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Chapter 236 Mother and Son
The Empress Dowager was well aware that "if the eldest prince were still alive..."

"Your Majesty, please do not mention the eldest prince again," the Great Yabghu reminded him. Originally, the Khan was not angry, but it was the Empress Dowager who mentioned the eldest prince again, which angered the Khan. "Now the sixth prince sits on the throne."

The Empress Dowager was startled, and slumped back in her chair as if all her strength had been drained, saying with a sorrowful expression, "Yes, my son has died in battle!"

The Great Yabghu didn't know what to say. He had already offered all the advice he could, and no one dared to scold him. Now that the Empress Dowager and the Khan were estranged, it was harmful to the regime.

"Your Majesty, you must not remain immersed in the grief of the passing of the eldest prince. The Khan is now bewitched by the Consort. Only you can dissuade him," the Great Yabghu said worriedly. "If the Khan does not even listen to you, then the Turks will be destroyed by the Great Yu sooner or later!"

The Turkic queen shuddered. No, absolutely not!

"Go tell the imperial kitchen to prepare the Khan's favorite roasted mutton," the Turkic Empress Dowager softened, "and then invite the Khan to dine with me tonight."

Da Yehu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the Holy Temple, Ashina Mu dismissed the messenger and sat on the gold-threaded cashmere carpet with a gloomy expression.

"Why is the Khan angry? The Empress Dowager has already softened her stance. How can a mother and son hold a grudge overnight?" Consort Dolan, no, she should now be called Consort Zhi, gently raised her hand and massaged Ashina Mu while speaking softly, "The Khan is benevolent and filial. He should go and visit the Empress Dowager."

"Give in? Mother doesn't even know what I like to eat!" Ashina Mu looked up at Consort Zhi, "Do you know what I, the Khan, like to eat?"

"The Khan loves to eat hemp, stuffed meat, onions, and roasted horse meat, and he also loves to drink the strongest liquor," Consort Zhi rattled off a long list. "As for roasted mutton, forgive my slip of the tongue, but I remember that the Khan gets rashes all over his body after eating mutton. Why did Your Majesty invite the Khan to eat roasted mutton?"

Even the woman who had served him for only a few months knew that he would get rashes after eating mutton, but his mother did not. Ashina Mu said bitterly, "The one who loved to eat roasted mutton was my deceased elder brother!"

Consort Zhi looked at him with a pained expression.

Ashina Mu felt a surge of tenderness in his heart as he looked at her. "You don't need to worry about me. I've known since I was little that my mother loves my eldest brother the most."

"My older brother is better than me in everything. He's better at horseback riding, more accurate at archery, and stronger in martial arts. If there's one thing he can't match me in, it's his fate!"

Ashina Mu's face was cold. "He is dead, but I am alive! That's why I can be Khan, but he cannot!"

“It’s clear that my elder brother wasn’t destined to be Khan, but Mother doesn’t think so. She believes that I, the Khan, stole my elder brother’s throne,” Ashina Mu said, his eyes welling up with tears. “Perhaps in Mother’s heart, the one who should have died earlier was me!”

Consort Zhi noticed that Ashina Mu used "Empress Dowager" instead of "Mother." She lowered her head to hide the smile on her lips, and when she raised her head again, her eyes were full of tenderness and maternal love. "But I don't think so."

Since Ashina Mu ascended to the throne as Khan, no one had ever dared to contradict him to his face, but he was not angry. Instead, he asked curiously, "Why?"

"As a mother myself, what mother wouldn't love her child?" Consort Zhi's tears fell like pearls, prompting Ashina Mu to reach out and catch them. "Since the passing of the Eighth Prince, I have dreamt of him every night. He cries out in pain, and when I hear it, I wish I could take his place."

Hearing Consort Zhi say this, Ashina Mu was filled with tenderness. He had never seen the Empress Dowager cry because of him, so he looked at her with extra care, as if he were watching his own mother cry because of him.

Ashinamu asked, "Are you going down to find your eighth brother?"

Consort Zhi shook her head, "Your Majesty, I have only one thought in my mind now, and that is to live well. As long as I live, there will still be someone in this world who cares about Xiao Ba. If one day I really can't hold on any longer, I will take my own life!" Yes, as long as the Empress Dowager lives, she will miss her eldest brother. So what difference does it make whether her eldest brother is dead or alive?
unless....

The thought flashed through Ashinamu's mind for a moment before he immediately stopped it.

He grabbed Consort Zhi's hands almost pleadingly, his eyes filled with entreaty, "What about me? I'm your son too. What can I do to take his place in your heart?!"

Consort Zhi understood almost instantly that Ashina Mu regarded her as his mother, the Turkic Empress Dowager!
Consort Zhi immediately seized the opportunity, "You don't need to do anything, just continue to be the way you are now!"

"Really? Then why does Mother only like my eldest brother and not me?" Ashinamu complained. "Is it because my eldest brother is more outstanding than me?"

"No! In my heart, you are more outstanding than the eldest prince!" Consort Zhi said gently but firmly. "You just need to do what you think is right. In your mother's heart, you are the best!"

"Really?" Ashina Mu knelt down on one knee, resting his head on Consort Zhi's knee, completely immersed in this rare maternal love.

Consort Zhi looked down at him with a smile, her long eyelashes drooping slightly to conceal the excitement and pleasure in her eyes.

"Khan!" A eunuch entered from outside the door to report, "The Empress Dowager's side..." The eunuch swallowed the rest of his words in horror as he saw the most honored Khan of the Turks kneeling before a woman.

The rare moment of tenderness between mother and son was shattered like a bubble. Ashina Mu instantly sobered up, stood up, and coldly said to the guards standing outside the door, "Drag them away!"

"Khan, spare me! Khan, spare me!" The eunuch's pleas for mercy quickly faded away.

Consort Zhi knelt on the ground and begged for forgiveness, "Khan, please forgive me. I didn't mean it. I was just thinking of the Eighth Prince, and that's why I lost my composure for a moment. Please forgive me."

"Alright, the ground is cold, don't kneel," Ashina Mu said without anger, personally helping Consort Zhi up. "From now on, when no one is around, we'll get along like this."

"Is what the Khan said true?" Consort Zhi asked incredulously.

"A word spoken by this Khan is as good as his bond!"

"Your Majesty, I understand," Consort Zhi said gently. "The Empress Dowager has sent someone to urge Your Majesty to go quickly!"

Ashina Mu looked reluctant, but was eventually persuaded by Consort Zhi to have a meal in the palace of the Turkic Empress Dowager.

The Turkic Queen Dowager waited and waited for her son for a long time, and her anger grew. She sent someone to urge him to come, but the eunuch brought news that the eunuch who delivered the message had been killed by the Khan!
The Turkic Queen Mother could barely contain her anger. If it weren't for the Great Protector's comforting presence, she would have rushed to the Holy Peace Palace to berate her son!

Seeing her son arrive so reluctantly, the Turkic Queen Dowager questioned, "Why is the Khan so late? Now that you've become Khan, you're not even willing to have a meal with your old mother?"

"It's not that I don't want to dine with Mother Empress, it's clearly that Mother Empress doesn't want to dine with me!" Ashina Mu mocked. "Otherwise, how could Mother Empress and Uncle not know that I simply cannot eat mutton?"

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