Chapter 182 - The Place Of No Return 2 (1/2)

The Emperor's palace

Let go,” Emperor Zhong said in a low tone when she didn't budge. He pushed her hands away from his collar and pushed her aside. ”Control yourself!”

Empress Lu grabbed the table by his majesty's side and broke her fall, she chuckle before pushing herself up. She no longer feared hurting his feelings and just wanted to make him suffer.

”I have kept silence while you did everything you could to destroy my family but I draw the line when it comes to my son!”

Emperor Zhong opened and shut his mouth, like a fish a few times, ”your your Son?” His heart skipped a beat and his breathing dropped. It was like he was falling into sinking sand. He found himself hoping that she had miss spoken but her next words left him speechless for some seconds.

Empress Lu nodded, ”Yes! Lu Yaozhu the person you hate the most is our Qiang, for a smart man I am surprised you didn't notice the similarities he has to the former Emperor but I guess you just took it as being due to how long the Lu family's blood has mixed with Zhongshan family. As he got older, I feared that you would get suspicious but you never did, because you never saw past his surname”

Emperor Zhong fell backwards, his head hitting the back of the seat but he didn't feel the pain. He was too focused on processing what she had said. He covered his eyes with his hands and rubbed his face in an attempt to clear his eyes.

”You lie, How is that possible. Qiang died in the fire!” He said.

Empress Lu chuckled, ”No he didn't, I got him out when the fire started and sent him to Hongli and his wife. I guess this is the point where you will accuse me of lying to you like you ever gave me a choice” she paced around the room for some seconds and looked back at him.

Emperor Zhong narrowed his eyes at her and in a chilling tone said, ”You lied to me for years and kept my child away from me all for what. So that you can make me suffer, WHY DID YOU DO THAT!”

Empress Lu laughed softly and pointing at him shouted, ”I DID WHAT I COULD TO PROTECT MY SON! We were all alone in this gilded prison you call your Imperial Haram. When he was born and you made him the crown prince, I thought that you would do right by him and protect him but you never did. Do you know what happens to princes that lack the Emperor's protection at an early age in the haram?

”They became targets! Your misplaced jealousy nearly harmed my child. Every day, I lost sleep just to protect my little boy. While the man that was supposed to protect the two of us lost himself in between a disloyal woman's legs. Before the fire, there were four attempts on my boy's life, all of which were arranged by your Precious little concubine, Imperial consort Shi. However, it was the moment I found out about Noble consort Tong's plans to kill my son by setting the nursery on fire that pushed me to the edge.

”I went to see you the day, I found out about that but you were with your precious consort. Do you remember the day, I stood outside her palace till night but you never came out to see me. That was when I was naive enough to believe you would protect me or my child. I am not so naive anymore, I would never regret meeting you because those years with you gave me my son and taught me a very important lesson.

”Never trust anyone but yourself with your safety and the safety of your children. After that experience, I made up my mind to send my son away. A decision that frankly, I never regret making. It gave him a chance to live, because of your incompetence. I couldn't raise my son myself but I always thanked the Gods for making him strong enough that he survived multiple attempts to kill him.”

Empress Lu walked closer to him, ”isn't it funny how the man you hated and killed, was the one to protect your son. Hongli and Madam Lu didn't even waver when I asked them to protect my son. My best friend just lost her hind at seven months, but the moment I asked for help. She agreed no questions asked, I will always be indebted to her and my brother. They protected the two of us even better than my husband”.

Emperor Zhong felt like the carpet was pulled from under him as he heard her words. He couldn't refute anything, she said because it had truly happened as she said. He suddenly felt so ashamed, a feeling that she hasn't felt in decades. He looked up at the only woman he loved but couldn't look her in the eye.

He sighed, ”please forgive me, Meirong. I was wrong. I was wrong then as I am wrong now, I should have protected you two. I will approve his request for reinforcement immediately”.