Wang Chong did not dare provoke her either, merely asking, "Why are you so unhappy, Sister Longji?"
Longji said coolly, "Someone presumed to meddle in my marriage, saying that since the Prince of Yan had rebelled, I ought to marry someone else."
Wang Chong said angrily, "Who dares? Do they really think the sword in my hand has lost its edge?"
Longji burst out laughing, her expression finally brightening a little. "There's no need for you to do anything. He wasn't some clan elder like Third Lord Jiang, with his exalted standing as the foremost of the great aristocratic families. He was just an ordinary official. The Empress already had him dragged out and beaten to death with clubs."
Only then did Wang Chong's expression ease a little. He thought, Why are there so many treacherous villains at court? No matter how many you kill, there's no end to them. Once I take the realm, I'll have to settle accounts with a batch of them, whatever happens.
Forget it. My Mother Empress is still young, and her martial arts are formidable. She'll probably stay on standby even longer than Queen Victoria. My turn won't come for decades.
Longji was indeed unhappy, because the man who had said this had not been beaten to death by the Empress. Her father had once saved a man and funded his studies. That man had been exceptionally gifted at his books and passed the examinations within a few years. Thanks to this connection, he had been promoted year after year and was now a second-rank official, a high-ranking regional authority.
But after Longji's father disappeared, he had constantly assumed the position of her elder and tried to dictate her affairs. Out of regard for her father's affection for him, Longji had found it difficult