But of course, Prime Minister Yan would never say it outright. He would just keep it inside his mind.

“I hope you don’t mind waiting with me, Imperial Doctor Wu.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Imperial Doctor Wu laughed. To be able to watch the scene of the Emperor and the Empress being so harmonious with each other like this had already told him that it was all worth it.

He hoped that the two of them could make up.

 

…

Inside the Palace

Prang!

Empress Dowager Qi was feeling pissed off. She thought that she would become the happiest woman in the entire world after her son become the Emperor. But reality was completely different from what she dreamed.

Her son was not letting her do as she wished. Instead, he seemed to be holding her back in this rotten place.

The so called rotten place was actually still a beautifully decorated palace.

But in Empress Dowager Qi’s opinion, this place was no different than a prison that was used to hold her back.

She hated this place.

She hated it so much.

“Your Highness, Princess Lin Xie Ni had arrived.”

“What did she want?” Empress Dowager Qi furrowed her eyebrows but relaxed her position and sat on the chair. She looked at the middle aged woman who came with clear disinterest.

She didn’t really want to see this person.

Princess Lin Xie Ni smiled when she saw the other party. She had heard about the recent ruckus and the fact that the Emperor never paid a visit to his mother again. It astounded her how much he changed in such a short period of time.

“Imperial Sister. It’s been a while.” Princess Lin Xie Ni is of the same generation as Empress Dowager Qi. It wouldn’t be strange for her to call the other party as sister since she’s basically her sister in law.

Empress Dowager Qi nodded. “What brings you to my residence today?”

“I come here to bring the recent news.” Princess Lin Xie Ni smiled and took out a basket. “There are several new shops in the Capital City, so I want to bring them for you to taste. At the same time, His Majesty send a message for you not to cause more ruckus as he didn’t want to replace the furniture again.”

She herself was a bit baffled when the steward came to her and asked her to deliver this piece of news to Empress Dowager Qi.

But as someone who understood the schemes in the Imperial Family, she decided to agree. It would not cost her anything and being able to see the smug Empress Dowager Qi’s face turned pale would be very nice.

As expected, Empress Dowager Qi’s gaze turned sharp. “Why did he send you here?”

“I don’t know.” Princess Lin Xie Ni smiled. “But I think he had decided to trust me enough to send me here.”

“You b*ch!”

Swish!

Princess Lin Xie Ni took a step back to avoid the slap. She looked at Empress Dowager Qi with a mirthless smile. “If you truly want to have the right power here, you should know better who you should please.”

Please?

Empress Dowager Qi’s body trembled in anger. Naturally, she knew that Princess Lin Xie Ni meant that she should have pleased her own son and do things in accordance to what he wanted. But she didn’t want to.

She had worked so hard in order to destroy the Lin Family and being able to live well on her own.

But now she was told that she still has to work to please someone?

Oh how much she wanted to smash Princess Lin Xie Ni’s mouth for saying such sentence to her face.

*prang*

 

…

Meanwhile, back to Feng Ning

Feng Ning finished tending her garden and entered her house to cook. However, her husband followed her and even stopped in front of the door.

She turned to look at him as if asking what did he want.

“I can’t cook, so I’m wondering if you can share a bit with me?” Lin Zi Xuan replied shamelessly.

At the back, Prime Minister Yan was trying his best to make sure that he kept his face straight. He had known that Lin Zi Xuan could cook by himself since he spent the majority of his time in the battlefield.

Ever since he was young, there was no one who would take care of him.

If he couldn’t cook, how in the world did he even survive for such a long time?

But he kept his silence.

Feng Ning looked at Lin Zi Xuan suspiciously before nodding and pointed at the chair. She didn’t really like to speak because her voice sounded strange. Not to mention, it need a lot of effort even just to make a sentence.

Lin Zi Xuan also didn’t seem to mind with her silence. He took the seat and looked at Prime Minister Yan and Imperial Doctor Wu.

Prime Minister Yan quickly stepped forward and gave the summary of the morning court along with some of the important document. After Lin Zi Xuan checked them, he returned them to Prime Minister Yan and gave some instruction.

‘Did I just attend the morning court?’

Imperial Doctor Wu was a bit speechless.

In the end, Prime Minister Yan didn’t take much of Lin Zi Xuan’s time and departed once more. He had to give the decision and prepare for the next day’s morning court without the Emperor again.

*sigh*

Being the subordinate didn’t seem to be so easy anymore.

“Imperial Doctor Wu, are you planning to stay here most of the time?” Lin Zi Xuan asked after Prime Minister Yan had left.

“Your Majesty, this subject didn’t stay here for that long. This subject comes here today to deliver more writing tools for Her Majesty.” Imperial Doctor Wu was a bit nervous. He actually came here to make sure that Feng Ning was fine, but the view from before had already destroyed his mentality.

It didn’t look like he had to worry.

Even though Lin Zi Xuan is the Emperor, he was not the type of person who would force others to follow his will without considering their opinion.

Probably, it was also because of this consideration from him that many people followed him and supported him. Despite not being part of the real Lin Family, most of the ministers still followed him loyally.

Feng Ning finished cooking and put down the plates.

There was only some rice, braised meat, stir fry vegetables, and water. It was not as luxurious as it used to be in the palace.

Feng Ning looked at Lin Zi Xuan.

“Your cooking looks delicious, Ning’er. Shall we eat?” Lin Zi Xuan smiled.

Feng Ning pushed the basin for washing hand to Lin Zi Xuan, unsure whether he would want to use it. She had changed the water after she used it, but the cloth here was not exactly as clean as the palace.

Though, Feng Ning soon realized that she was thinking too much.

The two of them enjoyed the meal.

Imperial Doctor Wu brought his own bread and ate at the side, not daring to get close at all. After all, the two people in front of him were still the highest ranking people in the entire Lin Tang Kingdom.

“I have good meal. Thank you, Ning’er.” Lin Zi Xuan put down the chopsticks after he was done. He said a few more courteous words before walking out of the door.

Feng Ning sat still on her seat. She had just realized that when she heard his words, she didn’t think it was strange even though she knew that those polite words were only said by nobles.

‘Have I become accustomed to the etiquette and everything?’

Fifteen years of living as the princess and then as the Empress, she had ingrained those habits deep into her bone.

“Your Majesty?” Imperial Doctor Wu asked carefully.

Feng Ning took the writing tools and wrote on the paper. “I feel that I might be out of place in this village.”

Imperial Doctor Wu laughed. “Your past built the present you. I think that you have long grown accustomed to the palace and that’s why you will feel out of place here even though you can adapt well.”

Adapt well?

Feng Ning merely smiled. She used to live as an ordinary commoner. This kind of life was nothing compared to those days when she had to work like slaves.

She still could relax a lot now.

“Your Majesty, would you like to return to the palace?”

Hearing that question, Feng Ning fell silent.

Imperial Doctor Wu didn’t press Feng Ning for immediate answer. He only looked at her and smiled lightly. “His Majesty spent the last few months looking for you. I don’t know what your problem with each other is, but you can try to communicate with him and probably give him another chance if it’s his fault.”

Is it his fault?

Feng Ning looked at her Master and nodded slightly. She simply wrote on the paper, “I’ll think about it.”

“Alright.”

Imperial Doctor Wu then discussed about other matters such as the medicine and so on.