But it seemed that he was more meticulous than her son. Back then, her son had created a much bigger trouble than Long Qian Xing but unable to fully clear up the mess without having some damaging reputation and had to settle some annoying things with money.
”I’ll leave first, Grandmother.” Long Qian Xing cupped his fist and then led Nan Hua away.
Old Madam Long looked at the three other women. Since it had come to this, let’s just clean up the entire mess first.
She had long wanted to kick them out.
This just gave her a good excuse.
While Old Madam Long settled the other three concubines, Nan Hua followed Long Qian Xing. The two of them walked on the stone path that led into the inner garden where Old Madam Long planted her fruit trees. It was a peaceful place since not many servants dared to come.
”She’ll never be back and there wouldn’t be a second one,” Long Qian Xing said in a low voice.
Nan Hua raised her head and saw Long Qian Xing had stopped. He was looking in her direction with his deep gaze. Now that Long Qian Xing was 18 years old, he had grown much taller than before. She had to raise her head if she wished to look at him directly.
”The kingdom is in a mess and it’s hard to do everything you want without affecting the overall picture.” Long Qian Xing himself didn’t like the idea, but he knew that he was not completely free. As a leader, as a person of Fei Yang Kingdom, he couldn’t completely disregard other people’s condition when he made his decision.
”To be willful all the time and to always be arrogant is impossible unless you have the entire world in your palm.”
Nan Hua’s eyes were clear without even the slightest bit of ripples. She looked at Long Qian Xing and said each word slowly, “I understand, Brother Long.”
She’s not stupid.
Even though Long Qian Xing didn’t want to have a concubine, it was hard for him to disregard the Imperial Edict. Many people might think that it was fine to disregard the Imperial Edict, but in truth, the society was stricter than what they could possibly imagine.
Only those who lived in this era understood.
Imperial Edict was absolute.
They had to follow it or die. The only time when they could bypass the Imperial Edict was when they have more power than the Emperor. But would something like that be easily achievable?
And Long Qian Xing took a different route.
He simply supported the next person to be the Emperor and when Emperor Yang Zhou formally become the undisputable ruler, no one would be able to shake Long Qian Xing’s position. At that time, no matter how willful he would be, no matter how much people hate him, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.
In both military and politics, he had his people who will support him no matter what happened.
Because Empress Dowager Mei caught Long Qian Xing unprepared during the time he couldn’t move freely yet. Thus, Long Qian Xing had to accept it on the surface while his attitude and action clearly showed otherwise. And with sufficient reason such as war, how could people criticize him?
He has always been a sly man. Even if he looked like he accepted the arrangement on the surface, what he did would not always be what people expected him to do.
Nan Hua understood it all.
Long Qian Xing looked at the sensible young girl in front of him and felt a bit helpless. He felt that his little fiancée was really sensible, too sensible in fact, that he felt a bit heartache when he saw it.
”If you’re angry, you can say it.” Long Qian Xing’s low voice traveled to Nan Hua’s ear. “I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
Nan Hua blinked her eyes.
She’s not angry.
When she saw the letter that Long Qian Xing’s servant gave to Shangguan Mi, she knew that it had been written a long time ago. Presumably, it was written even before Shangguan Mi entered this residence.
And Long Qian Xing had long made it clear that he didn’t want her in this residence.
Since it was the case, why should she be angry?
It was not like she treat Long Qian Xing as hers….
As the thought passed inside Nan Hua’s mind, she felt that Long Qian Xing might have thought she had treated him to be her future husband. However, she knew that he would stay with the female lead in the end.
”I’m not angry, Brother Long,” Nan Hua replied softly.
”So stubborn.” Long Qian Xing looked at Nan Hua and chuckled helplessly. It was really hard to coax the little girl. He bent down slightly and raised his hand to pat Nan Hua’s head tenderly.
Nan Hua was stunned. She stayed still in her place as she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Her grandfather had patted her head for so many times in the past, but he is her grandfather.
Long Qian Xing is different, right?
How should she react?
As Nan Hua was stood frozen on the spot, she heard Long Qian Xing spoke ever so slowly, “The seat beside me will only belong to you. Other people can only see it but will never be able to get it, okay?”
A promise?
Nan Hua’s eyes stared straight at Long Qian Xing’s eyes. This was the first time she ever got so close to him that she could see his black pupil and eyelashes so clearly. Her reflection was clearly reflected in his eyes without any falseness.
He was being genuine when he said those words to her.
And it was also because of this that Nan Hua didn’t know how to answer to those words. He had already met with the female lead, right? Why did he still acted as if the one who will marry him in the future was not the female lead but her?