Chapter 226: Heart Trembling

(T/L NOTE: Everyone thank the buyers of {330+} chapters, that you got to read these bonus chapters!)

This… let’s just forget it.

If he could be more sensible now, he could at least maintain some respect between him and his stepfather. As father and son, Ye Shuo didn’t want to make things too embarrassing at the end.

It’s really meaningless to be on guard against and suspicious of my cheap father at this point.

So Ye Shuo thought for a moment and said, “Father is very busy, and the war situation at the border has been tense recently, so why not… not celebrate my birthday…”

Looking at his youngest son’s back, Emperor Jingwen had only one thought in his mind –

“He is blaming me, he hates me…”

That’s right. Who wouldn’t blame and hate him when he found out that his biological father never wanted him to live since he was born?

However, if Emperor Jingwen were allowed to choose again, he would still do the same.

So after the crown prince and other princes, he finally lost another son.

Soon, everyone in the palace discovered that instead of reconciling, the emperor and the ninth prince’s relationship became increasingly strained.

Whenever the Ninth Prince entered the palace, he would deliberately choose a time when Emperor Jingwen was not around or was busy. Even if the two of them bumped into each other in the palace, the Ninth Prince would avoid them as far as possible in advance.

Ye Shuo is a very knowledgeable and interesting person. He knows exactly when to advance and when to retreat. Most importantly, he is very smart. When he wants to stay away from someone, he almost never fails.

As a result, Emperor Jingwen had several occasions where he received the news in advance but still came up empty-handed.

The atmosphere between the two was so weird that even the Imperial Concubine noticed it, and she couldn’t help but ask what had happened.

But how could Ye Shuo tell his mother? It had happened so many years ago, and telling it now would only cause trouble.

So Ye Shuo just said: “Mom, don’t ask.”

Then the Imperial Concubine really stopped asking. Although she was worried in her heart, she would not force her son if he didn’t say anything.

Jianjian, who was standing by, saw this and felt anxious. One was her father and the other was her brother, so she naturally hoped that both of them were doing well.

Seeing that she couldn’t get anything out of her brother, Jianjian had no choice but to go to Emperor Jingwen.

However, the only way Emperor Jingwen could answer her was silence.

How could he say that he was killing his own children?

“It’s all… my fault…”

The moment the words fell, everyone, including Jianjian, widened their eyes.

Wang Ziquan almost dropped the teacup in his hand. Although he steadied his hand in time, some of the tea still spilled out. This was totally impossible for a eunuch who had served the emperor for decades.

It’s just as incredible as the emperor admitting his mistakes.

In all these years, when has Wang Ziquan ever seen this side of His Majesty?

After Jianjian left in a daze, Emperor Jingwen also got up and went back to his bedroom to rest.

In recent days, Emperor Jingwen has become more and more silent. The imperial palace has become even more deserted. Even if he puts on more clothes, he still can’t resist the chill that seeps out from his bones.

Ever since Emperor Jingwen became ill, Prince Jin and Prince Su would visit him in the palace from time to time. The two of them grew up with Emperor Jingwen. Although Emperor Jingwen’s status was very different after he became emperor, they still had a brotherly relationship.

On this day, Prince Su came to accompany Emperor Jingwen to fish in the Imperial Garden as usual. At this time, a whole month had passed since Ye Shuo came out of Zhao Chongrong’s Shu Lan Zhai.

Just when Prince Su was racking his brains to try to make Emperor Jingwen happy, he heard Emperor Jingwen say something out of the blue.

“Royal brother, tell me, is all this retribution?”

Seeing his brother’s hair getting whiter and whiter, Prince Su’s heart trembled inexplicably. Subconsciously, Prince Su pretended to be relaxed and said, “How could it be?”

“Everyone in this world knows that my brother is a wise ruler.”

Apart from Emperor Gaozu who founded the Great Zhou, his royal brother was the most outstanding person in the entire Ye family.

“He is a wise monarch, but not a good father.” First it was the crown prince, then Xiaojiu, and eventually his own sons would leave him one after another.

Shaking his head in self-mockery, Emperor Jingwen left in silence with his hands behind his back.

It was not until this moment that Prince Su realised that his brother, who used to be cold-hearted and fearless, was now just an ordinary person.

There is always a shortage of palace servants around the emperor, but the dark dragon robe he wears separates him from those people far away. No matter how many people are around him, from a distance he looks like a lone figure.

The young man who used to support him is gone. Everything has changed. No one can get close to him anymore.

After Emperor Jingwen left, Prince Su thought about it and finally decided to visit his nephew’s house in person.

At that time, Ye Shuo was enjoying the breeze in the pavilion on the hill in his back garden. The hanging chair he had tied with his own hands was swaying, and he seemed a little absent-minded.

About half an hour later, Ye Shuo heard some noise not far away and woke up from his complicated thoughts, then subconsciously looked over.

Then he saw Prince Su, supported by his attendants, climbing the last step breathlessly.

Seeing this, Ye Shuo hurriedly got down from the hanging chair.

“Huh… I’m so old, and my legs and feet are not very useful anymore.” Prince Su, Prince Jin, and Emperor Jingwen are only one or two years older, or two or three years younger than each other, so they are actually about the same age.

In the past, Prince Su could ride his horse to hunt and could go through most of the day without even taking a breath. But now, he even finds it difficult to climb a small hill.

Ye Shuo helped him sit on the stone bench next to him, and couldn’t help but frown and said, “Why did the emperor uncle come up here by himself? He didn’t even ask the housekeeper to inform me so that I could go down to greet you.”

Prince Su didn’t care. “It has nothing to do with the housekeeper. I didn’t tell the people below me to report it. I just happened to have some free time, so I can stretch my muscles.”

Although Prince Su said so, he was his uncle. No one would come to see him for no reason. Ye Shuo could almost guess the purpose of Prince Su’s visit.

It was estimated that Prince Su came back this time to persuade him to reconcile with his adoptive father, and Ye Shuo couldn’t help but sigh.

But some things cannot be explained in a few words. Rather than making the ending worse, it is better to stop here.

Prince Su did not go straight to the point, but told Ye Shuo a story. The protagonist of the story was none other than Emperor Jingwen himself.

As the brother of Emperor Jingwen, Prince Su watched him walk along the way and naturally knew how difficult it was for this imperial brother.

“Like being forced by the late emperor to accompany the Beiting people to drink, these are still minor matters. Back then, the late emperor saw that your father was outstanding, which made him look even more unbearable. He wanted to kill your father many times. Because of this, your father took good care of the prince after he was born and treated him with special favour.”

“He thought that this way he could avoid those tragedies, and that as long as his attitude was firm enough, everything would be fine.”

Several years ago, the late emperor wanted to kill his own son. Several years later, the emperor brother also wanted to kill his own son. It went on and on, as if it was a cycle of fate.

“He tried so hard to avoid tragedy, but ended up in another tragedy. If you think about it carefully, it’s really ridiculous.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Emperor Jingwen failed to keep the ones he wanted to keep, and he also failed to keep the ones he didn’t want to keep at first but changed his mind in the end. One has to feel that it was really fate that played tricks on him.

Sometimes, only after becoming a parent do you realise that no matter what you do, there will always be regrets between your children.

Even if you are careful in everything, there will always be omissions. Sometimes it is an inappropriate word, and sometimes it is just a look.

Ye Shuo was silent for a while after hearing this, but still didn’t say anything.

His cheap father has his own difficulties, and he himself has his own difficulties as well. He cannot just forgive his cheap father because of his difficulties.

Who doesn’t have times when they are forced to do things against their will in life? Ye Shuo couldn’t always think about others in everything he did.

Seeing that his nephew was still unmoved, Prince Su couldn’t help but sigh. If other princes encountered such a thing, they would quickly back down after hearing what he said. Who could really be angry with the emperor?

Only he was so stubborn.

He doesn’t care about power but only about love. Perhaps it is because of this that the emperor can’t let go.

Knowing that his nephew would only respond to soft words and not to hard ones, if he were to use force, he would only push him further away. Prince Su could not help but say, “Uncle Royal said this not to force you to forgive your father, but… considering your father’s poor health, could you please visit him more often? Don’t avoid him anymore. There are some things that he can’t always bear even though he is the emperor.”

Prince Su spoke earnestly. After a long while, Ye Shuo finally spoke: “Now that father and son are suspicious of each other, how can we go back? There is nothing wrong with the current situation.”

Prince Su discovered the root of the problem almost immediately.

His nephew seemed to believe that his father would have a grudge against him because of this incident. If it was in the past, it was indeed the case, but now…

The emperor brother was indeed cruel and heartless in the past, but as his nephew, how could he not underestimate the emperor’s feelings for him?

“My nephew, you are joking. The emperor may be like this to everyone, but he treats you differently.”

Without waiting for Ye Shuo to refute, Prince Su said, “Whether it is true or not, you can find out by yourself when you go to the palace.”

Ye Shuo was sceptical.

“That’s all I have to say as an uncle. I want to remind you that for some things, don’t wait until you lose them before you regret it.”

Prince Su finally left.

Ye Shuo stood there in a daze for a while, and finally decided to trust him once.

If what Prince Su said is true, then…

The next morning, when Emperor Jingwen learned that his youngest son wanted to see him, he was stunned for a moment, and didn’t even realise that the pen in his hand had slipped down. When he came to his senses, he spoke almost subconsciously.

“Hurry up and announce it!”

For a moment, he forgot all about Xiang Hong and Zhao Chongrong.

There were some things that Emperor Jingwen suddenly didn’t want to think about.

When Ye Shuo got closer, he found that in just a month, his stepfather seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

However, before he could say anything, the secret guard appeared before him and brought news that caught both of them off guard.

Just now, Zhao Chongrong…died. Ye Shuo’s eyes widened almost instantly.

The emperor, the secret guards, the former concubines… everything was so suspicious that they were already angry about this matter.

Emperor Jingwen panicked and almost blurted out, “It wasn’t me.”

He reacted almost instantly, and Ye Shuo’s heart suddenly felt a pang of pain.