n

n

nLong and Shi went directly to the Tianyin post.

nOn the way, they received a message from Fang Shoujiang.

nFang was the leader of those troops this time.

n

n

nNaturally, the message was about the follow-up of this action. However, neither Long nor Shi wanted to take care of that and they had already planned to go back. So, they just glanced over the message and then left all those things to Fang.

nBoth of them trusted in Fang’s ability.

nWhen they arrived at the Tianyin post, Long and Shi went in directly without any obstruction.

nShi’s identity as the empress had been exposed here, but he didn’t tell others Long was the emperor. However, seeing that Long and Shi were so intimate… many clever people had guessed that.

n

n

nAs for those who guessed wrong… they also knew what to say and what not to say.

nEven if the empress “cheated” on the emperor outside the palace, they still wouldn’t tell this to others. Otherwise, they might be beheaded!

nLong still didn’t know how those people thought about him. He went in with Shi, but he saw that several people… hurriedly lowered their heads as if they didn’t see anyone!

nLong thought that they were in awe of Shi’s identity.

n

n

nLong and Shi went to the main hall, drinking tea which was served by the housekeeper and waiting for Xu You to come.

nLong said, “Qingzhou.”

n“Hmm?” Shi raised his eyebrows.

n“The little boy is almost one year old,” Long said with a smile.

nShi raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Well, there are still more than three months, right?”

n“I wonder if he can walk after we go back to the palace.”

n

n

n“He’s less than ten months old. He definitely can’t,” Shi said, “Some babies begin to walk when they’re ten months old at the earliest.”

n“Oh, it’s like this…” Long smiled. “I really miss him. Qingzhou, do you miss him?”

nShi paused for a second, and then nodded. “Yes.”

nLong narrowed his eyes. Seeing that Shi was a little hesitate earlier, Long said, “Qingzhou, I suddenly feel that we’ve spent too little time with our child.”

nHearing this, Shi looked at Long in confusion.

nLong said softly, “In the blink of an eye, the boy is already almost ten months old, but we didn’t really spend much time with him.”

nShi paused, and then said, “Right. I also stayed at the border for a few months. He still recognized me when I came back. I felt very happy.”

n“Another month has passed since we went out of the palace,” Long said.

n

n

nShi smiled and looked at Long. “Well, what do you want?”

nLong finally told Shi what he was thinking.

n“If there’s nothing wrong with the court after we go back, let’s take him out to have fun. Maybe we can live out of the palace for a while.”

nShi was stunned.

nLong said softly, “Qingzhou, think about it carefully. Although it’s a bit troublesome, it can also bring us a good experience.”

nShi didn’t reply to Long at once. After pondering for a while, Shi said, “Let’s talk about it after we go back.”

nLong didn’t expect to get a clear answer for Shi right away, so he nodded directly. “All right, let’s talk about it later.”

nWhen they just finished talking, Xu You’s voice was heard outside.

n“Ah, elder brother, are you going back?”

nLong and Shi turned their eyes to Xu together.

nXu said while walking in, “Elder brother, Elder Brother Shi, here you are.”

nLong and Shi nodded at the same time. Then, Long stood up. “Right, we’re going back. So we came to see you before we leave.”

nWhen Xu heard that Long really needed to go back, he was a little upset. However, he also knew that Long was the emperor. Of course it was impossible for Long to stay outside forever.

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n

nAlthough he felt a little upset, Xu still said, “Elder brother, have a good journey.”

nLong smiled. When he was just about to tell Xu the purpose of their trip this time, Fang Shuoyang went in.

nFacing Long and Shi, Fang would not be as casual as Xu.

n“Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, Your Grace. Long live Your Majesty, long may you reign.”

nLong said lightly, “Please get up. Don’t be so formal, Mr. Fang.”

nFang got up. After treatment, he had no problem walking now, but he still couldn’t stand for a long time, because his legs hadn’t fully recovered.

nLong asked Fang to take a seat. After Fang sat down, Long made a simple conversation with him and then sent him away.

nAfter Fang left, Xu looked at Long in confusion while saying, “Elder brother, is it that… you don’t like Shuoyang?”

nLong glanced sideways at Xu. “Hmm? Why did you say that?”

nXu said, “Just my instinct…”

n“He’s your man. It doesn’t matter whether I like him or not,” Long said.

nXu was speechless. Although what Long said was true, Xu still felt that those words sounded a little strange.

nShi glanced at Long and smiled slightly. “Stop joking with him.”

nHearing that, Xu hurriedly looked at Shi. “Elder Brother Shi, what’s going on?”

nShi said, “We came here to do something, but it has nothing to do with us. It’s your business.”

n“Hmm? My business?” Those words stunned Xu.

nShi nodded. “Do you know what Mr. Zhou said before he died?”

nXu was stunned again. “Mr. Zhou?”

n“It seems that you don’t know anything…” Shi didn’t care whether there were any people of the Tianyin post outside the door and directly told him Mr. Zhou’s last wish.

nXu was shocked.

nAfter being dismissed, Fang instinctively felt there must be something wrong and his heart began to pound.

nSo, he sent two people to guard outside and wanted to know why Long and Shi went there.

nFang thought that since he openly sent people to guard there, if the people inside planned to talk about something secret, they would naturally go to send the guards away. If they didn’t care, then…

nAs a result, Long really didn’t care, so Fang received the message soon. In fact, he didn’t go far. He just stayed next door.

nFang was so anxious that his heart almost jumped out from his mouth. So, he didn’t care so much and hurriedly went to the room next door.

nJust then, Xu was still in a daze.

nLooking at Xu, Shi sighed. When he was just about to say something, Fang had come in.

nNo one outside stopped him, so he came in smoothly.

n“Your Majesty, I won’t do as my grandfather said.”

nAlthough Fang seemed to be talking to Long, his eyes were fixed on Xu.

nLong raised his eyebrows. Xu pressed his lips together, but looked away.

nFang got in a flap and ignored the formality. He went forward and grabbed Xu’s hand. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid that you’d think too much. I promise I won’t do that.”

nXu turned his head and stared at Fang.

n“Fang Shuoyang, I believe in your determination now, but I don’t think… you won’t regret it later.”

nFang was stunned.

nXu shook off Fang’s hand. “You said you won’t do it, but what is your solution?”

nFang didn’t say anything.

n“So you haven’t thought about it,” Xu said.

nFang was anxious. “It’s so sudden that I haven’t figured out a solution. It just happened last night. I admit I haven’t figured out what to do, but that absurd request won’t be granted.”

nXu puckered his lips. “Really?”

nFang grasped Xu’s hand once again. “Don’t you believe me?”

nXu lowered his head and said in a low voice, “I’m confused now… I think both of us need to think about it carefully. Fang Shuoyang, now both the Tianyin post and Zhou family relies on you… You… Think it over. Don’t make decisions on impulse.”

nFang got nervous and he slightly raised his voice. “Xu You! You said no matter what happened, you would still believe me.”

nXu’s face turned a little pale. He said slowly, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I don’t believe myself.”

nFang was stunned.

nXu murmured, “I’m afraid… I’m afraid you’ll become a sinner because of me. You can say that I’m a selfish person. I don’t want to be blamed. I really don’t want to… take such a responsibility.”

nFang’s facial expression changed a little, and then he slowly let go of Xu’s hand.

nXu stared at his hand blankly. Fang pursed his lips and left without saying a single word.

nXu lowered his head and chose not to look at Fang. It happened so suddenly that he didn’t even know what he had done. He just wanted to escape instinctively.

nAs he said, he didn’t want to take responsibility.

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