As long as the Emperor treated Weiwei well, nothing else mattered.
She said kindly, “Not at all. Weiwei, keep His Majesty company. I’ll have the servants start preparing lunch this instant.”
After the Dowager Duchess left the room, Lu Liangwei turned to look at Long Yang. Seeing him staring at the Dowager Duchess’s retreating figure, lost in thought, she could not help tugging at his sleeve. “What’re you staring at, Your Majesty?”
Long Yang shifted his gaze to Lu Liangwei and took her hand in his. “It’s nothing. It’s just that I can’t help thinking of my grandmother whenever I see the Dowager Duchess.”
Lu Liangwei stared at him in surprise.
Long Yang explained, “My grandmother, Empress Dowager Xiaoyi, was just as kind as the Dowager Duchess. When I was young, I lived with her for a while. Unlike most noblewomen, she was very easy-going. Whenever she was in the mood, she’d make me a bowl of noodles or some snacks.”
Lu Liangwei was astonished to hear this.
What he said at his birthday banquet that day was true, after all.
His grandmother had really cooked noodles for him before.
Seeing her amazement, Long Yang stroked her face and asked with a smile, “What’s the matter?”
Lu Liangwei shook her head and said emotionally, “It’s nothing. I just remembered that, during your birthday banquet, you said that the noodles I cooked reminded you of the noodles your grandmother made when you were young. Back then, I thought you were making up that story, but now I finally know that you were telling the truth.”
Hearing her sentimental tone, Long Yang said in amusement, “You’re just a young lady, so why do you speak like an old woman?”
Lu Liangwei shot him a look. She was actually not young anymore, it was just that her appearance was deceiving.
“By the way, what are you going to do with Empress Dowager Xiaojing?”
Long Yang picked up the cup on the table, took a sip, and replied in a dead-calm voice, “I’m going to give her poisoned wine.”
Lu Liangwei was not too shocked to hear this.
The Empress Dowager had committed numerous evil deeds, and the Emperor had also suffered many years of illness caused by the poison she had used on him. Now, it was time for her to get a taste of her own medicine.
“Your Majesty, let me take you for a walk in the garden.” She got up suddenly and offered.
Long Yang put down his teacup and nodded, a smile on his face. “Very well.”
“The Grand Duke Mansion’s garden may not be as big as the imperial garden, but the scenery is still quite impressive. I bet you’ve never visited it before, so I’m going to show you around today,” said Lu Liangwei enthusiastically.
Long Yang’s eyes glimmered with a hint of a smile. “Well, I should definitely look around the place where you grew up and see what kind of place raised a wonderful lady like you.”
Lu Liangwei stopped in her tracks and shot him a look over her shoulder. How could the Emperor not even stutter when saying such sweet things?
If she did not already know that he was an amateur at romance, she would have thought that he was a master charmer.
However—
She raised her head and looked at the azure skies above the Grand Duke Mansion, thinking to herself, ‘This is where the original host grew up, not me.’
“A penny for your thoughts? Weren’t you going to take me for a walk?” Long Yang’s voice pulled her back to her senses.
Setting aside her random thoughts, Lu Liangwei took his large hand and led him to the garden.
Jiuhua Temple.
Empress Dowager Xiaojing had just settled down, and Long Xiao had not even left yet when Zhao Qian burst in with a group of palace guards behind him.
The Empress Dowager’s guards tried to rush forward, but the men that came with Zhao Qian immediately restrained them.
“What are you doing?” hissed Matron Chen as she hurriedly stood in front of the Empress Dowager, her gaze dripping with venom.
Zhao Qian glanced at her darkly, then suddenly lifted his foot and kicked her brutally to the floor.
With a yelp, Matron Chen went sprawling across the ground, and when she regained her bearings, she scrambled to her feet, shrieking as she lunged at Zhao Qian with her teeth bared.. “You b*stard!”