It was as if something had been silently crushed.
Ning Wanshuang's heart throbbed violently, and a lump clogged in her throat, uneasy to either swallow or spit out.
But now that Chenghuan had said those things, he seemed relieved instead, and continued, "Brother Cheng Yu... The reason I wanted to harm him was because Mother Consort Hui said that the reason Mother raised a son was so that he could succeed and fight to be the Heir Apparent. If her son succeeded, perhaps Father Emperor would treat Mother Consort better in the future..."
As he spoke, he suddenly lifted his head, his gaze piercing straight through the opening and closing cracks of the latticed windows, staring at the nearly blooming osmanthus tree in the courtyard.
Before he knew it, hatred surfaced in his eyes, and tears welled up as well.
"I don't want Mother Consort to keep crying while looking at the osmanthus tree in the palace..." After leaving the study, I kept studying diligently. In fact, Father Emperor had already looked at me differently. But when Brother Cheng Yu came back, everything changed..."
His expression faded little by little, and his tone was extremely frustrated.
"Father Emperor treated Brother Cheng Yu very well. The way he looked at him was completely different from how he looked at me. Not long after, Father Emperor directly said he wanted to make him the Crown Prince. I didn't want to disappoint Mother Consort, so I wanted to be the Heir Apparent, I wanted to be the Crown Prince..."
Chenghuan took a deep breath to stop his sobs, and looked at Ning Wanshuang with tears in his eyes, somewhat aggrieved as he said:
"I wanted Mother Consort... to treat me well for the rest of her life."
Perhaps in the eyes of others, Chenghuan was complicated, undeserving, ungrateful and a white-eyed wolf.
But Ning Wanshuang had always firmly believed without a doubt -
Her Chenghuan, her son, was absolutely not an irredeemable scoundrel.
At this moment, she held Chenghuan in her arms, barely able to hold back her sobs as she said:
"Silly child, why go through all this pain? Mother Consort's affection for you has nothing to do with these things. From the day Mother Consort raised you, she had already treated you as her own son. All Mother Consort wishes is for you to be safe and healthy."
"Son knows." Chenghuan obediently nodded his head. His eyes were misty, covered with a layer of lingering moisture that could not dissipate.
After a while, as if remembering something, he actually smiled and said,
"I will always remember, Mother Consort who wiped me clean every day, Mother Consort who cooked medicine for me every day, Mother Consort who stayed by my side for three whole days and nights without sleep when I had a high fever..."
Ning Wanshuang's heart was like an overturned jar of five flavors, alternating between sourness and dull pain, constantly battering her emotions on the verge of collapse.
That's right,
In the child's eyes, she would always be the best Mother Consort.
But in the end, she still had something hidden from the child.
Ning Wanshuang looked at Chenghuan sorrowfully, shaking her head in distress,
"Mother Consort is not as good as you say..."
She subconsciously glanced at the decoction simmering on the stove, "Actually, Mother Consort..."
"Son knows," Chenghuan cut off Ning Wanshuang's words indifferently, "Son knows Mother Consort changed my medicine."
This light sentence made Ning Wanshuang's scalp tingle.
She panicked and wanted to explain,
But Chenghuan was still smiling at her,
That smile was as bright as the countless happy moments alone between mother and son in the past.
"I've taken that medicine every day, only I know how bitter it is. But the medicine Mother Consort gave me that day was sweet, it wasn't bitter anymore."
Chenghuan heaved a long sigh of relief, smiling even more sweetly,
"It's so nice. Actually, son has never liked bitter things. Mother Consort often told son that bitterness leads to sweetness. So now that I've had enough bitterness, I've finally tasted the sweetness."
Upon hearing Chenghuan's words, Ning Wanshuang was already crying uncontrollably.
Her thin lips trembled violently, and all she could do was guiltily murmur 'I'm sorry' between gritted teeth over and over again.
In Chenghuan's eyes,
His Mother Consort had always been unrestrained, radiant, the elegant lady that all the other consorts feared.
He had never seen Mother Consort so heartbroken before.
Seeing Mother Consort heartbroken, his small hands could only clumsily wipe away the tears on Mother Consort's cheeks.
"Don't cry, Mother Consort. Son has never blamed you. I heard everything Mother Consort and the Imperial Physician said in private that day. I've felt terrible every day, and I wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. It's good now. Son won't have to drink those bitter medicines that make my throat sore every day, and I won't have to soak in the medicinal bath for two or three hours every day."
As he spoke, he even had the mood to jokingly whisper to Ning Wanshuang:
"Actually, Mother Consort doesn't know this? After soaking for so long, son is just like Mother Consort now, a duck that can't swim!"
Perhaps because he had half a foot in the ghost gate ever since he was born,
So when faced with life and death,
Chenghuan was strong in a way that surprised yet pained others.
Ning Wanshuang tried her best to calm her agitated emotions, hugging Chenghuan tightly in her arms.
Hearing Chenghuan's slightly tired voice ask her,
"Mother Consort, has son... disappointed you?"
"No." Ning Wanshuang shook her head firmly, "Chenghuan has never disappointed Mother Consort, you are the best, you have always been Mother Consort's pride and joy."
Upon hearing this, Chenghuan finally closed his eyes peacefully in Ning Wanshuang's embrace.
He really enjoyed his mother's embrace,
Just like when he was little, he would always cling to Ning Wanshuang and complain that his body was itchy and sore.
"Mother Consort, I really, really wish you were my real mother. Mother Consort, do you think there is an afterlife?"
He asked and answered himself: "If there is an afterlife, will you be my real mother? I also won't get sick again, so I can stay by Mother Consort's side forever..."
Ning Wanshuang's tears burst forth as she blurrily promised,
"Alright, mother promises you."
The child lay quietly in Ning Wanshuang's embrace,
Just like when he first came to know the world, pestering his mother to sing nursery rhymes to him.
His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, but the deepening smile at the corners of his lips was full of anticipation for the 'future',
Along with the singing, he was completely happy, softly murmuring,
"Thank you, Mother."
"Chenghuan... really likes Mother."
On the seventh day of the first month of the ninth year of Qiyuan, the Eldest Imperial Prince Xiao Chenghuan passed away at the age of six.
On the same day, it was also Princess Jinghe's memorial ceremony. They were buried together, and the Emperor suspended court for two days as the entire nation mourned.
【Note from author: For the downfall of all antagonists in this book, I wrote them to be very distressing and oppressive. I don't think these people are completely evil, nor do I think the female protagonist is completely good. In my eyes, they are all living people with flesh and blood, whether they are the main character or supporting roles. I treat them as people who truly existed when I write them. And people are inherently complex and multifaceted. Alright, enough rambling, time to tidy my emotions! Starting tomorrow, we'll officially enter the last part of the full text, and start slaying dragons!】
