“Wang Qing, you know this marriage was arranged by the Empress Dowager of Huo. Without a proper reason, wouldn’t divorcing her be disrespectful to the old Empress Dowager?”
Wang Ling smiled and took out a memorial from his sleeve: “My intentions are all within this memorial. I ask the Empress Dowager to review it first before making a decision.”
He presented it to her, looking questioningly at Wei Lin: “Is the Empress Dowager looking at the imperial annotations of the late Emperor?”
“Mm,” Wei Lin responded, opening the memorial.
After quickly reading the memorial, Wei Lin closed it and lit a candle, allowing the ashes to fall onto the floor. She felt somewhat relieved. Wang Ling was indeed a talented official, and his ideas mirrored her long-held thoughts, differing only in the person who would bear the burdens—she thought of her brother Wei Fengzhi, while Wang Ling was willing to bear it himself.
“This has nothing to do with your desire to divorce!” she exclaimed, unwilling to see him destroy his family, which would be too inhumane.
“You misunderstand. Even without this, I am determined to do so,” Wang Ling replied.
“Let me think about it more,” she said, looking outside at the beautiful season of flowers and willows.
After consideration, Wei Lin chose not to interfere, issuing a mild reprimand when Wang Ling announced the divorce. When Li Weiheng came with tearful eyes to seek an audience, Wei Lin promised to reproach Wang Ling severely and arranged for Li Weiheng to stay in the palace.
This matter was temporarily set aside when a report arrived from Yan State that the Yan Crown Prince had died of typhoid, leaving the Yan King with few heirs and forcing him to consider establishing an illegitimate son.
Wei Lin approved the establishment of the illegitimate son to save face for the Yan King and had Feng Shou secretly collect evidence of interactions among Yan’s court officials, as the Yan State was a potential threat.
