, the white bottle still contains white medicine, and the black bottle still contains black medicine?"
Gu Jiao nodded. "That's right."
Gu Chengfeng was astonished. "Why did you do that?"
Gu Jiao replied calmly, "Because godfather once said that in this world, there are always some people who like to outsmart themselves."
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