Chapter 162: Felt That His Master Was Harboring A Deeper Intention

Long Yang pondered for a moment before continuing, “The Crown Princess is also the daughter of a secondary wife, so the women selected from the noble houses cannot be born of a higher status than her. But we should not be unfair to the Crown Prince either. Other than possessing ability and integrity, the selected women should also qualify in terms of beauty.”

Zhao Qian sweated profusely beside him while listening to his words.

Somehow, he felt that his master was harboring a deeper intention.

Cannot be born of a higher status than the Crown Princess?

When did his master start caring for strangers like this?

He could not help feeling that his master was deliberately leaving out daughters of principal wives.

There was a bold hunch nudging at him in his heart.

He raised his eyes secretly and looked at his master’s calm and indifferent face.

At this moment, his master seemed just like a good uncle who cared greatly for the Crown Prince and Princess.

Lu Hetian took the hint and immediately said, “Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I thank you on behalf of my daughter.”

However, he felt that the Emperor was doing this to prevent the Crown Prince’s power from expanding.

Daughters of secondary wives or concubines were considered unimportant in noble houses. If these daughters were to enter the Eastern Palace, the noble houses would definitely cease their attempts to cause any unrest.

Nevertheless, this time, Lu Hetian had misinterpreted Long Yang’s intentions.

Long Yang did not bother to go as far as to guard himself against Long Chi.

When he crowned Long Chi as the Heir Apparent, he legitimately planned to pass the throne to him after his death.

However, the poison in his body now seemed curable.

If he got cured…

His gaze suddenly became a little distant.

“That’s settled. If it is inconvenient for you to handle this, I will delegate the task to the Ministry of Rites and have them select women from all noble houses to join the Eastern Palace.” Long Yang gave his final word.

Lu Hetian felt rather grateful.

Although he had proposed this idea, it was indeed inconvenient for him to come forward and handle the matter.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

Long Yang shifted his gaze to Lu Tingchen, who had been silent all this time, and said, “Tingchen, there’s nothing more you need to do in the palace today. You may see the Grand Duke off for me and head back together with him.”

Lu Tingchen immediately knelt on one knee. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.” Long Yang gave him a deep, meaningful look.

Lu Tingchen understood what he meant. It seemed that he would have to bring Weiwei into the palace tomorrow.

After leaving the palace, Lu Tingchen finally voiced the bewilderment he had been suppressing all this time. “Father, why are you suddenly making things difficult for Lu Yunshuang?”

Lu Hetian gave him a sidelong glance. He was already used to Tingchen’s attitude toward Shuang’er.

In his eyes, Weiwei had always been his only sister.

“Do you think that I’m the type of person who would do that?”

Lu Tingchen shook his head. “No, but it was indeed you who proposed the idea to the Emperor just now.”

Remembering that he was still unmarried, Lu Hetian felt that it was inappropriate to tell him what the court officials had spoken in front of him today, so he said lightly, “It’s not what you think. Don’t think about it too much.”

Lu Tingchen nodded. “Then are you doing this to break ties with the Crown Prince?”

After all, for outsiders, Lu Yunshuang’s marriage with Long Chi meant that the Grand Duke Family was already inextricably tied to the Crown Prince. Although the family had not yet been marked as the Prince’s ally, it would happen sooner or later.

Because of this relationship, many court officials had secretly allied themselves with the Prince.

Lu Hetian’s move today was partly attributed to that reason, so he did not deny it. “Yes.”

When Lu Tingchen heard this, his expression relaxed. “I agree with your approach, Father.”

His father clearly knew about the rumors circulating in the court, but he had not made any move all this time and ignored them instead. He thought that his father still cared for Lu Yunshuang, but now it seemed that he had been worrying for nothing.