socalfunplaces Chapter 144 She forced me to kill my mother
Chapter 144 She forced me to kill my mother
Xiao Chenyuan did not answer her question.
He remained silent for a moment, then reached out and slowly took something out from the bottom of the box.
A faded yellow spool, its edges worn, clearly indicating its age.
He untied the red string and slowly unfolded it.
Su Yaoyao leaned closer to take a look, and then froze.
There are two people in the painting.
A young woman, dressed in clothes she didn't recognize—the woman had gentle features and a faint smile on her lips, and was holding a two- or three-year-old child in her arms.
The child was born with a fair complexion and a pair of bright, dark eyes, but he always had a serious expression on his face, looking like a little adult.
Su Yaoyao looked at the painting, then at him, and her heart suddenly softened completely.
"This is... His Highness and Mother?"
Xiao Chenyuan nodded.
Su Yaoyao looked at the woman in the painting—she was extremely beautiful, gentle as water, and serene as the moon.
Those eyes were so gentle they seemed to overflow with tenderness as they looked at the child in their arms, filled with loving affection.
"Your Highness's mother is so beautiful."
Xiao Chenyuan didn't speak, but stared at the painting for a long time.
Then, he suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Su Yaoyao was stunned for a moment, then obediently leaned against his chest.
"Yaoyao," he said, his voice low.
"Um?"
"In my body..." he paused, "there is half Liang blood."
Su Yaoyao didn't say anything; she had already guessed it.
Xiao Chenyuan continued, "A crown prince with foreign blood..."
He tightened his arms, holding her even closer.
"My dear, I don't want you to get involved in this."
Su Yaoyao raised her head and looked into his eyes.
Those phoenix eyes no longer held their usual cool composure, but instead showed a weariness, vulnerability, and a certain cautious probing that she had rarely seen before.
He was afraid.
I'm afraid that if she finds out the truth, she'll back down, become scared, and leave.
Su Yaoyao suddenly felt like laughing.
That idiot.
"What nonsense are you spouting, Your Highness?" Her tone was as serious as if she were stating an irrefutable fact, "Whether you are from Liang or Yong, whether you are the Crown Prince or a commoner—"
She raised her hand and cupped his face in her hands.
"All I know is that Your Highness is one of my people."
Xiao Chenyuan's pupils trembled slightly.
Looking at the earnest face before him, and at the clear light in her eyes, he suddenly felt something that had been taut in his heart slowly relax.
Su Yaoyao leaned in and kissed him on the lips.
"Got it?"
Xiao Chenyuan looked at her, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Slender and graceful..."
"Stop talking," Su Yaoyao interrupted him. "I don't care about bloodlines or anything like that, I only care about you."
Xiao Chenyuan didn't say anything more.
He simply held her tightly in his arms for a long time.
After a long while, Xiao Chenyuan finally released her.
He picked up the jade pendant and handed it to her.
"This was given to me by my mother," he said softly.
"She once said that this holds the secrets of the Liang Kingdom."
Su Yaoyao's heart skipped a beat.
She took the jade pendant and examined it from all angles. But no matter how she looked at it, it was just an ordinary jade pendant, nothing special except for its fine carving.
"What secret?"
Xiao Chenyuan shook his head: "I don't know either. She didn't have time to say."
Su Yaoyao remained silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something.
"Why did He Qing give this to me?"
She remembered clearly that day in the palace, He Qing took out this jade pendant to give to her, saying it was a peace charm from Xiliang.
Xiao Chenyuan looked at her with a complicated expression.
"Yaoyao," he sighed, "you are alone."
Su Yaoyao was taken aback.
"There was indeed a deal between him and me."
Su Yaoyao raised an eyebrow.
transaction?
What kind of deal could these two people, one the Crown Prince of Yong and the other the Princess of Xiliang, possibly have?
Xiao Chenyuan didn't elaborate, but continued, "But if he gives you this jade token next time, you can keep it."
He looked at her intently.
"This one was originally meant for you."
Xiao Chenyuan looked at her, his gaze both tender and complex, "However—"
"I need to clear away those obstacles first."
Su Yaoyao leaned against him, her fingers twirling around his clothes.
"Obstacles? What obstacles?"
Xiao Chenyuan's body stiffened slightly.
Su Yaoyao sensed it.
She looked up at him.
Xiao Chenyuan's gaze fell on the window, as if he were looking at a very, very far place.
"I just received news... the Empress Dowager is coming back."
Su Yaoyao felt the body holding her suddenly tremble slightly.
The trembling was so slight, almost imperceptible. Yet, nestled in his arms, she felt it clearly.
"Your Highness?" she called softly.
Xiao Chenyuan did not answer.
He just held her even tighter, as if afraid she would disappear.
Then he spoke.
The sound was very soft, so soft that it seemed to dissipate with a gust of wind.
"She forced me..." Xiao Chenyuan seemed to be trying to suppress something.
"He killed his own mother."
Su Yaoyao's mind went blank.
She suddenly looked up at him.
Xiao Chenyuan's face was frighteningly pale, and his usually cold phoenix eyes were now churning with pain she had never seen before—and hatred, hatred etched into his bones.
"Your Highness..." She didn't know what to say.
Xiao Chenyuan did not look at her.
He just stared at a point in the void, as if he were lost in a past he didn't want to recall.
"I was six years old that year." His voice seemed to drift from a very, very far place. "The Empress Dowager summoned me to her palace."
Su Yaoyao gripped his hand tightly.
His hands were cold.
"She gave me a dagger," Xiao Chenyuan said, "and then had someone bring my mother in."
Su Yaoyao's heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.
"My mother was kneeling on the ground, and the Empress Dowager had her held down," Xiao Chenyuan continued, his voice growing softer. "The Empress Dowager said, 'The remnants of the Liang Kingdom are to be killed by everyone.' She said—"
"As long as you kill her with your own hands, you will be the rightful crown prince of Yong. From now on, no one will know that you have dirty blood flowing in your veins."
Su Yaoyao's tears welled up instantly.
Six years old.
He is only six years old.
"My mother looked at me," Xiao Chenyuan's voice began to tremble, "She looked at me and smiled."
She said, "A-Yuan, don't be afraid."
Su Yaoyao held his hand tightly.
She said, "Mother isn't afraid of death. Mother is only afraid that you'll be all alone in the future, with no one to love you..."
Xiao Chenyuan closed his eyes.
"I don't have..."
"I threw the dagger on the ground and rushed over to hug my mother."
Su Yaoyao felt his body trembling, but he tried his best to endure it.
"But suddenly Mother broke free from their grasp—I don't know how she did it—and lunged at the dagger..."
Su Yaoyao was startled.
She said, "Yuan'er, close your eyes."
She said, "As long as my son is alive and well, I'm willing to do anything."
"She looked at me and kept smiling. She said—"
"Yuan'er, don't be afraid, Mother doesn't feel pain."
"She also said..." Xiao Chenyuan's voice began to tremble.
"Mother has wanted to leave for a long time, she's too tired. Yuan'er, you must live well, she wants to go home..."