When Liwei left his beloved's courtyard, he went straight to his study room and half-heartedly did his duty as a King. All throughout the rest of his day, he worked absent-mindedly.
When night came, he paused his work as he went to fill in his hunger. After eating by himself, he went back to his study to finish his day's work.
As the night went deeper, his thoughts drifted off to his beloved Mei. 'Was I too tough on her? Did she cry again and are still crying? I hope her servants took care of her mess. Did she eat dinner? She must be asleep by now.'
His mind lingered on Chonglin for a while, however, his thoughts suddenly drifted off to what his Queen wife told him in the morning about his beloved Mei .
What she said about her beloved needing to act like a noble woman and at the same time relearn the palace rules so she would not shame him again, made a lot of sense. He knew when she brought this topic up, it was not out of maliciousness towards Mei, but it was out of concern for him and care for his reputation.
Who would have thought that his Queen wife would be this thoughtful?
So all the times they were together, she was thinking of him? Maybe the reason why they hardly spoke was because she knew he was having a hard time in court and she did not want to bother him more than what was necessary?
For the past two years, she must have handled the back palace well that there were hardly any fights. She managed it without letting him worry. Seeing how she let Mei act so insolently in the past, it must be her way of giving in to him knowing that he favored Chonglin the most. She must have been ensuring the back palace had no issues, so he could focus with running the country.
His Queen wife is actually so thoughtful of him! How could it be that he only noticed all of this now?
His nation deserves a Queen like Iwa. Not some woman like Mei. He once thought that since Mei was born a commoner, she would understand the hearts of the commoners. However this thought about her proved untrue. To say he was disappointed of what she has been so far , would be an understatement.
Chonglin turned out spoiled and selfish. She could not understand nor thought about other people and only thinks about herself. She does not know how to treat others or win their loyalty. She does not even think of ways she could help him nor cherish the things he gave her.
Chonglin lack in so many qualities, she could never become a Mother to a nation.
With that thought in mind, Liwei decided to stop his plans of suppressing Iwa's family. For the time being, they are still very useful to him. Just like Iwa.
He stopped working by then and went out of his study quarters.