Although a bit slow, the bow was made in the end, so Yan Zhiyu could not find fault with it and simply told him to rise, though a trace of stifled irritation lingered in his chest.
As luck would have it, his son remained entirely clueless. Seeing the man, the boy’s eyes lit up brightly. Dropping his paper boat, he hopped down from Yan Zhiyu’s lap, scurried over, and threw his arms around Ling Lie’s leg, cooing adorably in a milky voice: “Father Emperor.”
Ling Lie froze completely.
In the past, he would have picked the boy up, planted a kiss on his cheek, and then kissed his Empress. But now, he could only look at Yan Zhiyu with an expression of pure innocence, not daring to make any rash movements.
With a throbbing headache, Yan Zhiyu motioned for Eunuch Xu to carry the child over, pulling the boy securely into his arms to stop him from running around, before finally turning his attention to Ling Lie. “I hear the Prince Regent has brought all the memorials away.”
Ling Lie nodded slightly. “This is merely this subject’s duty.”
Yan Zhiyu frowned. “You do not need to handle these matters from now on.”
“There are many affairs in the court, and this subject wishes to ease the Empress Dowager’s burdens. From now on, I will certainly assist the Empress Dowager and His Majesty with all my strength.” Ling Lie stepped in, trying his best to make his tone sound sincere. “If the Empress Dowager is not at ease, this subject will only review the routine greeting memorials, which should make things a bit easier for you.”
Yan Zhiyu continued to frown in silence.
He had to admit that this proposal was indeed somewhat tempting.
Local officials submitted memorials every few days, though not every region had enough genuine events to write about. Consequently, the vast majority were routine greeting memorials filled with trivialities, dry in content, yet mandatory to review, and he could hardly forbid them from submitting them in the future. Leaving aside the recent change in the throne, even just to display loyalty to the new emperor, officials were bound to send in memorials crammed with flowery, empty praise.
Seeing him hesitate, Ling Lie immediately pressed on: “If the Empress Dowager is worried, this subject can review them right here, and you can simply look them over afterward.”
Ultimately swayed, Yan Zhiyu nodded. Just as he was about to suggest moving to another location, Ling Lie had already ordered people to bring over a desk and the memorials. He was so eager and attentive that Yan Zhiyu’s brow furrowed once more, a lingering suspicion telling him that this Prince Regent must harbor ulterior motives.
Seeing that expression, Ling Lie could not help but sigh inwardly.
Looking back, how carefree Yan Zhiyu used to be as Empress! The inner palace had no other concubines to cause him grief, and in his noble status as Empress, he had no mandatory banquets to attend. He could do whatever he pleased within the palace walls. How different from now, where every tiny matter brought anxiety and fear.
My poor heart aches for him.
Thus, he arranged everything with even greater diligence. The near usurpation-like posture of his actions left a heavy weight in Yan Zhiyu’s chest. Yet, upon seeing the man genuinely sit down to review the memorials and consciously sort out the important ones to return, Yan Zhiyu’s expression softened somewhat. He picked up his own brush to begin reviewing documents as well, holding back the critical ones and piling up the insignificant ones to be handed over.
Little Yunshuo sat in his lap. Seeing that both adults were busy, he did not cause any trouble; instead, he had a basin of water brought over and sat happily playing with his paper boat.
Worried that Ling Lie might pull some stunt, Yan Zhiyu had to look up and glance across the room after every single memorial he read.
He had to admit that the Prince Regent and Ling Lie truly looked alike. Just glancing over from afar, an inexplicable sense of familiarity always washed over him, especially when he saw the man furrow his brows and scratch his head with the end of his brush. That sensation only grew more intense.
This was one of Ling Lie’s little habits, and one known only to a select few.
The Grand Tutor always said that such behavior lacked dignity and bore no resemblance to how an emperor should act, nagging him about it whenever he caught him scratching his head with a brush. After hearing it too often, Ling Lie rarely did it in front of others, only reverting to his old habits when relaxing in private.
Well, they were brothers after all, born of twin sisters and sharing looks as similar as twins. It made sense that they would naturally share a few quirks.
After this brief mental reflection, Yan Zhiyu paid less attention to the other side of the room and focused entirely on the memorials in his hands. He reviewed everything he could and set aside the ones he was unsure about, planning to discuss them with the Grand Tutor later.
Although he used to accompany Ling Lie while the emperor reviewed memorials, he had mostly just watched casually back then without truly getting involved in the work. Being thrust into the role like a duck forced onto a perch left him feeling somewhat out of his depth. Fortunately, with the Grand Tutor around, things would be a bit easier.
Once his mind was fully concentrated, he lost track of time. It was not until dusk fell and Eunuch Xu entered to light the lamps that Yan Zhiyu belatedly realized an entire afternoon had passed. Glancing over at Ling Lie’s side, he could not help a silent gasp of astonishment.
Ling Lie’s review speed was remarkably fast; the massive stack of memorials in front of him was already more than half done. Meanwhile, his own progress was agonizingly slow, and the pile of undecided memorials was considerable, giving him an instant renewed headache.
“Empress Dowager,” Eunuch Xu whispered cautiously, “it is time for dinner.”
After a whole afternoon of reading memorials, Yan Zhiyu felt dizzy and truly lacked any appetite to eat. But the child needed to eat, so he said, “Serve dinner. Where is Axue?”
“His Majesty grew tired from playing this afternoon, and his wet nurse carried him to bed,” Eunuch Xu replied. He glanced somewhat hesitantly in the direction of the Prince Regent. “Then, as for the Prince…”
Yan Zhiyu hesitated as well. The Prince Regent had diligently worked here the entire afternoon, barely disturbing him aside from a few occasional coughs. Reason and etiquette dictated that he should invite him to stay for dinner, but looking at that face, he felt an awkward reluctance.
After wrestling with his thoughts for a moment, he nodded. “Have him stay.”
Eunuch Xu acknowledged the order and sent word for the meal to be served. Seizing the opportunity, Yan Zhiyu walked over to the bed to wake his son.
Little Yunshuo was tucked under the covers, sleeping soundly and warmly. Even when Yan Zhiyu pinched his cheek, the boy did not wake up; he merely rolled over and continued sleeping. The innocent, carefree sight melted Yan Zhiyu’s heart into a puddle of warmth. Bending down, he kissed his son’s smooth forehead and spoke in a soft voice: “Axue, it is time to wake up. We have your favorite prawns today.”
Upon hearing the word prawns, Little Yunshuo sat straight up instantly. Looking at Yan Zhiyu with drowsy, hazy eyes, he sleepily repeated in a soft voice: “Prawns.”
Seeing this, a bright, radiant smile instantly bloomed across Yan Zhiyu’s face.
Propping his chin in one hand, Ling Lie watched from afar, his heart melting completely as well.
My Empress is truly stunning, both gentle and gorgeous.
However, this gentleness clearly had nothing to do with him. After picking up his son and leaving the bed, Yan Zhiyu resumed his cold, aloof expression. Carrying the child to the table, he sat down and began peeling prawns for him.
Courtiers and emperors were required to dine at separate tables. Although Ling Lie’s dishes lacked nothing in quality, watching his wife and son sitting far away acting like complete strangers still stung a bit. Unable to voice his grievances, he could only sit in sullen discontent at his own solitary table, silently peeling prawns for his son.
The prawns usually came pre-peeled; the Imperial Kitchen must have grown lax the moment he left. He would definitely have to overhaul things later.
After skillfully peeling several prawns, Ling Lie picked up his plate and walked over, only to notice that Yan Zhiyu was not giving the peeled prawns directly to the child. Instead, he broke off a tiny piece from each tail to have the palace attendants test them first, planning to feed the boy only afterward.
Upon seeing this, his brow furrowed even deeper.
An emperor’s meals naturally required poison testing before being served, but such rigorous testing had never been practiced before.
Seeing him standing nearby with a plate and saying nothing, Yan Zhiyu gave him a strange look. “Is something the matter?”
Unable to voice his desire to hand the prawns directly to his son, Ling Lie stiffly scanned the table and hastily manufactured an excuse: “This subject’s fish dish is somewhat un-fresh. I boldly presume to do this.”
Before he could finish, Yan Zhiyu had already signaled an attendant to move the fish over.
With no other choice, Ling Lie returned to his seat, eating the plate of fish with zero appetite while plotting internally about who he could question regarding recent events in the palace.
Since everyone currently viewed him as Ling Dong, his original network of power was temporarily unusable. Even if it were usable, all surface-level authority had certainly fallen into Yan Zhiyu’s hands. The underground network, however, was another matter.
With a plan forming in his mind, Ling Lie sped up his eating. The mere thought that his problems might be partially resolved caused the corners of his mouth to turn upward in a grin.
Noticing the movement, Yan Zhiyu looked over and stared in puzzlement at the man’s foolishly happy expression.
Can a simple fish make someone that happy? Just how much does he love fish?
He was a feudal prince of some standing before; could he really have been starved of fish?
Glancing back at his son, who was beaming from ear to ear at the prospect of eating prawns, Yan Zhiyu once again concluded that this Prince Regent was truly somewhat foolish.
The foolish Prince Regent finished a hearty meal, bid farewell to Yan Zhiyu, and departed with a cheerful demeanor.
Watching his retreating back, Yan Zhiyu felt even more strongly that the man had lost his wits. Shaking his head, he cautioned his son to keep his distance from the Prince Regent in the future.
Nibbling on a prawn, Little Yunshuo blinked his large, curious eyes. “Why cannot I play with Father Emperor? Did Father Emperor make Daddy angry?”
Yan Zhiyu chuckled, offering a soft affirmative in response without giving a detailed explanation.
Little Yunshuo immediately offered a portion of his prawn to Yan Zhiyu. “Then Axue will not play with Father Emperor either, so Daddy will not be angry.”
Lowering his head, Yan Zhiyu ate the prawn, then fed him a few other dishes. Once the little fellow was well-fed, he carried him off for a bath, helped him finish his homework, and by the time the child was lulled to sleep, the night was already deep.
Only then did he have free time. Walking over, he picked up the memorials reviewed by the Prince Regent and opened one. His expression shifted drastically.
The style of the annotations was virtually identical to Ling Lie’s, leaving no room for criticism, and even the handwriting matched completely.
Two people looking identical in this world could be a coincidence, and sharing the same habits could also be a coincidence. But could identical handwriting be a coincidence as well?
Yan Zhiyu refused to believe in that many coincidences.
“Qianfeng!” He put the memorial down and called out.
A shadow instantly dropped from the rafters, kneeling before him. “Empress Dowager.”
Yan Zhiyu instructed: “Make a trip to Changyang. Investigate all interactions between Ling Dong and the capital over the years, and bring back his previous specimens of calligraphy.”
This royal shadow guard had been cultivated by the imperial family and possessed absolute loyalty. Hearing the order without asking questions, he acknowledged it and vanished into the palace halls.
Only then did Yan Zhiyu pick up the remaining memorials to examine them carefully.
No one in the world should be more familiar with Ling Lie’s handwriting than he was. Even if Ling Dong could genuinely imitate it, could an imitation hold up for long without revealing the slightest flaw?
Yet the reality was that there was not a single flaw.
Forget the handwriting; even the subtle shifts of impatience when Ling Lie encountered long-winded nonsense were completely identical. How was this possible?
Could there truly be someone in this world who looked and acted completely identical to Ling Lie?
Or perhaps someone wanted him to believe that such a person existed.
Yet this was not something that could be achieved overnight. When had this plot begun?
Yan Zhiyu suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Is the current Ling Dong still Ling Dong?