Doted By The Regent King

Chapter 1747: Chapter 1685: With Me Together

Hearing Wufu’s comfort, Ah Jiu forced out a smile and lightly patted her hand.

"Seriously, listen to me. He’s from Eagle Hall, and he keeps talking about upholding some so‑called last injunctions. Who knows if he’s planning to set up a puppet emperor and then sit behind the scenes as the all‑powerful minister under one man and above ten thousand?" Wufu snorted coldly.

"No." Ah Jiu shook his head and said, "I feel he wasn’t joking. I myself also feel something is wrong, I just don’t dare let my thoughts go in that direction."

Wufu cried out, "Ah Jiu."

Ah Jiu’s face was dark as he said, "In the past I already felt that Imperial Brother was overly concerned about Royal Mother. That kind of concern wasn’t the pure, simple fondness of a son for his mother. Now I understand—it basically was..."

"Ah Jiu, things aren’t clear yet, you can’t make rash judgments." Wufu frowned.

But Ah Jiu looked at her. "What if it really is true?"

Wufu fell silent.

If it was true, how would Ah Jiu face Emperor Yan?

"Whether it’s true or not, you have to act as if you don’t know." Wufu said in a low voice, "Ah Jiu, leaving aside whether Emperor Yan has filthy thoughts about Royal Mother, if he realizes that you know what’s in his heart, what do you think he’ll do?"

Ah Jiu’s expression tightened, his fists clenched, and his lips pressed into a hard line.

He suddenly thought of Royal Mother’s sudden illness in the first half of the year, when nearly all the attendants at Cining Palace had been changed. What on earth had happened, and why? Could it be related to Imperial Brother?

Ah Jiu didn’t dare think deeper; his heart felt like a tangled ball of thread, all snarled together.

"Ah Jiu, you need to stay calm!" Seeing the murderous air between his brows, Wufu said, "Once a person loses their calm, everything they see and hear will lose the most accurate judgment, and they’ll easily fall into delusion."

Ah Jiu stared at her blankly.

"Don’t be afraid, you have me." Wufu clasped both his hands with both of hers, half‑squatted down, lifted her head to look at him and said, "I’m by your side. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. We won’t let you bear it alone. Look, we’ve even gone through life and death together several times already—what else can’t we face? Other than life and death, nothing counts as a big deal."

Ah Jiu’s gaze gradually regained warmth, and he said, "Wufu, Royal Mother is not that kind of person. She must have her difficulties, she... Royal Mother is a good mother."

"I know." Wufu gave his hand a quick kiss, then beamed and said, "Ah Jiu, I don’t care about women ’keeping their chastity.’ In fact, I’m very open‑minded about this kind of thing. A widow remarrying is not anything bad at all—I very much support it. Women also have the right to pursue their own happiness. Don’t even mention whether Royal Mother has some hidden suffering; even if she really did have something going on with Emperor Yan, I wouldn’t mind, as long as she herself feels happy and willing."

Ah Jiu jolted, the corner of his mouth twitching. He cautiously asked, "Um... are people from your place all like that?"

Wufu shrugged. "You see it often enough and it stops being strange. Some wealthy women even keep pretty little boy‑toys—oh, that’s what you people here call keeping a lover as a ’kept face’!"

Ah Jiu gave a cough.

"So, don’t be afraid. I’ll always face things with you." Wufu said, "What you must do is hide your true thoughts and not let Emperor Yan see through you. Just like Hua Wushuang said: he is the emperor, and you are his younger brother and also his subject‑younger‑brother. Between ruler and subject, ruler comes first, subject comes after the younger brother."

Ah Jiu pressed his lips together and nodded heavily. "I understand."

Wufu was about to say more when Yuan Ye’s anxious voice called from outside, "My lord, an urgent dispatch from Beiyan."