Chapter 213 – I Am The Empress Dowager, Who Am I Afraid Of? (part 6)

Emperor Long’an didn’t expect empress mother to notice. He touched his nose and leaned on Li Su’s lap, just like he did when he was a child. “It’s just a small matter. Your son can handle it. Don’t worry about it, empress mother!”

Li Su felt that Emperor Long’an was like a pet dog that needed to be caressed, so she obeyed these feelings and touched him. Sure enough, Emperor Long’an relaxed a lot.

“You are the emperor. You need to deal with thousands of things every day, but the most important thing is your body. Don’t get angry with the little things. As for future events, We don’t understand. The matters of your harem, We will talk more since you still don’t have many children. Although you are still young, but you need more children. The more you have, the more choices you have. You can then choose the most promising one and cultivate them carefully so that they can inherit the throne!” Li Su said.

Emperor Long’an was so busy with the government that he didn’t care about the harem, so he had few children. In the end, Empress Jiang’s child became the crown prince.

Empress Jiang still did her duties with difficulty and the son she gave birth to was also weak and incompetent.

This life couldn’t turn out like the previous one.

Only Li Su said this to Emperor Long’an. Emperor Long’an didn’t care about this. “What’s the hurry? If there are no good candidates among your son’s children, there is also Defang!” Emperor Long’an said casually.

But Li Su was angry. She pushed Emperor Long’an away. “Nonsense! This is also nonsense. Since ancient times, the one who has always inherited the throne is a blood descendant! If word of this spreads out, aren’t you afraid of causing problems within the family? How can you let Us and Defang establish ourselves in the future? The emperor must not forget about Mrs. Yuan’s matter!”

Seeing that Li Su was really angry, Emperor Long’an quickly knelt down and said, “Empress mother, your son is wrong. If empress mother is angry, empress mother can beat and scold your son, but don’t get angry!”

Wet Nurse Xu also anxiously persuaded, “Your Majesty said that unintentionally. Empress Dowager should not get angry.”

Li Su took a deep breath. “Fortunately, there is only the three of us in the hall today, Wet Nurse Xu, you, and Us. If someone else overheard…”

Emperor Long’an also regretted those quick words. He really just said it casually. Perhaps he wanted to let empress mother know that he deeply cared for Defang. He knew the dangers of having his brother succeed him. There were many examples in history.

Fortunately, empress mother had a deep understanding of what was right, otherwise…

Li Su saw that Emperor Long’an had already made a mistake and sighed. “Okay, get up! Think twice in the future. We know that you and your brother, Defang, are close, but there are some things that should not be said, nor can they be said.”

Emperor Long’an nodded, “Your son knows that he is wrong and will be cautious in his words and deeds in the future. Your son will not do it again.”

Li Su pulled on Emperor Long’an and sat down beside him. “Has the emperor forgotten about Emperor Jing of Han and Prince Liu Wu1?”

Emperor Long’an was ashamed.

“Although you are not Our blood son, but We treat you like you are one of Our own. We only have two children, you and Defang. We do not want to see you brothers turn against each other. Defang may not have this intention now, but if you say it, he may listen to it. If he has such thoughts, what will you do?” Li Su said, “We know that being an emperor is hard work, so you should know that We would feel distressed for Defang and would not want him to endure that!”

Emperor Long’an was moved. How could he not know empress mother’s feelings? “Don’t worry, your son really knows that he was wrong.”

Only then did Li Su feel satisfied. “Defang is smart, but unfortunately, he has no determination. In the future, if he has that ability, he can assist you and become your aid, which is a good thing. If he doesn’t have that ability, then it shouldn’t be forced. Just let him be a rich and noble prince. We are now the empress dowager, and We don’t need anything else, so long as you two are safe and sound. We will be satisfied.”

“Empress mother has a loving heart. Your son understands! Your son will not fail empress mother! As for Defang, the masters who taught him all said that Defang is smart in both civil and military affairs. He will definitely be my support in the future.” Emperor Long’an laughed.

“Come on, don’t think that I am that easy to trick. Did you think that I wouldn’t know about him pouring ink into Mr. Lu’s teacup last month?” Li Su rolled her eyes and said.

Both Emperor Long’an and Wet Nurse Xu laughed awkwardly.

Emperor Long’an asked, “Who told empress mother? Who talked so much?”

Wet Nurse Xu immediately confessed with her eyes. “It wasn’t this servant, and this servant doesn’t know!”

Emperor Long’an also tried to explain things. “Defang is still young!”

“Ten years old is still young. We remember when you were ten years old, but you were much more stable than him. Come on, don’t try and defend him. He is Our son so of course We know what he is like. When you are picking people to serve him, choose more honest and steady ones. Don’t go for those who are too lively and get him jumping up and down all day long,” Li Su urged.

Emperor Long’an nodded. “Yes, your son understands.”

After talking and laughing for a long time, Emperor Long’an left Reaching the Clouds Palace, and his mood was much better than before. Qin Li watched from the side. In the imperial harem, His Majesty still trusted the empress dowager the most.

Qin Li took a few steps forward. “Your Majesty, the servants for Prince Bao have already been selected. Would you like to take a look at them, Your Majesty?”

“Empress mother just said that those who serve Defang must be honest and steady,” said Emperor Long’an.

“Yes, this servant understands that the prince is precious. The people who serve the prince should be honest and steady. This servant will go to re-select.” Qin Li immediately understood what Emperor Long’an meant.

“Go. The whereabouts of Mrs. Fang must be traced to the end,” Emperor Long’an continued.

“Yes.” Although Qin Li didn’t know why Emperor Long’an was so concerned about a missing wife who’s husband was a compiler at the imperial academy, as a servant, he knew what he could and couldn’t ask.

It turned out that Emperor Long’an received a secret report. Apparently, Mrs. Fang, who was locked up in the Buddhist temple, received a letter and then suddenly disappeared. According to the report of the servant girl who served Mrs. Fang, Mrs. Fang was probably pregnant before she disappeared.

And that letter was most likely sent by Mrs. Li, who was locked up in Full Moon Temple.

It was just that, no matter how the masters of Full Moon Temple pressured her, Mrs. Li refused to reveal what was written in the letter.

But even if she didn’t say it, Emperor Long’an knew very well that she just guessed the truth of Fang Rong’s death and stimulated Mrs. Fang’s desire to avenge her daughter.

Mrs. Fang… What kind of storm could she make! Emperor Long’an didn’t take it to heart.

It wasn’t that Emperor Long’an was arrogant or looked down on women, but she was a woman from the Fang family who was pregnant again, had no money, and had no talent. It was unknown whether she could support herself and her children. Under such a premise, what kind of storm did she want to make? And what kind of storm could she make?

But with regards to Mrs. Li…

Originally, for empress mother’s sake, if Mrs. Li could keep to herself in Full Moon Temple, then Emperor Long’an didn’t intend to care about her anymore. But, she was so restless. Emperor Long’an would not think about her anymore. After all, she had two sons and one daughter, all of whom were blood relatives of empress mother. Although she was stubborn, she was still young and could still be taught without the influence of her mother. But if she was instigated by Mrs. Li, and something happened in the future, empress mother would definitely be sad.

Therefore, Mrs. Li could not stay.

It didn’t take long for the Li family to receive news that Mrs. Li was dead and that the temple had requested them to visit.

Li Chen was shocked and quickly took the children to Full Moon Temple. He then learned that the firewood house in Full Moon Temple suddenly caught fire the night before. The fire was not big. It had been extinguished in 15 minutes. When the people of Full Moon Temple checked what had been damaged, they found that Mrs. Li was not in the room.

The people of Full Moon Temple searched everywhere and finally found Mrs. Li outside. She was lying under the courtyard wall and her head was bleeding profusely. It seemed that she wanted to escape in the chaos, but she fell off the wall and hit her head on a rock.

While Full Moon Temple ordered people to get a doctor, they also contacted the family of Mrs. Li. After the doctor came, he said that she would not recover.

Li Chen heard about it and sighed. It was Mrs. Yuan who had made trouble. But, when he looked at Mrs. Li’s face, which was as white as paper, Li Chen couldn’t say anything.

Several children of Mrs. Li’s lay beside Mrs. Li and cried sadly.

Li Chengzhong stood in front of the bed and watched Mrs. Li gradually lose her breath. He had mixed feelings in his heart. This woman had overwhelmed him for the first 20 years of their marriage. He thought he would never be able to move to this mountain in his life. He never expected that this big mountain would fall down.

He touched the third younger brother’s head. “Chenghui, people can’t be resurrected from the dead. You are my younger brother. Chengde and Chengyu are still young, so they will still need to count on you.”

Li Chenghui’s siblings had grown up under the guidance of their mother and had her character and temper. Although they were saddened by the death of their mother, they knew that no one could be blamed.

Li Chenghui held the hand of his younger brother in one hand and his younger sister’s hand in the other. He nodded solemnly. “I know, eldest brother.” He also felt a little guilty. After all, his mother was not good to his eldest brother before, and he was not very respectful to his eldest brother due to the influence of his mother. His eldest brother now had to look after the household, and his attitude towards them was the same as before, and his treatment of them was the same as before. He was really ashamed that his eldest brother repaid his grievances with virtue like this.

Only Li Chengyu, as the only daughter in the family, wanted to be conceited. She had a deep relationship with her mother and there was a lot of resentment in her eyes.

Li Chen reached out and touched his little daughter’s hair but didn’t speak.

After Mrs. Li’s funeral, the Li family returned to its previous calm. Only Li Chenghui, his younger brother, and his younger sister were a little worried. They were afraid that their father would marry, and then they would have a stepmother who treated them the way their mother treated eldest brother.

Li Chen was stunned, and found nothing unusual about his children. On the contrary, the servants who were responsible for teaching Li Chenghui and his younger siblings noticed. They whispered a few words to Li Chengzhong.

Li Chengzhong thought for a while, and asked Li Chen privately about the matter. Only then did Li Chen understand things. He found Li Chenghui and his younger siblings to promise that he would not marry again.

Li Chen really didn’t think about marrying again. He was very good by himself now. Why should he marry another wife to take care of? The children were also uneasy.

Li Chenghui got the assurance from his father, so he was relieved.

Li Chen was also afraid that the empress dowager, who was his younger sister, in the palace would be thinking about his marriage, so he asked the wet nurse to go to the palace to talk to the empress dowager.

After hearing this, Li Su’s mouth twitched slightly. If she was the original owner, she would probably be worried. But now that it was her, she did not care about whether Li Chen was married.

“How about the younger brothers?” Li Su asked.

“The third young master and the fourth young master have read the holy book, and know common courtesy, righteousness, integrity, and shame, which is acceptable. Young Miss Chengyu is quite motherly. In the future…” The wet nurse hesitated.

“We know. You must teach them well. When you go back, tell them that Li Chengyu will not have to marry a high-ranking person in the future. She can marry someone with a clean family and a simple family background.” What was being motherly? It was ignorance, arrogance, and self-righteousness. This kind of person would cause trouble for the Li family! Li Su would not be at ease if she let her marry a high-ranking official!

“Yes, this servant knows.”

1.Emperor Jing of Han and Prince Liu Wu had a similar story to Emperor Long’an and Zhao Defang. You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jing_of_Han