Ling Rui wasn’t prepared for this sudden question.
He froze, his face going blank.
Seeing his reaction, Noble Consort Yi’s heart sank.
“Come here.”
She beckoned him closer. “Sit down and talk.”
Ling Rui obediently approached but didn’t dare sit. Fiddling with the fabric on either side of his clothes, he said in a small voice, “I’ll just stand here.”
Since he insisted on standing, Noble Consort Yi didn’t stop him.
The two of them—one sitting, one standing—fell into silence.
In the quiet, Noble Consort Yi studied her son. After a long pause, she spoke again, “Yes or no—give me an answer.”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui didn’t want to lie to her.
But if he didn’t lie, he had a feeling that telling the truth would earn him a beating.
“Mother.”
Ling Rui squatted down, resting his head on Noble Consort Yi’s knee and rubbing it gently, acting sweet like he used to as a child. “Why are you suddenly asking this? Did someone say something to you?”
There weren’t many people who knew about his relationship with Ah Wu. In the palace, only his eldest brother and sixth brother knew, and neither of them seemed like the type to rat him out.
Ling Rui wanted to probe for more information.
His little ploy didn’t fool Noble Consort Yi in the slightest.
She looked down at him, saying nothing.
Ling Rui started to feel guilty under her gaze.
“Mother, I’m all grown up now.”
Ling Rui carefully reminded her, “You once said that now that I’m grown, you won’t hit me anymore.”
Noble Consort Yi had indeed said that.
But Ling Rui wasn’t sure if her words still held true.
“Mother.”
Ling Rui continued to act cute, trying to secure a promise that he wouldn’t be punished.
Noble Consort Yi, however, remained unmoved by his pleading.
“Hurry up and tell me.”
She pinched his ear, urging him to answer.
Realizing there was no way out, Ling Rui grasped her hand, lowered his head, and confessed, “I—I’ve been with Ah Wu for a while now. Our relationship is stable, Mother. Please don’t separate us, okay?”
As he spoke, he remembered his mother’s strictness and hurriedly added, “Mother, I’m grown now. You can’t hit me anymore.”
Noble Consort Yi: “?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You think you can just say I can’t hit you, and that’ll be the end of it?”
This rebellious child had kept such a huge secret from her for so long, and she definitely didn’t feel at ease without giving him a good scolding.
“Mother, if people find out you hit me at my age, it’ll be embarrassing.”
Ling Rui timidly lifted his head a little, looking at her pitifully.
Noble Consort Yi wasn’t buying it.
“Go bend over.”
She pointed to a bench that had somehow been prepared, signaling for him to lie down on it.
Ling Rui glanced at the bench, then back at his mother, before reluctantly slumping over it.
“Smack, smack, smack—”
After a quick round of spanking, Noble Consort Yi’s anger had mostly dissipated.
Rubbing his sore bottom, Ling Rui complained, “Mother, my butt hurts.”
Noble Consort Yi raised an eyebrow and replied coolly, “Serves you right.”
Despite saying that, she tossed him a cushion.
Now that mother and son were sitting face-to-face, they could finally have a calm conversation.
“Mother, when did you find out?”
Ling Rui was genuinely puzzled. He hadn’t said anything about his relationship to his parents.
Noble Consort Yi glanced at him and spoke casually, “I found out a while ago. Someone sent me a letter.”
“The person who sent it has since died suddenly. When your eldest brother investigated, he discovered that their entire family had been wiped out.”
Her words left Ling Rui momentarily stunned.
“Why would someone feel the need to secretly send you a letter about me and Ah Wu?”
Ling Rui couldn’t understand the motive of the person who sent the letter.
Even without the letter, he would eventually tell his family about him and Ah Wu.
“Little Seven, not everyone can accept your relationship with Ah Wu.”
Noble Consort Yi was sharp, and she had already figured out the intention behind the letter.
“Now that the Qi Dynasty and Great Qing are working together, the map they are expanding is growing larger and larger.”
“Some people naturally want to stir up trouble between Qi Dynasty and Great Qing.”
The relationship between the Qi Wangye and the Emperor of Great Qing was the perfect entry point for sowing discord.
One was a beloved prince, and the other, an emperor. In the eyes of others, both were expected to marry, have children, and continue their lineage.
If their relationship were exposed, the pressure would be unimaginable. If they insisted on staying together, both royal families would react poorly.
If they separated, it would be even better—broken relationships often lead to resentment.
In any case, the person trying to reveal their relationship was undoubtedly connected to foreign powers.
“So far, I’m the only one who has received the letter. If I don’t put a stop to it and not let you and Ah Wu continue, soon the entire world will know about you two.”
Noble Consort Yi explained everything in detail, and Ling Rui listened quietly.
After a long pause, Ling Rui nodded, realizing the full extent of the scheme.
“Mother, Ah Wu and I aren’t just fooling around. We are serious.”
Ling Rui’s expression was firm as he spoke clearly, “Even if you know, even if the whole world knows, and even if we face many obstacles, we won’t break up.”
“I love Ah Wu!”
Ling Rui’s confession was resolute.
Noble Consort Yi pinched his cheek and teased, “You really are sincere about Ah Wu.”
Noble Consort Yi wasn’t unfamiliar with Ah Wu, who had been close to her son since childhood.
She knew how deep their bond was, but she hadn’t expected that the strong friendship they had as children would turn into love as they grew up.
“Little Seven, how does Ah Wu feel about this?”
“Ah Wu won’t break up with me either,” Ling Rui said with confidence.
He patted his chest and promised, “Ah Wu loves me very much!”
Ah Wu wasn’t one to speak about love easily, especially such sentimental things, but Ling Rui just knew that Ah Wu’s love for him was likely even greater than his own love for Ah Wu.
As they continued talking about Ah Wu, Noble Consort Yi, who was almost always with Emperor Ling nowadays, was more aware of the emperor’s state than anyone.
“Your father doesn’t know anything about this. Before you tell him, you need to ease him into it. Don’t just blurt it out; otherwise, he won’t be able to handle it.”
Noble Consort Yi advised Ling Rui not to rush into revealing the news without preparing his father first.
Ling Rui obediently nodded, “I’ll make sure to prepare him beforehand!”
“Within the next ten days, Little Seven, you should tell your father.”
If they delayed any longer, Emperor Ling might hear about it from someone else.
“Alright, I’ll do my best.”
Ling Rui clenched his fist, determined to start softening his father up.
“Alright, enough talking. Go back and keep Pingping and Anan company.”
Anan needed someone close to him to sleep peacefully.
After leaving Noble Consort Yi, Ling Rui returned to his own palace in the royal compound to rest with Pingping and Anan.
Once they were both sound asleep, he quietly got up and summoned his eldest brother.
The two brothers whispered quietly, careful not to wake Pingping and Anan.
The next day.
After playing with Pingping and Anan for a while, Ling Rui went to find his father.
Like clockwork, he hung around his father.
Emperor Ling, feeling dizzy from his presence, asked, “What are you hanging around here for?”
Ling Rui blinked and said, “Dad, I want to invite you to a play! Do you want to see a play? There are many great scripts now!”
Plays were sometimes organized in the palace, but Ling Rui wasn’t talking about palace plays. He wanted to see one outside the palace.
Having been cooped up in the palace for so long, Emperor Ling was feeling a bit bored, so he gladly agreed, “Alright, let’s go watch.”
The two left quietly, with few guards visible, but in reality, there were plenty of hidden ones.
On the first day of easing into coming out, Ling Rui took his father to see a play about “brotherly love.”
The play was a serialized one, focusing on the relationship between two men. At first, their feelings were subtle, but as the play progressed, their emotions became more apparent.
They watched the play for three days, reaching the ending.
At the conclusion, when the two men confessed their love for each other, Emperor Ling’s brow furrowed.
Seizing the moment, Ling Rui, sitting beside him, asked, “Dad, do you have a problem with them? I’ve already told you, whether someone likes men or women, it’s something they’re born with. We even learned about this at Guan Shan Academy.”
Ling Rui mentioned Guan Shan Academy, and though Emperor Ling wasn’t entirely happy about it, he didn’t say much.
On the fourth day.
Ling Rui didn’t take his father to another play; instead, they went to a tea house to listen to a storyteller.
The storyteller’s voice rose and fell dramatically, narrating a tale about two men.
On the eighth day.
Ling Rui took his father out of the palace, and this time, they didn’t go to a play or listen to a storyteller. By chance, they saw two men holding hands, smiling sweetly at each other.
Emperor Ling: “…”
Emperor Ling’s face turned green.
For days, Ling Rui felt like a spinning top, constantly moving.
He had arranged one preparation after another for his father, and during each session, he talked endlessly.
“Dad, it’s normal for men to like men, women to like women, or men to like women.”
After giving this little lesson, Ling Rui played the emotional card.
“Dad, do you love me a lot? If one day I did something to make you angry, would you still love me?”
“Dad, I really love you!”
“Dad, can you give me a special, all-powerful token…”
“Dad”
Ling Rui followed Emperor Ling like a little tail.
At first, Emperor Ling’s face was dark, but gradually, he became numb to it all.
Ling Chen, knowing his younger brother was busy trying to win over their father, took a moment to check in on his progress.
“How’s it going so far? You didn’t come on too strong, did you? Even though Father’s health isn’t great, his mind is still sharp. If you push too hard, it might backfire.”
“Don’t worry, Brother, I’m handling this very carefully!”
Ling Rui was clearly overconfident.
He boasted, “I’m going about this so gradually that in a couple of days, the confession will go smoothly.”
Ling Chen smiled. “Let’s hope so.”
The rumors about Little Seven and Ah Wu had already spread outside the palace.
Ling Chen had managed to keep it from reaching Emperor Ling’s ears so far.
“Little Seven, you need to confess before Royal Father finds out on his own.”
