Family Dinner (7)

(BaiLing's pov)

Everyone had left the throne room, leaving the emperor and me.

Emperor: "BaiLing, you can stand up now."

Me: "Thank you, your majesty."

I stood up and straightened out my dress before looking up at the emperor.

Emperor: "You did a good job today. With this, people won't say I'm biased towards any of my sons."

Me: "It is my duty, your majesty. I am just doing my best."

Emperor: "That's right. You and your family never forget about your duty. But still, thank you. It must have been hard on you to deal with Wang Lei for so long. Out of all of my sons, he is the one with most ambition, yet he isn't capable of putting it to good use."

The emperor shook his head and sighed. It seemed as though he aged by ten years after dealing with the event.

When I stood there and didn't say anything, the emperor continued.

"I'm sure you're tired with today's events. Go home and rest now. There will be more for you to take care of later."

Me: "I understand. Then I shall take my leave first."

The emperor nodded his head, and I bowed at him before taking my leave.

When I stepped outside, the sun was still bright in the sky, but I could tell that it would start to set soon, which means that grandpa would be leaving to go home in a little bit.

Since that was the case, I decided to go and pick grandpa up and have him come over for dinner with us. It took me a little while, but I made it to the physician's place. Outside was pretty quiet, and there was only a couple of shelves and tables left out so that the herbs could dry. The door to the workroom was open, and I could hear the rustling of pages and the sound of medicine containers being moved around.

I went up to the door and knocked lightly before stepping inside.

Upon stepping inside, all of the physicians stopped what they were doing and looked up at me. I did a little curtsy to greet them before saying.

"Excuse me, I hope I'm not bothering you all, but I'm here to pick up my grandfather."

One of the older physicians spoked up and said.

"Ahhh, no worries. You aren't bothering us. Your grandpa is old Ling, right?"

(Old is a way that long-time friends call each other.)

I nodded my head.

Physician: "He's right in his little corner over there."

The physician pointed to a corner on the right side of the place. There was a beaded curtain, but looking past it, I could see a desk. I turned around and thanked him before heading over to where my grandpa was. But before I made it there, the physician said to me.

"Lady Ming, I hope you do take offense to this, but all of the physicians and I think that it is good that you have ended things with the fifth prince. He isn't as good of a man as he may let you see."

I looked at the physician before saying.

"Thank you, I don't take any offense to what you said."

The physicians looked at me with a surprised looked. None of them expected me to look like this after what they had seen in the throne room. I guess they expected me to look heartbroken rather than unbothered and composed.

Once I finished talking to them, I went over to my grandpa. I was sure he had heard the entire conversation, but he still sat at his desk and worked.

Me: "Grandpa."

Only when I called out to my grandpa did he look up from his work. He smiled at me and told me to pull up a chair and sit next to him, and I did just that.

Once I sat down, my grandpa asked me.

"Why haven't you gone home yet?"

Me: "I know you're about to get off work, so I came to pick you up. Grandpa, why don't you come over for dinner with us today? It's been a while since we last ate together."

I held onto his arm while pleading with him to come back with me.

My grandpa smiled while shaking his head and said.

"Alright, alright. I'll come over for dinner today."

"That's great. I'm sure dad and brother will be happy to see you too." I told my grandpa as I smiled at him.

Once grandpa finished his work, he packed everything up, and we were ready to leave. We bid farewell to the other physicians and headed out to the gate. My grandpa only brings his medicine box to and from work, filled with all of his tools. Although it wasn't heavy, it was necessary light either, so I offered to carry it for him. At first, he was hesitant, saying I shouldn't do these things as a girl, but after reminding him who his granddaughter was, he gave in and let me carry it for him.

When we got to the gate, grandpa and I got into my carriage, and we sent grandpa's back to his manor.

After riding for some time, my grandpa spoked up and asked.

"Why did you choose the cleansing pill? There were many other pills you could have used."

Me: "Because it has the least side effects. I didn't want to harm him. It would make things less fun in the future."

My grandpa sighed and shook his head before saying.

"Sometimes, I wonder who you take after."

I leaned over and hugged his arm and said.

"I take after you, grandpa. Don't you see my skills are getting better?"

He laughed and patted my head.

Grandpa: "That's right, your skills are getting better. One day you will surpass me. You definitely take after me."

Soon we got home and headed inside. My brother was in the front yard practicing martial arts. He was so focused he didn't even notice us until I called out to him.

Me: "Ge."

My brother stopped and looked back to see grandpa and me standing there staring at him. He set his sword down and went over to us.

Brother: "Ling'er, you're back. How was everything? Did anyone give you a hard time?"

I laughed, seeing how worried my brother was. Whenever he was concerned about something, he couldn't sit still and had to do something, and today he was practicing martial arts.

Me: "I'm fine, Ge. But aren't you forgetting someone?"

My brother gave me a confused look before remembering that our grandpa was there too. He quickly turned to grandpa and greeted him.

"Grandpa, forgive me."

Grandpa shook his head while laughing.

Grandpa: "It's alright. I know you're worried about Ling'er."

My brother scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly.

Looked around, not seeing dad, so I asked.

"Ge, where's dad?"

Brother: "He's in his study doing some work."

Me: "Alright, why don't you go get him, and I'll go prepare dinner."

My brother nodded his head, and I headed towards my room to get change. But before I could get far, my brother called out to me.

"Ling'er hang on."

I turned around to see him running up to me.

Me: "Ge, what's wrong?"

Brother: "Give me grandpa's medicine box. I'll put it in the dining room for him to take back later. You go and change."

Me: "Okay. Thank you, Ge."

I handed my brother the box and continued back to my room.

When I got inside my room, I went over to my closet and grabbed a new set of clothes to change into. I took off my dress and put it aside to be washed later, and I put on a dark blue dress and added the biddings to my forearms. I then took the pins out of my hair and threw it into a ponytail. Once I was done, I headed to the kitchen to get dinner ready.

(Narrator's pov)

BaiLing headed into the kitchen to dinner ready. When she got inside, all of the servants greeted her.

Chef: "My lady, is there anything that you need us to do for you?"

Seeing how dinner wasn't prepared yet, she smiled and said.

"I want to cook dinner today, but please help me prepare the ingredients."

Chef: "Of course, please tell us what you need."

BaiLing gave the staff a list of ingredients that she needed washed and prepped. Once the list was out, everyone got to work. One by one, she finished the dishes and set them aside. Since it was mid-summer and the days were hot, she made some cold dessert for everyone to enjoy.

After she finished cooking everything, she brought the food up for her family to enjoy. But before she left, she told the staff the enjoy the food that she had made for their dinner. Whenever BaiLing cooked anything, she always made extra for the servants in the kitchen. It was her way of thanking them for their hard work every day.

(In the dining room while BaiLing was cooking.)

Zhi Chen and his grandpa went to the dining room after BaiLing left to get changed. Once Zhi Chen made sure that his grandpa was settled down and had everything he needed, he went to get his dad.

Upon arriving at his study, Zhi Chen knocked on the door and waited for a response which came soon after.

"Come in."

Zhi Chen came in and saw his dad sitting at his desk, reading through a stack of files.

Zhi Chen: "Dad, Ling'er is home. She wanted me to come and get to for dinner. Also, grandpa's here to have dinner with us."

Jia Le looked up from his work to see that his son had made his way to the front of his desk.

(Jia Le is the name of BaiLing and Zhi Chen's father - General Ming.)

Jia Le: "I see. How did everything go today?"

Zhi Chen: "BaiLing said things went well, but she looks tired. But I'm sure grandpa knows something. Maybe he can tell us."

Jia Le nodded his head and got up from his seat.

Jia Le: "Alright, then let's go see your grandpa. It's been a while since I last saw him."

Zhi Chen nodded his head and then said.

"Dad, you head out there first. I'm going to go clean up a bit. I'm quite sweaty right now."

Jia Le nodded his head, and Zhi Chen was off to his room while he headed out to the dining hall to see if father-in-law.

Once he got to the dining hall, he saw his father-in-law sitting there drinking his tea peacefully.

Although Li Qiang had a calm and collected look on his face most of the time, under that facade was the pain of losing his daughter and seeing his granddaughter suffer from the wants and needs of others.

(Li Qiang is the name of BaiLing's grandpa.)

Even though Li Qiang was well respected and had a good amount of influence in the capital, he was unable to do anything for his granddaughter. All he could do was treat her wounds, and teach her all that he knew so that she could take care of herself. But every time she came back from war, the results were always the same. BaiLing never hid from the frontlines. Instead, she was the first to charge, so as a result, she was covered in wounds.

Jia Le: "Dad, you're here."

Li Qiang looked back to see his son-in-law walking into the dining room. He set his teacup down and said.

"Hmm. How are you?"

Jia Le sat down at the table before saying.

"I'm okay. How about you? Are things busy in the palace these days?"

Li Qiang: "(sigh)... It's the same as always, nothing new. But... you and Ling'er should be careful in the future."

Jia Le: "I understand."

Li Qiang: "Jia Le, although the reigning emperor is a good person, that doesn't mean that they are perfect. Even if his children carry his blood in their veins, that doesn't mean it's the only one they carry either. The fifth prince's mother is an ambitious person. He takes after her. The drug he used in the wine today was love poison."

Jia Le looked at his father-in-law in shock. He didn't believe what he had heard, but he wasn't surprised that the fifth prince would use that kind of aphrodisiac.

Li Qiang: "He will do everything to get his hands on the throne. Now that BaiLing is engaged to the ninth prince, her life will only become harder. Is there really no other way?"

Jia Le: "(sigh)... Dad, it's not that I don't want to stop her, but... you know how stubborn she is. She wants to go through with the plan, and she says it's her duty to follow the emperor's wishes."

Li Qiang: "Following his orders? His orders are shortening up her life span. How many more years do I have to keep her poison under control?"

Just as Jia Le was about to say something Zhi Chen came in and said.

"Just because of an oath that she has to risk her life like this? Is it fair to her?"