Thankfully, Long Yang did not mention the matter again.

Lu Liangwei breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

After they had walked a while, Long Yang abruptly asked, “You said you were tired just now because you wanted your parents to leave the Palace early to visit the lantern show, isn’t that right?”

Lu Liangwei knew she could never hide anything from him. She nodded and said apologetically, “Are you mad at me? You took the trouble to arrange those lanterns for me, but I didn’t enjoy them properly.”

Long Yang did not mind at all. The reason he had made the special arrangements was because she was pregnant and he wanted to make it up to her for not being able to watch the lantern show outside the Palace.

He was fine with anything as long as she was happy.

“If you are sorry about this, we can always return to the imperial garden and continue admiring the lanterns,” he teased her on purpose.

Lu Liangwei replied delightfully, “Let’s do it. This is the first time we’re spending the Lantern Festival together. It would be a pity for those lanterns to go to waste just like that.”

With that, she tugged his hand and turned to go back to the imperial garden.

Long Yang pulled her back. “I was just joking. Did you take it seriously?”

Lu Liangwei’s eyes widened and looked slightly red as she stared back at him. “I did take it seriously. I really do want to see them. What’s wrong with that?”

Long Yang suddenly felt a little guilty when he saw this.

This girl was so exhausted she was having trouble opening her eyes, yet she insisted on accommodating him.

“There’s no need to force yourself when you’re feeling tired,” he said as he carried her up in his arms without allowing her to protest.

Today’s ritual had already forced her to climb up and down, and it had been taxing on her in her pregnant state. Then she had to sit for half a day in the Jade Dew Hall after that, and in order not to dampen his spirits, she even spent quite some time in the imperial garden.

Lu Liangwei had wanted to insist that she could still accompany him to admire the lanterns in the imperial garden, but alas, her body could not take it.

Her head fell against his shoulder as she yawned continuously, and it was not long before she fell asleep.

Long Yang brought her into Grand Phoenix Palace and cleaned her up before carrying her onto the bed.

He washed up as well before lying down.

However, before long, he suddenly felt a very uncomfortable sensation.

The next thing he knew, it felt like ten thousand worms were chewing his body from the inside.

The pain was so intense that green veins popped up on his forehead, but he was worried about waking up Lu Liangwei, so he forced himself to bear the agony.

He got up with difficulty and flipped onto the warm bed outside.

This action alone had caused his forehead to be covered in sweat.

A short moment later, the discomfort in his body abruptly disappeared, but it was replaced by a splitting headache.

He reached up to press on his temple, but there was only chaos in his mind.

A terrible pain hit him so sharply that he suddenly blacked out and he fell back onto the bed.

…

Lu Liangwei did not sleep well that night, especially when she sensed a hostile gaze staring at her while she was asleep.

The feeling was so strong that she frowned and woke up.

When she opened her eyes, she met with the man’s cold gaze.

Lu Liangwei was taken aback as she reached out to take the man’s hand. “Your Majesty…”

However, before she could touch his hand, he brushed her hand away.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The man’s voice was authoritative and intimidating. It reminded Lu Liangwei of the first time she met him.

It had been a long time since she last heard the man speak to her in such a tone.

She looked at him in shock. “Your Majesty, it’s not April Fool’s today. You shouldn’t be cracking such a joke.”

With that, she sat up and tried to hold his hand once more, but he swatted it away again.

This time, he was quite rough and her hand crashed heavily against the carvings on the bed railing.

Bam!

The back of her hand swelled up immediately.

Lu Liangwei frowned; she realized with a start that something was not right.

His Majesty had never treated her this way even at his angriest. Even when he had reprimanded her, it was all bark, but no bite. What was wrong with him today?

She ignored the pain at the back of her hand as she calmed herself down and replied tenderly, “Your Majesty. I’m Lu Liangwei, the Empress you formally married.”