"you child! You are just taking advantage of the situation! This is inappropriate!"
Long Chuan admonished his son.
Long Yi Sheng reluctantly let go so Ling Wei finally pays her obeisance.
"Ling Wei greets his majesty"
"little girl, no need to be so formal, we will be all family in the future"
Long Chuan said with a teasing smile.
Ling Wei blushed again and greeted the other familiar face
"Ling Wei greets Duke Zhou"
Zhou Boyin smiled at her
"Weiwei it has been a while! Your aunt missed you a lot you know?"
"After my visit to the empress dowager I already planned my visit on her"
She explained Zhou Boyin nodded in understanding, the little girl has always put the dowager first even though she first met his wife.
"little girl, meet my two brothers Grand Duke Long Jia Hao and Grand Duke Long Ming Tao"
"Ling Wei greets Grand Duke Long Jia Hao and Grand Duke Ming Tao"
"as the emperor said no need to be so formal! Come this is my meeting gift"
Long Jia Hao said with a smile, while Long Ming Tao just nodded and urged her as well
Ling Wei look at Long Yi Sheng
"no need to be shy, go ahead and accept it, we can ask for more if you feel that it is lacking"
He said laughingly so Ling Wei elbowed him secretly but the eyes of the men around her were sharp so this little flirting did not miss by them.
"hahaha, Yi Sheng is right! I will send more for sure"
Ling Wei hurriedly took the gifts and said shyly
"grand dukes no need! It is the thought that counts! Thank you so much! I really appreciated it"
"Miss Ling, the empress dowager is waiting for you"
One of the empress dowager's close servants said after greeting them
"oh no! That is so rude of me! Then I will hurry now!"
Ling Wei said then dashed away after bidding the men farewell
"ahahaha! The girl is interesting"
Long Jia Hao said while smiling teasingly at Long Yi Sheng, but Long Yi Sheng did not hear him because his mind was occupied by the hopping rabbit.
The elders looked at him while shaking their heads, people who are in love are turning into fools!
"Empress dowager forgive me for making you wait!"
"no need to be so panicked! You took a lot of time and Aija thought that you got into trouble"
Ling Wei smiled gratefully, if she were in trouble the dowager's summon would surely save her.
"Thanking Her Majesty for the concern but I did not get into trouble but I lost my way"
She explains shyly
"I also run into the emperor, Grand Duke Long Jia Hao, Grand Duke Long Ming Tao, Duke Zhou Boyin, and the crown prince"
"They are here?"
The empress asked with delight, Ling Wei nodded and excused.
The empress dowager nodded and smiled, the girl was tactful.
She knows when to stay and when to leave.
Ling Wei was already asleep when Long Yi Sheng came and visited but still she woke up
"H-hey? Did you just come in?"
She asked while wiping her psychological tears.
Long Yi Sheng pinch her red cheeks and nod
"go back to sleep, I just want to check on you"
Ling Wei laid back and started brewing her sleep again but remembered the empress
"When I met the empress today, I felt her sadness, she was like caged in an open cage. Why is that?"
Long Yi Sheng paused for a moment, he sat beside her and started explaining
"I am not sure about it, at first I thought that everything to her was a duty, she raising us was her duty, keeping the empress title was her duty, and staying with Father Emperor was her duty, just duties, she never goes beyond everything, she stayed as her only duties"
Ling Wei pursed her lips
"she never put any emotional attachment to any of you?"
"Never! I thought that she was a heartless person, but the empress dowager said otherwise, she loved the emperor but she was not strong enough to share her husband so, she just guarded her already broken heart, she could not afford another heartbreak so she learned to be emotionless"
Ling Wei's eyes reden
"I hate polygamy! I won't do the same! I won't stay and torture myself! I will leave and be free!"
She grumbles but curses the playboy emperor inside her heart.
Long Yi Sheng chuckled helplessly
"Mother empress is different, she grew up in a strict household, and when father emperor proposed an engagement that time she can refuse but she accepted, she was just 12, and father emperor just crowned as the crown prince"
"then?"
"They got married when she was 13 and father become emperor, mother empress said that the turn of her life started, before 14 she holds her first 'son', then every year there will be a child"
He holds her hands under the cover and continues
"Mother empress said that all the empress should drink a concoction that could make them barren, once the throne passed down and so this decree, in short, only the emperors and empresses knew"
Ling Wei looked at him and asked
"I will also have to drink that?"
"NO! That decree has been destroyed by the emperor's father! This imperial secret is not secret anymore so what is the use of it? And even not, once this decree passes on us I will destroy it as well! I will only have my children with you"
Ling Wei smile slightly hearing his declaration
"I trust you! But the empress is pitiful, at the age of 13 she drank the evil concoction, as you said she is from a strict family so her mother must always remind her about the importance of having a son right?"
Long Yi Sheng squeezed her soft hand
"we will try hard to have a son, I won't stop until we born one"
Ling Wei blushed and snatched her hand away
"What are you talking about? We are talking about a serious issue okay?"
Long Yi Sheng recaptured her hand while saying in a serious manner
"This is a very serious issue my darling, I am the next emperor so I cannot have without a successor!"
Ling Wei just rolled her eyes at his serious nonsense.
"Anyway, I don't think that is the only reason why the empress mother becomes cold! But we can help her by being more filial to her in the future okay?"
Ling Wei nodded, she wanted to help her.
"so that is the reason why the princes who are already married still have no children? because of the imperial secret?"
"yes, but if you don't want the throne, you can have it earlier, because it is useless once they birth a child even before the new emperor is enthroned right?"
Ling Wei nodded, the empress could have her own child, if the newly minted emperor already had a child then the decree could not be passed on him anymore.
Ling Wei sighed, the life of these royalties are very complicated.
Long Yi Sheng sensed her feelings so he pinched her cheeks gently and reassured her
"I will give you a peaceful, happy, and simple life okay?"