Luo Huaizhou was greatly disappointed when he saw the Queen Mother's attitude. His heart was struggling and tormented between family affection and friendship. His persistence and enthusiasm for family affection gradually disintegrated amidst the accumulation of disappointment and pain again and again. , consuming the remaining hope in my heart.
He originally thought that no matter how strong and ruthless his mother was, no matter how unscrupulous she was for the imperial power, she would still retain a kind heart in front of him. At least when she knew that she had wrongly blamed Jing Qian and Xiao Yue Wan, she would look at them. For the sake of his friends, he would feel guilty and try to make up for it, but now it seems that he was too naive after all.
In this game, the friendship side finally showed overwhelming force, while the family side was gradually defeated.
Luo Huaizhou felt extremely bitter in his heart, and there was an inexplicable pain filling his heart. He closed his eyes gently, hiding the sadness in his eyes, and tried to calm down the surging emotions in his heart.
After a while, Luo Huaizhou took a deep breath, stood up suddenly and walked to the Queen Mother's bed, took out a jade box from his sleeve, opened it and handed it to the Queen Mother, and asked in a low voice: "Is this what the Queen Mother said? "
When the Queen Mother saw the southern red agate bracelet clearly placed inside, she was immediately startled, with a rather surprised look on her face.
She once heard Shi Shangshu mention that when he was a child, the girl from the Shi family went to the palace with him for a banquet, and then went out to play during the banquet. Unexpectedly, she got lost in the palace. Fortunately, Zhou'er brought her back, and from then on The girl was obsessed with Zhou'er.
Southern red agate has always been a symbol of royal status. She gave this thing to the girl, and the meaning is self-evident. Moreover, the girl is not stupid, so she naturally understands her intention of giving this thing to her. She originally thought that she should be grateful to herself and cherish this thing because she allowed that girl to fulfill her wish, but she didn't expect that she would give up her long-cherished wish for two outsiders.
I don’t know if I overestimated her or underestimated her. However, her choice made her more certain. This girl seemed gentle and obedient, but in fact she was very independent and might not be a suitable candidate for the princess.
Although the power of the Minister of History needs to be maintained, marriage is not the only way. Moreover, our Shi family has more than just one daughter, Shi Manzi. Even if she is not a legitimate daughter, it doesn't matter. As long as she is sensible and obedient, it will be the same for anyone. Then she only needs to change the identity of a legitimate daughter, which will be easy for her, just like the Zhou family back then.
Thinking of this, the Queen Mother pretended to be confused and asked: "What does this girl from the historian family mean?"
Luo Huaizhou looked at the Queen Mother's pretentious posture and felt both sad and a little ridiculous in his heart. This reminded him of what Shi Manzi said to him when he sent Shi Manzi back home, and he suddenly felt a sense of sadness in his heart.
"The Queen Mother gave me this string of southern red agate this morning, saying it was for the good luck of the prince, and I hope you can come back safely. Now that you have come back safely, this thing should also be returned to Zhao intact, so I also asked the prince to give it to Manzi. Return it to the Queen Mother."
When Shi Manzi took out a jade box and handed it to him, he didn't think much about it at the time and just said: "Since the Queen Mother gave it to you, just keep it."
Shi Manzi pushed the box toward herself, shook her head and said, "Southern red agate is so precious. Only the royal family has always been qualified to wear it. But now the queen mother has given it to me. Does the prince understand the meaning?"
Hearing what Shi Manzi said, he realized the purpose of his mother's move and was stunned, "The queen misses you and me..."
He looked at Shi Manzi and felt a little embarrassed. He didn't know how to deal with it for a while, so he had to swallow the next words.
Shi Manzi didn't seem to mind, she just smiled and said: "Not really, the Queen Mother probably wanted to warn me and let me draw a clear line between myself and Yue Wan and Mr. Su, so this bracelet, Manzi will do it no matter what. Can’t accept it.”
From Shi Manzi's words, he vaguely smelled a clue.
Although he knew that his mother had always disliked his association with Jing Qian, she had turned a blind eye over the years and had never done anything detrimental to Jing Qian. After he had a dispute with Hua Yanzhi that day, he was worried that his mother would misunderstand Xiao Yue Wan's approach to him because of evil intentions, so he hurried into the palace to explain the whole matter to his mother. Although he was scolded by her mother, she still But it didn't embarrass Xiao Yue Wan.
All this made him think that his mother was only harsh in words, but in fact she still respected his wishes very much, at least she would not embarrass his friends without distinguishing between right and wrong.
It wasn't until he learned from Jing Qian that his mother had summoned Xiao Yue Wan into the palace while he was away, that he realized that it was not that the queen would not embarrass his friends, nor did she respect his wishes. Wait for the right moment.
Now after listening to Shi Manzi's words, he was even more sure that the queen mother had been prejudiced and malicious towards Jing Qian and Xiao Yue Wan from the beginning, so her purpose of summoning Xiao Yue Wan into the palace was probably not simple.
It was at that time, under his questioning, that Shi Manzi, who originally planned to remain silent, finally compromised and told everything she knew.
Thinking of this, Luo Huaizhou couldn't help but take a deep look at the Queen Mother, as if he wanted to see into her heart from her cold eyes, and wanted to see whether her heart was cold or hot, and whether she was as cold and ruthless as she was at the moment. .
He didn't know when his mother became so unreasonable, and he didn't know why she became so unsympathetic. Or perhaps, she had never changed, and it was only because of the bond in her blood that she allowed herself to change. Never really saw her clearly.
Luo Huaizhou suddenly felt filled with grief. He quickly put the jade box on the table beside him and replied in a hoarse voice: "She said that since my son has returned safely and good fortune has arrived, this thing is convenient." The complete jade returns to Zhao."
After saying this, without waiting for the Queen Mother to speak, he turned around and walked back to his seat without looking at the Queen Mother again.
Emperor Dehui, who was watching silently from the side, glanced back and forth at the two of them, and then fiddled with the blood jade finger between his fingers, with a look of contemplation in his eyes.
Seeing Luo Huaizhou's expression was different, and there seemed to be a hint of disappointment and sadness in his eyebrows, the Queen Mother couldn't help but frowned, and there was an inexplicable anxiety in her heart, and then she said: "Forget it, since she doesn't want it, how can I be sad?" My family doesn’t force me either.”
As the Queen Mother spoke, she raised her hand to close the box. Her expression was much calmer than before, and then she spoke earnestly to Luo Huaizhou: "Although the Ai family doesn't know what the girl from the Shi family said to you, what she said is It may not be the truth. Seeing that she has a very good relationship with Na Yue Wan, the Ai family may add jealousy and make nonsense to you. Zhou'er, you should understand that the words of outsiders cannot be trusted after all. "
After Luo Huaizhou heard this, he felt as if the area was covered with frost and snow, his heart felt cold, and his eyes became increasingly gloomy.
"I think that the pure will self-purify. This is not true, so why should we be afraid of what others say?" He tried his best to calm down his mind and looked at the Queen Mother quietly, his eyes gradually becoming sharper, like a cold star piercing the haze under his eyes. , "Since the Queen Mother feels that the words of outsiders are not trustworthy, I would like to ask your son, I dare to ask, what is the Queen Mother's intention in summoning Xiao Yue Wan into the palace while I am going to the imperial temple to offer incense and pray for blessings?"
