6

                                    

                                          
In a daze, Jin Yang seemed to hear the sound of the empress dowager and the imperial doctors talking. But he had no power to open his eyes and see the empress dowager’s expression.
                          
As he faded into sleep again, he heard a clear voice comfort the empress dowager. He didn’t know whose family this miss came from…
                          
When he opened his eyes again, it was evening. The bright red sunset shone through the windows and made the room orange. The empress dowager was standing next to the bed. She wore a plain palace robe that became bright in the sunset.
                          
“Emperor, you are awake?” Seeing his eyes open, Empress Dowager Zhou turned to look out the window and said in a calm voice, “How do you feel?”
                          
The attending palace attendants in the room helped Jin Yang sit up against the bed. She and the chief eunuch steward, Bai Xian, left the room so only Jin Yang and the empress dowager were left in the quiet room.
                          
“Son has caused Mother-Empress worry and is unfilial.” Jin Yang covered the corner of his mouth and coughed.
                          
“The day that this Grieving One’s son passed away, the sunset was also so bright.” Empress Dowager Zhou looked indifferently at the horizon. The clouds there were as red as fire. “This Grieving One cried for a day and a night, but the child who passed away could not come back to life.”
                          
Jin Yang grabbed the blanket under him. Looking at the empress dowager, he did not speak. This was the first time he heard the empress dowager call herself the “Grieving One.”

                          
“In the past, I received a favour from your mother, so I chose you among the children because I think that her child should be exceptional.” Even though that she did not like some of the people in the Sima Family, Jin Yang’s birth mother, Sima shi, had been an astounding noble miss of an aristocratic family. But the heavens were jealous of such beauties, and she passed away early.
                          
Jin Yang hadn’t expected Empress Dowager Zhou to mention his mother. He looked dazedly at the woman by the window and wanted to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
                          
“An emperor without true power is just a tool to get power to the court officials.” Empress Dowager Zhou walked to the bedside and gently tucked in the blankets. “The first thing you need to learn is to look critically at other people and act cautiously.”
                          
After saying all this, Empress Dowager Zhou straightened. “While the emperor’s fever has disappeared, you should still rest for a few days. You do not need to go to court tomorrow.”
                          
Jin Yang lay down on the bed, and pulled the blankets above his head. The words of Empress Dowager Zhou rang through his mind.
                          
Was he only a tool for the court officials to gain power?
                          
None of his teachers treated him with great care. Some people even subtly warned him to not become a puppet emperor of the empress dowager. But the person who said these words was truly loyal to him or… had other intentions?
                          
When Bai Xian entered, he saw the emperor was completely covered in his blanket. Worried that the emperor would suffocate himself, he did not dare to reach out so he could only call softly, “Emperor.”
                          
Jin Yang pushed the blanket off his head. He showed no hint of disappointment on his face. If his face wasn’t still slightly red, no one could see anything wrong with him.
                          
“When zhen fainted, was it Prime Minister Zhang who had someone report to Empress Dowager?” Today, it had been Zhang Zhong Han teaching him, so in Qiankun Palace, Zhang Zhong Han had the highest status next to him.
                          
“Yes.” Bai Xian hesitated for a moment and said, “But Prime Minister Zhang was overly worried for Emperor. So he only remembered to have someone report to the empress dowager after the imperial doctor came to check your pulse.”