Chapter 1097: Chapter 1091: Untested by Wind and Rain
Murong Li understood that his mother’s nature was always gentle, so when Murong Yan and he decided to pretend to have a growing rift due to power struggles, Murong Li chose to feign reliance on his maternal granduncle.
But… Murong Li was clear about his maternal granduncle’s capabilities; it was absolutely impossible to secretly have his mother sent out of the palace under the eyes of his Ninth Uncle.
The Empress Dowager Yan led her son all the way to Murong Li’s study, lifted Murong Li’s sleeve, and looked at the wound wrapped with fine cotton cloth, which indeed appeared to be just a superficial wound, and only then did she let out a sigh of relief, her eyes involuntarily reddening again.
Seeing no one around, Empress Dowager Yan touched her son’s handsome little face and said to Murong Li, “You… be more cautious! From now on, you must absolutely not set foot on the battlefield! You should pack up now and go back to the capital with your mother after New Year’s Eve!”
“Mother?” Murong Li’s expression was bewildered. His mother had just arrived, and now she wanted him to pack up and return to the capital with her. Did something happen in the capital?
He clutched his mother’s hands and squatted in front of her, looking up at her, “Did something happen in the capital? Mother, don’t be afraid… you have your son here!”
The Empress Dowager Yan’s lips moved slightly, unable to speak for a long time, only saying, “Just come back to the capital with your mother, staying here makes your mother uneasy.”
“I’m with Ninth Uncle, what is there to be uneasy about, mother?”
“Just that…” Empress Dowager Yan abruptly stopped herself, forcibly swallowing her words, tears trickling down her face, “If you still have your mother in your heart, come back with your mother!”
“Mother, it’s not that your son doesn’t have you in his heart, but now Yan and Zhou have allied forces against Xiliang and the Tianfeng Kingdom. The Emperor of Zhou is still in Pingyang City, even while pregnant, just to inspire the soldiers’ morale. How can your son, a man, walk away from that?” Murong Li disagreed, “Mother, what happened exactly? Tell us and we can discuss it with Ninth Uncle…”
Before the Empress Dowager Yan could speak, the repeated calls of “Ninth Prince” were heard outside. She quickly withdrew her handkerchief to wipe her tears and saw her personal nanny enter to report that the Ninth Prince had arrived.
The Empress Dowager Yan tidied her clothes and said, “Invite the Prince in!”
Xiao Rongyan entered and paid his respects to the Empress Dowager Yan, “A Yan greets Sister-in-law. Just now, Tianfeng Kingdom sent an envoy to apologize. I was meeting the envoy in the study, so I didn’t come to greet you. I hope Sister-in-law won’t blame me.”
“Ninth Uncle!” Murong Li bowed to Murong Yan.
“A Yan, sit down!” The Empress Dowager Yan’s lips curved into a smile, pretending everything was normal, as she spoke first, “This time, I didn’t notify you and Ah Li in advance because I didn’t want to trouble you. I just wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with you and then take Ah Li back to the capital since the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Ah Li is the Emperor… If anything happens on the front lines, none of us could bear the consequences, don’t you think?”
Having traveled through many countries for years and seen countless people, how could he not notice the changes in his sister-in-law’s demeanor, despite her pretensions of normalcy?
“Sister-in-law, are you upset about Ah Li getting injured this time?”
Toward his own family, he was willing to be sincere and didn’t want to beat around the bush with his sister-in-law, so he spoke directly, “Sister-in-law, there are no outsiders here. If you’re upset, you can take it out on A Yan, too! In a long-standing custom, the elder brother’s wife is like a mother… No matter how you discipline A Yan, he will accept it! But… A Yan believes, as the Emperor of Yan Kingdom and as a Murong family man, Ah Li should see the battlefield.”
“Moreover, with me, Xie Xun present… and Yue Shi as well, we would never let Ah Li get seriously injured. For a man, bleeding a little… these superficial wounds are part of the necessary growth experience. Be it his elder brother or me, we have all been on the battlefield. For Ah Li, as the Emperor of Yan Kingdom, while he can’t risk his life, he should at least see it and not just stay in the safe confines of the capital without ever experiencing any challenges.”
The Empress Dowager Yan tightly gripped her handkerchief, understanding Murong Yan’s intent to speak heart-to-heart with her. She also admitted that there was logic in Murong Yan’s words.
Since Murong Yan was being frank, the Empress Dowager Yan did not want to hide her feelings either. She turned to Murong Li and said, “You go outside first, just wait outside, I have something to say to your Ninth Uncle.”
Murong Li hesitated, looking toward Murong Yan, but the Empress Dowager Yan immediately got angry, “What’s this, is your mother’s word not sufficient, does it need to be your Ninth Uncle’s order to take effect?”
Murong Li then bowed to the Empress Dowager Yan and Murong Yan before stepping out of the study, but outside, he pricked up his ears to listen to what was being said inside.
“Sister-in-law, feel free to speak your mind; we’re family, and there’s nothing that can’t be discussed.” He looked at the Empress Dowager Yan, “If you feel A Yan has done anything wrong, you can point it out.”
The Empress Dowager Yan’s grip on her handkerchief was so tight it seemed about to tear it apart. After a while, having mustered her emotions, she said, “A Yan, back when your sister-in-law first married your brother… you knew what the situation in Yan was like. At that time, Yan was a mess, the Father Emperor killed the Mother Empress, and was going to kill your brother too. At that time, your sister-in-law was already four months pregnant, desperately fled the palace to return to her family, and pleaded with her father to bring troops to save your brother and you by threatening her own life, and our first child was lost then, my father also… was lost then…”
The Empress Dowager Yan’s voice choked as she spoke, her body slightly trembling. To her, that year was like a nightmare, still causing her to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.
It was because she lost her child back then that her health deteriorated, and only years later was she able to have the Crown Prince, almost losing her life while pregnant with Ah Li.
Murong Yan’s fist tightened slightly at his side, being drawn into the painful memories.
He lifted his robe and knelt in front of the Empress Dowager Yan, “Sister-in-law… A Yan hasn’t forgotten.”
The Empress Dowager Yan, seeing him like this, couldn’t bear it and reached out to support him up, tears still streaming down as she choked on her words, “Later, A Yan, you were ambitious, saying you wanted to lay out a large information network for Yan, and therefore wanted to become a merchant, traveling between nations with a merchant’s identity, while at that time, all of Yan’s Silver Coin were being sent to Jin Kingdom, and it was poor… teetering on the brink of ruin!”
“Your brother was at his wit’s end, having no choice but to humbly plead with officials and citizens to weather the national crisis together, and people nationwide contributed Silver Tael for you. My maternal family donated all their family wealth, I gave you all my bridal jewelry, not even keeping a single piece of jewelry on me.” The Empress Dowager Yan touched the Jade Pendant at her waist that had changed cords countless times, “I only kept… this Jade Pendant your brother gave me as an engagement token when he proposed to me.”
“Sister-in-law…” He looked up at his sister-in-law, eyes turning red, “A Yan has not forgotten.”
Although later Sister-in-law’s dowry was all retrieved by Xiao Rongyan, the grace she showed in aiding him in times of difficulty, Murong Yan has never forgotten.