Lady Meilin is seduced by her green tea brother-in-law everyday-Chapter 290: Anything but grieving.

After showing their support for Junjie and ordering the crowd to head back home, the royal family gathered for second breakfast as most had not been able to eat in the morning. Those that did only took small bites and others did not get to finish their meals.

Around a long glass table, the royals removed their disguises, visible and invisible as they had no need to pretend that they were grieving in private. It was one of the reasons why Long Wen and Long Shuang had been sent to Mei Mei’s house.

Junjie was not the oldest, but he was the emperor so by default, he sat the head, glaring at the lilacs placed next to him. To his left, was Princess Rize and his right, the Empress Mother. Her expression was unreadable, she was sipping tea like nothing was going on around her.

Across the table, Prince Long Feng --the newly appointed Minister for finance smiled with the exhaustion of someone who had already drafted three extravagant budgets for the royal funeral and had them all turned down.

Princess Long Si Si, one of the elderly members of the family that had married into the Cyprian royal family was also smiling. In her case, it was with the sharpness and cunning of someone that had already compiled a list of the eligible young noble women in Cyprus. She had also flown into the empire with four ready marriage proposals. The Empress Mother had already rejected them because to her, a foreign empress was not welcome. None the less, Si Si planned to have a conversation with Junjie about this.

Platters of flaked fried bread, eggs, herb-buttered shredded chicken, fruit, pastries and more were served by royal attendants that were very professional. They hardly flinched when Long Bo asked an unexpected question.

"So, which one of you killed her?" he smiled and took a sip of juice.

The royal attendants went on with their jobs like their hearing was impaired.

"Shut up you thief." Princess Rize replied.

Long Bo clenched his jaw.

The mood around the table was brittle--fake elegant laughter, smiles that didn’t reach the eyes, compliments delivered with knives tucked beneath. But none of it was new to the royals. Most of them liked each other and got along splendidly, but they were royals. There was no absence of tension between them. It came with the territory.

Junjie raised a cup that held of coffee. "We should toast to the the fallen Empress. May she find eternal rest and happiness, unburdened by the troubles of the world."

Everyone raised what they were holding, glasses, cups, mugs, forks and muttered in agreement. The Empress Mother smiled. This was more like it. Unity even in the face of disputes. That was how the royal family would survive and live long.

Prince Long Feng cleared his throat. "We should discuss the budget."

Junjie narrowed his eyes. "It is too high. We are not spending one billion to bury one empress. The economy of this empire is not going to be buried with her."

Princess Rize’s fork clinked against her plate. "There is nothing to bury anyway so of what use is a smart glass coffin that costs twenty one million yuan? We are not planning to preserve her invisible body, are we?"

The Grand Emperor cleared his throat. "If we follow tradition, she needs to be mourned for seven days."

Junjie narrowed his eyes. "Seven days!!! Feng’s budget for two days is one billion and you are talking about seven days!! Absolutely not. Two days are enough for her because she was a failure as an empress. One day for her mourning, which is tomorrow and then we bury her."

Long Bo leaned forward and laughed. "You are just dripping with love for your dead wife your highness." He said sarcastically.

The Empress dowager tapped the table with a chopstick. "What are we going to do about this situation with the Americans? Junjie, you laid all the blame at the feet of Cosmosis. Have we heard from the American royal family?"

Everyone stilled.

"Not yet, but I am sure we will be hearing from them soon. There is evidence that an American company was responsible. They have to step in and smooth things over." He replied.

"Or they will leave the company to suffer the consequences on its own. They will only step in if someone from the American royal family owns shares in Cosmosis." Someone said.

"Luckily, two people do." The Empress Mother shared. Chi Lian had already gathered the information for her. The best part of it was that the American Crown prince himself owned shares in Cosmosis. It was just five percent but it was enough for them to spin a conspiracy.

"So we can spin this...."

Junjie sat up and set his cup down harder than necessary. "Enough. We are not gathered here to conspire, we are here to plan the funeral of the dead Empress."

Everyone took deep breaths and held back their next opinions. Princess Ruoxi could now see why Junjie had sent his daughters away briefly. If they had been at this brunch or in the palace at this moment, they would be sad.

Long Si Si smiled, "You are right great grand nephew. We should be discussing important things not conspiring. An important thing we should not forget is the question of an heir. An Emperor without an heir or an Empress is..." She left her sentence hanging.

A lot of eyes in the room lit up suddenly. This was the dance they anticipated.

Junjie arched a brow. "Now!!"

Si Si smiled. "What better time is there? These things must be settled before the funeral so that planning can begin immediately. By this time next year, you should at least have a new Empress on your arm. Your daughters need a mother--a respectable mother."

"How about that Meilin." The grand dowager said.

Everyone went quiet again for a moment.

"No." Princess Rize slammed the table. "Grandmother, Mei Mei has a man."

"A boy you mean." The Empress dowager mumbled unhappily. Her biggest wish had always been to see Mei Mei marrying into the royal family. This wish had been ruined when she married Mo Liang. Then she got divorced and reconnected with Junjie. But then, she got herself a boy toy.

She believed that it was not too late to remedy the situation.

"Mother-in-law, move on from that. I have already picked out Junjie’s next wife." The Empress Mother said.

Si Si raised her neck a little and leaned forward. "Why should you be the only one choose? Don’t we all get a vote in this?"