Her lips remained strikingly red, full and lush like berries, while her eyes were profoundly dark, gazing at him without movement, as if truly waiting for his “lack of reservations.”
Yet he released his hold, slowly straightening up, and said to her, “Get down.”
She lowered her lashes, concealing the look in her eyes, and following his words, pushed herself off the desk.
He turned, took up a brush, spread out a sheet of paper, leaned over to write something, then handed it to her. When he spoke again, his voice was so hoarse it was barely intelligible: “Return to the Hanlin Academy tomorrow. Take this to Liu Ren and tell him it’s my order that you work under Fang Huaixue at the Editorial Office to compile the history of the previous dynasty. You need not come to serve at the Eastern Palace again.”
She reached out to accept it, responding with a slightly hoarse “Mm.”
He looked at her. Moments ago, her boldness had seemed boundless, repeatedly speaking brazen words, unafraid that he might actually act “without reservations” here… Yet now she displayed this calm, respectful demeanor.
She gently folded the thin paper and tucked it into her sleeve pocket, then reorganized the scattered memorials regarding the northern Chao’an route on the desk. Looking at him, she said, “I forgot to mention earlier, I’ve completed all the tasks Your Highness assigned me today.”
He remained silent, watching her slowly withdraw.
But after a few steps, when she reached the hall door, she turned back, her eyes warm and bright, her red lips parting slightly: “I’m hardly accepted by those senior officials at the Hanlin Academy. They refused to give me substantive work, and it was only due to Official Shen’s interference that I was sent to serve at the Eastern Palace. I am wholeheartedly devoted to the people and the Emperor—why would I wish to remain under Your Highness’s wing? Today’s various acts of disrespect were not my true intention. I merely wanted Your Highness to send me back to the Hanlin Academy. Now, with Your Highness’s written order, I can peacefully attend to affairs at the Editorial Office of the Hanlin Academy. I thank Your Highness and hope you won’t hold my previous offenses against me.”
He stood perfectly straight, listening to her speak these words slowly and deliberately, his expression unchanging.
She gave him a distant bow, then turned and left the hall.
As the hall door closed with a heavy thud, it seemed as if his heart was simultaneously pulled wide open, a clear and forceful resonant sound that made him involuntarily raise his hand to rub his chest.
Regardless of whether she truly had designs on him, regardless of the reasons behind her boldness and impudence today, he couldn’t deny that this woman had, to some extent, stirred his heart.