Qiong Hua didn't say a word after listening and stared at Jun Yu for a long time.
Jun Ning was sure he wasn't mistaken, his mother's eyes slowly filled with mist, her expression somewhat complex.
Since he came here, Qiong Hua gave him the impression of being strong, gentle, and living towards the sun.
No matter how hard life was, she wouldn't easily shed tears.
What happened to her today?
He had never seen his mother like this, nervous, flustered, uneasy, in pain... all sorts of sad emotions appeared on her.
But, it seemed it wasn't just those.
In her eyes seemed to hide great joy.
She was laughing and crying at the same time.
The whole person seemed very, very contradictory.
He couldn't tell if she was unhappy or happy about his new friend.
"Mother?" Jun Ning looked at Qiong Hua, puzzled.
Qiong Hua suddenly pulled him and Jun Yu into her arms, hugging them tightly, and said gently, "Mother is very happy to see you and the Seventeenth Prince getting along so well."
If someone else had said these words, there might have been some flattery in them.
Because the Seventeenth Prince was the Empress's son!
If you can get along with him, is there still a worry about the future?
But—
There wasn't a trace of that in Qiong Hua's words; they were full of genuine emotion.
Jun Ning always felt there was another meaning in his mother's words, wanting to ask clearly, but Qiong Hua didn't intend to continue talking with them, just advised him a few words to entertain the Seventeenth Prince well since it was his first time here, and not to let him feel aggrieved, then she left.
In that departing figure, there was reluctance and nostalgia.
Obviously, she wanted to keep talking with them, but she restrained herself and turned to leave.
Jun Yu met Qiong Hua for the first time, but he had a feeling they had met countless times; Qiong Hua felt very close to him, even closer than the Empress who raised him since childhood.
This feeling was the same as his reliance and trust in Jun Ning, inexplicable, and he couldn't figure out why it was like this.
While playing and laughing with Jun Ning in the Cold Palace, he only cared about having fun and could momentarily not think about it. But once he quieted down, this thought in his mind became clearer and clearer; he couldn't help but want to figure it out.
Until—
He returned to his mother's Jiaofang Palace.
The Empress looked at him coldly, seeming as if, the next moment, she would immediately point at his nose and ask, where he went today? Why did he stay in the restroom for so long? Did he fall in there?
He no longer had the mind to think about those thoughts, and he was so scared he knelt on the ground, shivering as he kowtowed to the Empress.
"Mo... Mother, your son knows he was wrong..."
"Knows he was wrong?"
The Empress sneered repeatedly.
This laugh sounded terrifying, like an omen of doom.
Jun Yu was so scared his lips turned pale, but the Empress didn't notice at all.
She took a sip of tea from the teacup in front of her and asked again, "Then do you know where you were wrong?"
"...Your son...your son shouldn't have stayed in the restroom so long to avoid studying," Jun Yu said.
Empress: "You scoundrel, was it really to avoid studying that you stayed in the restroom so long? Or did you go out to do something else? Confess honestly!"
After hearing these words, Jun Yu was all nervous inside, "..."
Could it be that Mother found out he sneaked out to the Cold Palace to play with his elder brother?