She stepped back in shock.

A ripping sound came from her ankle as he tore open the fine multicolored brocade embroidered with gold thread, revealing her badly swollen ankle.

He stared at it for a moment, then pressed his palm down firmly.

She cried out in pain.

He stood up and said quietly, “It’s not broken.”

She couldn’t utter a word, feeling that his emotions came and went inexplicably. At this moment, the pain in her ankle prevented her from thinking too much. She simply followed behind him, limping inside.

The carved pillars and painted eaves were intricate and exquisite, the golden light dazzling. After nine winding turns, they entered another world—cool in the breeze, with weeping willows hanging down, and imposing palace doors wide open.

Outside were yellow-robed attendants who had accompanied the party to the Northern Park for the horsemanship and archery event. Seeing the two of them now, they hurried forward to greet them, saying, “Your Highness.” They bowed respectfully and made way, then asked, “Has the grand archery ceremony at the front concluded?”

He did not answer, but walked inside, asking instead, “Have those officers who were introduced to Lord Shen earlier all been sent away?”

The attendant nodded, “Everything was done according to Your Highness’s instructions.” The man glanced at her imperceptibly, hesitating slightly before saying, “Your Highness, this…”

“It’s fine,” he said flatly, without further explanation, leading her directly into the hall.

She surveyed her surroundings, never having imagined that within this Northern Park, exclusively for royal hunting and observation of military exercises, there would be such carved towers and painted pavilions, as magnificent as the ministries outside the main palace. She was even more surprised that he would bring her here to rest.

The room was spacious yet desolate. In the corner stood a pair of long benches, with a tall desk in the middle covered with scrolls, brushes, and ink. A low shelf stood to one side, filled with books.

Further inside, she could faintly see light curtains and gauze, with a low couch, clearly his resting place.

However, there were few clothes in the room, suggesting he rarely came here.

If so, why had Shen Zhishu just left from here?

She slightly lowered her eyelashes, thinking of the conversation between him and the attendant earlier. Suspicion grew in her heart—Shen Zhishu worked in the imperial archives, so why would he meet with military officers for no reason?

Military officers…

She recalled recent court rumors that the Emperor intended to send Shen Zhishu to govern Qingzhou. Although Grand Tutor Shen had personally presented this memorial, it was the Crown Prince’s idea.

Everyone knew that the Crown Prince and Shen Zhishu had grown up together. Though officially ruler and subject, they shared a brotherly bond. Therefore, no one understood why the Crown Prince would not let him continue holding an honorary position in the archives, but suddenly send him to the remote Qingzhou in the Northern Chao’an Route. Moreover, Shen Zhishu had entered court service without taking the imperial examinations and had little experience. How could he shoulder the heavy responsibility of governing a major prefecture?

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but look up at him, only to find him staring at her.

Heaven knows what his true intentions were…

Back then, when he was only fourteen, he had decisively dealt with all officials involved in the monk and nun case in the Northern Chao’an Route. His methods were so resolute and ruthless, his actions so swift and decisive, that everyone was terrified. Who could have imagined at that time that he could do such things?

Whether it was scheming or strategy, ambition or aspiration, who could truly know what was in his heart?

He stared at her for a long while, then suddenly spoke to the attendant, “Go summon the imperial physician.”

The attendant was slightly taken aback but dared not say much, only acknowledging the order and withdrawing.

She was greatly alarmed and hurriedly tried to stop him, saying, “That must not happen! What would people think?” In her haste, she forgot her injured foot and nearly fell after taking just one step.

He pulled her over with one hand, anger in his voice: “Your foot may not be broken, but who knows about the rest of your bones! If you delay seeing the imperial physician and something serious happens, what would today’s fall from the horse become when word gets out?”

She immediately fell silent, understanding his meaning.

If people knew it was just a minor ailment, they would think she had fallen due to her carelessness. But if they heard she was seriously injured, given the court’s tendency to create storms in teacups, people would surely investigate the matter thoroughly to find out what had happened with that horse—

He had earlier asked Shen Zhishu to summon Di Nian to bring the horse for examination, so he must have been suspicious too. He wanted to handle this matter before the palace supervisors and stable officials started asking questions.

However, though suspicious, he couldn’t let the outer court officials catch wind of it. Instead, she had to pretend that she had accidentally fallen from the horse.

Thinking about it now, his bringing her all the way here was perhaps to prevent her from being questioned outside Baojin Tower. In her shocked and flustered state then, who knew what inappropriate things she might have said?

She forced a smile and said softly, “Your Highness worries too much. I am just a minor Hanlin Academy Compiler. Who would want to harm me? Besides, even if it was planned, how would they know I would mount a horse?”

He glanced at her, releasing his hand, “Let’s hope so.”

She smiled at his cold face, blinking as she said, “I thought earlier that Your Highness was concerned about me, but it seems I was presumptuous.”

He slowly lowered his eyes, his expression unchanged, “Good that you know.”

She pressed her lips together, remembering the feeling of being in his arms earlier. Now she didn’t want to deal with his dark expression and said, “These riding clothes were borrowed from Lord Shen, but unfortunately Your Highness has torn them.”

He was slightly irritated, “Meng Tinghui, has the court not been paying your salary?”

She shook her head, then said, “Does Your Highness know how difficult it has been for me to earn the proper respect of everyone at court these past four months with my diligent work? Yet today, with Your Highness’s ‘hero saving the beauty’ act, you’ve again splashed much dirty water on me… These riding clothes and my clean reputation—how does Your Highness intend to compensate me?”

The corner of his mouth stiffened, not knowing what to say.

During so many deep nights before, he had looked at those volumes of meticulously recorded local chronicles of previous dynasties, the painstaking effort in each stroke, that face faintly appearing before his eyes through the thin paper… Now she was right in front of him, yet speaking these meaningless words to him, making him vaguely doubt whether the deep meaning hidden in her gaze in his memory was still real.

The light in the room was dim, beams of light breaking through the window lattice into strips that moved across her face. Tiny dust particles floated gently in the circles of light. The room was extraordinarily quiet.

She lowered her eyes, not unmoved in her heart.

For four months, she had poured her heart and soul into her duties, striving for perfection in every page of her compilations. But those works representing her dedication were only coldly collected by Fang Huai and shelved in the archives. Would he ever know how well she had done?