Chapter 350: The Lonely One
The first day of the New Year.
Noble Lady Cao, who had a bamboo branch arranged in her room, rose in the middle of the night.
Servants attended to her as she washed, dressed, and groomed herself.
Noble Lady Cao’s courtyard was relatively large.
Noble Lady Cao’s family background was exceptionally wealthy.
The Sixth Prince was also a rather promising prince.
He was quite accomplished in both literature and martial arts.
Although Noble Lady Cao was only a Noble Lady, her status in the palace was respectable, and she lived quite well.
It was like a low-level employee in a company who, because of a wealthy background and personal connections, secured excellent projects and lived very comfortably.
However, the connections were of no use, and the projects failed.
Noble Lady Cao still carried herself normally.
When the Sixth Prince was arrested, she was in a panic.
But because she was considered a person under suspicion, the Emperor would not send anyone to comfort her.
The fact that she wasn’t punished at the same time was probably just because they hadn’t thought of her yet.
But later, the Sixth Prince committed suicide.
He took his own life to prove his innocence.
Noble Lady Cao wept all night.
The Emperor sent someone to offer some comfort and gifts.
And that was the end of it.
Noble Lady Cao returned to her daily routine.
Her former close friends no longer dared to step foot in her home.
A mother’s influence on her child is immense, like a seed being sown.
Noble Lady Cao herself was a somewhat artistic and aloof woman.
One could tell by the floral arrangements and decorations in her room; there wasn’t much that was gaudy, but it was elegant and comfortable.
She had been favored for a time, as the Emperor quite liked Noble Lady Cao’s aloof demeanor.
But the competition in the palace was too cutthroat; if you didn’t fawn over him, there were plenty of others scrambling to do so.
Aloofness was no match for green tea, black tea, or Pu’er tea…
Once the persona of being “aloof” was established, it was really just inner turmoil—constantly struggling and agonizing with oneself. Such a person could not lower their head, would suffer much in life, yet would maintain that aloofness. Only after making peace with oneself would the mind find tranquility.
She had nothing left, save for her aloofness.
This was what she clung to.
This untimely quality of hers was like a seed sown in her son’s heart.
That was why, in the end, the Sixth Prince took his own life so resolutely.
Even though the Sixth Prince usually appeared to be very clever.
A child raised in the Imperial family could not be pure, spotless, and ignorant; such a person would not survive to adulthood.
But when the superficial vanity, cleverness, and schemes receded like a flood, the green bamboo in the depths of his heart remained. Every node of that bamboo was a trial of life, yet it did not bend in the slightest; it grew straight up, striving upward.
Thus, the Sixth Prince committed suicide.
Upon learning of her son’s death.
Noble Lady Cao wept, her heart-wrenching sobs tearing through her.
She regretted it.
To hell with being aloof.
If she had known the outcome would be like this.
She would have crawled on her knees to climb to the top.
She would have set an example and told her child: “Do not be aloof. As long as you are alive, you have everything. If your life is gone, you have nothing.”
However, she no longer had the chance to say these words to her child.
She was devastated.
Her son had been afraid of pain since he was little. She would tell him that a real man shouldn’t be afraid, but his eyes would still turn red, and he would shed tears from the pain.
Such a child, who was so afraid of pain, had taken his own life.
How painful that must have been.
How painful.
Just thinking about it made Noble Lady Cao’s lips tremble. She wanted to scream, to shriek like a madwoman, yet as her mouth opened and quivered, she could not make a sound.
She was so “aloof” that even when she was furious and wanted to curse, she couldn’t find the words.
Today was the palace banquet.
She had to attend as well.
In truth, she hadn’t seen the Emperor in a long time.
Their child had died, and she still hadn’t seen the Emperor.
She had almost forgotten what the Emperor looked like.
During the New Year, one could not dress too plainly.
Even though her son had died.
She could not wear mourning clothes.
The palace maids did their best to dress Noble Lady Cao in attire that wasn’t too flashy.
It had some colored trim, but the base was white.
Noble Lady Cao didn’t really care anymore.
The person was already dead; even if she wore paper clothes now, it would be useless.
The women of the inner palace arrived at the banquet one after another.
When Noble Lady Cao sat in her seat and saw Consort Zhang up ahead.
She was startled.
Consort Zhang looked suddenly very old.
As old as her mother.
In the past, Consort Zhang had looked, at most, like her older sister.
After sitting for a while longer, everyone knelt to pay their respects.
Noble Lady Cao looked up and saw the man on the dragon throne.
She suddenly felt a neurotic urge to laugh.
He had grown old, like a decrepit old man.
So this was what he had become; no wonder he no longer visited the inner palace.
She had originally been filled with fury and unbearable pain.
She had wanted to find the Emperor and weep, to have a good, cathartic cry. She wanted to know if this man had cried, if he felt any sorrow—that was his child, too.
But in that instant, seeing the aged Emperor.
Noble Lady Cao suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Retribution.
Hahaha.
Retribution!
She had only lost one child of her own, but he would lose many children, one after another, until he ultimately became truly the “Lonely One.”
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