ebookland Chapter 137 The Emperor Grants Wei Ming's Request
Chapter 137 The Emperor Grants Wei Ming's Request
Wei Jianning led his soldiers away from the capital and headed straight for the border.
Lan Zhi's heart seemed to have been taken away by him.
Three days after Wei Jianning left, the Emperor arrived, and even the Empress Dowager came; they had all come for Wei Ming.
The Jingxiang Garden was filled with palace people. The Empress Dowager sat on Wei Ming's bed, holding his hand, her eyes filled with tears, asking him questions incessantly.
"Ming'er, you really don't recognize your great-grandmother? When you were little, you often snuggled in my arms and played. How come you don't remember that now?"
Wei Ming looked at her with fear in his eyes, biting his lip hard and shaking his head violently.
"I'm sorry, I really don't remember you."
At this moment, the emperor stepped forward to plead for them.
“Ming’er, this is truly your great-grandmother, the one who loved you the most. When you were little, you loved playing with your great-grandmother, and once you even peed on her…”
The Empress Dowager listened with great interest, but Wei Ming seemed even more unfamiliar with what she was hearing.
He suddenly pulled his hand away from the Empress Dowager's grasp and knelt on the bed.
"Grandpa, I have a request for you tomorrow. Please grant it."
The emperor paused for a moment, then quickly nodded.
"Alright, alright, as long as you're willing to call me Imperial Grandfather, I'll pluck the stars from the sky for you, no matter what."
The Empress Dowager nodded in agreement.
"Yes, just say what you want, you don't need to beg."
Wei Ming pursed his lips and glanced at Lan Zhi again. When he shifted his gaze to Yu Min's face, he saw her glaring at him, so he quickly looked away.
"Grandpa, I want to ask you to allow me to live with Sister Lan from now on."
Sister Lan?
This title left the Emperor completely bewildered, and the Empress Dowager was equally confused.
Upon seeing this, Yu Min couldn't wait to step forward and explain.
“Father, this Lan Zhi has been making Ming’er call her sister, and now she wants Ming’er to live with her. She’s obviously doing this on purpose while Ming’er is injured. We royals can’t be fooled by a country woman.”
Upon hearing this, the Emperor frowned and looked at Lan Zhi.
"What's going on? Why is Ming'er being asked to call you 'sister'?"
Lan Zhi shook her head and smiled wryly, feeling rather helpless.
“Your Majesty, Ming’er doesn’t remember who he is, so naturally he doesn’t know who I am either. Given my age, it’s not inappropriate for him to call me sister.”
"But you are..."
The Emperor wanted to say that she was Wei Jianning's wife, but he swallowed the words back.
Over this period of time, more and more people have disagreed with Lan Zhi becoming the Crown Princess, and he has no choice but to listen to their opinions.
The Emperor cleared his throat and loudly reminded them.
"No matter what, you can't let him call you sister. Tomorrow, you can't live with her. If you're willing, I can take you back to the palace and have Granny Zhuang take care of you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Ming shook his head impatiently.
"I won't go with anyone but my sister. I just want to stay with my sister."
Seeing this, Lan Zhi quickly stepped forward to comfort her.
“Ming’er, your sister said you can’t come with me. Once you’re healed, you’ll have somewhere to go.”
"Then I'll never get better."
As he spoke, he jumped off the bed, stomped to the table, picked up the jade ruyi that was placed there, raised it above his head, and looked at Lan Zhi with a determined gaze.
"Then I'll keep hurting myself so you can take care of me. Anyway, I'm not going anywhere now. I want to live with you. I only trust you."
This scene surprised everyone present, and Yu Min even raised her hand to rebuke:
"Lan Zhi, what exactly did you say to Ming'er? What kind of spell did you cast on him?"
Lan Zhi shrugged helplessly.
“Although Wei Ming is young, he is not stupid. He knows who is good to him and knows how to be grateful, unlike some people who act all high and mighty in front of others, but behind their backs they do nothing but threaten and insult others.”
"Stop making veiled accusations; if you're so capable, point it out."
Lan Zhi ignored her and tried to walk towards Wei Ming, but he shook his head to stop her.
"Sister, don't come any closer. If Grandfather doesn't agree to my request, I'll die here."
"Ming'er, I told you, you can't live with me, I..."
"Okay, I promise you."
The Emperor granted Wei Ming's request without even asking Lan Zhi's opinion.
Because the Empress Dowager had just whispered in his ear that she had already lost a good grandson, and if she couldn't even protect this great-grandson, there would be no point in her living as the Empress Dowager.
Although the Emperor knew it was inappropriate to let Ming'er follow Lan Zhi, it seemed that he had no other choice at the moment.
Seeing that the Emperor had agreed, Wei Ming finally grinned and put down the jade ruyi in his hand. The Empress Dowager, seeing this, quickly stepped forward and hugged him.
"Ming'er, you really scared your great-grandmother to death just now. You're still so young, how did you learn to threaten people?"
“I’m not threatening anyone, this is what I really think. If I were to go somewhere where I don’t know anyone and no one is kind to me, I might as well go and die with my parents.”
Upon hearing this, the Emperor immediately turned cold.
"Ming'er, don't talk nonsense."
"I'm not making this up."
He pointed at Yu Min,
“She said it herself. She said my parents are dead and she yells at me all the time. I don’t want to see her again.”
Yu Min immediately glared at Wei Ming, her face flushed red.
"Don't you have any conscience? I've taken care of you for so long, and you want to kick me out?"
"You've never taken care of me. You only bully me and yell at me. I don't want to see you again."
"you……"
Yu Min wanted to argue a few more points, but the Emperor was already getting impatient.
"Alright, Yumin, return to the palace immediately. Until Ming'er recovers fully, follow his lead in everything."
Yu Min was so angry that she was panting heavily, and she glared at Lan Zhi fiercely, as if Lan Zhi had told Wei Ming all of this.
Ultimately, without Lan Zhi's consent, the Emperor temporarily entrusted Wei Ming to her care and proposed that Zhang Guodong, the most learned scholar in the Hanlin Academy, come to the Crown Prince's residence to teach Wei Ming to read and write, and that Sun Wei stay at the Crown Prince's residence to teach Wei Ming martial arts.
Lan Zhi initially wanted to refuse, but seeing Wei Ming's longing eyes, she couldn't bear to do it.
She figured that since Wei Ming didn't have his previous memories now, he probably wouldn't follow her anymore once he regained them.
She reluctantly agreed, but made one request: that Mao Mao and Wei Ming study together.
The Empress Dowager objected to this, but the Emperor, seeing her insistence, had no choice but to temporarily agree.
Lan Zhi did this for two reasons. First, to prevent Mao Mao from frequently leaving the manor and leaving her with no time to take care of him, thus ensuring Mao Mao's safety. Second, she also wanted Mao Mao to be exposed to more advanced knowledge.
Yu Min has returned to the palace, and with no one to back her up, Granny Zhuang seems to have become much more restrained. When she sees Lan Zhi, she walks with her head down, afraid of having a conflict with her.
The next morning, when Lan Zhi appeared before Wei Ming with Mao Mao, Wei Ming was initially a little nervous, then pouted and looked at him.
"Sister, who is he?"
"His name is Mao Mao, and he's a year younger than you. He'll be studying with you from now on, and you can become good friends."
Seeing this, Mao Mao quickly stepped forward and took his hand.
"Greetings, young master. My name is Mao Mao. My sister told me to take care of you in the future."
"I don't need you to take care of me, you little brat."
Wei Ming directly shook off his hand.
"You're younger than me, why should you take care of me?"