Ling Rui nodded obediently at his brother’s reminder.
“Brother, will you ever tell Dad about you and my uncle?”
Ling Rui, after talking about himself, shifted the conversation to his older brother.
Without even thinking, Ling Chen shook his head.
Looking at his little brother’s face, he said, “I don’t want to be the one to push Royal Father over the edge.”
As soon as Ling Chen said that, Ling Rui smirked mischievously.
“Brother, so you finally admit it!”
Ling Chen: “…”
Realizing he’d slipped up, Ling Chen’s face darkened, and he knocked his brother on the head.
“You’re asking for trouble.”
The brothers’ conversation wandered off topic, with Ling Rui hugging his brother’s arm and laughing silly.
That night, Ling Rui didn’t bother his father again. Instead, he slept with his older brother, sprawled out in a carefree sleep.
Ling Rui slept comfortably next to his brother.
Meanwhile, in a distant part of the palace, Emperor Ling lay awake, staring at the ceiling, his brows furrowed, unable to sleep. He lay there for a long time, just staring upward.
Next to him, Noble Consort Yi caught a glimpse of him and was startled.
“It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping? What are you staring at?”
“Yi Er.”
When Emperor Ling spoke, his heavy tone caused Noble Consort Yi to shake off her drowsiness. She softened her voice and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep. Let’s just chat for a while.”
Emperor Ling adjusted his pillow, slightly raising his body to lean back on it.
He lowered his gaze, looking at Noble Consort Yi’s still vibrant face even without makeup, and lightly touched her cheek.
“I want to talk about Little Seven.”
This woke Noble Consort Yi up fully.
She leaned in closer, resting her head on his arm. “Sure, what do you want to talk about?”
Emperor Ling fell silent.
After a long pause, he finally murmured, “Marriage.”
Noble Consort Yi knew this was coming.
Recently, Little Seven had been taking his father out frequently. She didn’t know exactly what they did, but she knew Little Seven was laying the groundwork for something.
In retrospect, it seemed his efforts were beginning to pay off.
Noble Consort Yi still believed her son’s approach was gentle, like rain nourishing the land.
She had no idea how bold her son had actually been.
“Yi Er, if I arrange a marriage for Little Seven, do you think he’ll resent me?”
Noble Consort Yi was stunned. “Arrange a marriage?”
“Yes.”
Emperor Ling continued, “The daughter of the Assistant Minister of Revenue, she’s about Little Seven’s age.”
Before he could say more, Noble Consort Yi shook her head and interrupted him.
“Little Seven won’t agree to it. We’ve mentioned arranged marriages before, and Little Seven made it clear he wouldn’t accept one.”
“He won’t accept Chongning, won’t accept the Assistant Minister’s daughter—so what, he won’t accept any good woman in the entire world?!”
Emperor Ling’s voice grew agitated, clearly frustrated.
Seeing this, Noble Consort Yi chose not to respond immediately.
Emperor Ling’s chest heaved a few times before he slowly calmed down, breathing more evenly.
“Since ancient times, children have always followed the wishes of their parents when it comes to marriage. They must obey.”
Emperor Ling said firmly, “I’ve spoiled Little Seven too much.”
“Little Seven has always been attached to you. When he was little, he was so small, like a little turnip, always getting sick.”
“You spent sleepless nights taking care of him. Naturally, you pampered him.”
Noble Consort Yi’s words immediately brought back memories of Ling Rui’s childhood for Emperor Ling.
Back then, his little son, barely walking, would stretch out his tiny arms, his soft face gazing up at him, asking to be held.
In the blink of an eye, his little boy, who once needed to be carried, had grown into a young man ready to start a family.
Emperor Ling’s gaze deepened, and he stopped speaking so harshly.
“I still remember when Little Seven was in danger, and his life was uncertain. Back then, all you wished for was his safety.”
“As long as Little Seven is safe, nothing else seems that important.”
Their conversation gradually shifted into reminiscing about the past.
When Emperor Ling first took the throne, he loved beautiful things but wasn’t particularly fond of children.
His affection for his children was limited to providing for their material needs.
Ling Rui was the only one of his children he personally raised.
Facing this little child, he resembled the most ordinary father in the world. Now that his child’s marriage was causing problems, he naturally felt anxious too.
The night grew deeper.
Noble Consort Yi yawned, lightly touching Emperor Ling’s hand, and asked, “Are you sleepy now?”
At this point, Emperor Ling finally started feeling a bit drowsy.
Seeing him nod, Noble Consort Yi closed her eyes and said, “Let’s sleep first. We can talk more after we wake up.”
After talking late into the night, the heavy feeling in Emperor Ling’s heart was somewhat eased.
He closed his eyes and also fell asleep.
The next morning.
When Ling Rui woke up, Ling Chen had already gone to court.
He sat dazed in bed for a while before slowly getting up.
“Your Highness, would you like breakfast?”
The head eunuch who served Ling Chen walked over with a cheerful smile and asked Ling Rui.
Ling Rui touched his stomach and replied, “No, I won’t eat here.”
He planned to eat with his father and mother.
“Alright, take your time, Your Highness.”
The eunuch smiled as he watched Ling Rui put on his clothes and leave, his smile lingering for a while.
Over the years, the most lively person in the entire palace had been the young prince.
No, now there was also Pingping and Anan from the Sixth Prince’s household. They were all adorably sweet.
Ling Rui ran ahead without looking back at the eunuch.
It didn’t take long for him to reach Emperor Ling’s palace.
Since Emperor Ling had stayed up late the night before, he hadn’t woken up yet. Ling Rui sat cross-legged in the outer room, holding a small hammer, tapping away as he worked on a little wooden object.
By the time Emperor Ling appeared, Ling Rui had already made a teething stick.
“Father, look! This is for Anan, isn’t it perfect?”
Anan had just grown her first teeth and loved putting things in her mouth to chew.
Ling Rui had long been planning to make her a teething stick.
Emperor Ling looked at the freshly made teething stick, raised an eyebrow, and couldn’t help but say, “You’re so good with children. If you have your own one day, you’ll definitely get along well.”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui pouted.
Emperor Ling pretended not to notice his son’s pout and continued, “Your child will definitely be as good-looking as you were as a kid. Didn’t you always like pretty children?”
“I already have Pingping and Anan, they’re enough for me.”
Ling Rui, gripping the teething stick, avoided responding to his father’s comment.
“Dad, hurry up. Let’s go out for breakfast.”
Ling Rui stashed the teething stick away and reached out to pull Emperor Ling.
“There’s this breakfast place that’s really good. You’re going to love it!”
After Ling Rui’s enthusiastic recommendation, Emperor Ling hesitated for a few seconds but decided to trust his son one more time.
The two of them went out for breakfast, and Ling Rui brought Pingping along as well.
Anan was still young and woke up late, so she was still asleep at the time.
Pingping, on the other hand, was full of energy early in the morning. Although he had already eaten a small bowl of meat porridge, he was still excitedly asking to go out for food.
The breakfast place Ling Rui recommended was quite simple in appearance.
The shop owner was an old man with a kind face.
Ling Rui found a random table and sat down, eagerly ordering various breakfast items.
The tables and chairs were old, with stains on the surface that couldn’t be scrubbed away.
Emperor Ling looked at the table but showed no sign of disgust. After his previous experience at Guan Shan Residence, he had been well-educated on such matters.
“Dad, try this sesame sweet bun. It’s really delicious.”
“Pingping, take a sip of this sweet soup. Isn’t it sweet but not too rich?”
Though the shop was unremarkable, each breakfast item tasted more amazing than the last.
The old man recognized Ling Rui’s handsome face and had always liked him.
“Young Master, here’s the pine nut candy you said you liked last time. I saved it just for you.”
The old man handed Ling Rui a small bag of sweet pine nut candy.
The candy was deliciously sweet.
Ling Rui gave a piece to both his father and Pingping. Despite their age differences, all three of them—Emperor Ling included—were remarkably good-looking.
The old man didn’t know their identities but smiled and praised, “Your family is truly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.”
“Young Master, the friend who used to come with you was also very good-looking.”
The “good-looking friend” the old man referred to was Ah Wu.
Ling Rui happily responded, “He’s indeed very handsome, even better looking than me!”
The old man and the young prince chatted about Ah Wu’s good looks, while Emperor Ling quietly ate his breakfast, pretending not to care.
After the meal.
Ling Rui bought a bunch of things for Pingping and had the accompanying guards take him back to Anan.
“When Uncle comes back, he’ll find you. Go play with Anan for a bit.”
“Okay.”
Pingping, the little troublemaker, adored his younger sister. Hugging all the things he had received, he happily returned to play with her.
Once Pingping left, the father and son looked at each other.
Ling Rui blinked and suggested, “Dad, let’s go drink tea and listen to some stories.”
Emperor Ling, still wary from his previous storytelling experience, walked to the tea house his son had pointed out but, right in front of Ling Rui, decisively changed to a different one.
Ling Rui had wanted to take his father to listen to some storytelling, but Emperor Ling ended up in a place that was all about gossip.
The gossip ranged from small to big, some strange, some humorous.
Ling Rui listened for a while, found it interesting, and rested his chin in his hand, leaning close to his father, joining him in listening.
Today marked the last day of the half-month period he had set for himself. He planned to confess everything to his father today!
As the gossip grew more exciting, Ling Rui’s thoughts drifted to Ah Wu, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, and to the scene he imagined when he would confess to his father later. His mind began to wander…
His thoughts drifted aimlessly until he suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard his name mentioned in the gossip upstairs.
“Have you heard? The reason why Great Qing is helping us Qi Dynasty so much is because we sent the young Wangye to their emperor’s bed!”
“Young Wangye has sacrificed so much for Qi Dynasty!”
“Tsk tsk, what do you know? From what I’ve heard, it’s the Qing Emperor who’s chasing after our young Wangye.”
Ling Rui, who had been idly listening to the gossip, was startled when he realized he had become the subject of it.
What those people didn’t know was that the person they were gossiping about was right there, listening. They lowered their voices and continued talking.
“The way the young Wangye and the Qing Emperor are playing around like this, it’s going to cause trouble once their future consorts and empress finds out.”
“Isn’t that true? But who knows, once they get married, they might stop seeing each other.”
Seeing that they weren’t stopping anytime soon, Ling Rui gulped nervously and turned his head to steal a glance at his father.
