Lu Liangwei buried her head in Lu Hetian’s embrace. “I know Father, but you and Grandmother are definitely in this difficult position because of me.”
The initial fury that Lu Hetian had felt all but vanished following Lu Liangwei’s gesture. His heart softened in an instant.
His big hand tousled his daughter’s head, and he made his voice as gentle as he could. “This matter has nothing to do with you…” He paused, considering his choice of words carefully. “Did His Majesty force you into it?”
Lu Liangwei heard what he said, but she did not entirely understand what he meant. She then heard the Dowager Duchess give a light cough from beside her.
She glanced over and saw that the Dowager Duchess had turned away with an uneasy look on her face.
Lu Liangwei was taken aback for an instant; suddenly the meaning of Liu Hetian’s comment became clear.
An incredulous look flashed through her bright, clear eyes.
“His Majesty didn’t force me into anything…”
“Didn’t he?” Lu Hetian watched her with some uncertainty—had his mother not said that…
The Dowager Duchess blurted out, “Then why did His Majesty say that you’re already his woman?”
Lu Liangwei’s face turned hot at suddenly being asked this question so bluntly. She stamped her feet a few times on purpose to hide her embarrassment. “Oh, you’ve all been properly hoodwinked. His Majesty isn’t that kind of person.”
Even though she did not wish to marry into the Palace, Long Yang was actually someone who did observe proprieties. Even though he had crossed the line with her a few times, that had been limited to no more than kisses. Apart from that, he had not taken further advantage of her.
When the Dowager Duchess heard this, she had a sudden epiphany that almost made her gnash her teeth until they broke.
The Emperor was truly cunning!
He had said those words on purpose.
In the imperial study that day, the Dowager Duchess had wanted to take out the golden sword to use in exchange for His Majesty giving up on marrying Weiwei. She had never expected that before she could even present the golden sword, the Emperor had said that Weiwei was already his woman. Those words had stopped her from continuing with her plan.
Right now, as she recalled this, the Dowager Duchess bitterly regretted it.
His Majesty had checkmated her, causing her to prematurely abort her plan.
If she had known that the Emperor had not done anything to Weiwei, the Dowager Duchess would not have been so passive, and she would not have had her hands tied in the end.
After all, if Weiwei had really lost her virginity to His Majesty, she would have to be his. There was absolutely no possibility of her marrying anyone else.
His Majesty had anticipated this, which was why he was able to lie so convincingly.
If the Dowager Duchess had not been apprehensive over Weiwei possibly having lost her virginity already to His Majesty, she would never have agreed so easily to the marriage.
Moreover, she had the golden sword in her possession. If she did not want Weiwei to marry into the Palace, there was nothing His Majesty could do.
However, the marriage negotiations had already been settled, and they had already accepted the betrothal gifts. The outcome was now inevitable, and there was nothing the Dowager Duchess could do, even if she regretted it.
The Dowager Duchess’ expression immediately turned grim; she even harbored murderous thoughts.
The crux of the matter was that during the marriage negotiations, the Emperor had privately hinted that Weiwei might already be with child, which was why the marriage date had been firmly set for mid-autumn.
She had wanted to delay the date, but she could not detain Weiwei here after His Majesty had hinted thus. If she kept Weiwei at home and it turned out that Weiwei was carrying His Majesty’s child, that would not bode well at all.
However, all of these had been fabrications of His Majesty.
The Dowager Duchess was consumed by utter regret.
No wonder His Majesty had abducted Weiwei so that she was not able to be present during the marriage negotiations, only allowing her to return after everything had been settled.
All of this had been planned out by His Majesty!
The Emperor was certainly a sly dog!
The more the Dowager Duchess thought about it, the angrier she became. She swept her teacup off the table vehemently; it shattered with a sharp, clear sound.
“Grandmother?” Lu Liangwei was startled by this. She hastily left Lu Hetian’s embrace and held onto the Dowager Duchess to support her.
