ASTRP -Chapter 219 Matters Concerning the Imperial Uncle

Prince Yu rubbed the back of his head somewhat aggrievedly.

“Yue’er, I came because I wanted to see you.”

“First, arrange a place for us to stay.”

“Mm, alright.”

After Xi Liyue arranged accommodations for them, she planned to head to Fang Dijun’s Anren Palace.

But Feng Jingge stopped her.

“Yue’er, before we came, the Prince already investigated the matter of your kidnapping.”

Xi Liyue froze. “Who was it?”

Meanwhile, Fang Dijun was angrily scolding someone in her courtyard.

“He’s just a eunuch, yet he dares lecture me about whether I love my daughter or not?”

“If he’s so capable, let him go have a daughter himself!”

Although everyone in Anren Palace was Fang Dijun’s trusted people, Xi Liyue still stopped her.

“Mother, be careful. Walls have ears.”

“Oh my, Yue’er, you’re back…”

“How was it?”

“Did your father emperor make things difficult for you?”

Xi Liyue dismissed all the servants around them.

Holding Fang Dijun’s hand, she kept only her own maid and Fang Dijun’s personal attendant.

Then the few of them entered the room, and Xi Liyue personally shut the door.

“Yue’er, what’s wrong?”

“Did your father emperor say something?”

“Mother… steady yourself first.”

“What I’m about to say is something worthy of execution.”

Actually, Xi Liyue did not want even her maid or Fang Dijun’s attendant to know.

Once this matter came out, everyone involved could lose their heads.

The fewer people who knew, the better.

But she could not say Fang Dijun had no trustworthy people around her.

And if she told no one close to them, then if something really happened later—

their ignorance might cause them to accidentally let something slip. That would be even worse.

“Before, didn’t I tell you I was kidnapped?”

“In truth… Father Emperor arranged it.”

What?!

At those words alone, Fang Dijun’s mouth fell open in shock.

Then her eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted.

The two maids were startled and hurried to support her.

Seeing Fang Dijun’s reaction, Xi Liyue knew she believed her.

Fang Dijun treasured her daughter above all else.

And to Xi Liyue, Fang Dijun was the closest, dearest mother in the world.

Yue’er had always felt deeply sorry toward her.

For all these years, she had not been by her side.

Fang Dijun only wanted a peaceful life, free from fighting for power and status.

She merely wished that one day she and her daughter could live outside the palace in a residence of their own.

But she knew the Emperor would never allow it.

It was impossible.

Xi Liyue slowly closed her eyes.

Then she opened them and stepped forward to hug Fang Dijun.

“Mother, don’t panic yet. Listen to me slowly…”

Fang Dijun was helped into a chair.

Because she knew her daughter would never spout nonsense recklessly.

Especially not regarding the imperial family—regarding the Emperor.

Xi Liyue took a deep breath.

“Mother… before, when I said I would take you out of the palace to live a good life in a manor, I never forgot those words.”

“But we still won’t be able to leave.”

“However, I can make sure you remain safe in this palace from now on. I’ll take care of you in your old age, just like how you raised me when I was little…”

Fang Dijun burst into tears immediately.

“Yue’er… Yue’er, after only a few years apart, how have you become like a different person?”

“You’ve grown up…”

“Mother, it’s not that I’ve grown up. It’s because I now have reliable people by my side.”

“The Regent Prince of Jing Kingdom, the Princess Consort, and Prince Yu have all come.”

“The reason I know Father Emperor arranged my kidnapping is because they told me.”

“They said I don’t need to be afraid. As long as they are here, the Emperor won’t dare do anything to us.”

But Fang Dijun only cried harder.

“Why would the Emperor… why would he do this?”

“You’re his child!”

“Because when I was little, I saw him personally drug Imperial Uncle into paralysis.”

“He caught me in the middle of the night, stabbed me with needles, and threatened me.”

“He forced medicine into me and said that if I spoke of it, I would end up just like Imperial Uncle.”

At that time, Xi Liyue had only been five years old. Combined with how frightened she was, the memory had gradually faded over time.

But today, when Feng Jingge said the Emperor had arranged her kidnapping, she suddenly remembered everything.

No wonder she had never been close to the Emperor since childhood.

In fact, she had always feared him.

Hearing this made Fang Dijun feel as if her heart were bleeding.

“I know… I know which incident that was.”

Fang Dijun said that back then, Xi Liyue’s sleep schedule had been reversed, and because she doted on her, she indulged her habits.

She would coax her to sleep during the day and let her go out to play at night.

That was when the child encountered such a thing.

Filled with guilt, Fang Dijun repeatedly struck her own chest.

“My child… Mother let you suffer.”

“It’s Mother’s fault… Mother is sorry!”

“Back then, I was too young and understood too little about palace affairs.”

“All the scheming, deception, and infighting… it was my incompetence that ruined you!”

She kept saying that even a vicious tiger would not eat its own cubs.

But people of the imperial family were even crueler than tigers.

“My child… my child!”

Fang Dijun tightly embraced Xi Liyue.

Held her tightly.

Tears fell onto Xi Liyue’s neck.

“That bastard! I knew he didn’t love his own children!”

“Emperors are all like this—either national interests, political marriages…”

“Or making their children stand above others and bring glory to Xi Qing Kingdom. There’s nothing else in their minds…”

Fang Dijun sobbed so hard she nearly fainted.

“But I never imagined… he’d be this heartless.”

“His own daughter, and he stabbed her with needles…”

Fang Dijun took Xi Liyue’s hands into hers.

“Where did he stab you?”

“Did it hurt?”

Then she realized it was a foolish question and quickly added:

“Your pain stabbed straight into my heart.”

“Mother… I’m already alright.”

“I’m still standing before you. I’ll honor and care for you for the rest of my life.”

Fang Dijun then brought up the Emperor’s younger brother as well.

“What did your Imperial Uncle ever do wrong?”

“At that time, he was only fourteen years old. First, he posed no threat to the throne. Second, he had no intention of rebelling.”

“What could a fourteen-year-old possibly do?”

But suddenly, Fang Dijun paused.

“There was a rumor. The year I married the Emperor, the Retired Emperor had just died.”

“Some people said that with his final breaths, the Retired Emperor kept calling your Imperial Uncle’s name.”

Xi Liyue found that strange upon hearing it.

She had heard that when Imperial Uncle was fourteen, he had even led troops into battle.

After he returned, the current Emperor forbade him from seeing the Retired Emperor.

He claimed the Retired Emperor was angry because of the war.

Imperial Uncle requested audiences several times, but the Retired Emperor always refused to see him.

Later, the Retired Emperor suddenly became gravely ill.

The Emperor used the excuse of personally caring for him due to his condition and took complete control of everything.

Not only did he refuse to let Imperial Uncle visit, he did not even permit his own consorts to see the Retired Emperor.

Until the day the Retired Emperor died, the Emperor alone attended him.

Before, Xi Liyue had thought this was simply the proper display of filial piety from the Son of Heaven.

Besides, the Emperor had never liked the Retired Emperor much anyway.

The Retired Emperor loved beating people and had even beaten several secondary consorts to death.

He also mistreated Imperial Uncle.

But looking at it now, the Emperor truly had inherited all those disgusting traits from the Retired Emperor.

“Yue’er… do you think… the Retired Emperor might actually have intended to make your Imperial Uncle the Emperor back then?”