allonlinenovel Chapter 177 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (81)
Chapter 177 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (81)
Lu Liruan stood at the courtyard gate, watching Ji Shumin's back until he disappeared from sight.
Seeing that the Third Prince's expression was calm, although his face was pale and sickly, he did not appear as melancholy as he did when he saw the Empress.
"Your Highness, shall we use a sedan chair?" she asked.
"No need to bother anymore." Ji Shumin's smile faded, and he didn't even glance at Granny Ma.
For so many years, Granny Ma followed the Empress faithfully without complaint, enduring so many years with her in the desolate mountain temple.
She helped the Empress take care of the eldest prince, and the eldest prince treated her with the utmost respect.
"Yes." Granny Ma said nothing more and accompanied Ji Shumin to Fengyi Palace.
The Phoenix Palace is bustling with activity these days; it's been so crowded that the threshold has practically been worn down.
Upon entering, one is greeted by the delicate scent of sandalwood, reminiscent of the fragrance emanating from the Empress in the mountain temple.
There was no one else in the room. Ji Shumin saw the Empress leaning back in a high-backed chair, looking somewhat tired, with her eyes closed as she rested. On the table were scriptures laid out.
"Your Majesty, the Third Prince has arrived," Mama whispered to the Empress.
"Ah."
The Empress touched her forehead, slowly sat up, her gaze deep and calm.
She looked Ji Shumin up and down, as if trying to discern something from him...
Ji Shumin let her look at him, but when his gaze met that of the Empress, it was a colder look than hers.
The scene was rather strange; in such a joyous moment, the atmosphere between the mother and son was as cold as an icebox.
"Congratulations on your return to the palace, Mother." Ji Shumin coughed lightly and spoke calmly at the end.
"What's there to congratulate?" The Empress waved her hand, signaling all the palace servants in the room to leave, except for Granny Ma standing beside her, who remained still.
The door was closed from the outside.
"How is Min'er's health?" the Empress asked with a hint of concern.
She seemed to be trying to guess Ji Shumin's thoughts in order to talk to him.
"Thanks to the Empress Dowager, I've been doing quite well these days," Ji Shumin said softly.
Both of them appeared expressionless, but a tense atmosphere gradually built up, slowly converging and making the whole room feel gloomy.
"Is that so?" The royal consort rose, the hem of her robe sweeping the ground behind her, displaying her noble bearing. At this moment, her situation was completely different from when she was trapped in the mountain temple.
"Min'er, when will you get rid of this stubborn habit of yours?" The Empress walked to Ji Shumin's side, looking down into his eyes.
"Oh? Why does Mother say that..." Ji Shumin and the Empress look somewhat alike, but when they look at each other, there is no sense of closeness between them.
"I am your mother. Even if you show weakness to me or confess to me, what difference does it make? We are mother and son..." the Empress said quietly.
She longed for Ji Shumin to show weakness to her.
Although she never raised Ji Shumin, his arrogant and unyielding attitude was like a fishbone stuck in the Empress's throat.
The more Ji Shumin acted this way, the more it reminded the Empress of the humiliations she had suffered in the palace.
The emperor is never wrong, and he will never bow his head.
But what right did Ji Shumin have?
He should bow his head and obey his mother, who is his mother.
As Ji Shumin grew older, this idea in the Empress's mind grew larger and larger.
Every time she met Ji Shumin's all-knowing gaze, she couldn't help but feel furious and embarrassed! How dare he look at her like that!
If I hadn't endured such pain and grievances, how could he have been born, how could he have lived such a life of luxury and nobility! How could he not be grateful to me!
The Empress poured all her resentment towards the Emperor and the palace, bit by bit, onto Ji Shumin. Over the years, she had long since lost sight of who she truly hated...
Only the children who were raised by her side, who escaped from that filthy place with her from a young age, are pure, kind, filial, upright, and clean—these are the children she wants to protect and take care of everything for.
"Confess what?" Ji Shumin tilted his head and smiled.
"Mother, I beg you, please stop poisoning me! Please, please stop harming your own flesh and blood! Please, spare my life..." Ji Shumin raised his voice, seemingly smiling, but his voice trailed off with a weak gasp.
"Snapped!"
The Empress couldn't help but raise her hand to slap him, but she didn't hit Ji Shumin in the face. Instead, she was stopped by Granny Ma.
The slap made Granny Ma's head tilt to one side. She knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
The empress looked at her hands and suddenly realized her lapse in composure.
Ji Shumin didn't even blink, maintaining his faint smile as he looked at the Empress: "Mother, don't you like what you're hearing?"
“Min’er… Now that I have returned to the palace, we, mother and son, will see each other often. It will not do you any good to be angry with me.” The Empress took a deep breath.
"Ha, is Mother threatening me like this?" Ji Shumin had no intention of continuing to feign politeness with her.
The Empress did not expect that Ji Shumin would break off relations with her.
"Min'er, Mother has not..."
"Just tell me what you want me to do," Ji Shumin said, spreading his hands.
The Empress's expression froze for a moment.
"Now that you've schemed for so long and finally achieved your goal, regaining power, why waste your time on me?"
"Anyway...we're all pawns in your game, aren't we?" Ji Shumin said meaningfully, tilting his head back and revealing a harmless smile.
The Empress frowned, unable to hide a hint of annoyance: "Min'er, I am only thinking of you. Now that you are disabled, if you are not of one mind with Qin'er, who will help you in the future!"
"Why should I help her? Li Ruan and I depend on each other. In the future, I will be a carefree prince and live a leisurely life with her. How happy would that be?" Ji Shumin said nonchalantly.
"Oh, you mean that sharp-tongued girl?" The Empress clearly didn't have a good impression of Lu Liruan; she still vividly remembered how Lu Liruan had argued with her last time.
"When you were the crown prince, she was willing to endure your disability to marry you. What do you think her motivation was?"
"Of course, it's for the sake of trust. I have a marriage contract with her. She is loyal and righteous, and she is willing to marry me. Shouldn't Mother be happy for me? To have such a confidant." Ji Shumin sighed.
"Ha, how could that be? What do you think women like? If you have no status and no ability, would she be willing to spend the rest of her life with you?"
The Empress vehemently refuted Ji Shumin's words, but no matter what she said, Ji Shumin's calm and composed expression showed that he hadn't taken her words to heart at all...
The queen grew increasingly furious.
She used to think she could control Ji Shumin because whenever she wanted to, whenever she manipulated him, Ji Shumin would show expressions of pain, resentment, or confusion according to her wishes.
As Ji Shumin's mother, she was naturally able to perceive his more subtle emotions.
Even though the Empress never took care of Ji Shumin, the unique connection between mother and son was not unfounded.
The Empress never regarded this as a bond of affection with her child. Instead, she used it to manipulate Ji Shumin more carefully and confidently.
Whenever the Empress saw Ji Shumin become emotionally turbulent, angry, hysterical, or even crazy and disorderly because of her, she would secretly feel smug.
He can never escape his own control...
This gave the Empress a strange sense of satisfaction, but now she truly felt that Ji Shumin was about to escape her control.
His mind, his will, his thoughts, were about to be influenced by another person, someone who would replace her in Ji Shumin's important position in his heart.
This was completely unacceptable to the Empress.
She not only needed Ji Shumin to do many things for her, but she also absolutely could not tolerate another betrayal on a spiritual level!
The empress stood there, her exquisite makeup unable to conceal the gloom in her face, and her gorgeous clothes unable to hide her thin and emaciated body.
Having spent so many lonely years in the mountain temple, those years have left indelible marks on the Empress...
Even though she has returned to the palace and regained her former glory, the past cannot be erased.
She was not as calm as she was in the mountain temple. Perhaps the temple was indeed protected by Buddhist chants and spiritual energy, which made her appear more peaceful.
Now that she's back in the palace, not only Ji Shumin, but even Granny Ma standing beside her can see that the Empress is different from before, and has developed a fierce temper.
She seemed to be deep in thought, her hand clenched into a fist inside her sleeve, the hard nails digging into her palm, causing her pain and prompting her to think quickly about how to continue dealing with Ji Shumin...
She was completely focused on how to retaliate and how to regain the upper hand in this game.
They were completely unaware that the two people's positions seemed to have been reversed.
She used to watch quietly and calmly as Ji Shumin gradually collapsed, losing control and reason.
She herself, from a superior position, observes, judges, and guides...
But now, Ji Shumin was looking at her with that indifferent, thoughtful expression, as if he were appreciating some kind of performance.
Even now, the Empress has never really thought about why Ji Shumin was controlled and manipulated by her in the past.
It wasn't because she had any superb skills or the ability to bewitch people, but because she cared.
No matter how sinister and eccentric or uncommunicative His Highness the Crown Prince appeared at the time, deep down he still cared...
That's why I was influenced by her.
But now that the Third Prince Ji Shumin is no longer the Crown Prince, he doesn't care about her at all.
I've completely let go.
Whether she was happy or sad, angry or joyful, she could no longer affect Ji Shumin's emotions.
He can calmly detach himself, as if watching a farce.
He scrutinized the Empress as he had scrutinized him before.
The scene was indeed somewhat bizarre and absurd, but for Ji Shumin at this moment, it felt as if the last heavy stone weighing on his heart had finally been removed...
When he truly experienced being cared for and loved, the warmth and tenderness seemed to wrap his heart in a cozy blanket.
Smoothing it out little by little, caring for it tenderly, treating it like a precious treasure.
After that, why would anyone care about reminiscing about the past? It's all just empty concern and affectation.
This was the first time the Empress had encountered such a huge obstacle with Ji Shumin, and now her desires were swelling, as if she were floating on clouds.
Defied by Ji Shumin, she suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing into despair. Ji Shumin knew all her unbearable flaws.
She could no longer maintain the facade. The gentle, motherly expression that had been etched on her face finally crumbled...
Her face was icy cold: "Min'er, you know what I want and what I want to do. Now that I'm back in the palace, I won't give up until I get it done."
"You are my own flesh and blood. Even if I am heartless, I will not really take your life..." The Empress used her sharp nail guards to hold up Ji Shumin's chin, scraping his skin until it hurt.
"But you know, if I want to make you suffer, you will suffer too."
"What? Are you angry with me? Are you resenting my punishment for disobeying you the other day, so you're just throwing caution to the wind this time..." The Empress felt she had seen through Ji Shumin's thoughts.
"Min'er, don't be so hard on yourself, and don't be so hard on me either. Qin'er is your own brother, and you know what kind of person he is. As long as he's doing well, you won't be doing too badly either."
For the first time, the prince truly revealed his thoughts: "I don't care about you or worry about you. But if you dare to talk nonsense in front of Qin'er, I feel sorry for you, but I don't necessarily feel sorry for the people around you."
The implication of her words was quite clear.
Now, besides Lu Liruan, there is no one else by Ji Shumin's side.
The Empress was very displeased by Ji Shumin's attitude of liking and valuing Lu Liruan.
She then used this as leverage, hoping to force Ji Shumin to compromise and be at her mercy as before.
But Ji Shumin shook his head: "Mother, do you think you can do it?"
"Why not?"
"Although you have no chance, I still have to say this: if you dare to lay a finger on me, even just with the intention, and I find out, Mother, you wouldn't want to know what happens..."
Ji Shumin spoke lightly, but the Empress knew he was serious.
"you!"
"Mother, why do you think I'm still alive? Why do you think I'm still dealing with you?" Ji Shumin smirked.
"Because I still have to stay with Li Ruan. I want to live and die with her. If she lives, I live; if she dies, I die too." Ji Shumin's gaze was fixed and somewhat insane.
What you think I care about, I don't care about at all; what you care about, I don't care about either. Mother, don't try to understand me based on your own thoughts.
Ji Shumin gripped the handrails with both hands, steadied himself, and leaned forward: "I am a madman, a product of your hatred that you were unwilling to accept but had to bring into the world! All those things you once said about me were right! So true! How could you have forgotten them yourself?"
The Empress took two steps back.
She had indeed forgotten that as Ji Shumin became increasingly compliant with her wishes, she gradually forgot the words she had unabashedly cursed and blamed in front of him when he was a child!
Ji Shumin remembers it all!