Fairy, please let me explain.

Chapter 757: Snow Together (End)

The temple was filled with smoke, and Concubine Qin's figure kneeling on the futon was as thin as paper. When Li Zhaoyuan stepped through the threshold, he saw his mother taking the golden hairpin out of her hair.

He recognized the phoenix hairpin because his mother always said when she was a child that it was a gift from his father. He believed it at first, but now he thought that considering the man's character, it should have been just a reward after a night of love. Poor mother has always kept it as a treasure. However, since Li Zhaoyuan could remember, his mother has always been this kind of person, keeping to herself and tolerant in everything.

The prince's walking into the house in the snow did not disturb Concubine Qin who was sitting in front of the Buddha, but it attracted the attention of the maids nearby. When they were about to kneel down and pay their respects, Li Zhaoyuan simply waved his hand and asked them to leave.

It was not until this moment that Concubine Qin realized that someone was coming behind her. She was not an ordinary person, but her cultivation was not very high either, so she could not notice Li Zhaoyuan who was walking silently in the snow.

Subconsciously looking back, Concubine Qin's slightly curly black hair and high nose bridge reveal a bit of exotic beauty, which is why the emperor and empress always regarded them as lowly. Concubine Qin was sold to Di'an from the Western Desert by slave traders. She should have been taken to a brothel in Beijing, but she was sold to the palace by mistake. However, this woman from the Western Desert did not have the toughness of the frontier, but always had the gentleness of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

So sometimes Li Zhaoyuan would think that his mother should be a lady rather than a concubine in the palace, or even a peasant woman, and would be happier than being in this heartless palace.

Seeing that the person coming was her son, Concubine Qin, who was wearing a plain white skirt, immediately stood up from the futon, her moon-like eyes widened, flashing with joy and surprise:
"Ah Zhao Yuan."

Li Zhaoyuan said in a gentle tone:
"Mother, I am here."

As the most powerful concubine in the current harem, compared to the Empress of Emperor Yan whose beauty still eclipses the heaven and earth, Concubine Qin is no longer as beautiful as she used to be, but time cannot defeat beauty. Even without makeup, her eyes and eyebrows can still show her stunning beauty.

The mother and son looked at each other for a moment. Concubine Qin looked at her handsome son with loving eyes, but then she subconsciously turned her eyes away and looked around the cold Buddhist hall for a moment, complaining in embarrassment:

"Why didn't you send someone to inform me before you came? There's nothing in this Buddhist temple. I'll make you some cakes when we get back to Yongning Palace."

Incense ash fell into the gilded incense burner. Li Zhaoyuan smiled and shook his head:

"Mother, I have already broken through the fusion body and do not need to eat or drink."

"Oh"

Concubine Qin felt a little disappointed when she heard this. She lowered her head and smiled softly, "It seems that you are still busy, and you should be busy. Just come to see me when you have time for family and country affairs. Just sit in this Buddhist temple today."

As if she was afraid that Li Zhaoyuan would refuse, after saying this, Concubine Qin bent down and took the only cushion in the Buddhist hall and placed it in front of him.

Look up with anticipation.

"."

Li Zhaoyuan watched his mother's actions in silence, feeling a little sad, and then smiled:
"Mother, please sit down."

As he said this, he curled up his legs and knelt on the brick floor.

Seeing this, Concubine Qin subconsciously reminded:
"Yuan'er, the ground is cold in winter."

The voice was as gentle as when he was a child, but it pierced his heart like a knife. Li Zhaoyuan subconsciously clenched his hands under his python robe and said nothing.

The long-burning lamp in front of the Buddha flickered in the cold wind.

After a moment's silence, Concubine Qin realized belatedly that Yuan'er was already the best in the world.

After smoothing the wrinkles on her plain white skirt, Concubine Qin sat down with a smile on her face. At this moment, she noticed the pale face of Zhao Yuan opposite her.

A pair of smiling eyes flashed, and Concubine Qin stretched out her wrinkled slender hand and touched the face of the child opposite:
"Yuan'er, why are you so pale?"

Li Zhaoyuan felt the familiar yet unfamiliar temperature coming from his mother's fingertips and smiled:

"I just got a little bit of the disease, but it's nothing serious."

After hearing this, Concubine Qin was silent for a while and sighed softly:
"It's probably because of the disputes in the court."

After his lie was exposed, Li Zhaoyuan did not deny it, but he did not continue the topic. He whispered:
"Mother, why do you like coming to this Buddhist temple so much recently?"

Concubine Qin took her hand back and placed it in front of her belly, then knelt down dignifiedly and gracefully:

"Many innocent people have died because of me these days, and I always feel uneasy. I come here to chant Buddha's name and pray for peace of mind."

Li Zhaoyuan shook his head slightly and said:
"Mother, the blood on my hands is too numerous to count. Even Buddha cannot save me."

Concubine Qin's smile remained as gentle as the spring breeze:
“There’s always something to think about.”

The bronze wind chimes on the eaves of the Buddhist temple tinkle in the wind.

Li Zhaoyuan looked at the compassionate face of the Bodhisattva in the niche beside him and said in a soft and slow voice:

"Mother, there are no gods or Buddhas in this world, nor is there any karma or retribution for right and wrong. There is only the winner who wins and the loser who loses."

The smile stopped, Concubine Qin pursed her red lips, lowered her eyes, and tightly grasped the golden hairpin given to her by the current emperor. She was a little at a loss, and said weakly:
"I'm sorry Yuan'er, mom is useless. I'm just an ordinary person, and this is the only way I can do."

"."

Li Zhaoyuan looked back instantly and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He was born in a humble family and even prayed to the non-existent gods and Buddhas to help him.
It was quiet for a long, long time.
Li Zhaoyuan then spoke with a smile:

"Mother, the Crown Prince has been placed under house arrest by His Majesty today, and he will be deposed in a month.
"I have just been to Kunning Palace and met the emperor and empress who gave her the poisoned wine.
"Oh, today I know that the person who made me afraid back then was actually so despicable, and he was so ugly when facing death.
"So mother, you really don't have to be like this. You have helped me a lot in my life."

Concubine Qin listened carefully until the other party finished speaking, then she asked slowly:
"Is the Empress dead?"

"."

The moment he heard this question, Li Zhaoyuan's eyes subconsciously became evasive, as if he had turned back into the child he was before.

Seeing his expression, Concubine Qin roughly understood everything in her heart. She exhaled lightly and the white mist dissipated. The tenderness in her eyes seemed to overflow, and her clear voice echoed:
"Zhao Yuan, take action."

"."Li Zhaoyuan seemed to be suffocating.

"I'm sorry it's Mom who's useless."

Concubine Qin smiled slightly, holding the golden hairpin in her hand, looking towards the direction of Weiyang Palace, her smile was gentle and sighing:
"He is still as ruthless as ever. Even though he has decided to pass the throne to you, he still leaves you this ruthless test question at this moment."

The woman with a clear and calm voice and smiling eyes like the moon gradually lost her motherly kindness and turned into a strong Concubine Qin. She used the golden hairpin to tie up her curly black hair:

"But if you want to reach that position, you must be like him, cold-blooded and ruthless, without scruples or weaknesses."

The snow kept falling and there was silence for a while.

The glazed tiles glowed bluish-gray in the morning light, the copper bells on the eaves were wrapped in icy edges, and every gust of north wind brought with it a faint whimper.

The mother's wrinkled hands stroked her son's lowered head. Her plain white skirt shone like moonlight in the shadows, but the smile in her eyes was as gentle as when she was a child:

"Do it, he's watching."

(End of this chapter)