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Although Ji\'er had run away in distress, Long Yin believed she was smart enough to keep herself safe.

However, if he joked about his mother\'s health and it came true…

Long Yin\'s eyes darkened. No—he could not take any risks with her.

"Yin\'er?" Lu Liangwei urged.

"Mother, we\'ll find Ji\'er somehow or other, but we\'re not going to use your safety to trick her into coming back." Long Yin rejected the idea firmly. 

Lu Liangwei was stunned.

Looking at her son, who was the spitting image of Long Yang, she pursed her lips. Like father, like son.

From her son\'s demeanor, it seemed that nothing would make him agree to issue the imperial decree.

However, she felt that her idea could work. If Ji\'er saw the decree, she would come back to see her, no matter what.

Was that not much better than depending on Long Yang and the others\' blind search? 

Her eyes darted about as an idea came to her. Without warning, she buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

The usually composed and prudent Long Yin flinched when he heard his mother\'s sobs, and his handsome face contorted in alarm. "Mother, don\'t cry…"

Lu Liangwei shoved his hand away and turned around. She gave herself a quick, hard pinch, then started to whimper accusingly, "Long Yin, you think you can dismiss what I say now that you\'re grown up, don\'t you? If you can\'t even agree to this small request, how am I supposed to count on you in the future? I knew it—you\'re bullying me because your father\'s not around…"I think you should take a look at

"..." Long Yin wholeheartedly believed that his father would skin him if came back and found out that he had made his mother cry.

He rubbed his forehead, his voice softening. "I\'m not rejecting your request for no reason, Mother. There\'s just too much at stake. Besides, when Ji\'er comes back and finds out you tricked her into thinking you were ill, she\'ll get even angrier. In fact, she might run farther away and never come back."

Lu Liangwei immediately stopped her fake weeping and said anxiously, "That won\'t happen. As long as she comes back, I\'ll find a way to persuade her; if she gets mad, I\'ll apologize to her. Even if she doesn\'t forgive me, I don\'t mind as long as she\'s back. It\'s better than her being on her own out there."

Yin\'er sighed. He knew how worried his mother was about Ji\'er, but he still found the suggestion inappropriate.

"Mother, don\'t forget you\'re a brilliant physician. Even if you\'re ill, we can still get Grandmother or even other imperial physicians to treat you. I don\'t think your idea will work for sure," he tried to talk her out of it. 

Lu Liangwei knitted her brow. "Just say I\'ve become so sick with worry that nothing can cure me. Once Ji\'er sees the decree, she\'ll know I\'m sick because I\'m worried about her, and it\'s not something that can be cured by a physician." She paused, then added, "How I wish I can fall sick for real—if I do, I won\'t have to fake it, and you won\'t have to feel so uncomfortable…"

"Mother!" Long Yin boomed, cutting her off hotly. "Do you enjoy cursing yourself that much? Have you even thought about how sad that would make Father and us three?"

Startled by the sudden scowl that had taken over her son\'s face, Lu Liangwei replied diffidently, "I was just joking; you didn\'t have to be so serious! It\'s not good to be so pedantic at such a young age, you know!"

A vein on Long Yin\'s forehead twitched. He was so exasperated that he did not want to continue the conversation.

"Please leave, Mother. You\'re taking up my time for reviewing Palace Memorials."

Lu Liangwei stiffened. She wanted to continue persuading him, but when she saw the fatigue in his eyes, she stifled her words. 

"Very well. We\'ll discuss this another time." With a sigh, she left the imperial study.