Meng Tinghui didn’t know who that dazzling young commander on horseback was, but judging from Shen Zhili’s tone, the two seemed like old friends who had known each other for years. Recalling what the nearby female official had said earlier, she guessed this person’s identity must be extraordinary, otherwise he wouldn’t dare make such a gesture in front of everyone.

The women around her had gleaming eyes and flushed faces, watching him gallop toward the field, their words filled with endless praise.

Shen Zhili, however, stamped her foot on the ground, her gaze like flying daggers as she stared at his back armor. After a while, she turned away, spitting quietly, “Truly detestable!”

Meng Tinghui moved over a couple of steps, tugging at her sleeve, “The sun is too harsh here. I’ll go sit in the corridor over there to watch.”

“No!” Shen Zhili quickly pulled her back, “How could you see clearly from there? Besides, in half an hour there will be a polo game specifically for female officials to participate in. The winner will receive a substantial reward!”

Unable to refuse her, Meng Tinghui could only stand beside her, looking toward the distance.

The side gate beneath Baojin Tower was wide open, and several bright yellow banners had been raised. Palace guards who regularly served in the inner court rode tall, magnificent horses, slowly forming into ranks as they emerged.

Someone behind them exclaimed excitedly, “It’s Official Shen!”

Shen Zhili smiled with pressed lips, staring unblinkingly at the man at the front. She saw him riding with empty hands, not holding the reins, using only his feet to lightly kick the horse’s belly, urging the horse forward.

Having spent recent days examining previous dynasties’ histories and reading both old and new comprehensive canons, Meng Tinghui knew this was the “lead rider” of the archery ceremony. Only after he passed would the horseback archery officially begin.

The “lead rider” of the ceremony could only be a close official of the Crown Prince. Hearing several people nearby call him “Official Shen,” she immediately realized this must be Shen Zhili’s twin brother, Shen Zhishu.

Who in the capital didn’t know Shen Zhishu’s name? As soon as she entered the Hanlin Academy, she frequently heard the Academic Secretaries discussing young men in the government during their idle time, with Shen Zhishu’s name appearing most often. Beyond that, female officials in the court often privately discussed this eldest son of the Shen family. His romantic nature was well-known to all, but no one knew which woman would eventually capture his heart and marry into the Shen household.

Meng Tinghui watched him ride closer. His silk armor gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight, his eyes bright and clear, his face—

She froze instantly. This man was the smiling, carefree young man she had seen at Yan Fuzhi’s restaurant in Chongzhou.

No wonder… no wonder she had found Shen Zhili so familiar when she first saw her.

She should have realized earlier that the person who had accompanied the Crown Prince in disguise to Chao’an could only have been Shen Zhishu.

Shen Zhili stepped forward slightly, looking up and gently calling out, “Brother!”

The man turned his head on horseback, saw her, and his smile became extremely radiant, so dazzling that the female officials nearby felt a twinge in their eyes and shifted their gaze away from him.

His eyes swept over and spotted Meng Tinghui. His brow raised involuntarily, and he pulled on the reins to pause briefly before smiling again, letting out a loud cry, and hastily spurring his horse away.

Shen Zhili tugged at her sleeve, boasting, “Isn’t my brother handsome?”

Meng Tinghui smiled faintly, the image of Shen Zhishu’s shameless face from that day floating in her mind while responding, “As handsome as the rumors say.”

Shen Zhili smiled so hard her eyes narrowed to slits, “My mother also says my brother is a thousand times more handsome than my father was in his day. Countless women in the capital wish to marry him.”

Meng Tinghui also smiled but remained silent, pressing her lips together.

She had heard a thing or two about the Shen family’s past since entering the Hanlin Academy.

Shen Wuchen had been the first top graduate of the imperial examination after the Emperor ascended the throne and took control of the government. He had achieved first place in all three levels of the imperial examinations, with limitless glory. People called him the foremost scholar under heaven. He had served successively as Evaluator of the Court of Judicial Review, Left Gentleman of Literary Composition, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Right Remonstrator, Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Supervisor of the Imperial Library, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Left Vice Minister, and Minister of Works. At thirty-two, he was appointed Right Vice Minister of the Department of State Affairs, becoming the youngest Prime Minister in the court’s history. Yet surprisingly, such a man had no rumors of romantic affairs for years and only married his wife, Madam Ceng, at the age of thirty-seven.

Madam Shen, née Ceng, was an extraordinary woman in her own right. In the ninth year of Dali, she disguised herself as a man to take the imperial examination, passing with a rank of thirty-ninth in the second class, and was assigned to work under the Guest Reception Office of the Ministry of Rites. Later, by chance, she met the Emperor and was promoted to Junior Minister of the Court of the Imperial Regalia. In the thirteenth year of Dali, when the Emperor personally led a military campaign, Ceng Shangcan accompanied him and achieved numerous military accomplishments. When peace was restored, the Emperor, in recognition of her service in protecting him, revealed her female identity to the court, allowing her to attend court in female attire and appointing her as Secretary to the Bureau of Military Affairs, making her the first woman in history to hold such a high position in the government. However, even such an ambitious woman would resign from her official position for the sake of the man she loved, never concerning herself with politics again after marriage.

Without Madam Shen, née Ceng, the palace might never have considered opening an imperial examination for women, so many female schools might not have been built throughout the country, and there might not have been hundreds of female officials in the court. Yet the former Madam Shen could never have imagined that after her, no woman would ever again hold a position in the two highest departments, and over the years, female officials would largely serve as figureheads. Even the current female top graduate entering the Hanlin Academy had become a topic of idle conversation among senior officials at court.

It was fortunate but not entirely so, sad but not completely…

Meng Tinghui was lost in her thoughts, not realizing she had been distracted for quite some time until Shen Zhili called her name several times.

Shen Zhili teasingly mocked, “Has my brother’s handsomeness made you think for so long?”

Meng Tinghui looked up toward Baojin Tower, saying with complete seriousness, “However handsome Official Shen may be, can he compare to His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Shen Zhili was momentarily speechless, not expecting such bold words from her, and found herself unable to respond for some time.

The sky was like a blue curtain, thin clouds like silk threads. The autumn wind cleared the air, blowing through each golden ray of light. In the distance, beneath the large yellow canopy of Baojin Tower sat a figure, still as imposing as ever.

He gazed at everything below, watching her stand, watching her smile, watching her talk to those beside her, watching her lost in thought, watching her… raise her head to look at him.

From such a distance, the smile in her eyes was so obvious.

His throat tightened slightly as he looked at the tight crimson riding attire she wore, finding himself unable to look away.

The waistband accentuated her body’s attractive curves, her chest full and upright. Her black hair was bound beneath a soft cap, with a few strands of hair falling by her ears, further highlighting her fair and delicate neck.

His thoughts suddenly drifted back to that night in the Crown Prince’s Palace.

He closed his eyes slightly, breathing a little heavily, his hands at his sides clenching slightly.

It had been nearly four months since he had seen her.

Yet unexpectedly, upon seeing her again, he still couldn’t remain calm.

Although he had deliberately avoided her, not involving her even when summoning Academic Secretaries and Compilers to attend late-night drafting of edicts, he still knew she was doing exceptionally well in the Hanlin Academy.

He oversaw the compilation of the previous dynasties’ histories, and every ten days, Fang Huai would bring volumes of canons and chronicles for his review. The dense, meticulous small script recording local chronicles was familiar yet jarring, every character written with extreme care and precision, just like her policy essay before.

He knew she would do well. With her single-minded desire to rise as a court official, how could she not cherish such an opportunity?

And even though people called her a favored sycophant official, she could still advance step by step so tenaciously in the Hanlin Academy, truly proving he had not misjudged her.

The Meng Tinghui he had initially wanted to create was precisely the one he saw now.