"Could there be a conspiracy? How could it be such a coincidence that Lianshan Xin is your seed too? Do you have that many offspring out there?" the Heavenly Queen cautioned.
Joking and fooling around aside, she still had Emperor Yongchang's interests at heart.
Besides, she was not particularly keen on becoming someone else's stepmother.
At her words, Emperor Yongchang grew a little sheepish. "Out there... I probably do have plenty of offspring. You know how capable I am."
The Heavenly Queen glared at him and sneered. "You sound quite proud of yourself."
Emperor Yongchang merely smiled awkwardly, not daring to answer.
Every Heavenly Queen had been both the leader of the Nine Heavens and a Great Grandmaster on the Heaven Ranking. Thus, even as imperial authority in Great Yu flourished beyond compare, the notion of the "two sovereigns" had taken deep root.
In public, every Heavenly Queen stood on equal footing with the emperor.
As for in private, that depended on the emperor's disposition.
With a forceful emperor, some Heavenly Queens would take a weaker position.
With a weak emperor, it was perfectly normal for the Heavenly Queen to turn the hierarchy on its head.
In Great Yu's history, there had even been an emperor who wanted to take a consort, only for the Heavenly Queen to refuse. Furious, he had simply left the palace.
Emperor Yongchang was not that spineless. His strength rivaled the Heavenly Queen's, he possessed considerable ability and vision, and most importantly, the Heavenly Queen liked him.
But he was merely not quite that spineless. Putting on the airs before her that he did before other women was impossible.
The foundation of power determined the superstructure.
Fists were power too.
So most of the time, Emperor Yongchang and the Heavenly Queen treated each other with