Long and Shi went directly to the Tianyin post.
On the way, they received a message from Fang Shoujiang.
Fang was the leader of those troops this time.
Naturally, 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.
Both of them trusted in Fang’s ability.
When they arrived at the Tianyin post, Long and Shi went in directly without any obstruction.
Shi’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.
As for those who guessed wrong… they also knew what to say and what not to say.
Even if the empress “cheated” on the emperor outside the palace, they still wouldn’t tell this to others. Otherwise, they might be beheaded!
Long 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!
Long thought that they were in awe of Shi’s identity.
Long and Shi went to the main hall, drinking tea which was served by the housekeeper and waiting for Xu You to come.
Long said, “Qingzhou.”
“Hmm?” Shi raised his eyebrows.
“The little boy is almost one year old,” Long said with a smile.
Shi raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Well, there are still more than three months, right?”
“I wonder if he can walk after we go back to the palace.”
“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.”
“Oh, it’s like this…” Long smiled. “I really miss him. Qingzhou, do you miss him?”
Shi paused for a second, and then nodded. “Yes.”
Long 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.”
Hearing this, Shi looked at Long in confusion.
Long 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.”
Shi 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.”
“Another month has passed since we went out of the palace,” Long said.
Shi smiled and looked at Long. “Well, what do you want?”
Long finally told Shi what he was thinking.
“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.”
Shi was stunned.
Long said softly, “Qingzhou, think about it carefully. Although it’s a bit troublesome, it can also bring us a good experience.”
Shi didn’t reply to Long at once. After pondering for a while, Shi said, “Let’s talk about it after we go back.”
Long didn’t expect to get a clear answer for Shi right away, so he nodded directly. “All right, let’s talk about it later.”
When they just finished talking, Xu You’s voice was heard outside.
“Ah, elder brother, are you going back?”
Long and Shi turned their eyes to Xu together.
Xu said while walking in, “Elder brother, Elder Brother Shi, here you are.”
Long 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.”
When 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.
Although he felt a little upset, Xu still said, “Elder brother, have a good journey.”
Long smiled. When he was just about to tell Xu the purpose of their trip this time, Fang Shuoyang went in.
Facing Long and Shi, Fang would not be as casual as Xu.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, Your Grace. Long live Your Majesty, long may you reign.”
Long said lightly, “Please get up. Don’t be so formal, Mr. Fang.”
Fang 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.
Long asked Fang to take a seat. After Fang sat down, Long made a simple conversation with him and then sent him away.
After Fang left, Xu looked at Long in confusion while saying, “Elder brother, is it that… you don’t like Shuoyang?”
Long glanced sideways at Xu. “Hmm? Why did you say that?”
Xu said, “Just my instinct…”
“He’s your man. It doesn’t matter whether I like him or not,” Long said.
Xu was speechless. Although what Long said was true, Xu still felt that those words sounded a little strange.
Shi glanced at Long and smiled slightly. “Stop joking with him.”
Hearing that, Xu hurriedly looked at Shi. “Elder Brother Shi, what’s going on?”
Shi said, “We came here to do something, but it has nothing to do with us. It’s your business.”
“Hmm? My business?” Those words stunned Xu.
Shi nodded. “Do you know what Mr. Zhou said before he died?”
Xu was stunned again. “Mr. Zhou?”
“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.
Xu was shocked.
After being dismissed, Fang instinctively felt there must be something wrong and his heart began to pound.
So, he sent two people to guard outside and wanted to know why Long and Shi went there.
Fang 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…
As 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.
Fang 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.
Just then, Xu was still in a daze.
Looking at Xu, Shi sighed. When he was just about to say something, Fang had come in.
No one outside stopped him, so he came in smoothly.
“Your Majesty, I won’t do as my grandfather said.”
Although Fang seemed to be talking to Long, his eyes were fixed on Xu.
Long raised his eyebrows. Xu pressed his lips together, but looked away.
Fang 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.”
Xu turned his head and stared at Fang.
“Fang Shuoyang, I believe in your determination now, but I don’t think… you won’t regret it later.”
Fang was stunned.
Xu shook off Fang’s hand. “You said you won’t do it, but what is your solution?”
Fang didn’t say anything.
“So you haven’t thought about it,” Xu said.
Fang 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.”
Xu puckered his lips. “Really?”
Fang grasped Xu’s hand once again. “Don’t you believe me?”
Xu 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.”
Fang got nervous and he slightly raised his voice. “Xu You! You said no matter what happened, you would still believe me.”
Xu’s face turned a little pale. He said slowly, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I don’t believe myself.”
Fang was stunned.
Xu 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.”
Fang’s facial expression changed a little, and then he slowly let go of Xu’s hand.
Xu stared at his hand blankly. Fang pursed his lips and left without saying a single word.
Xu 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.
As he said, he didn’t want to take responsibility.