The King had been sitting in the Imperial Study, when he thought about speaking with the Queen about Xunyang. Xunyang was not young any more, she was becoming an adult next year. So it was time to arrange a marriage for her.
He came all the way to the Weiyang Palace.
He had not been here in days.
Susu and Seven were playing about in the yard so she kneeled down in front of the King, with Seven in her arms.
The King did not like dogs, so he skipped Susu.
Susu looked at the King with a cheerful look. The King had not visited the Queen for ages. Although the Queen never mentioned a thing about it, Susu knew that the Queen was lonely and she had been waiting for him to visit her sometime. The Queen loved the King devotedly.
***
The King ignored Susu totally, walking straight into the office.
The Queen was reading and got startled when she spotted the King.
She had few servants in the court, since she did not like noise, so she drove away most of the servants except for some people who were doing labor for her.
So no one passed on the message for him.
The King noticed the book in her hands and asked confusedly, “Since when did you become interested in medicine?”
The Queen smiled and put away the book.
“Chaoyan has knowledge of medicine, and I find it interesting. So I borrowed some from Yinghan to kill the time,” the Queen said gently.
The King nodded. He did not dwell on that, just feeling curious. He no longer cared about the book.
“How is the refugee matter?” the Queen asked. The refugees are crowded up every year during the winter, and lots of people die. She had wondered why refugees were not seen this year, but later she heard that it was not solved yet. She was worried that the situation would get worse.
The King frowned. He was displeased. “Ling had done it well, so don’t worry about this, just take care of your own business.”
The Queen was startled. She had thought that she had heard something wrong as she looked at the King.
The Saint Divine Land was an open place, and the Queen as well as every woman could talk about court business. However, normally, women never talked about this, but the Queen always talked about the civilians with the King.
The King always mentioned the refugees to her every year.
She asked because she was worried today. So it was all because of Zhou Huailing who did the job? Or was he bored of her so he did not want to speak with her any more?
The King noticed the Queen’s expression. He noticed that she was displeased.
He thought for a while and said, “Queen, I am not blaming you, it is just that you can take care of your own business and do not have to spend any more effort on the front court. Ling can take care of everything well, don’t worry.”
The Queen did not speak.
The King said, “I am here to discuss Xunyang’s marriage with you.”