tallest building

Chapter 285 Gentle Persuasion

A single sentence reminded the Empress, who immediately stopped crying and instructed Yu Lu, "You must find someone to keep the news under wraps. The Grand Tutor must not know this terrible news. He is not yet fully recovered; if he finds out, he will surely weep uncontrollably. This child is his beloved junior; his departure from the capital to the north has already caused him immense worry, how can he bear this now…"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will go out immediately." Yu Lu hurriedly agreed, and then pleaded with Consort Hui, "Consort Hui, please trouble you to persuade Her Majesty the Empress."

After Yu Lu left, Consort Hui and Wen Mingqian took turns trying to persuade the Empress.

In the end, Wen Mingqian burned benzoin incense, which put the Empress to sleep.

At lunchtime, the Emperor made a special trip to the Empress's palace to dine with her.

The Empress looked quite dejected, and the Emperor comforted her, saying, "Even if the Empress is sad, she must find a way to comfort Princess Zhao. It is inconvenient for me to intervene in this matter, so you, as her elder sister, must take responsibility."

"Yes! As her sister and having experienced the pain of losing a child, I am the most suitable person to comfort her," the Empress said softly.

The Emperor paused for a moment upon hearing this, and said, "It seems this matter has also aggravated your old wounds. Tan'er is also my flesh and blood. Your pain is my pain too!"

Ying Tan was the crown prince born to the empress. He died of illness five years ago, almost taking the empress's life.

The Empress's headaches and insomnia also started around that time. She fell ill from missing her son and cried day and night. Only in recent years has her heartache subsided somewhat, but once it is triggered, she still finds it difficult to let go.

"If Tan'er were still alive, things wouldn't be like this today, and Song'er wouldn't have died so young," the Empress sighed.

"Let's get our minds off this!" The Emperor didn't want to dwell on painful memories. "The past can't be changed, let's look at the present!"

"I'm alright, I can always comfort myself, but I'm afraid my father..." the Empress said worriedly, "His health has not been very good in recent years, and he really can't bear to be sad anymore."

"I still have things to attend to. I see you haven't eaten much. I'll have someone prepare some snacks for you later," the Emperor said, rising to his feet. "Someone has submitted a memorial impeaching Dong Gang, saying that he engaged in many acts of favoritism during his salt inspection in Jiangnan."

"It must be those censors again, making baseless accusations against whoever they see." The Empress scoffed. "With his status and position, why would he need to show favoritism? He's probably just being lenient and giving vague answers."

"It is the natural duty of officials to speak out, and as the empress's nephew and the grandson of the Grand Tutor, he should be even more careful in upholding this duty. Even if there is nothing serious this time, it is good for him to be given a warning," the emperor said.

These words made the Empress very uncomfortable. She didn't know when it started, but the Emperor had gradually stopped being the same as before.

It was his own father, Grand Tutor Dong, who set him up as emperor, so his family became the most meritorious contributor to the rise of the new emperor.

For many years, the Emperor has almost never rejected the Dong family's proposals, which is what makes the Empress most satisfied and at ease.

But something has quietly changed now...

When she came to her senses, she found that the emperor had already left.

"Your Majesty, Lady Wen has prepared a medicinal meal for you," a palace maid said softly as she entered. "Please try a little bit! You barely ate anything for lunch." The Empress looked at the cold food on the table, thought for a moment, and said, "Very well, let her in!"

After drinking a bowl of medicinal soup, the Empress summoned a musician to play a tune softly in the outer room.

The music helped her calm down a little.

"Mingqian, how do you think I should comfort Princess Zhao? The pain of losing a child is unforgettable; it cannot be soothed by a few words." The Empress said wearily.

“Your Majesty is absolutely right. I think that no one can take away such pain from her. The Princess must slowly get through it on her own. Your Majesty is just doing your best. There are always many things in life that we cannot do without, and we can only hope that time will pass quickly. This is the only way to comfort the heartbroken.” Wen Mingqian also sighed softly.

"You haven't experienced the pain of losing a son, have you?" The Empress glanced at Wen Mingqian and said, "That's a pain you can never forget, even in death. I remember when the Crown Prince passed away, I wished I could go to the underworld myself and bring his soul back! When he was seriously ill, I prayed to Heaven every day. But now that he's gone, I hate Heaven. I hate it for taking my son's life, for being so cruel."

The Empress was already in tears as she spoke: "I won't comfort Princess Zhao. I'll only tell her to be content. Compared to me, she's already lucky, at least she has a son to rely on. And me? I can only raise someone else's son."

Besides, if they hadn't made that stupid mistake, they wouldn't be in this situation today!

Wen Mingqian didn't speak, and her tears streamed down her face like unstoppable raindrops.

"Why are you crying so sadly?" the Queen asked her.

Wen Mingqian wiped away his tears haphazardly and said, "This servant feels sorry for Your Highness. You must be heartbroken to say such things. Everyone admires and envies you for holding the position of Empress, but they don't know how much suffering you have endured that ordinary people cannot bear. This servant truly hates my own incompetence..."

"Alright, let's stop crying. Even if tears flow like a river, what's meant to leave will still leave, and there's no way to hold on to it." The Empress sighed. "You've also had a hard life. Although I don't know the details of your story, I have a general idea of ​​what happened. You were sent back to your hometown by the Gong family and endured seven years of hardship in that place, which is something that most people couldn't bear."

By the way, since you've divorced Gong Xu and are still young, why don't you consider remarrying?

The customs of the Great Xia Dynasty did not prohibit women from remarrying; in fact, there were even emperors who married women who had been married before.

Wen Mingqian shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Your Majesty, you do not know, I only wish to live with my son. Besides, even if I were to remarry, the family would certainly want me to have children for them. But I survived nine deaths back in Chang'an and am no longer able to have children."

"Oh? Is that so! Does the palace family know about this?" the Empress asked.

“I haven’t mentioned it to them,” Wen Mingqian said. “They’ve already made up their minds to leave, so there’s no point in saying anything more.”

The Empress sighed upon hearing this, "Yes! Women are most afraid of being heartbroken. I suppose you were deeply in love with Gong Xu back then."

"My matter is not worth mentioning. I only hope that Your Majesty can find some peace of mind and feel less sad."

"Go and prepare some of the things that Princess Zhao likes to use. I will send them to the north. I'm just doing my part; I can't worry about anything else," the Empress said.

"Then this servant will fetch you some warm water, wash your face, and redo your makeup, okay?" Wen Mingqian wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of his eyes. "If Your Majesty shows even a hint of sadness, then our skies will be clear."