The Emperor's lips curled into a faint smile. He cast a sidelong glance at Consort Liang before lowering his head to continue reading the memorials on his dragon desk. "Speak," he asked. "Which family's daughter has caught your eye?"
"There is no rush," Consort Liang said, setting down the food box. She took out a bowl of medicinal soup and offered a spoonful to the Emperor's lips. "Your Majesty works tirelessly day and night. You must take good care of your health. I brewed this medicinal soup for you myself. Please have a taste first."
The Emperor smiled, opening his mouth to drink it. He nodded. "The taste is not bad. But for you to be so attentive, I imagine there must be something inappropriate about the young lady you've taken a fancy to, and you are afraid I will refuse, yes?"
Consort Liang's expression paused for a brief moment before she broke into a smile. "Your Majesty truly knows me best."
The Emperor poked her forehead. "Your meager little thoughts are all written plainly on your face."
"But while I dote on you, if it is a daughter from an ordinary official's family, I can agree. If it is one from those holding high and powerful positions, you can give up on that idea right now."
"Your Majesty." Consort Liang frowned, moving to sit right beside him.
"Shaking my arm will do you no good," the Emperor said, his attitude extremely firm.
Consort Liang's maternal family already held considerable power in the court. If Xiao Yi were allowed to marry a wife from an influential background, the balance of power would overwhelmingly crush the Empress's faction, which would be detrimental to the court's stability.
Consort Liang pursed her lips. "I know Your Majesty's heart and mind are solely focused on the Crown Prince. How would I dare overstep?"
"Nonsense," the Emperor said, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "If I did not cherish you and our son, Yi'er would have been sent away from the capital to his fiefdom the moment he was made a prince."
Hearing this, Consort Liang's complexion improved significantly. She sighed and leaned against the Emperor's leg. However, at an angle the Emperor could not see, her brows knitted tightly together in heavy, solemn contemplation.
Despite sharing a bed with the Emperor for over a decade, she had never fully grasped the thoughts of the man beside her.
He doted on her and their son, yet he would never allow their power to surpass that of the Empress. But if one were to say he favored the Empress, he had always turned a blind eye to Yi'er cultivating his own forces, even indulging the rivalry between him and the Crown Prince.
Consort Liang found it very difficult to gauge the scales in the Emperor's heart regarding his two sons. She could only test the waters little by little.
"What are you doing? Are you not going to let me finish the medicinal soup?"
Consort Liang snapped out of her daze. She raised her head, her well-maintained face full of smiles. "Your Majesty treats me and Yi'er so well, how could I not let you drink it?"
"Come, Your Majesty. Let me feed you."
The Emperor smiled, enjoying Consort Liang's service while flipping through his memorials.
Time slowly passed. When the bowl of medicinal soup finally hit the bottom, Consort Liang lowered her head and spoke. "When I arrived, I vaguely heard Your Majesty throwing a terrible temper, and the Crown Prince also looked unwell when he left. Your Majesty works day and night, and the imperial physicians have repeatedly urged you not to get angry. Why won't you listen? Could any matter under the heavens be more precious than your health?"
At the mention of this, the Emperor's face visibly darkened. "My good ministers are actually attempting to shake the imperial power and control me. How can I not be angry?"
"Who would dare be so bold?" Consort Liang asked, looking utterly shocked.
The Emperor scoffed coldly. "Who else but that prime minister who tries to blot out the sky with one hand?"
The Emperor's view of the Cui and Tang families as a thorn in his side was not a matter of a single day. Consort Liang was long prepared for this in her heart.
It was just that today's coincidence meant she was throwing herself right onto the blade.
She clutched the silk handkerchief in her hand, her head slightly lowered, her brows furrowed tightly.
That bane of a son of hers! She had told him there was no rush and that they should plan this slowly over a few days, but he refused to listen. He insisted he already had a plan and needed it settled immediately. Worried that he would do something reckless, she had come herself, and now look at this mess...
Consort Liang sighed. "Wretched son, I should have let him come himself."
"What?" the Emperor asked.
Consort Liang hastily shook her head. "No, no, I didn't say anything. I was just saying I should have come earlier to help soothe Your Majesty's temper so you can take better care of your health."
The Emperor gave a murmur of acknowledgment, slowly closing his eyes. "In this inner palace, you are the only one who truly cares about my health."
Consort Liang's face was full of smiles. "It is my duty."
In her heart, however, she retorted: Yes, but Your Majesty, you care about the 'bodies' of every concubine in the inner palace.
Consort Liang felt that the bowl of medicinal soup had been wasted on him. But since he had already drunk it, and she was already here, she couldn't just return empty-handed.
Moreover, even if the Emperor wasn't currently in a fit of rage, he absolutely loathed the Cui and Tang families. Stretching her neck out meant a slash, and shrinking it back meant a slash anyway.
Otherwise, if she had let that wretched son come himself with his stubbornly crazy temper, he might have gotten her entire maternal family executed and their estates confiscated.
It was better for her to do it. It was safer than leaving it to that damn brat. The worst that could happen was that if the situation turned sour, she would immediately beg for mercy, get up, and run.
Having made up her mind, she silently cheered herself on in her heart.
The Emperor lowered his eyes to look at her, not saying a word. Only when Consort Liang raised her head did he speak at a leisurely pace, "Exactly whose daughter is it that could make someone as cunning as a fox like you so apprehensive, taking this long to mentally prepare yourself?"
Consort Liang forced a smile, which truly could not be called pretty.
"Then I will say it, but you must not get angry."
The Emperor nodded.
Consort Liang continued, "It wasn't my decision. It's Yi'er... He and that young lady have developed feelings over time, and the two of them are unable to restrain their affections..."
The Emperor casually replied, "It doesn't matter. Just kill one of them, and they won't have any affections to restrain."
"..." Consort Liang's face went completely pale.
The Emperor chuckled softly. Consort Liang pursed her lips. "Your Majesty, you are always frightening me. Yi'er is your son. These past few days, your son has infuriated me so much that I ache all over. You simply must compensate me."
"Mm, compensate," the Emperor nodded.
Only then did Consort Liang cast a timid glance at the Emperor and mutter softly, "Yi'er... he... he and Second Miss Cui are mutually in love."
As soon as she finished speaking, Consort Liang swiftly turned around and hugged her own head.
In the past, the Emperor would definitely have laughingly pulled her back around and mocked her cowardice, but today was different.
The hall instantly plunged into a deathly silence; even the sound of breathing grew much lighter.
After a long while, Consort Liang slowly turned her head back, revealing only a pair of eyes to steal a peek at the Emperor.
The Emperor was looking at her too. His gaze was very flat, so flat that it carried almost no warmth whatsoever.
"You said, Second Miss Cui."
Consort Liang shifted her body backward and nodded weakly. "Yes..."
"I had some friendship with the late Madam Cui during our maiden days, as Your Majesty knows. Later, when she passed away, I often brought the second daughter she bore into the palace to play. Over time, she and Yi'er became childhood sweethearts, innocent and devoted."
"The feelings between the two of them... slowly changed in nature. And Yi'er has a one-track mind. Tell me, as parents..."
"Shut up." The Emperor looked displeased, his head aching from listening. "I asked you one question, and you chattered on like a parrot."
It gave him a headache.
Consort Liang immediately clamped her mouth shut, looking terrified and shrinking back.
"Consort Liang," the Emperor's tone sank slightly. "You should know what I am thinking."
Consort Liang nodded, her head drooping dejectedly.
The Emperor continued, "The Crown Prince has already married a daughter of the Tang family and is being manipulated by them, utterly lacking the boldness of an heir apparent. And now, you are telling me that another son of mine also wants to marry a daughter of the Cui family?"
His tone was calm, but Consort Liang knew this was the omen just before his fury erupted.
"What?" The Emperor leaned in closer to Consort Liang. "Has the destiny of my empire run its course? Should the ruling surname be changed to Cui?"
"I would not dare." Consort Liang immediately fell to her knees. "Your Majesty, we have been husband and wife for more than a decade. Naturally, I always have Your Majesty's best interests at heart. You and I are truly family."
