Feng Guang lowered her eyes and smiled respectfully. “I’m grateful for Your Majesty’s concern. If Your servant’s illness has been cured, it’s only by the Emperor’s blessing.”
“Feng Guang,” Baili Min said, his expression softening with a hint of regret, “you used to call me ‘Father Emperor.’”
Feng Guang hesitated a beat, then reddened a little. “Father Emperor, since I woke, I don’t remember many things. I didn’t mean to distance myself from you. Please understand.”
Baili Min sighed. “Come to think of it, your illness was because of my useless son. If you hadn’t gone back to the Chancellor’s mansion that day and the Crown Prince hadn’t been with you, you wouldn’t have hit your head — and you wouldn’t have been sick for a whole month. Because of you, I’ve been ashamed to face the Chancellor these past days.”
Wait… he’s blaming this on Baili Mo?
“Now that you’ve woken, the past is like drifting smoke. Father need not worry,” Feng Guang said outwardly gracious, but inwardly she was fuming. The relationship between Baili Min and Baili Mo felt strange to her.
“Good that you’re awake — otherwise I’d have no face left to show the Chancellor,” Baili Min chided lightly. He swept his hand over a box of jewels on the table. “Look — these are treasures brought as tribute from the Western regions. Pick whatever you like. If you don’t know what to choose, take everything in the box.”
So generous?
Although dazzled by the jewels, Feng Guang feigned modesty. “I cannot accept gifts without merit. Your servant has no right to receive the Emperor’s reward.”
“Nonsense. Consider these the dowry I, as the Emperor, am giving to the Chancellor for you.”
Feng Guang started. “A dowry? Your Majesty… I am already married to the Crown Prince; I don’t need a dowry.”
“I have no daughters,” Baili Min said. “I have always regarded you as my own. So never mind dowries — I could even grant you the title of princess.”
“Your Majesty must be joking,” Feng Guang managed with a strained laugh. “If I were made a princess, wouldn’t that make me and the Crown Prince… siblings?”
“Only if you and the Crown Prince divorce would that be a problem,” Baili Min said with benign eyes, saying it all as if he were making the most natural suggestion in the world.
Feng Guang was stunned. Even Eunuch Gao — Baili Min’s chief eunuch — stood rigid and wide-eyed. For the Emperor, who was also Baili Mo’s father, to say such a thing held enormous weight.
“Father Emperor, I—” Feng Guang stammered. The shock had left her momentarily speechless.
“Don’t rush your answer. Think it over slowly. Whatever you decide, I promise you’ll receive the best treatment,” Baili Min said with an oddly meaningful smile.
Feng Guang’s inner voice screamed. Was the old man planning to wait until she left the Crown Prince and then move against Baili Mo? Was this a father’s concern? Royal families were ruthless, yes — but this was extreme.
When she finally left the imperial study clutching a box of jewels, she declined Eunuch Gao’s escort and walked alone. She needed time to sort it out; Baili Min’s conduct baffled her more by the minute. According to Fei Yu, when Baili Mo lost his voice years ago, Baili Min had dismissed the objections of ministers and insisted on making him Crown Prince — so why would the Emperor now be so eager to get rid of the Crown Prince, even before the alleged treason had been proven?
Feng Guang walked more slowly, the weight of the jewels heavy in her hands and the Emperor’s words heavy in her mind.
Loveguy On CFRFGC Chapter 7