"You're yet to start cultivating, why?" Empress Si asked softly as she put down the teacup gently.
Lin Yue glanced at her mother and Xie Mingzhu smiled slightly at her. "Your majesty, Yue'er will start cultivating soon"
"Is that true?" Empress Si's expression has now changed to indifference as she glanced at Xie Mingzhu.
"Yes, Your Majesty" Xie Mingzhu nodded.
"Well, it is an incredible feat for a five-month-old like her to be like this and I am very sure that the only one that could match her is Yaozhu". Empress Si looked at Lin Yue, "What do you think, Yue'er?"
"Your Majesty must be kidding" Little Yue replied softly, enjoying the tea.
"I have to admit, this tea is really good" Lin Yue smacked her lips in satisfaction.
Xie Mingzhu nearly broke into laughter at her daughter's nonchalant expression while the empress's eyes darkened but she didn't say anything at her comment.
"Xiao Fan" The empress called out to the younger maid.
"I am here, Your Majesty" Xiao Fan came forward and bowed.
"Go and get me the fifth prince" Empress Si ordered.
"Sure, Your Majesty" Xiao Fan retreated and soon returned with a five years old looking boy.
"Mother, you asked for me?" A childish voice rang out as a little boy of age five in a yellow robe came into view. He is Wu Yaozhu, the fifth prince.
A small smile surfaced on the empress's indifferent face when she saw the boy.
"Yaozhu, this is Lin Yue, your crown princess that will be your future empress," The empress said as she smiled dotingly at her precious son.
Lin Yue didn't like what the empress just said at all. She? the small boy's future empress?
Wu Yaozhu on the other hand appeared ecstatic as he looked at her and smiled widely. "Mother, this girl is so beautiful, it is Yaozhu's honored to have her as my future wife". He walked to where she sat and took the back of her hand and planted a kiss there.
"Did they do this in this era too?" Lin Yue thought.
Though Lin Yue was thinking about something, her face on the other hand remained expressionless as she look at the small boy that was smiling at her. His eyes look quite pure. She thought.
"Okay okay, Future Emperor, how about you go and show your Future Empress around?"
"Really? Mother, I will go and show pretty future empress around then" Wu Yaozhu beamed.
The empress nodded and Lin Yue glanced at her mother who nodded at her to go.
'Look like I have to follow the 'future emperor' outside'.
"Retreat," The Empress said to her maids.
"May I know what Your Majesty wanted to talk about?" Xie Mingzhu asked after the maids had left.
"Don't be so impatient, Mingzhu" Empress Si said softly, sipping on the tea leisurely.
Though Xie Mingzhu was getting impatient, she didn't say anything and after almost a minute passed, the empress placed down the teacup and look at Lin Yue.
"What are you going to do? Tell me Xie Mingzhu, what are you going to do?, now you have two choices and it is a must for you to choose one" The empress' lips curled up as if she was thinking of something funny "The two choices have same outcome and it is the outcome that both you and I know"
Xie Mingzhu chuckled softly. "Your Majesty, I don't think you have the right to know about this, the choice is mine and my husband's family to make" She smiled and added, "What do you think the Emperor will do if he were to hear you saying this to me?"
"Uh, that old man will probably feel betrayed, right?" Empress Si said nonchalantly. "But Mingzhu, I pitied you and the Lins, and when I saw that pretty girl, I decided to leave you with an option"
Xie Mingzhu didn't seem to hear her word as she didn't say anything and the empress continued with a sigh. "Hand over Xuanyuan and.... the kid"
Xie Mingzhu's expression changed slightly as the hand on her lap trembled and her deep eyes met the empress'.
"Is this the solution you proposed? Are you even a mother? No, you are a monster! A monster that can never understand the feeling of a mother" She paused and vowed with a voice thick with determination. "I, Xie Mingzhu, swear to use my last breath to protect my daughter"
"Uh, I am a wife before an Empress and am an Empress before a Mother so I didn't understand you at all". Empress Si said as a matter of fact.
"Well, Seems like the negotiation didn't work, then we have nothing else to discuss, Mingzhu." The empress closed her eyes with a sigh.
Xie Mingzhu stood up without saying anything and left and it was only then that the empress opened her eyes, and pity reflect in her black pupils.