Chapter 110: Guardian (5)
In the next few days, just as Wang Ye had expected, Yin Yin did not wake up again and her body became extremely weak. Zhao Ziheng stayed by her side almost every step of the way. Except for facing Dongfang Yan's anger almost every day, Zhao Ziheng would stay by Yin Yin's side. Fortunately, the news of Dongfang Xiyuan's murder was blocked and not much was exposed. Although the guests from various countries who came to celebrate the birthday were still frightened, they all returned to their own countries under the extremely thoughtful care of Zhao State.
Over the past few days, the empress dowager looked for Zhao Ziheng more than once, but out of sympathy for the extraordinary times, she didn't say anything. It was not until she heard that a person of unknown origin had moved into Zhao Ziheng's bedroom that the empress dowager looked for Zhao Ziheng and had the first serious conversation in these days.
"Mother!"
Zhao Ziheng looked very tired and had a very ugly face just after seeing off Prince the Queen Mother who came in aggressively. Zhao Ziheng, whose whole mind was focused on Yin Yin, did not realize the purpose of the Queen Mother's visit this time, but his intuition told him that it was not a good thing, especially when the Queen Mother had dismissed everyone and the two were alone together.
"Can you give me an explanation, Your Majesty?"
Normally, the empress dowager would not call Zhao Ziheng the emperor. Only at times like this, the empress dowager was extremely depressed because she did not dare to believe that Zhao Ziheng would do anything out of line at such a time. Zhao Ziheng had always been her pride, so when she knew that there was a person of unknown origin living in Zhao Ziheng's bedroom, she had to come and ask , with so many questions in her mind that she ignored the fatigue on Zhao Ziheng's face.
"What's the explanation?"
Zhao Ziheng, feeling tired, obviously a beat slower than usual. He only knew that the Queen Mother's arrival must be due to something. Although he knew from her tone that it was something serious, he didn't know what it was.
"Of course it's the unknown person in the emperor's bedroom. Does the emperor still want to hide it?"
The Queen Mother tried her best to suppress her outburst of emotions and tried to remain calm. After all, she didn't want to lose her temper with Zhao Ziheng.
Zhao Ziheng then learned the Queen Mother's intention, but he didn't know where to start. He didn't want to hide anything, he was just afraid that the Queen Mother would have trouble accepting it for a while; however, Zhao Ziheng could see that the Queen Mother would not give up until she got an answer. Despite this, Zhao Ziheng still needed time to consider how to start.
"My mother has seldom asked about your affairs, and I don't want to question you at this time, but how long can this matter be concealed? If you let a person of unknown origin live in your palace, where will the face of Zhao State be if this matter gets out? You haven't had another concubine since Wei'er died. My mother doesn't blame you for anything, but you shouldn't do such a thing when such a big thing happened. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"Mother!"
How could Zhao Ziheng not know what the Queen Mother meant? But he disdained to care. He was indeed wrong to conceal something from the Queen Mother, and he was also wrong to hide Yin Yin in his own palace. He did not regret doing these things, and he never regretted it. Yin Yin's condition kept getting worse, which had exhausted him physically and mentally. If he had not been forced to do so, he would rather stay with Yin Yin more at this moment, but in the end he was helpless, which made him feel extremely disgusted with his current identity.
"Tell mother, you know what to do. After this is over, you can make her your consort or queen. Mother only asks you not to keep her by your side now. Do you know that this will anger King Lian?"
Zhao Ziheng certainly understood that the Queen Mother had some concerns about Prince Lian. After all, her intention was so obvious. She let her daughter dance at the birthday banquet, and everyone knew what her intention was. So at this time, when Dongfang Xiyuan had just been murdered, she let another person live in her bedroom. This was disrespectful, not to mention that it was Yin Yin who was related to the murder case. If it were to get out, not to mention who would be angered, a war between the two countries would probably be inevitable.
"I'm sorry, mother. I can't ignore her now."
"emperor!!!"
Perhaps she had never thought that Zhao Ziheng would refuse. The Queen Mother's suppressed emotions suddenly burst out. She didn't believe that Zhao Ziheng didn't know the seriousness of the matter. However, Zhao Ziheng's answer to her was unacceptable to her. It should have been a simple matter, but it was likely that the situation would worsen because of Zhao Ziheng's insistence. The Queen Mother knew the consequences of this matter very well, at least she knew it was like this now, but she didn't know why Zhao Ziheng insisted? The Queen Mother didn't admit that her most respected son would not understand this truth.
"I know. I know that this will anger the King of Refining if it gets out. I also know that someone might use this opportunity to harm us. However, I can't abandon her anymore. I absolutely can't. No matter how much it costs, I will never allow her to be hurt in any way. Please forgive me. I'm afraid I can't promise you this one thing."
As if begging, as if atonement, the Queen Mother was stunned to see Zhao Ziheng on the verge of collapse. In her impression, Zhao Ziheng had never been so out of control, showing pain and torture at the same time. The Queen Mother vaguely understood that this matter might not be as simple as she imagined.
"who is she?"
The Queen Mother felt that what she needed to know most at the moment was what had caused Zhao Ziheng to lose his usual rationality. The person that Zhao Ziheng had repeatedly mentioned should be the man of unknown origin currently in his bedroom. What the Queen Mother could not understand was that Zhao Ziheng, who had never been interested in women, would lose his rationality because of a woman. This had never happened even with Lin Wei. The long period of blankness made her think that it was because of the trauma brought to Zhao Ziheng by Lin Wei's death. She did not expect that Zhao Ziheng would attach so much importance to a person who appeared out of nowhere and had an unknown origin, so much so that he would ignore the consequences.
