Hearing Murong Li’s words, Empress Dowager Yan’s pupils trembled…
If Murong Yan and the Great Zhou Emperor had no child, Empress Dowager Yan would naturally trust Murong Yan wholeheartedly and be willing to entrust everything to him!
But… Murong Yan now had a child, and she, too, was someone who had children. How could she not understand the hearts of parents? Which parent wouldn’t want to bring the best things in the world for their child?
When Murong Yan had no children, he would love A’Li as his child and naturally be willing to sacrifice for A’Li. But what about later? After his child was born, what would happen to A’Li?
Empress Dowager Yan didn’t distrust Murong Yan – she distrusted human nature, and she distrusted Bai Qingyan.
She shook her head, and after her thoughts turned over countless times in her heart, she spoke: “How could Mother not trust your Ninth Uncle? Mother is afraid… that the Great Zhou Empress will use your Ninth Uncle’s child to threaten him!”
Empress Dowager Yan looked at Murong Yan: “When that time comes, on one side will be his flesh and blood, on the other… his sister-in-law and nephew. Your Ninth Uncle… will inevitably waver in his loyalty to Yan Kingdom and waver in his love for you.”
Murong Yan remembered when they had previously discussed the two nations merging, A’Li had suggested that Murong Yan oppose it and put on an act in front of Empress Dowager Yan. Originally, Murong Yan had felt guilty about it, thinking he was deceiving his own family and feeling troubled about it.
Now it seemed that A’Li truly understood his mother.
“Mother!” Murong Li felt his mother’s words were cutting to the heart, “The Bai family… the Great Zhou Empress’s character is noble! She would never use a child for any kind of threat! A’Li deeply admires the Bai family’s character. Mother cannot doubt the Great Zhou Empress like this, and shouldn’t doubt Ninth Uncle based on your imagination! Could it be… that Ninth Uncle needs to remain unmarried for life and never have his children be considered loyal to Great Yan? To be considered as loving A’Li? Mother… what kind of twisted logic is this?”
“Sister-in-law, Ayan believes I have done nothing wrong to the Yan Kingdom. Instead, for the Yan Kingdom… I have wronged Qingyan multiple times!” Murong Yan’s fists at his sides clenched tight as he spoke solemnly, “Ayan has never done anything to wrong the people of Yan Kingdom or A’Li before, and I’m willing to swear that in the future… I will never do anything to wrong the people of Yan Kingdom or A’Li. With this, can the sister-in-law be at ease?”
Hearing these words, Empress Dowager Yan’s throat rolled as she said: “Sister-in-law isn’t saying that to be loyal to Yan Kingdom and A’Li, Ayan must remain unmarried for life and never have his flesh and blood! It’s just… your wife cannot be someone from an enemy nation, much less the emperor of an enemy nation! When your brother was alive… he had intended to betroth Minister Meng’s daughter, Meng Zhaorong, to you. If Ayan married Meng Zhaorong as his consort and had children with her… this is what your brother would have wanted to see! This way sister-in-law could also be at ease…”
“Mother!” Murong Li’s eyes widened. “Hasn’t Ninth Uncle sacrificed enough for Yan Kingdom? Why must Ninth Uncle sacrifice his lifelong happiness in exchange for Mother’s peace of mind? Mother, we are Ninth Uncle’s family… we’re not those court ministers or enemy nations that need to mutually constrain each other in cooperation. Why pressure Ninth Uncle like this? Mother, what’s wrong with you? Sister Bai and Ninth Uncle love each other mutually, both of them…”
Murong Yan raised his hand to stop Murong Li from continuing, only looking at his sister-in-law: “I thought… sister-in-law and elder brother had such deep affection as mandarin ducks, so you would naturally understand that when two people truly love each other, no one else can come between them.”
Empress Dowager Yan tightly clutched her handkerchief: “You and the Great Zhou Emperor have reached this point!”
“In the past, Mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to one man and ended up in such a state. After that… elder brother and I made a vow that as long as we recognized someone as our wife, we would seek only one faithful heart for life and would never betray our wives!” Murong Yan’s expression was calm, “Otherwise, elder brother, as the Emperor of Yan Kingdom, would not have had only a sister-in-law and the Noble Consort in his harem! The reason the elder brother had a concubine-born Second Prince was also because the sister-in-law listened to her maternal family brother’s words… thinking that as Empress, she had the duty to help the Emperor spread his lineage, so she deceived the elder brother and gave her sister-in-law’s half-sister the opportunity.”
Later, Murong Yu showed no mercy and expelled Empress Dowager Yan’s half-sister from the palace. It wasn’t until the Second Prince Murong Ping was born that, to avoid embarrassing the Second Prince, he brought the child back to the palace along with Empress Dowager Yan’s half-sister. But all these years… though Murong Yu gave the Second Prince’s mother honor and status, he never once stepped foot into the Second Prince’s mother’s chambers.
Hearing Murong Yan’s words, Empress Dowager Yan thought of her deceased husband, her heart feeling as if pierced by knives. She gripped her chest clothing tightly and cried out loud.
“In Ayan’s lifetime, as long as Bai Qingyan is my wife, she will be my only wife. I will never remarry and will never take concubines or servants. Please don’t make things difficult for Ayan, sister-in-law.” Murong Yan kowtowed to his sister-in-law, “I have said everything that should be said. Please trust Ayan as elder brother and A’Li do… If the sister-in-law still cannot trust Ayan, then Ayan is powerless! I can only apologize to my elder brother after death…”
After speaking, Murong Yan stood up and gave Empress Dowager Yan another deep bow.
“Ayan!”
“Ninth Uncle!” Murong Li’s eyes reddened as he watched his ninth uncle, seeing him off as he turned to leave. He could barely hold back his tears, only turning back to look at his mother, “Mother, you have truly hurt Ninth Uncle’s heart.”
“Mother doesn’t distrust your Ninth Uncle! Mother just doesn’t trust that Great Zhou Emperor! Now your Ninth Uncle is deeply rooted in love for the Great Zhou Emperor. Who knows if in the future he might…” Empress Dowager Yan hesitated, looking at Murong Li with tears in her eyes, “Mother… Mother is afraid of being unable to protect the territory your father left behind!”
“Mother! Setting aside that Father originally intended to pass the throne to Ninth Uncle! Father’s and Ninth Uncle’s aspirations… were never about protecting Yan Kingdom, but about unifying the world!” Murong Li grasped his mother’s hands, “Mother, you should trust me, should trust Ninth Uncle, because we are family, and in Ninth Uncle’s heart… family is most important.”
Empress Dowager Yan looked at her son’s expression and didn’t say anything more that would put her son in a difficult position, but in her heart… she was still worried. After all… the current Great Zhou Emperor was also Murong Yan’s family now, and in her belly was his flesh and blood.
Empress Dowager Yan held her son and cried mournfully for a while. Exhausted from days of travel and already in poor health, she was attended by her maid as she went to sleep.
Murong Li sat by the bedside, looking at his mother, who still had tears in the corners of her eyes even while sleeping. He remembered when Father had not yet passed away and spoke of his plan to pass the throne to Ninth Uncle, he had said… Mother’s nature was gentle and weak, and her ears were soft. If he were gone and encountered situations where Mother couldn’t handle things… and when Big Brother couldn’t be relied upon, he could only rely on him to help Ninth Uncle.
However, unexpectedly later… Ninth Uncle burned Father’s succession edict and gave the throne to him, even not caring about posthumous infamy or historical records, using his body to block all darkness and filth, only to preserve innocence for him as the Emperor of Yan Kingdom.