Shocking! The actress was dragged to the regent's bedchamber every night.

Chapter 214 Past Events

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Wuli froze and sat up straight from his lap.

He looked out the window, not at her.

At the time, she didn't know why Yu Chen was injured; she only thought it was an assassination attempt or something similar.

Su Wuli never imagined that day would be the anniversary of his mother's death.

"When I was eight years old..."

His voice was calm, as if he were talking about someone else's affairs.

"My elder brother ascended the throne, and not long after, my mother was strangled to death by a palace maid."

Su Wuli's breath hitched upon hearing this.

Yu Chen continued, "The palace maid said that my mother committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

As he spoke, his face trembled slightly, "But I saw with my own eyes that the palace maid came in from outside, holding a white silk ribbon in her hand, and I saw her strangle my mother to death."

His voice was completely flat.

But Su Wuli noticed that his Adam's apple bobbed, as if he was trying his best to control something.

"I was only eight years old when my elder brother ascended the throne... It was already merciful of him to spare my life."

Yu Chen smiled as he spoke, but his smile looked more like a grimace.

Seeing him like this, Su Wuli felt a sharp pain in her heart.

Her hand slid down his neck and landed on his shoulder.

Her fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

"I dare not cry, dare not make a scene, dare not let anyone know that I remember."

His eyes were still looking out the window, where the locust tree's leaves were not yet fully grown and were sparse.

"I have been pretending to be crazy for eight years."

Su Wuli noticed something gleam in the corner of his eye.

It's like the morning light shining on the water, flashing for a moment and then disappearing.

She didn't know if those were tears.

Su Wuli had never seen him shed a tear.

"When I was sixteen, my idiocy was cured. I went to the battlefield, and after the battle, my elder brother began to pay attention to me."

His voice trailed off.

"I want him to see that I am just a brute who knows how to fight, and I want him to think that I am easy to control and will not threaten his throne."

He paused, then gave a self-deprecating laugh, "I was faking it again."

Su Wuli felt distressed seeing him like this.

She couldn't help but reach out and cup his face, turning it towards him.

There were no tears in his eyes, and he even seemed somewhat indifferent.

Su Wuli felt the man's gaze burning her heart.

She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.

Yu Chen's brows were furrowed, and her lips pressed against the wrinkles between his brows for a long time.

Then he moved away slightly, took a deep breath, and said, "You were only eight years old back then..."

Yu Chen remained silent.

Seeing this, Su Wuli couldn't help but shed tears.

He raised his hand and rubbed the corner of her eye, wiping away the tears.

"Stop crying," he said. "If I were as prone to tears as you, I would probably be dead long ago."

She didn't want him to die.

Su Wuli shook her head frantically.

She didn't want to cry, but the tears just wouldn't stop.

He didn't know why he was crying. Was it because he saw his mother being strangled when he was eight years old, or because he had pretended to be crazy for eight years?

It was because he was sixteen years old, clearly still a child, yet he went to the battlefield to kill.

she does not know.

She just cried until her face was wet with tears.

Yu Chen seemed to see that she was crying too hard, so he pulled her into his arms.

"Don't cry, my dear. I'm not eight years old now."

Su Wuli's tears flowed freely and smeared onto his chest.

She lifted her head from his embrace and touched the corner of his moist eyes.

She choked back tears as she said, "Please don't get hurt again, okay?"

He did not answer immediately.

Su Wuli felt inexplicably flustered. "Promise me."

Yu Chen looked at her for two seconds before speaking with a heavy tone.

"it is good."

Su Wuli finally stopped crying and lifted her head from his embrace.

She looked at his reddened eyes and felt a pang of pain in her heart.

"Your mother..." she asked tentatively, pulling down her mask, "What kind of person was she?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Chen's gaze lingered on her face for a moment.

"It's beautiful." The voice seemed to come from a very far place.

Su Wuli remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

He looked out the window again, his pupils unfocused.

It's like looking at his past through something.

"My mother liked to wear purple clothes, and every year my father would have the finest silks transported from Jiangnan, just for my mother."

As he said this, the look in his eyes softened slightly.

"Every year on the day the silk arrives, my mother would call me over and ask me to help her choose."

Su Wuli listened quietly, watching as the corners of his lips slightly turned up.

"Back then, I was young and didn't know what looked good or bad, so I just picked one at random. My mother wore the clothes I chose to the palace banquet and told everyone that Chen'er had picked them out."

Yu Chen paused as if recalling something, then continued after a moment.

"My mother speaks softly and gently. When I was little, I was afraid of thunder, so I would run to her room whenever there was thunder. My mother would let me sleep on her bed and whisper in my ear."

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli was taken aback, never knowing that Yu Chen was afraid of thunder.

Since they met, he has always been someone who is fearless in her eyes.

As she pondered this, Yu Chen slowly recited a nursery rhyme.

"Thunder God, Thunder God, don't rush, walk slowly among the clouds. Little Chen'er, he sleeps lightly, don't disturb his sweet dreams. Thunder God, Thunder God, don't panic, it's alright when the sky brightens. Little Chen'er, in your dreams, your mother is watching over you by the window. The thunder god has gone far away, the rain has stopped, and it's dawn. Little Chen'er, open your eyes, your mother is still by your side."

He lowered his eyes as he spoke, "I gradually fell asleep while listening."

Su Wuli's tears, which she had just been holding back, welled up again.

She didn't want to cry, but she just couldn't control herself.

I never imagined that a man in power would be like this...

"My mother also makes osmanthus cakes. Every autumn when the osmanthus flowers bloom, she takes me to the Imperial Garden to pick them. Since I can't reach the high branches, the palace maids will lift me up."

Yu Chen seemed to have opened a floodgate of words, or perhaps he was lost in memories.

"I picked a large bunch and stuffed it into my mother's sleeve. The osmanthus flowers fell out of her sleeve and landed all over the ground, but she wasn't annoyed. She just smiled and said that Chen'er was going to pickle his mother into the flavor of osmanthus."

He paused, his lips twitched, and an unconscious smile appeared on his face.

However, Su Wuli found it incredibly frustrating.

"Father said that Mother has spoiled me. She only has one son, so who else should she spoil if not her? Father didn't dare to say anything."

As he spoke, his voice lowered, "Every day when my father comes back from court, the first thing he does is test my studies. If I can't recite them, he blows his beard and glares at me, saying he's going to hit my palm."

Although he said he would hit the palm of the hand, his furrowed brows relaxed a little.

"My mother watched from the side without intervening. Only when my father raised the ruler did she slowly walk over and protect me behind her. My father could only put down the ruler, sighed, and said, 'Just keep spoiling him.'"

As Su Wuli watched him recount these childhood memories word by word, the bitterness in her heart intensified.

"My father taught me to read, to govern the country, and to be good to the people. He said that being an emperor was not for enjoying happiness, but to ensure that everyone in the world could have enough to eat. At that time, I didn't understand and just thought he was being long-winded."

"He asked me to recite the Zizhi Tongjian. When I got stuck halfway through, he wasn't in a hurry. He just sat there and waited for me to figure it out myself. When I figured it out, he nodded and said it was alright."

"His mother poured him tea, and when he picked up the teacup, he would secretly wink at me, meaning he had passed the test."

After Yu Chen finished speaking, he paused for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, Father Emperor did not hold a palace banquet. He only took me and Mother Consort to the Imperial Garden to admire the moon. Father Emperor peeled chestnuts for Mother Consort, and Mother Consort peeled grapes for me."

Father said that when I grow up, he will bring his own wife to admire the moon. Mother said that I am only a few years old and he shouldn't do such things. Father would always laugh and tease Mother.

At this point, his voice suddenly changed, "I was seven years old that year."

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