She turned around and left the imperial study room.

The palace lantern was in a daze, illuminating the dim corridor in front of her feet. In the air, the fragrance of magnolia flowers blooming in some corners floated. She walked out of Yuanchen Palace without paying attention. Behind her, under the shadow of the trees hidden by the flowers and trees, a young boy was quietly standing.

In the imperial study room, there was another depressing cough, intermittent, mixed with the eunuch's humble prayer.

"...Your Majesty, you have coughed up bleeding just now, so please hire an imperial physician..."

With a "bang", the sound of the bowl falling to the ground and shattering - or the emperor finally became impatient and swept it to the ground angrily.

The surroundings became quiet.

A moment later, when another cough sounded, a look of resentment and unbearable flashed through the young man's eyes.

He closed his eyes and finally walked out of the night shadow, stepped up to the palace steps, and knocked on the empty door of the palace.

"Father, when we were studying, we encountered an unknown point. We wanted to come here to ask for advice, but we didn't want to encounter health discomfort..."

He looked at the eunuch squatting on the ground and picking up fragments of the medicine bowl, and knelt down to the person opposite who looked up at him.

"Please put your body first." He kowtowed and said.

In this place, in addition to the queen, the prince is another person who can enter and exit by himself without notice. When the eunuch saw him coming, he met a savior and hurriedly knelt down and whispered a plead.

The emperor slowly put down the memorial in his hand and remained silent. The young man ordered the eunuch to call the imperial physician. The eunuch stood up and ran out.

A moment later, several imperial physicians arrived, carefully treated the emperor, gathered together, discussed and prescribed a prescription, and held it up and said, "Why would you like to ask the queen to take a look..."

"Don't bother her. You must be."

The emperor's face showed a tired look and said lightly.

The imperial physicians looked at each other and retreated with no hope.

The young man left in front of the imperial court. He asked the emperor to rest earlier and respectfully retreated in the eyes of the emperor's smile and comfort.

He withdrew from the hall, walked down the palace steps step by step, turned his head, looked at the lights behind him that reflected the doors and windows, and his expression gradually turned cold. He focused for a moment, turned around and took a step, and his figure disappeared into the night.

Mu Fulan returned to Ziwei Palace.

The blood that kept surging in the body seemed to be unable to calm until now, making people feel sad.

She sat alone under the lamp for a long time before she gradually calmed down and asked about the hour. The palace man said it was the third hour of Hai.

It was almost time for a while, and she remembered Xier who lived in the side hall.

After entering the palace, he became more diligent than before, and often read at night. After several times, Mu Fulan caught him late at night and still couldn't put down his hand.

At this moment, she suddenly wanted to see him. Even if he was asleep, it would be good to be able to see his sleeping face.

God treated her well after all, and let the child accompany her to this world. Many times, when she was helpless and confused, when she saw this child, her heart felt as if she had a clear direction and found her support.

She left the bedroom and was about to walk towards the side hall, but she saw a young boy standing outside the hall.

She was stunned, then walked towards him, laughing and whispered: "It's so late, why haven't you gone to sleep yet? What are you doing here?"

The young boy still stood like that, without saying a word.

Mu Fulan gradually felt something was wrong.

She thought for a while, held the young boy's hand, took him in. After all the people in the palace retreated, she said softly: "Xi'er, if you have any worries, just tell your mother."

The young boy said softly: "I know everything about tonight."

Mu Fulan was surprised. Before she could think about how he knew what happened tonight, a feeling of embarrassment surged in her heart.

She looked at the half-grown boy in front of her, fearing that he would misunderstand, and immediately wanted to explain to him, but she opened her mouth but didn't know how to explain.

She paused: "Xi'er, don't misunderstand..."

The young man shook his head, and, under Mu Fulan's surprise and embarrassment, slowly knelt down and kneeled in front of her.

"Mother." He looked up at her, no longer calling her mother, but calling her mother.

"I know you entered this palace for me. I have become the prince and everything goes well. I am not young anymore and will be able to take good care of myself in the future. Besides, my father treats me better than my parents and children. Mother, you don't have to worry about me anymore. You don't like this here. If you want to go back, just go back to Dongting, don't be stuck because of me, and you have many bonds."

He stared at Mu Fulan.

"Mom, don't force yourself to accept the people you didn't want to face because of me."

"Actually, if you can be with General Yuan, I would be very happy. He is a good person, and he will do his best to make my mother happy in this life and no longer worry-free."

"Mom, Xier can guarantee you that one day, Xier will let you completely break away from the past and live a new life. This is what you deserve from your mother."

Finally, he said this sentence in a stressful and slow tone.

Mu Fulan was stunned.

It’s not that he was not moved. But at this moment, the shock and impact brought to her by his words were far beyond the touch.

She lowered her head and looked at the little boy kneeling in front of her.

It's her Xier, she really grew up. She thought.

He is no longer the child she met in the temple and was waiting for her to pick him up.

She should have been extremely relieved, but her heart was really clear and filled with a deep sense of confusion.

She sat down slowly, was in a daze for a moment, and said softly: "Mom will consider it. When your mother thinks it clearly, then make a decision."

The young boy got up from the ground, held Mu Fulan's hand, and sent her inside.

"Mom, go and rest first."

"Don't worry, let's take your time." The young man smiled and said softly.

The sun and the moon are long in Penglai Palace.

Yuan Handing returned to Changsha. The imperial physicians tried their best to cure the emperor's injuries and secretly met Mu Fulan from time to time. The emperor was diligent in government affairs, rested and nurtured the people, knew people well, and rectified the rules and regulations, and was determined to govern. The new dynasty was renewed, and all the people in the world were worshipped and jubilant.

The days are like this, like still water, passing silently. Everything seems to be improving, except for the Queen Mother's illness.

Daily records of the Imperial Hospital said that the Empress Dowager first fell into the house, hurting the tendons and veins, causing meridians to be closed, half of her body was traction, sometimes dizzy, and forgetful words. Although she tried her best to treat her, her illness was repeated and she was not optimistic. By the end of summer, the Empress Dowager's teeth became tighter and her diet was difficult, and her health became worse day by day. Although Mu Fulan and the Imperial Hospital doctors tried their best to treat it, the autumn of this year was still like a candle, and finally burned to the roots and was unable to turn the world back.

The Empress Dowager has been sleeping for many days, dying, and the night before her death, or looking back, woke up, recognized her son in front of her bed, and muttered: "Geng'er, you have come to see my mother... Where have you been there a few days ago? I'm thinking about you every day... It's okay... You go busy... I know that you will definitely have a great future in the future... As long as you make a fortune, it's worth it..."

The old woman's eyes turned, and her eyes suddenly fell on Mu Fulan, who was standing not far behind him. She stared at her and looked at her for a while. She became excited and sighed: "... Ask her to go... Mom, don't see her... She wants to snatch Geng'er, you, from her..."

The man who had only one last breath was left, but there was nowhere to know where the strength came from, lifted the remaining hand that could barely move, and pinched the emperor's arm tightly - as if there was something invisible, about to take her son away from her.

Mu Fulan turned around and left silently. In the middle of the night, she received news in Ziwei Palace, just a moment ago, the Empress Dowager passed away.

Mu Fulan naturally had no feelings for this old woman, but she didn't hate her. Just like her and many people she knew, she would do her dual responsibilities of her doctor and her current identity, it would be enough.

The emperor was a filial son, and everyone in the world knew it. In the past few months, as the empress dowager's health has deteriorated, from morning to night, he almost went back and forth between Yuanchen Palace and this sickbed every day. The emperor's filial piety was recorded by the Juju and the Ministry of Rites, and written by the Ministry of Rites, from top to bottom, teaching to be effective and the people are weathered.

The Empress Dowager's funeral was also extremely grand. The coffin was in peace. The emperor stopped for six days and wore mourning. All officials and wives of fourth rank and above in the capital gathered in the spiritual hall, dressed in Busu and cried day and night. The officials and civilians inside and outside were employed for twenty-seven days, and the temples and Taoist temples were kept ringing from morning to night.

Half a month later, the Queen Mother gave a funeral, and the ritual finally ended. The next day was the ritual of Yishu. Yishu is the continuation of the next day of the main sacrifice. Compared with the main sacrifice, the process is relatively simple, but it is not easy. On that day, Mu Fulan was busy talking about the night at the hour of Hai, and finally ended all the rituals.

She left the sacrifice hall under the kneeling of the women who sacrificed their lives behind her.

In the past half a month, she has commanded the wife and carried out mourning ceremony, and has almost never rested. When she returned to the bedroom, she was so tired that she almost exhausted. She removed the mourning clothes on her body, washed up and lay down.

It must be the second half of the night. The eunuch Cao Jin came to ask for a meeting, knelt in front of her, and said carefully: "Your Majesty is still in the sacrifice hall at this moment. Your Majesty's internal injuries have not yet healed, and he has never closed his eyes these days. I am afraid that your Majesty's body will not bear it, so I dare not persuade him..."

Mu Fulan came to the sacrifice hall.

In the late night, the ministers who accompanied the mourning during the day were missing. At this moment, they seemed particularly empty. Between the white wax and the mourning curtain, she saw the man kneeling alone in front of the spirit, with candles and fires everywhere, and he did not move.

She stood at the entrance of the hall for a moment, but finally she still didn't go in.

Following the same path, she retreated and said to the eunuch: "Your Majesty thinks it's too much grief, so he should feel better."

She returned to her bedroom and lay on the bed covered with brocade quilts under her, slowly closing her eyes.

There was a quiet place around, and everything was silent. She slept very deeply. I don’t know how long it had passed. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw a person sitting on a chair facing past in front of her bed. The outline and the surrounding night seemed to be integrated into one.

Mu Fulan's heartbeats.

The moonlight gradually entered the window, and the man sat like that. It took a long time to go, and Mu Fulan almost thought that she had misjudged her eyes. It was not a human, but some kind of phantom she thought of.

She hesitated for a while, slowly sat up, lifted the curtain, walked downstairs and looked at the man sitting in the chair in front of her who had already fallen asleep.

He closed his eyes, his face sideways toward her bed, motionless, and breathing was full of alcohol.

Since he was injured, many doctors' instructions from the Imperial Doctors were one of them. Even the foreign envoys who had been given a banquet before, the eunuchs secretly prepared water for the emperor to serve as wine.

Mu Fulan knew that he had not drunk half a drop of wine in the past six months.

She was surprised and angry, and called out "Your Majesty". Seeing that there was no reaction, she reached out to push him.

The man moved, finally woke up, opened his eyes, and slowly sat upright.

"Why is Your Majesty so drunk?" Mu Fulan said.

He sat for a while, raised his hand, rubbed his forehead, and replied vaguely: "...You go to bed, I'll go back now, I'll go to rest too..."

He stood up in a hurry, but his steps staggered, and with a "bang", he bumped into a sandalwood cabinet set up nearby, and his body shook.

Mu Fulan hurriedly reached out and held him, but felt a heavy shoulder, and a heavy mountain was pressing down on her side. Not only did she fail to support her, she was left with gains and losses by his fallen body.

The two fell to the ground.

She was pressed under him and fell on the hard ground of the Ziwei Palace bedroom that was already a bit cool.
To be continued...