Only then did he realize that Long Chi had taken the attack on purpose, so that he was able to make an escape.
Even so, it was Long Xuan who had been too careless and presented him with the opportunity.
“I’m willing to accept your punishment, Royal Uncle!” Long Xuan lowered his head and his voice carried a hint of dejection.
Long Yang had already found out about this earlier; hearing about it again from Long Xuan’s mouth did not affect him much.
“You are not to blame for this. Moreover, it was much to your credit that the Prince of Xuyang’s rebels were eliminated so quickly. It matters little that Long Chi escaped. He no longer poses a threat to the imperial court.”
Long Xuan felt relieved. “Thank you, Royal Uncle!”
“That should be enough for today. You’ve been away from the capital for quite a long time and your mother is probably worried about you. You should head home early.” Long Yang waved him away.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Long Xuan stood up. “By the way, I have yet to congratulate you on having a little prince and princess. Congratulations, Royal Uncle!”
A small smile appeared on Long Yang’s lips but there was a forced look on his face. “Yes.”
Long Xuan could instantly tell that his Royal Uncle was not in a good mood and he asked concernedly, “Is something bothering you, Royal Uncle?”
Long Yang shot a look at him. “Didn’t anyone teach you not to assume what the Emperor is thinking?”
Long Xuan smiled cheekily and said, “Right now you’re my uncle, not the Emperor. I’m just a nephew concerned for his uncle.”
Long Yang offered a smile but a thought came to his mind and wiped the smile from his face. “There’s something I need you to do for me.”
“What is it? Feel free to give me the order, Royal Uncle,” Long Xuan said seriously.
“I need you to help me investigate…”
…
Long Xuan left the imperial study with a heavy heart.
He just discovered that his Royal Aunt had given birth to not twins, but triplets!
However, Third Princess was abducted the moment she was born and no one knew if she was dead or alive now.
Long Xuan returned home and, after informing his mother of his situation, he left the imperial capital with a few men without even stopping to rest.
The next month passed by very quickly; the little prince and princess were soon a month old.
Long Yang was not in the mood to throw a big party for both of them, but he was worried Lu Liangwei would suspect something if he did so. In the end, he decided to have a full moon banquet. He invited his court officials to the celebration.
The banquet was held at Jade Dew Hall.
It was still early and Lu Liangwei dismissed the servants while the two children were still sleeping. She changed into a set of formal palace clothes in the bedchamber.
As the occasion was a palace banquet, she picked out a red dress. She looked into the mirror and carefully started putting on her makeup.
She was already beautiful without makeup on, and she looked even more ravishing with a slight touch of cosmetics.
Even though she had just given birth, her body shape was recovering very well. She was only slightly more voluptuous than before.
Lu Liangwei was not used to her appearance in the mirror. The child-like look on her face was gone and she now looked much more mature.
She was now a mother, after all, and there was no comparing to before.
The pink tinge in her cheeks had returned after recuperating for a month and her face was fuller. With the color back in her cheeks, she looked very healthy.
Lu Liangwei patted her face with satisfaction.
Right then, a loud bang was heard from the direction of the windows despite them being shut tight.
The windows faced a garden. None of the servants dared to stay there on normal days because Lu Liangwei needed rest and they did not want to disturb her peace and quiet.
In addition to that, she could not be exposed to the wind during her confinement period and Zhu Yu made sure the windows were locked properly from the inside. She would occasionally open the windows for ventilation, but even then, someone would be guarding it.
As such, the sound came as a great shock to her. No servant in Grand Phoenix Palace would be brave enough to knock on her window and disturb her rest.
Lu Liangwei frowned. She looked toward the window, but there was no longer any noise, and she began to think that she might have imagined it.
However, within seconds another bang came from the windows.
As the two children were sleeping, none of the servants were in the bedchamber at the moment.