His Royal Uncle had gone too far!
He was a man on the brink of death. Why must he harm Lu Liangwei in this manner?
Lu Yunshuang had the same thought as Long Chi, and she suddenly felt a small pang of pity toward her younger sister.
Lu Liangwei was such a pitiful thing. She had the noble title of the Empress, and yet, she must have suffered quite a painful humiliation last night.
She darted a look at the Emperor’s god-like handsome face, and quietly decided that he was quite a despicable man.
She had never expected the Emperor, who was said to never touch a woman and was as righteous as the sun high up in the clouds, to be actually such a lowlife in private.
Nevertheless, she was pretty pleased about Lu Liangwei’s misfortune.
She was about to make a show of concern by approaching Lu Liangwei to hold her arm, but Long Yang suddenly beat her to the first move and carried Lu Liangwei into his arms.
“I thought I told you to rest in bed longer. Why did you come out? You’re not being obedient at all.”
Lu Liangwei’s face blushed a little. It was rather embarrassing for him to carry her in public like this.
“I overslept today. If I didn’t wake up when I did, these people would have been forced to wait even longer,” Lu Liangwei whispered in his ear.
“You’re the Empress and the senior of the Crown Prince. It’s only appropriate for them to wait for you longer,” Long Yang said while looking adoringly at her.
Lu Liangwei averted her gaze when she heard this. She was a little shy and her voice became softer. “But they would think I’m putting on airs.”
Long Yang leaned in closer when he heard this. He was nearly biting her ear when he replied dismissively of the others, “You’re the Empress. It’s also perfectly fine for you if you want to put on airs.”
Long Chi and the others, “…”
Lu Liangwei was slightly speechless. Was Long Yang being a bit too arrogant by saying those words?
Even though he was the Emperor and it was entirely within his rights to be pompous, acting so brazenly was just going to make more enemies for her.
Lu Liangwei could feel everyone’s gaze on her, which put her on tenterhooks. She quietly pinched Long Yang on the arm out of frustration and anger.
She wondered if Long Yang was doing it on purpose. However, the moment she pinched him, the man let out an audible grunt.
Lu Liangwei, “…”
Long Chi, Lu Yunshuang, and the three concubines, “…”
Lu Liangwei’s face burned like fire. She felt that His Majesty did that on purpose.
She glared at him angrily and pouted. She wanted to just ignore him now.
Long Yang’s royal heart was absolutely delighted. He gave her one last deep look before striding toward the main hall.
The people behind him, “…”
Zhao Qian wiped off his sweat, feeling deeply sympathetic to everyone who had to see that.
There was nothing to be done. When his master had no interest in the opposite sex, he was like a flower high up in the mountains, and no one dared to come close to him. Now that he had an Empress by his side, he had suddenly built up an interest in showing off his relationship.
In the eyes of his master, these other people were nothing to him!
When they reached the main hall, Long Yang placed Lu Liangwei down in the main seat before he sat himself down on her right side.
The Virtuous Consort was the first to approach them. She took a cup of tea from the hands of a palace maid and kneeled in front of Lu Liangwei. She raised the cup over her head. “I, Rongxing, would like to greet the Empress.”
Lu Liangwei nodded. She reached out and made a gesture to pick up the cup after Zhu Yu took the cup from the Virtuous Consort. “Please rise, Virtuous Consort.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” The Virtuous Consort stood up.
Lu Liangwei took the cup from Zhu Yu and had a sip before passing the cup back to her.
Zhu Yu took the cup from Lu Liangwei and passed it to the palace maid next to her.
Next up were the Pure Consort and Ji Linghui.
After the three concubines were all done, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were next.
Long Chi looked at the woman seated in the main seat. He was unable to say a word for quite a while until Long Yang’s gaze swept lightly toward him. He finally kneeled in front of Lu Liangwei, and said with his eyes lowered, “I, your nephew and royal subject, would like to greet the Empress.”
“Please rise, Crown Prince,” Lu Liangwei replied indifferently after taking a sip of the tea he offered.
Long Chi felt a wave of quiet relief when he heard this. Lu Liangwei did not intentionally embarrass him in public, which meant that she had never really forgotten him.
This realization made him secretly elated, but he suddenly felt more upset for her.
She must have suffered quite a lot last night.
He stood up and stepped to the side.
Lu Yunshuang sneaked a look to observe him. She sneered in her heart when she noticed the change of expression on his face.
Lu Liangwei was now the Emperor’s woman. Was it possible that Long Chi had not given up on her?
She took the cup of tea over from the palace maid and slowly kneeled in front of Lu Liangwei.
She had thought that Lu Liangwei would stop her, but even when her knees had fully touched the ground, Lu Liangwei had not bothered to allow her to rise.
She clenched her teeth quietly and cursed Lu Liangwei in her heart.
How dare the slut, Lu Liangwei, make her kneel? Was she not afraid of being struck by lightning?
“I, your niece-in-law, would like to greet…”
Lu Liangwei moved into a more comfortable position in her seat without blinking and suddenly interrupted her. “Crown Princess, we may be sisters, but within the Palace, you should do as the Crown Prince did and call me Royal Aunt. This would sound more affectionate.”