Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Long Chi might have maintained a neutral expression outwardly, but in his heart, he felt unsettled.
He could not understand what on earth his Royal Uncle was thinking.
When Lu Liangwei was walking down the steps after she had been bestowed with her gift, she suddenly noticed someone on the left staring at her.
Lu Liangwei turned her head to look, and her eyes met the frosty gaze of another pair of eyes.
Those eyes belonged to a grand, lavish-looking woman, twenty or so years of age. She sat one seat below the Emperor’s place, and when she noticed Lu Liangwei looking back at her, she broke into a smile. However, it was a smile that did not reach her eyes.
Lu Liangwei nodded at her but did not pay any further attention to the woman as she returned to her seat.
Lu Liangwei frowned slightly, recalling the woman’s unfriendly gaze.
That woman was Long Yang’s concubine, Concubine De.
Long Yang was thirty this year and had been ruling the country for decades, but he had few concubines in his imperial harem. Furthermore, he had yet to appoint a queen.
It was rumored that years ago, Long Yang had decided to take as his queen the oldest young mistress of the Li family, but for some reason, Miss Li had eloped with someone else. As a result, the Li family had drowned her in a lake after capturing her in order to make a confession to the royal family and to restore the reputation of the Li family.
Nothing more was heard of the matter, and Long Yang had not sought to punish the Li family.
After that, the officials within the imperial court had requested for a queen to be appointed, but Long Yang had rejected their request.
Long Yang did not appear to be particularly passionate about physical relations with women. That was why, to date, he still had no offspring.
Lu Liangwei felt this was strange. The original novel had mentioned that Long Yang did not have any children, not only because he was seriously ill, but also because he could not perform…
Lu Liangwei’s mouth twitched a little. This dirtbag author was really willing to write anything just to make the main male character, Long Chi, the Emperor.
However, it was true that Long Yang did not have many concubines in his imperial harem. Furthermore, it had been many years, and still, there was no sign of any children. It was certainly a peculiar situation.
Could it be that Long Yang really did have problems in that area?
Lu Liangwei secretly found this amusing. When she lifted her head, however, she saw all the womenfolk, including Lu Yunshuang, watching her with extreme jealousy in their eyes.
Lu Liangwei was taken aback but quickly recovered her composure.
From the looks of things, it was the fault of that string of Southern Seas pearls.
Right then, Aunt Zheng, who was sitting next to Lu Liangwei, suddenly said in an odd voice, “My Lord, our Weiwei is truly lucky. Those Southern Seas pearls are immensely valuable.”
Lu Liangwei gave a pretty little smile as she watched her. “Oh yes, but it’s all thanks to you, Aunt Zheng—otherwise, this windfall wouldn’t have come to me. I saw that the Emperor took a great liking to that folding fan presented by the Crown Prince. If not for me, the Emperor might have bestowed the Southern Seas pearls upon the Crown Prince.”
Aunt Zheng choked violently, and her face turned green with fury.
It was like wormwood and gall to her—bitter to the core, but there was nothing that could be said.
She regretted her words immensely. She had spoken out loud on purpose, saying that Lu Liangwei had prepared a gift for the Emperor, so she could see the girl embarrassed in public. She had never expected that the little tramp would earn herself a reward from the Emperor with a meager bowl of noodles.
If Lu Liangwei had not suddenly taken the limelight, that reward might have been bestowed upon the Crown Prince.
Aunt Zheng’s face turned red, then green, at the thought of this. She clenched her teeth in hatred.
However, this was not the end of it. Lu Hetian stared at her, his expression dark. “Madam Zheng, you really have some nerve. How dare you try to harm Weiwei!”
A look of panic flashed through Aunt Zheng’s eyes when she heard this, but she tried her best to be calm as she protested, “My Lord, how could you say that? How could I dare to harm Weiwei?”
Lu Hetian had been trying his best not to say anything because of the Emperor’s presence. When Weiwei was presenting her gift, he was much too worried about the Emperor punishing her and had no time to settle accounts with Aunt Zheng.
Now that Weiwei had come back without so much as a hair of her head harmed, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He had no intention of suppressing the anger burning within him and immediately unleashed it upon Aunt Zheng.