imperial psychologist

Chapter 344 The Last Vigil
A few murmurs of unknown meaning came out of the old man's mouth.

Both Bo Ling and Fourteen could feel that the queen mother's weak hands were exerting a little force, and they obeyed the queen mother's lead until she gently folded the left and right hands of Bo Ling and Fourteen together.

At the moment when their hands folded, the back of Fourteen's hands was cold and rough, while Bo Ling's palm was warm and soft. Both of them were stunned for a moment, not understanding what the Queen Mother wanted to do.

As if she was afraid that they would let go soon, the moment the Queen Mother let go, she patted the back of Bo Ling's hand with some anxiety.

The old man did not explain why, nor did he intend to.She looked at Bo Ling, and there seemed to be a thousand words in her eyes, but she opened and closed her lips several times, but she couldn't make any sound.

Bo Ling looked at the Queen Mother's mouth and repeated it tentatively.

"No?...Did the queen mother say 'no', don't what?"

The old man nodded, and then took a deep breath, seeming to be accumulating strength between exhalations.

After a while, she spoke again.This time she seemed to have exhausted all her strength, but her voice was still like a gossamer.

"Don't... let go... your hand."

Don't let go.

Bai Ling frowned slightly. This request sounded so strange, but she still nodded solemnly and answered "Yes".

The Empress Dowager looked at this scene, her eyes suddenly became sad and euphoric, as if a thousand emotions suddenly surfaced in her heart.

After that, the Queen Mother stretched her right hand under her pillow again, frowning for a while, and then stopped, as if she had caught something.

Looking at the Queen Mother's expression, Bo Ling guessed and stretched out his right hand toward the head of the bed. As expected, the old man pulled his hand out from under the pillow, and gently placed the thing in Bo Ling's palm.

——Those were two seals about one finger long, each piece was cut off in the middle, leaving only half.

Bo Ling recognized it at a glance, it was the half-print of the hidden guard.

When she sneaked into the palace at the end of April, she saw Fourteen use it once.

This half seal is always one in the hands of the hidden guard, and one in the hands of the master.

When it came to minor matters, the dark guard could decide on his own with his half-seal, but in major matters, the dark guard had to take the remaining half-seal from his master before he could truly act on behalf of the master.

Bo Ling suddenly realized that the Queen Mother had given him the half-seal in her hand.

One of them should belong to Wei Shishi, so the other one is...

"The half-print...to be...put away."

The Queen Mother spoke slowly, but her voice became almost inaudible again.

Bo Ling nodded, she tightly held the two and a half prints in her hand, and gently bumped them against her heart—I will take care of them carefully.

The old man exhaled lightly, and nodded with relief.

With the last nostalgia, she looked at the overlapping hands of Bo Ling and Wei Shishi, and her cloudy eyes were suddenly covered with tears.

Bo Ling and Wei Shishi were at a loss for a while at this look. Bo Ling moved to the side of the bed and reached out to wipe the tears from the corners of the Queen Mother's eyes. The Queen Mother shook her head and avoided Bo Ling's hand.

The old man seemed to be still whispering, Bo Ling simply straightened up, and put his ear against the Queen Mother's lips.

"What did the Queen Mother want to say just now? I'm listening."

The old man seemed a little sleepy, she closed her eyes, and repeated in a low voice.It's just that every time she said a word or word, she had to rest for a while before she could say the next sentence.

Bo Ling waited there patiently, and every time the Queen Mother said something, she would repeat it softly.

"want……"

"each other……"

"take care of……"

You are to take care of each other.

Wei Shishi lowered his head.

His hot tears fell silently on the back of Bo Ling's hand.

Bo Ling himself froze there.

She could feel Fourteen trembling slightly, and her eyes were also slightly hot.

The old man closed her eyes again on the couch, but her heart was still heaving weakly, as if she had returned to her original sleep.

A vision of the afterlife appeared on the aging face of the Empress Dowager.Bo Ling held Fourteen's hand, and the two knelt quietly by the old man's couch to watch the night.

What surprised Bai Ling was that from the beginning to the end, there was never a single palace attendant here.

Only the queen mother, who was speechless and unable to get out of bed, lay quietly on the bed alone.

Bo Ling stretched out his hands and gently brushed the old man's messy hair, brushing away the broken hair nestling around her neck behind the pillow.

No wonder Fourteen didn't come back all day today.

The mother and son of Emperor Jianxi and the Empress Dowager, Bo Ling had already noticed something strange.It's just that she never imagined that one day the Queen Mother would be thrown in the magnificent palace of the Compassionate Ning Palace like this, no one cares about her, and she will fend for herself.

The Queen Mother could neither eat nor drink anything.

Bo Ling asked for a water bag from Fourteen, and the two cooperated from time to time, dipping some water with their little fingers to moisten the old man's dry and flaky lips.

This night, the lights in the bedroom of the Compassionate Ning Palace swayed with the wind, illuminating the whole dim palace crumbling, making one feel like being in a small passenger boat parked on the lake.

Bo Ling felt that the hand he held with Shisi was slightly numb, and his palms were covered with fine sweat, but neither of them let go.

She didn't know if the queen mother tonight really recognized herself and Fourteen, but at this moment, Bai Ling still felt infinite gratitude to the old man in her heart.

The Empress Dowager's light sleep expression became peaceful and natural.

Bo Ling understands that the queen mother's time is coming, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning.

Now that her physical body was gone, the day-to-day life in the cage came to an end, but when it came to the moment of farewell, she still felt a little caught off guard.

"Fourteen," Bo Ling said softly, "Did you grow up beside the Queen Mother?"

"Yes." Wei Shishi replied in a low voice.

"What was the Queen Mother like when she was young?"

"I've never seen her young." Wei Shishi's voice was low and hoarse, "The first time I saw her, she told me...'Look, Ai Jia's hair is as white as yours'. "

Bo Ling looked sideways at Fourteen, and he choked up a bit when he said this.

Wei Shisi closed his eyes, frowned slightly, and when he opened his eyes again, his expression returned to normal.

Outside the window, the sound of drums beating the men came over and over again.

Inside the window, the candle lamps on both sides of the temple burned out and went out one by one.

When the time of Yin was about to pass, they heard a series of footsteps from outside the door, the footsteps were so brisk and orderly, and so dense, they must not be from the palace of Compassionate Ning.

Bo Ling turned his head following the sound, and there was already a faint figure standing and waiting outside the door.

She took one last look at the queen mother who was still sleeping soundly.

"Let's go to Xuanqiong Pagoda," Bai Ling said softly, "I have something to tell you."

Wei Shishi didn't answer. In the darkness, he led Bai Ling up, and the two disappeared behind the half-opened side window without a sound.

The East is white outside the window.

(End of this chapter)