Why did Wu Jingguo choose to listen to his mother all these years even though he knew that her orders were wrong?
It was because Wu Jingguo knew that his mother wasn't always a bad person. Years ago when he was a child, his mother used to teach him many things about life, including what was good and what was bad. His mother told him to only do good things and not bad things, and Wu Jingguo really admired her back then.
Wu Jingguo didn't even know when, but his mother gradually turned into a different person. Perhaps it was only a few months after she became the Emperor's only concubine that she became greedy and cunning. It was like she was afraid of losing her position, and that was why she even wanted to become more than just a concubine.
But Wu Jingguo still loved his mother, and that was why he still respected her and continued to follow her orders even if he knew that what she instructed wasn't always a good thing. He just couldn't bear to disappoint the woman who had given birth to him years ago.
But as he continued to grow up, Wu Jingguo could understand this world better, and he could also decide what he should do and should not. Eventually, he couldn't stand his mother's underhanded behavior any longer, and that was why he decided to do something that would surely disappoint her.
Today, he was finally interrogated by his mother, and he knew that this day would definitely come to him. Thus, he had prepared the answer he had to give his mother.
"What nonsense are you talking about, Wu Jingguo? Back when I taught you that kind of thing, I didn't know how cruel the world was, so you couldn't just stick to what I said years ago!" Zhu Ruolan angrily replied to her son.
"I know that the world is cruel, but some humans aren't, Mother. His Majesty and my brother are good people, so how can I treat them badly just because of power?" Wu Jingguo immediately replied to the woman.
But the next thing he heard was how his mother slammed the table in front of her so hard he almost gasped in surprise.
"What brother are you talking about? You are my only son, and you have no brothers at all! And how can you say that Wu Jinhai is a good person, Wu Jingguo? Don't you remember how he treated you in the past? When you smiled at him, he glared at you. When you greeted him, he ignored you. And did you forget that one time when he even pushed you into a fish pond when you were only seven years old and couldn't swim? He almost killed you back then, Wu Jingguo!"
"..." Wu Jingguo did not immediately reply when he saw how his mother was getting very emotional as they continued to argue about Wu Jinhai.
Without his mother reminding him of those past events, Wu Jingguo still remembered how his half-brother had treated him in the past. To be honest, even after the two of them had grown up, Wu Jinhai continued to give him the cold shoulder, and those bitter memories must still be engraved in his mind.
"He didn't push me into the fish pond back then, Mother!" Wu Jingguo tried to refute his mother. "That day was my brother's birthday, and I was the one who approached him when he was playing alone by the fish pond. I thought he was lonely, that's why I wanted to accompany him. He said he didn't need a companion, but I kept insisting on playing with him, and it pissed him off. He just wanted me to stop bothering him, and he had absolutely no intention of pushing me into the fish pond. I was the one who lost my balance when he just pushed me lightly, Mother!"
Perhaps it wasn't just Zhu Ruolan who suddenly got emotional while talking about what happened in the past. After Wu Jingguo finished explaining to his mother, he even gasped for breath, indicating that fire was also starting to form in his heart.
"Hah! You didn't even tell me that you were the one who lost your balance back then after the palace guards saved you from the pond! Just now you said that Wu Jinhai didn't try to kill you, and that proves that you only wanted to protect him just because your relationship with him is better now!" Zhu Ruolan immediately disputed her son's explanation.
"..." At this time, Wu Jingguo couldn't rebuke because what his mother had just said was half true. That year, he was still a child, and when so many people blamed Wu Jinhai for something he didn't actually do, Wu Jingguo didn't say anything to clarify.
Wu Jingguo was too scared at that time, and that's why he let Wu Jinhai take all the blame. Of course, the blame came from the East Faction back then. Wu Jingguo was already the Crown Prince at that time, and that was why people from the East Faction had assumed that Wu Jinhai was deliberately trying to harm him so he could usurp the position.
But, Wu Jinhai was also a child back then, and a child wouldn't have that kind of scheme in his head, would he?
Unfortunately, those adults liked to find fault with the innocent Wu Jinhai, and that was why Wu Jingguo couldn't even do anything about it.
"There's no point in talking about past events," Zhong Enlai finally let his voice be heard within the room after he had been a listener for a while. "Instead of talking about what happened in the past, I would like to hear what your plans are for the future, Xiao Guo. Is it true that you don't want to follow your mother's orders anymore? Do you no longer care about our faction? Have you forgotten that becoming the Emperor of this empire is the only way for you to save our faction?"