Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story) - Side Story 5

After her, many officials submitted the same memorial, but he ignored them all.

He had no intention of heeding Lee Baekryeon’s suggestion to take a wife.

It didn’t matter how reasonable the suggestion was or how politically sound the choice might be.

It was the greatest, most unnecessary, and utterly meaningless tantrum ever thrown by a man who had never once acted childishly, even in childhood.

However, since he couldn’t act entirely according to his personal feelings, as a compromise to soothe the anxious officials worried about the succession, he selected former royal families from annexed nations and took several as consorts.

The officials readily accepted his reasoning that, since securing an heir was urgent, there was no need to appoint a legitimate Empress—producing an heir was what truly mattered.

Of course, even after obtaining an heir, he let decades pass without naming either an Empress or a Crown Prince, but in any case, everything proceeded smoothly.

Though there were occasional incidents—like urging him to appoint an Empress—that disturbed his mood, Lee Baekryeon had always been utterly sincere toward him.

He could trust and rely on Lee Baekryeon without reservation.

And he repaid her loyalty thoroughly. For her sake, he created the position of General Shangdai and bestowed it upon her, and even granted her a new character for her name—changing Lee Baekryeon (Li Bo Lian) to Lee Baekryeon (Li Bai Lian).

Originally, incorporating colors into names was a tradition of the Zi family; now, after proclaiming himself emperor, it had become an imperial tradition.

Deliberately altering the meaning of a perfectly fine name was virtually equivalent to declaring Lee Baekryeon as quasi-imperial kin, and Baekryeon, who understood this perfectly well, prostrated herself and begged him to rescind the decree.

Naturally, he remained unmoved.

After all, he had rolled through the political arena long enough to clearly understand how the court operated.

It was a place where, given even the slightest opportunity to trip someone up, others would do so without hesitation, pulling them down to climb higher themselves.

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