When Shen Xiling woke up the next day, Qi Ying had already left.

She drowsily awakened, initially somewhat confused to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Only after a while, when her consciousness fully returned, did the memories from last night gradually surface before her eyes.

They… had been together.

Those intimate memories from last night made Shen Xiling blush like she had rouge applied to her face. She curled up in his bedding and secretly covered her face, lingering there for quite a while before slowly getting out of bed.

As soon as she sat up straight, she noticed the empty cup still sitting on the small table beside the bed—left there from when he had fed her water last night. Suddenly, all his subtle movements and words from the previous evening became even clearer, making her miss him even more.

Sigh, why was that person always so busy?

…She missed him so much.

But after the sweet memories, the unpleasant matters gradually reared their heads—Shen Xiling couldn’t help but think of Shopkeeper Feng’s death again, inevitably feeling low and distressed. She was somewhat absent-minded, remembering how Qi Ying had told her last night to rest for a few days and not worry about business matters anymore. But she truly couldn’t set her mind at ease, thinking she should still visit Shopkeeper Feng’s widow and orphaned children. Even if they really didn’t want to see her, she should at least have someone send them more compensation.

Shen Xiling pondered back and forth for a while, then sat quietly on his bed in a daze for a bit, even kicking at the bedding, until she saw the sun outside had risen quite high before finally getting up.

Hearing movement from inside the room, the maids waiting outside came in to attend to Shen Xiling’s washing and grooming. However, all the people who entered looked unfamiliar—they weren’t Shuipei, Fengshang, and the others. When asked, the maids said that those few, along with Liuzi, were currently kneeling in punishment at the entrance of Wogyu Courtyard. They said this was the Young Master’s order, and they had been kneeling for over an hour already.

Shen Xiling was startled upon hearing this and hurriedly finished her grooming before rushing out.

Last night had been stormy with flashing lightning and rolling thunder, but this morning had transformed into a brilliant sunny day. The warm spring sun hung bright and clear in the azure, pristine sky. The flowers and trees in Fenghe Courtyard were fresh and glistening with moisture—truly a rare beautiful scene.

Shen Xiling hurried from Qi Ying’s Huaijin Courtyard back to her own Wogyu Courtyard. From afar, she could see Shuipei and the other three kneeling at the courtyard entrance, all looking dejected and dispirited.

Last night, those few had followed her in running about and suffering hardships, which she had already felt very sorry about. Now seeing them being punished with kneeling, she felt even more unable to bear it. She quickly told them all to get up and stop kneeling.

But none of them would comply. Liuzi even sniffled and said, “Miss is kind and doesn’t blame us, but as servants who made mistakes, we naturally should be punished. The Young Master’s punishment is right—we won’t get up.”

He spoke with conviction, looking completely determined.

Speaking of it, although Qi Ying was always cold and stern, he wasn’t a harsh and ungrateful person. He rarely punished servants, and in the past had never overstepped to discipline the maids and servants around Shen Xiling. Even three years ago during the flower festival when Zijun and Fengshang had caused a moderate mess, he hadn’t said anything. Yet this time he had made an exception to punish these four.

Liuzi and the others remembered clearly how severe the Young Master’s expression had been this morning, frightening them to their very core. The Young Master’s words had carried enormous weight: “She has a gentle nature—does that mean you can make decisions for her?”

Liuzi and the others all understood that the Young Master was blaming them for concealing the matter of Shopkeeper Feng’s visit.

They had truly overstepped their bounds. Although they had acted with the Miss’s welfare in mind, they had ultimately brought her even greater trouble. If the Young Master hadn’t arrived in time yesterday, the consequences would have been even more unthinkable.

“Never make decisions for her,” the Young Master had concluded heavily, “unless you can bear all the consequences for her.”

Being punished to kneel for three hours wasn’t really that severe. It seemed the Young Master’s intention was just minor punishment as a major warning—already quite merciful.

But Shen Xiling felt very sorry for them.

Although they had made mistakes, yesterday they had also done their utmost to protect her—especially Shuipei, who had accompanied her into Yang Dong’s Southeast Villa and later been dragged out by the guards there, leaving some bruises on her arms. Shen Xiling was also aware that last night she had taken her emotions out on Shuipei in anger, making her feel even more sorry. She insisted on letting them all get up.

But the few were quite stubborn, determined to keep kneeling. Shuipei even said to Shen Xiling with tears in her eyes, “Miss, please let us kneel. Even if it’s for that shopkeeper’s sake, we deserve to kneel…”

This sentence actually persuaded Shen Xiling.

Indeed… Shopkeeper Feng had lost his life. If he had seen her then and heard a word of advice from her, perhaps he wouldn’t have taken his own life out of despair. Shuipei and the others had indeed acted improperly in this matter—how could she be generous with others’ suffering?

Shen Xiling gave up trying to persuade them further, suppressing her heartache and letting them complete their full three hours of kneeling.

It wasn’t until afternoon that the few finally stood up, all looking rather pale from exhaustion, their knees swollen. Liuzi was slightly stronger, but the maids could barely walk properly.

Shen Xiling naturally felt very sorry for them and busied herself with applying medicine and letting them rest. But these few maids were actually grinning and joking, simultaneously aching while making wisecracks, winking at her and saying rather improperly, “Congratulations to Miss for getting your heart’s desire!”

As they spoke, they glanced toward Huaijin Courtyard with teasing looks, making Shen Xiling’s little face flush bright red with embarrassment.

She didn’t want to laugh but couldn’t hold it back, finally throwing the medicinal ointment at them in shy annoyance to apply themselves.

Getting her heart’s desire…

Shen Xiling’s cheeks turned crimson.

—Sigh… why wasn’t he back yet?

On the other side, Qi Ying was at the Hanlin Academy, busy beyond his capacity.

The Hanlin Academy was different from the Privy Council—its offices were located within the imperial palace itself. Jiangzuo had always emphasized civil governance, with talented scholars in every generation. Those who entered the Hanlin Academy were the cream of the crop among them. Only the top few who passed the imperial examinations as jinshi had the opportunity to be appointed as Hanlin scholars.

Master Wang Qing had been a Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy before his retirement. When Qi Ying had achieved second place in the imperial examinations and first entered officialdom, he had also briefly served at the Hanlin Academy before quickly being transferred to positions with real power, after which he had no further connection with the Hanlin Academy.

This time, presiding over the spring examinations, he had returned to his old office to work with the other examining officials to finalize this year’s examination papers.

The deputy examining officials were all much older than Lord Qi, and while not necessarily insubordinate to him, they each had their own temperaments. Scholars especially tended toward petty details, arguing incessantly over examination paper minutiae with you-say-this and I-say-that disputes. As a junior, Qi Ying couldn’t act arbitrarily, so he could only patiently endure his fatigue while listening to their bickering. Only when the elderly gentlemen were truly tired of arguing would he take a few opinions from each side to appease them, finally settling on the final version.

Just as this matter was concluding, the Privy Council sent word that Gao Wei had recently erupted in new rebellion. The Privy Council’s agents lurking in the north had seized the opportunity to fan the flames even larger. It was reported that this had already alarmed the court, and Gao Mian intended to send the Gu family to suppress the rebellion.

Upon hearing this news, Qi Ying became thoughtful. He hastily gave some instructions at the Hanlin Academy, then left the palace and returned to the Privy Council.

As soon as he sat down, without time even for a meal, he spent several consecutive hours discussing matters with various departments. By the time things were mostly settled, it was already the xu hour (7-9 PM).

After the department heads departed, Qi Ying sat alone in his office, slightly lost in thought.

He sensed something was wrong with himself today.

He… was uncontrollably thinking of Shen Xiling repeatedly.

Actually, in the past when he was busy with official duties, he would occasionally think of her too, but only fleetingly like shadows on water. He need only suppress such thoughts slightly and it would be fine.

Today was different—he thought of her again and again.

He thought of her on the road from Fenghe Courtyard to the palace, during court meetings, while listening to the elderly gentlemen arguing at the Hanlin Academy, and even just now when the twelve departments were discussing such weighty matters as the northern rebellion, he had still been distracted thinking of her.

Thinking of how she had nestled in the bedding last night, thinking of the faint, indescribable fragrance on her body, thinking of her slightly trembling eyelashes when they kissed…

Thinking of everything about her.

He really didn’t want to be distracted by personal feelings while handling official business, but everything about her kept flashing before his eyes. And if he deliberately tried not to think of her, he would become trapped in that very deliberateness and couldn’t think of anything else.

So he had no choice but to think of her while listening to departmental reports. Sometimes when he was distracted and hadn’t heard clearly, he had to ask the other party to repeat. When this happened multiple times, even Xu Zhengning noticed his abnormality and asked with considerable concern whether he had been overworking lately.

Lord Qi knew his condition had been detected and felt quite flustered inside, but his expression remained stern as he answered only “It’s fine.” This made all the department heads feel their superior was working too hard and blame themselves for their incompetence.

Now that today’s official business was finally concluded, Qi Ying still had no intention of leaving his office. He steadied himself and had Qingzhu call in one of the Privy Council’s subordinate officials. He personally wrote a note and handed it to the official, saying, “Go to the Court of Judicial Review and ask Lord Lu to come see me personally.”

The Court of Judicial Review managed imperial prisons and revised legal codes, naturally holding crucial importance. The Lord Lu that Qi Ying mentioned—Lu Zheng—was the chief of the Court of Judicial Review, holding a third-rank position and responsible for deciding difficult cases. He actually had some connection to Shen Xiling: years ago, Prime Minister Shen’s case had passed through this Lord Lu’s hands, and when Shen Xiling had escaped from prison with her mother, it was also this lord who had issued the pursuit order.

The subordinate official took the order and left. About half an hour later, Lu Zheng came in person.

Actually speaking, there was no hierarchical relationship between the Privy Council and the Court of Judicial Review. Although Qi Ying’s official rank was one grade higher than Lu Zheng’s, the two rarely had official business together, so Lu Zheng need not be subservient to Qi Ying.

However, the power held by the Privy Council was too real. If you offended Lord Qi, he could easily pin a hat of treason and rebellion on your head—this was no joke. Moreover, he had the tremendously powerful Qi family behind him. Even if Lu Zheng had reached the first rank, he wouldn’t dare not show Lord Qi face. Therefore, when Lord Qi summoned him tonight, he hurriedly changed into official robes at home and rushed to the Privy Council.

Lu Zheng could be considered to have had smooth official advancement. For his position, he was quite young—not yet forty, not even reaching the age of no confusion. However, his appearance looked older, and his posture was somewhat hunched. Having grown a beard made him appear even more unremarkable.

As soon as he entered, he greeted his superior. Qi Ying dispensed with ceremony and invited him to sit.

Lu Zheng had come in haste and, despite the spring night chill, was covered in sweat. After sitting down, he didn’t bother wiping it off, only asking with barely concealed anxiety, “My… my lord summoned this subordinate urgently—I wonder what matter this concerns?”

Author’s Note: Lord Qi, the world’s busiest civil servant! (Previously during the night snow at the city gates when Lord Qi rescued Wenwen, Lord Lu was mentioned. After more than three years, this lord still hasn’t been promoted—shows that being a civil servant isn’t easy!)