Chapter 2 — Mother's Throne

Thinking back and forth, we decided to take action from Ta An himself. Noble Concubine's mother's family worked at the Household Ministry, so she was in charge of investigating Ta An's affairs while still outside the palace. And I am the closest person to Ta An in this year of his return to the palace, so I will ask directly to see who he wants to be his mother. After returning to the palace, Ta An was very favored by the emperor. The Emperor specifically allowed him to live in a side hall next to the main hall. This year, he not only holds military power, but can also handle state affairs on behalf of the emperor. Anyone with eyes can see it. The Emperor intends to pass the throne to Ta An. The day Ta An ascended the throne was the day I died. Thinking of Ta An's fierce face when he killed people two lives ago, I tried to suppress my fear and entered the main hall. Ta An is not in the palace. But on his desk there is a statue of a jade maid. The statue of a maid is covered with a thin silk scarf, so her appearance is not clearly visible. In front of the statue, there are also fruit offerings placed. It seems that Ta An cleans and worships every day. I raised my hand to lift the silk scarf to see clearly. Then suddenly a long blade swung from behind. The blade slashed hard at my wrist. If I hadn't dodged quickly, I'm afraid my wrist would have been severed. I was just about to call the guard for help when I heard Ta An's deep voice:

“Your Highness the Queen.”

"What do you count as! Do you even deserve to touch her?"

I turned my head in horror. I only saw Ta An holding a knife standing behind me on my right side. The corners of his lips curled into a cold smile, his face smiled without smiling. In his previous life, it was this sword that severed all four limbs of Noble Concubine. Thinking of the tragic death of the previous noble concubine, my legs became weak and I immediately knelt down in front of the maid's statue. Seeing that, Ta An quickly threw away the knife, helped me up, and gently said:

"You deserve to die. I thought there were criminals in the palace, so I insulted you."

“Dear lady, drink a cup of tea and calm down a bit.”

He changed so quickly, as if the person who just said I wasn't worthy wasn't him. I silently pinched my thigh, pretending to be calm and asked:

"Great prince, who is this statue of a maid? Is it the person in your heart?"

Ta An laughed: "The mother is joking, my son is only fourteen years old this year." I probed again: "So do you want to accept her as your mother?" Ta An's eyes flashed with sadness. He smiled bitterly: "If I can really call her mother in front of everyone, even if I die, I will be willing." The clues are clear. The person Ta An wants to accept as a mother is her. I stood up excitedly and walked quickly to the statue of the maid. I want to see who it is that he is so infatuated with. Even if she is a fairy, we still have to find a way for Ta An to be registered under her name. But when I lifted the silk scarf, I could clearly see the face of the maid statue. My whole body immediately stopped.

3

The statue of that maid has eight similarities with me. The remaining two parts are not the same, perhaps due to the limited skill of the sculptor. Ta An blushed, quickly took the silk scarf from my hand and covered the statue. Stammering explanation:

“My Queen, what I just said was not to force you to accept me.”

“Please don't be bothered by this matter.”

“If you want to receive it, accept it. If you don't want it, don't force it."

The Emperor from the inner palace came out, looked at us and sighed. He advises:

"Queen, I wanted to tell you a long time ago, in fact, in An Nhi's heart, she only wanted to accept you as her mother."

"In the past year, how he treated her, she probably knows in her heart."

After entering the palace, Ta An actually intentionally got close to me. Winter brought spices that he made himself. Summer offers cooled watermelon. Even when I was seriously ill, he knelt in the snow and recited sutras for me for several days. Finally, he fainted and was carried home by the eunuch. When you saw that I intended to accept Ta An. Page Nguyet Hoa Cac Lien, you deliberately fought with me and crazy treated Ta An. But Ta An is still only filial to me. Didn't pay attention to the Noble Concubine. Ta An took the opportunity to kneel in front of me:

“My Queen, I know you don't want to recognize me, but no matter whose name I will be registered in the future.”

"In my heart, you will always be my only mother."

I helped him up and asked:

"Since you said so, why did you even drag the Noble Concubine in?"

A worried look appeared on Ta An's face:

“The noble concubine is arrogant and comes from a noble background.”

"I'm afraid that if I don't mention you this time, you will make things difficult for the Queen in the future."

Truly a dutiful prince. If I hadn't lived two lives again, I would have truly believed it. Seeing me silent. The Emperor immediately took the initiative and decided to accept Ta An on my behalf. He took my hand, placed mine and Ta An's hands on top of each other:

"Thuc Nha, my body is getting weaker every day, I can't hold on much longer."

“An Nhi entrusted her to take care of.”