“Alright, you all may excuse yourselves!” ordered the emperor so the crowd would disperse since there wasn’t a problem.
“Retreat!”
The guards left quickly, like the last time. Not sure where they went. One wouldn’t meet this many guards when walking around the palace but when there was a problem, a large group would appear from hidden corners.
The palace was like a deep ocean!
A few people remained. Other than the lady and her children, there were several curious ones who were of similar rank to get to know Ye Lang better.
“Little troublemaker, tell me how you got in! Who let you in, why didn’t they tell me,” said the empress dowager, pulling him over. She wanted to know the answer.
Not one of them knew that Ye Lang had entered, and he had caused such a scene. Yet Ye Lang was shameless enough to want to leave so soon. She was upset that he did not intend to come see her at all.
“Mother, you don’t have to ask that question, just look at the order token at his hip…” said the emperor. This token was also how he confirmed Ye Lang’s identity because Ye Lang was the only one with this.
“I see, no wonder they didn’t report to us. Why would you give him this? Give him a special token that requires the guards to report to us.”
“I could but he won’t use it. He has Longji’s token, and his own…” The emperor shook his head.
“… Fine, most of them recognise his face now anyway. Tell the people at the bottom to report to us when he’s here, so that he can’t come and go without informing us. If it wasn’t for the fire, we wouldn’t have known,” said the empress dowager.
“Alright, I’m leaving. You guys go ahead!” said Ye Lang as he bade them farewell. He couldn’t because Long Ai and the empress dowager were grabbing onto him.
“What? Why are you in such a hurry, might as well stay the night here.”
“No, I’m going back!” Te Lang shook his head.
“Why are you in such a hurry? There’s nothing important going on.” The empress dowager refused.
“I’m going back to prepare for my performance. If you don’t want me to perform, then I can stay,” he shrugged.
“Fine, go ahead then. Next time, if you come without telling me, I’ll smack you.” The empress dowager gave up. He was doing this all for her, could she still make him stay?
“Alright, I’ll let you know.” Ye Lang nodded. He could just inform her that he was here and leave. Although it was a little inconvenient, it was fine.
She would smack him if she knew what he thought.
“I’m leaving, goodbye! Little cousin, can you not pull my hand. If you do this, I’ll sell you to the brothel!”
“…”
Can’t believe you threatened to sell the princess to the brothel in front of the emperor.
“You wouldn’t!” yelled the princess immediately, though she let him go.
“I wouldn’t because I’d make a loss if I sold you!” said Ye Lang, then disappearing without leaving a trace as if he feared they’d make him stay.
“Hmph! Stupid cousin!” She stomped her foot and then went to tend to her flowers.
“Let’s all go back, it’s tough to talk to him. You should talk to Anqi. If you’re close to her, then you’ll get to the boy.” The empress dowager looked at the disappointed people around and guessed what they wanted.
“Long Anxi, you stay. Tell me, what the hell did you do?” While the empress dowager let everyone go, she made the arrogant lady, Long Anxi, stay.
“…” Long Anxi and her two children stayed behind, their expressions still filled with contempt as if they didn’t care about what happened.
So what if the delivery boy turned out to be Ye Lang? They were all the same.
That was also why they did not change the story when they retold it to the empress dowager and the emperor.
The empress dowager deliberately asked them when everyone was gone to save them face but she didn’t expect them to be stubborn as ever. They didn’t even know that they had been in the wrong.
From the story, the empress dowager and the emperor understood that Ye Lang had done nothing wrong. Perhaps he didn’t save them face, but a matter like that was partially their own fault.
Ye Lang had started off polite and didn’t do anything too drastic. However, these people treated him rudely just because of their rank. If it weren’t for Ye Lang’s clueless personality, if he had decided to fight back, would they still be standing here?
“Long Anxi, you’re not my biological daughter so I never scolded you but look at you now! Your children are as arrogant as you are!” said the empress dowager.
“How are we arrogant? It’s your precious grandson that’s rude. How could he loiter on palace grounds and even burn the place? Why didn’t you teach him a lesson? I’ve always known that you played favourites. We aren’t your biological family so naturally, you won’t help us,” said Long Anxi indignantly.
“Although he was walking around, he didn’t cause anyone problems. He burned the place a little but he’ll definitely fix it. We wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t either.”
“See? You’re playing favourites! You only care about your biological grandchildren!” huffed Long Anxi.
“What do you know! Even if he destroyed the palace, I wouldn’t make him pay because what he gives back is more important than this!” said the emperor in a low voice.
“What do you mean? What can a stupid boy do for you?” said Long Anxi.
“Looks like you aren’t just arrogant, you’re slow! If you aren’t slow, how could you not see the order token at his waist? You were with him for a very long time. Even if the children didn’t recognise it, why didn’t you?” said the emperor, disappointed.
That’s right. The token at his hip was very obvious. Anyone would see it after a while. Long Anxi had interacted with him for a long time and didn’t notice it. This showed how little she cared.
The guards did not rush to catch Ye Lang upon her orders also because of the token. Although they weren’t sure if it was real, they didn’t deny this possibility either.
