Chapter 11: 11

Mother, is it right for your son to do this?

The empty hall was dimly lit and silent.

A fourteen-year-old boy, dressed in mourning clothes, with a pale face and a thin figure, quietly knelt before his mother’s memorial tablet, who had died ten years ago.

There is a tall bright lamp in front the memorial tablet, a light that would not extinguish. There is also a small pot with incense sticks, a pot of wine and a plate of fruit on the table in front.

The boy’s eyes stared at the bright light and remained motionless.

At the entrance of the hall, a gradual sound of footsteps came closer.

The founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, his Father Emperor, came to his mother’s shrine late at night, trekking through the snow.

He did not come in, but stopped outside the hall.

The Emperor was in his prime, the most vigorous age in a man’s life. Although he is mourning for the Empress Dowager and his face is weary, the Emperor’s majesty still makes people dare not look directly.

He glanced at the dark inner hall, turned to Mu mama, and asked, “What’s the matter?” 

Mu mama, who has been accompanying Xi’er all these years, knelt inside the threshold and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, tomorrow will be the tenth anniversary of Empress Yuan. Which is why Your Highness would be so bold as to ask Your Majesty to come here tonight.” 

The wind roared from behind, carrying snow from the dark night sky, rushed towards the open door of the hall from above the tall eaves. The wind lifted the Emperor’s robe, and under his mourning clothes, a corner of his yellow dragon robe was revealed.

His figure froze for a moment before he took a step and crossed the threshold.

“All of you, go out.”

Mu mama bowed, got up and retreated.

The door shut.

The Emperor, under the guidance of the dim lights in the depths of the hall, slowly walked to the boy and stopped behind him.

The young man got up from his mother’s memorial tablet, turned to face the Emperor, knelt down again and bowed.

He could not speak.

He could not speak after his escape ten years ago, from Pucheng.

Once such a smart and lively child, but overnight, completely lost his ability to speak and became a mute.

Despite all the methods used by the imperial doctors, it was all in vain.

The palace people secretly rumoured that His Highness, the eldest son of Emperor, suffered a great fright when he was young so he lost his voice and could not speak.     

The Emperor looked at the memorial tablet and was silent for a moment. He then said to the thin figure in front of him who was kneeling on the ground, “Tomorrow, I will order someone to come here to offer sacrifices to your Mother Empress.”     

The young man remained kneeling on the ground, as if he did not hear. The Emperor walked to the young man, bent down and reached and gently held his arms to lift him up from the ground.     

The young man slowly raised his face.     

Although his face is pale and thin, there was beauty in his facial features

When Emperor seized the world, he was regarded by the cabinet ministers as the unsurpassed outstanding Emperor. But it is said that when he was young, he was handsome and had the demeanor of a scholar.     

The young man’s face was very similar to the Emperor’s, but his eyebrows, according to the rumours of the palace people, resembled Empress Yuan.     

Empress Yuan died ten years ago. According to those who have seen her, Empress Yuan has the reputation as the first beauty of Changsha. A generational beauty who looks like a heavenly fairy.

The appearance of His Royal Highness the eldest son, combined the strengths of his parents, dragon blood and phoenix marrow, was naturally outstanding.     

The only regret is that he lost the ability to speak.     

The emperor stared at the pair of clear eyes in front of him, a complex look flashed through his eyes, and he said in a low voice, “Xi’er, I know that you should have some grievance in your heart. You should not blame me. You are my eldest son, and I know that you are very smart. If it weren’t for your inability to speak, why would I not let you become the crown prince?” 

He paused.

“Although you can not be the crown prince, I will definitely ensure you a life of peace and happiness. If your mother had a spirit, she should be at ease.” 

The young man stared at the emperor with a smile on his lips and bowed his head towards him. He then got up and went to the offering table, picked up the wine jug, turned up the three upside-down cups and poured the wine into it one by one.

He took the first cup and poured it on the ground to pay respect to his deceased mother, the second cup, respecting the memorial tablet, drank it himself.

After doing this, he stepped aside, knelt on the ground again, looked at the emperor and bowed solemnly to him.

The emperor hesitated for a moment, but he stepped forward, picked up the third cup of wine and drank it paying respects to the dead.

He put down the cup, turned around and said, “Get up. The ground is cold.”

If there were any outsiders at this moment, they would be surprised.

The tone of the Emperor’s words was gentle and rarely seen.

The young man did not get up.

“Father, I, thank you for your regard. But I do not want to be the crown prince.”

He surprisingly opened his mouth to speak.

“I just wanted to ask Father, tomorrow is the tenth anniversary ceremony, for such an important day, why don’t you come pay respects to my mother?” 

The boy’s voice was a little low, but his words were clear.

The air in the hall instantly seemed to be frozen by ice and snow.

The light in front of the memorial tablet swayed and flickered.

The Emperor looked at the young man for a long time, before coming back to his senses.

“Xi’er! Can you speak now?”

“When were you able to speak?”

He ignored the disrespect to himself implied by the boy’s words and stepped forward with an unmistakeable look of surprise on his face. 

“A few years ago, I was able to speak. I just didn’t want to speak.” 

The young man said, glancing at the memorial tablet.

“Father, if your son remembers correctly, you have never taken a step here in all these years! Tonight, if it wasn’t for your son’s request, you probably would not have come here, right?” 

The Emperor looked at the indifferent young man. The happy look on his face disappeared, and he did not make a sound.

“Father, do you disdain to come, or do you not take my mother’s death to heart at all?” 

The young man raised his voice abruptly, as if he was interrogating.

The Emperor frowned as if he had been pricked by a needle.

“Bold! How dare you speak like that?” 

The young man looked at the emperor and smiled.

“Yes, you are the founding emperor of Great Zhou. This new dynasty, under your governance, is thriving and the people are safe. In the future, the country will be prosperous and continue. I can foresee that when the historians write the records of the emperors, even if your accomplishments are not comparable to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors it is comparable.”

“You are not only the Emperor, but also my biological father. Without your blood, how could I have been born?”

“But I tell you, no matter how they praise you and worship you, in my eyes, Father, you are a cold-blooded person without a conscience!”

The Emperor stared at the young man, his face dark, with a faint flow of anger in his eyes.

There was no sign of fear on the young man’s face, he slowly stood up and straightened his thin but upright waist.

“When the Hanlin writers while cultivating your ancestral genealogy carefully avoided your youth. They only said that you had great ambitions from childhood and were outstanding in martial arts. They did not dare to say a word against you. But you know in your own heart that you are a thief from Jiangyang! Only with my grandfather’s help, you entered the official career and since then you have been on the rise. My mother at that time married down, should not have wronged you at all, right? But how did you treat her? The first year she married you, you could not wait to bring other women in!”

“During those years, I was unclear of my Father’s appearance. When I was a little older, I remember that every morning, regardless of whether it is winter or summer, my mother had to get up early to serve my grandmother with tea and food. But concubine Qi was able to stay by my grandmother’s side, smiling at my originally noble mother who had to endure all kinds of criticism from my grandmother!” 

The Emperor’s brows were still tightly furrowed, but the anger on his face just now gradually subsided. He silently looked at the young man and did not interrupt his words.

“That’s all. Father, then my mother died! After she sent me away, she did not want to be a burden to you and she knew that you could not back down for her so she killed herself.

“I’ll never forget the day General Yuan took me to escape, when I broke free of his hand covering my eyes and I saw that scene when I turned back!” 

The boy’s eyes were red and his voice trembled slightly.

“She is the princess of Changsha, originally such a beautiful and noble woman. She should not be treated like that! She died, and those people did not let her go. The weather was so cold, but she didn’t even have a decent garment on her. The wounds left on her by your enemies and covered in blood!  She was hung upside down with her feet tied above the city and while the wind blew, she swayed. She was so helpless and miserable in the unbridled humiliating laughter of those soldiers…” 

The boy shed tears, and his thin figure was as stiff as a rock.

The emperor looked stiff and closed his eyes. When he opened them he walked slowly towards the young man, raised his hand and took his arm.

“Xi’er…” He called the boy’s nickname, his voice shaky.

There was a trace of disgust in the boy’s eyes, he broke free from his father’s hand and took a few steps back.

“Father, it has been ten years and you should have already forgotten my mother. But I can’t forget her! I always dream of her. I’ll never forget the scene where she was hung on the city!”

“I dare not accuse you of not trying your best to save us during our one-year captivity when you were fighting for the world. I am even less qualified to ask you give up the city that was exchanged with the sacrifice of the soldiers for the sake of my mother and me. You have your own considerations and trade-offs, I understand! But Father, what I cannot forgive is, what have you done since then? How did you treat my mother?”

“You gave her an empty title of Empress Yuan with a series of beautiful posthumous words before her name, then built a place for her tablet. From then on you felt that you can feel at ease?” 

The boy’s tone became intense, and a blush appeared on the pale face.

“I have always felt as though she did not leave here. She is looking at me and at you!”

“Xi’er! That’s enough!” The emperor bellowed violently.

“It’s far from enough! If you hadn’t used her, married her and harmed her in the first place, how could she have ended up like this? Over the years, if you still harbour some semblance of guilt towards her, I would have been fine. But you are ruthless and unjust, you did not even come to pay tribute on her tenth anniversary!”

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“Xie, Chang, Geng!” The boy’s eyes were red, as if stained with blood, stared at the Emperor in front of him and called out his name.

“Not only are you not worthy of my mother, you are still the culprit who killed her!”

“You are unbridled! If you talk continue to talk nonsense, I will punish you with a serious crime!” 

The emperor’s face was ashen.

After a pause, he eased his tone again.

“You are still unaware that the person who brought you and your mother into the enemy’s hands was Qi shi. It was this bitch who leaked the information to the people of Qi wang. I only learned about this later. Just now, before I came here, I already ordered her to be punished.”

The young man stared at the emperor with a peculiar expression and suddenly laughed.

“Father, do you think that if you do this, my mother will finally be able to rest in peace and even thank you for revenge on her behalf?”

He laughed so wildly that he almost burst into tears before he stopped.

“Ten years! My mother has been dead for ten years, and you did not do it until now…”

“Father, allow me to ask you, are you really avenging my mother, or out of hatred for Qi shi’s betrayal against you? Which is why you waited until the Empress Dowager had passed before you made your move?

The Emperor frowned and said coldly, “After your grandmother had a stroke, she was muddled and needed support. She is merely waiting to die, there is no bother. It’s getting late, you should go back to rest!”

After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the spiritual hall but after a few steps his feet faltered and his figure swayed.

He steadied his mind and turned around slowly.

In the hands of the young man there was a long sword.

The candles flickered and the sword glowed.

The Emperor quickly glanced at the pot of offering wine on the table and then stared at the young man with a look of disbelief and anger in his eyes.

“How dare you attack me?” He gritted his teeth.

The teenager laughed.

“Father, do you feel weak and breathless now and can’t even stand? Let me tell you, I often read the medical books left behind by my mother. One day, I saw a very powerful medicine in the book and learned how to prepare the recipe myself…”

“You evil creature!” The Emperor’s face twisted.

“Someone, come!”

He shouted sharply towards the outside of the hall.

After shouting, the Emperor suddenly remembered that his eldest son, throughout the years, would never allow any outsider to step into the palace of his dead mother, considering it an offense to his mother.

How could he not know this? So, for the son he always felt guilt towards, when he came he deliberately left all his entourage outside the palace gate.

The Emperor then had an epiphany.

In order to wait for this moment, this son of his, must have been preparing for a long time.

His son’s forbearance and scheming, how deep and terrible to such a point!

The emperor’s shout echoed in the spirit hall.

The door was pushed open, and Mu mama ran in. Seeing the staggering back of the emperor, she was shocked and confused as to what had happened.

The long-lit lamp were swaying violently due to the night wind, and the Emperor glared at his son angrily. Instead of retreating, he advanced and stumbled towards him.

“Evil creature! I don’t believe you really dare to kill me!”

When he reached his son, he was unable to support himself any longer and fell to the ground.

The young man looked at him with cold eyes, as if he was looking at a lifeless sacrifice offering placed on the table, when the Emperor fell at his feet, he smiled.

He raised his hand, and his slender fingers stroked the icy sword edge lightly.

“Father, do you recognise this sword? On the day you seized Pucheng, after seeing me, you took it off your body and gave it to me. It has been stained with the blood of countless people, and you asked me to be a man.”

The young man squatted down slowly in front of his father who was lying on the ground and met his eyes.

The emperor glared angrily.

The smile on the boy’s face disappeared, he raised his arm and swung his sword towards the Emperor.

Amidst Mu mama’s scream, the emperor felt a cold sword sweep across his forehead.

There was no blood.

A “ding” sounded softly.

The crown on the top of his head broke into two.

His hair, which was tied in the crown, was broken and fell on the ground.

The emperor remained motionless and watch as his son slowly stood up from the ground.

“Father, I heard that when you were my age, you killed to avenge your father’s death. I am useless, but my desire to avenge my mother is not inferior to you, Father. If it were in my nature, I would have killed you by now.”

“But I can’t take your life. If you die, there will be turmoil in the world again and I’m afraid that when I see my mother, she will blame me.”

“Listen, I cut your hair as a symbol of killing you. Heaven’s law does not allow a son to kill his father. From now on, I will have no father and you will not have me as a son!”

He used the tip of his sword to pick up the black hair on the ground and without looking at the Emperor again, he turned around. He walked to Empress Yuan’s tablet and placed it on the offering table. After bowing, he stood up and asked the tablet, “Mother, is it right for your son to do this?”

 There was no response. There was only the suppressed choking sound of Mu mama who was kneeling at the side.

The long-lit lamp swayed violently.

The young man looked around slowly and said desolately, “Mother, all these years, I have always felt that you are right next to me. I remember when I was young, he was always away from home. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that you still awake and so lonely. In fact, you should not have let General Yuan take me away. I did not want to leave you alone. I am here to accompany you. From now on, I will never be separated from you again.”

He closed his eyes, tilted his head, swung his sword towards his neck and slashed it.

“Xi’er!”

The emperor shouted, his eyes were wide. With an unknown source of strength, he struggled up and together with Mu mama, rushed towards the young man in front.

But it was too late.

The sword blade slashed through, blood splashed on the altar and the long-lit lamp was extinguished at once.

The hall was instantly plunged into darkness, and only the heart-piercing yell of the Emperor remained.

After a few moments, the palace servants were alerted, rushed into the hall with lanterns and were stunned by what they saw.

The Emperor, with his hair disheveled, held the eldest son in his arms in front of the Empress Yuan’s memorial tablet, muttered, “Xi’er… It’s not that I don’t want to come… I don’t dare come…” 

The precious sword across the ground, the two men, splattered with blood.

…

The pain that seemed like a thousand arrows pierced through her heart again.

Mu Fulan’s body slowly slid down.

She closed her eyes tightly, curled herself up tightly and laid on the couch, motionless.

Mu mama was waiting outside with unease. She saw the door open and Xie Changgeng came out so she hurried to meet him and was about to speak until she saw his gloomy face. He took big steps and walked out. No matter what happened, she couldn’t care about him and instead went inside to see how the princess was doing.

Xie Changgeng went straight out of the palace, returned to the post house and ordered to leave overnight.

His entourage were very surprised.

He usually did not show his emotions but at this moment, he had an ugly look on his face. The people were shocked and wondered what had happened at the banquet to provoke him to such a state. But they did not dare they ask questions, instead they busily started packing their luggage and when they were done, the group left the post house and headed to the city gate.

When they approached the city gate, there was a sound of horses’ hooves from behind.

The prime minister of Changsha, Lu Lin, rode up to him on horseback and shouted loudly, “Governor Xie! Stay!”

Xie Changgeng slowly stopped his horse.

Lu Lin came close and dismounted and came running towards him, panting.

He was not wearing his official hat and the boots on his feet were worn backwards.

“Governor Xie, what’s the matter? Why do you have to leave in the night?”

Xie Changgeng’s expression had returned to normal, and he smiled, “Before I left, I left a letter with the postmaster and he was to send it on my behalf tomorrow morning. The purpose of my trip is to pay respects to the late king, and to bring back my wife. I have already paid my respects to the late king, but my wife after arriving to Kuizhou, has not acclimatised to the soil and her body is not well. Since she has come back, let her stay and recuperate for a few more days. Since I have other important things to attend to, I need to leave now. I thank Changsha wang and the Prime Minister for your hospitality. Prime Minister, please stay, I will say goodbye first and see you another time.”

Lu Lin had just returned home and after lying down for a bit when he was informed that Xie Changgeng and his party were leaving, and he hurriedly chased after them.

Lu Lin was worried that something had offended Xie Changgeng causing him to leave at night in anger. When he caught up to him and saw him smiling, he was relieved. He said that Changsha wang was drunk at the banquet so he took over the duty of sending him out of the city.

Xie Changgeng did not refuse and let Lu Lin send him out.

The city gate opened and Lu Lin sent him out with courtesy. He watched his figure disappear into the night, then he slowly let out a breath, dubious, and returned to the city without mentioning it.

Xie Changgeng galloped for a while and suddenly stopped.

Seeing that he seemed to be troubled, his entourage also stopped and looked at him.

Xie Changgeng turned his head and looked at the city behind him, which was outlined in black by the night. After a while, he turned his face and instructed an attendant named Zhu Liuhu who was good at gathering information, “You stay behind and conceal your identity. If there are any news about Changsha, pass it to me.”

“Especially the princess, pay attention to her movements. The more details, the better.

Xie Changgeng instructed calmly.

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