Chushan and Yifan walked into the banquet hall, unbothered. The sky was dark, filled with stars and behind them, followed their children, including the ones everyone already knew. 

Stopping before the emperor and officials, they bowed.

The mother empress narrowed her eyes in disapproval as she sat in her corner. 

They were shown to their seats. The food was served and as the cutlery clanked against the brass bowls, Changling looked up at the Emperor, wishing so much that he didn’t exist.

Beside him, Youxian knocked him gently with his elbow, whispering, “Enough with the staring. They’ll think you have bad intentions.”

Changling looked down at him with visible anger saying, “You wouldn’t take his side if you knew what he did earlier on.”

Staring into his eyes, he sighed and said, “I know Changling. He doesn’t anger me as much as you do. We’re supposed to be together, but I am still waiting for you to tell me. In this case, who do you think I should side with? The man that fucks me when he pleases and doesn’t care about my feelings or the one who has every right to do as he pleases?”
Qinghe could barely make out what they were saying, but he had heard enough. Luckily, as he looked around, there were no eyes on the squabbling couple, but Kim Haeun was staring at them attentively and so was the empress. If anyone else noticed, they’d be the topic of discussion.

Changling looked up over at Kim Haeun and saw that she was staring at them, but mostly Youxian. His brows knitted and when she felt his stare on her, she looked at him and smiled gently.

Changling raised a brow, saying, “We’ll discuss this later.”

Youxian scoffed. Placing the chopsticks down, he said, “I hope you choke on your food.”

Changling almost banged his fist against the table and he would have, if Youxian didn’t catch his hand. Standing up slowly, Youxian said as he held back his tears, “I’m going to relieve myself.”

As Youxian was leaving, he caught the attention of many, especially his mother-in-law. 

Chushan looked at her husband and asked, “Why don’t I see his mother and father?”

“I noticed that too, but it might be because there is nothing official between them.”

Nodding her head slowly, she handed Mei Yuan a folding fan pulled out of her sleeve. Mei Yuan chuckled with a shake of her head and, using the fan, she reached past Qinghe and slapped Changling on the head with the folding fan, surprising everyone.

When Changling looked at her, he held a glare that she had never seen before.

“What did you do? Where is he going?” Chushan asked him to draw his attention away from Mei Yuan.

‘I should’ve known it was you,’ he thought. “He went to the toilet,” he answered listlessly.

She nodded her head, glancing over at the Kim family she said, “Yifan, should we arrange a meeting with the Kim’s first or the Hwan’s?”

“You should ask the emperor that,” he answered and realised that he shouldn’t have said anything.

He was smacked over the head with the same folding fan.

Now that they have gathered the attention of everyone, someone said, “I see you still do not know your place.”

Placing the fan away, she smiled at the empress mother, saying, “My husband, my children. One was inside me and the others came out of me. How I deal with them will always be up to me whether in public, behind walls and in the bedroom, no one and absolutely no one can tell me what to do.”

The empress and consorts who thought they would get justice through the empress mother were certainly wrong and if now did not prove that the Chushan they knew and the Chushan that was in front of them now were the same person, they’d never believe it if they heard from some else about her.

The Rong children placed their cutlery down while some even rubbed their faces in disgust. It was enough to hear their parents frolicking in bed, but now that their mother announced it–left a bad taste in their mouths.

Changling looked at his grandmother, realising that he never visited her and nor has she made an effort to call him.

“She’s one of the previous emperor’s consorts,” Mei Yuan whispered after she saw his confusion.

Turning to him, he asked, “And our grandmother?”

“Dead? Well murdered according to rumours,” she answered with a wink and sat back. She didn’t want to cause trouble by speaking out.

“I see where your son gets his manners from,” the empress mother spoke.

Chushan’s smile widened, “Yes, I taught him well, empress mother. I knew that one day he’ll have to return to the Imperial Palace seeing that he is Wu Yong’s son, I mean the emperor’s firstborn, it is his destiny and just imagine if he was a weakling, I’m sure he’d be dead by now seeing that the Imperial Palace is filled with wolves.”

The empress mother slapped her hand against the table but she instead hurt her hand. Changling scoffed and looked at his brother, “It looks like she doesn’t like mother.”

Mei Yuan leaned forward and nodded her head. “No one likes your mother here.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, realising that she spoke louder than she should. She sank into her seat, almost hiding behind Qinghe.

Chushan looked at her daughter-in-law that cowered, wondering where the strength she had before when facing her went. Taking in a deep breath, she said, “That may be the truth, but everyone here knows my position. The previous Wang Chushan has died. The one before them now is the one who gave birth to the rightful heir to the kingdom.”

Staring back at the empress mother, she said, “And of course, I do know my place. But do you know yours? You sit there thinking that your word holds weight, but you know as much as I do, you are noone but the last of the previous generation. Respect goes a long way and you need to be made aware as the empress has been. The emperor will only realise that he needs to protect you after you have perished.”

“ENOUGH ALL OF YOU!” Wu Yong yelled as he slammed the cup he drank out of on the table.

Looking at Chushan, he said, “I didn’t invite you here to threaten everyone.”

“Oh well, your majesty, I can’t help it that they are all against me. Do you honestly expect me to sit here and accept their accusations?”

Wu Yong almost answered yes, but it was wise for him not to. Looking at her, he said, “No, but you were threatening them.”

She nodded her head, “Mn, as they’ve threatened me in the past. I won’t leave them be, especially now that I can hold my ground.”

“Just because your son is now the crown prince does not mean that you can do as you please!” The empress mother spoke.

“This is not about my son being the crown prince, empress mother. Is this not about me disciplining my husband and children? All I said was you have no right to speak, but as you sit there, you are under the impression you hold an imaginary weight.” The look in Chushan’s eyes became odd. Her husband and sons did not recognise it.

Changling leaned against the table as he felt his blood boil, sighing he said, “I think everyone should just stop speaking. Anything and everything you say will irk my mother.”

Looking at the empress mother, he said, “I did not know you were within the palace and I do hope that you can forgive me for not paying you a visit soon. I will definitely see that I pay you my respects after tonight.”

Looking at the empress, he said, “I know you hate this situation, but just let it go. The emperor has made his decision and if I have to accept it, you and everyone should, too.”

Turning to the emperor, he said, “Your majesty, you let this conversation get to this point. Everything could have been avoided if you had a hefty choice of conversation starters, especially since you know that my family is not welcomed here.”

Looking at his mother, he didn’t know what to say. He knew how things were, she was forced to make all her decisions and to ask her to stop fighting now… “Ma, it’s enough. Qinghe and I are here.”