The Legend Zhuohua

Chapter 30

After the family banquet, Emperor Zhaoming and Liu Yan took a walk in the garden to eat, laughing and talking about the topics at the banquet.

"Brother Yan, do you really have no intention of getting married?"

Liu Yan smiled lightly and said: "Before, I was focused on the battlefield and had no such thoughts. Now... Brother Huang, you know my body. I don't know how many years I can live, so why bother dragging other girls down."

After hearing this, Emperor Zhaoming's expression dimmed, and he patted Liu Yan's shoulder gently: "You don't want to drag others down, but the Queen Mother wants to let you marry a wife and have children so that you can keep a queen."

Liu Yan said: "My brother understands that the Queen Mother also cares about me."

Liu Yan knew one thing as long as he could remember. His mother, Concubine Yun, had a dystocia and hemorrhage during childbirth, so she took care of him and kept him. His father, Emperor Yuan Zheng Liu Xi, became ill due to grief over Concubine Yun's death and became bedridden. From the first day he was born, he was brought to the palace of the current Queen Mother, who was also the Queen at that time, to raise him. It is said that the queen knelt in front of Emperor Yuan Zheng while holding the infant child, begging Emperor Yuan Zheng to cheer up. The queen was born into the Zhou family, a well-known family. She had read poetry and books since she was a child, and was dignified and gentle. However, that time, she showed a strong side.

Queen Zhou knelt in front of the dragon bed and begged Emperor Yuan Zheng to drink medicine. Emperor Yuan Zheng looked gray and had no intention of living. Queen Zhou suddenly stood up and looked at the emperor with determination.

"With Concubine Yun gone, Your Majesty doesn't want to live anymore! What about this child! He was born without a mother. Does Your Majesty also want him to be without a father?"

Emperor Yuan Zheng's eyelashes trembled slightly, but he did not want to open his eyes.

Empress Zhou smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Your Majesty thinks that I am kind and will definitely raise this child with all my heart. No, I will not! I am not his biological mother. She does not have so much love. I will not love him with all my heart. I will only love him with all my heart." Ignore him, abuse him, and abandon him! He has no father or mother. He is the most pitiful child in the world... Your Majesty, he is your and Concubine Yun's child. Can you bear it? Look, he is still so young , he is the child that Concubine Yun wants to give birth to at the risk of her own life. His facial features are so similar to Concubine Yun's. Look at him and give him a hug..."

Queen Zhou knelt in front of the bed with tears streaming down her face: "How could you have the heart to abandon him..."

Emperor Yuan Zheng finally opened his eyes and tremblingly took the child from Queen Zhou's hand.

Everyone knows that Queen Zhou is virtuous. The cruel words she said were just to force Emperor Yuan Zheng to cheer up. In the years to come, she did her best to raise Liu Yan. Some people speculated that she would indulge Liu Yan and dote on him. He was used to being a drunkard, so that he would not pose a threat to Liu Ju's status. However, Queen Zhou treated Liu Yan no differently than she treated her own son Liu Ju.

Liu Yan still remembered that he was playful when he was a child, and his brother Liu Ju loved him, so he helped him lie and pretend to be sick and not go to class. As a result, Empress Zhou brought the imperial doctor to visit him, and he was exposed on the spot. The brothers were punished to copy books for three days. He brought the homework to Queen Zhou. She took it with a cold face and put it on the table without looking at it. Instead, she asked the palace maid to bring some medicinal wine and prepared it herself. He rubbed his sore wrist.