After making a commotion for half the night, she gradually grew tired and curled up in his embrace, no longer moving restlessly. Her eyelashes fell still, and her breathing became heavy.

Though she was thoroughly intoxicated, the small remnant of consciousness in her mind was insistently reminding her that he was the Emperor—how could he possibly spend the night at her residence? But his embrace was so comfortable that she selfishly didn’t want to leave. Countless hazy circles swirled in her mind, but ultimately emotion triumphed over reason, and her hands held him even tighter—

She had already borne the criticism anyway, so why worry about anything else? It wasn’t as if the Emperor had never spent the night at her Meng residence before!

With this thought, she felt more at ease, breathing in the faint fragrance of his clothes, and was about to fall into deep sleep in just a moment.

But it was at this time that he spoke: “Those private letters from Xu Ting, how did you obtain them?”

She mumbled something in her daze, slightly wrinkling her nose in displeasure.

He naturally wouldn’t believe those street rumors. How could she possibly have sent someone to dig up Hao Kuang’s tomb? What an absurd joke! Those who wanted to seize the opportunity to slander her never rested, to think they could fabricate such tales… He touched her face with his hand, trying to make her more alert, and asked softly, “What?”

She unconsciously rubbed her face against his palm, like a little cat, her light, sweet breath blowing against his skin, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum: “It was… it was all given to me by Yin Qing.”

Yin Qing?

He held her face, his brows slightly furrowed: “Which Yin Qing?”

Having her sleep disturbed, she was quite uncomfortable and turned over several times in his arms before saying, “The… the jinshi exam…”

Originally, she had been hesitating whether to tell him the truth, but unexpectedly, in her drunken state, all her defenses were down, and she couldn’t control her mouth at all, inadvertently “confessing” everything.

His palm stiffened slightly, and he asked again: “How would Yin Qing have Xu Ting’s private letters?”

She shook her head randomly, burying her face in the crook of his neck, and refused to move again.

Tonight’s excursion from the palace, though he traveled light with few attendants, had been quite troublesome for Huang Bo and the others. To protect his reputation, many ruses had been set up in the inner court before they could accompany him out. Now they were probably waiting for him inside and outside the Meng residence, fearing he might miss the morning court session.

He held her tighter and turned his head to kiss her, his brow furrowing deeper.

Yin Qing.

She was quite bold to trust others so readily, taking those letters and using them to attack, not afraid of falling into someone else’s trap. Fortunately, Yin Qing didn’t seem to want to harm her this time, but just because of this, he couldn’t feel any goodwill toward this person.

During her years at court, she had weathered countless storms, but which situation was not under his control? Whether she advanced or retreated, it was all arranged by his hand. How could he allow others to interfere?

Her small hand still rested on his left chest; in her dreams, her fingertips occasionally twitched slightly, as if afraid he would leave, trying to hold onto him to prevent him from moving.

He couldn’t help but kiss her again.

Though reluctant, he had to leave.

Tonight was the Double Seventh Festival, and seeing her laugh so heartily made his own heart clear up as well. He knew well that she had been lonely since childhood, and probably hadn’t been able to pray for skills like ordinary women with their mothers and sisters for more than twenty years. Tonight, taking advantage of the Double Seventh Festival, she had played in the city with a group of female officials, and she must have been extremely happy, so much so that she carelessly drank too much wine and became so drunk that she no longer cared about “official dignity.”

When he let her go, she twisted uncomfortably a few times, then turned her head and fell back into deep sleep.

He opened the door and walked out, recalling what she had once said to him, his dark eyes seeming to be stained with an additional layer of ink.

If one day in the future she were to discover who her parents were, would she still wish as she had before—to accompany him, to watch him secure the empire, to watch him nurture the people, to watch him bring about peace?

The black night sky pressed down like an overturned cover, making his breathing slightly heavy. In the distance, Huang Bo’s well-timed call of “Your Majesty” brought back his attention.

The entire Meng household was too fearful to speak, their eyes following him as he left the residence, and only then did they close the gates and extinguish the lights.

The next day, she slept until nearly noon before slowly awakening.

Her head ached terribly. Opening her eyes and sitting up, she couldn’t remember what had happened the night before for quite some time. When she finally lifted the bed curtain and saw the mess of things scattered all over the room—jade rabbits, silver needles, colorful threads, stacked paintings—it suddenly hit her like thunder, and in an instant, she remembered what she had done last night!

She was immediately overcome with shame and anger.

How could she have asked for this and that, and acted so boldly in the middle of the street, and then, like a madwoman, pulled him onto the bed and put her hands on him… Her mind was in chaos, only remembering how indulgent he had been toward her last night, so indulgent that it hardly seemed real… For a moment, she even vaguely suspected that it had all been a beautiful dream. How could he have left the palace to see her just because he feared she might overthink things?

Half a moment later, she also realized that she had brazenly slept through the time for morning court, and was immediately even more alarmed! She knew he had always clearly separated official and personal matters; even if he was willing to indulge her slightly, he would never forgive her for missing court due to drinking.

She quickly dressed and washed, then called the maid who usually attended to her daily needs and reprimanded her. How could she have allowed her to sleep until now without calling her?

The maid looked aggrieved, saying that the Emperor had given instructions before leaving last night, specifically allowing Lady Meng to rest and not attend court this morning.

The servant from the residence also came upon hearing this and added embellishments in describing to her the scene on the street last night, repeatedly saying how the Emperor had complied with her requests and how he had carried her back to the residence… making her both embarrassed and dazed as she listened, believing yet not daring to believe.

His emotions had always been steady and reserved; why would he have been so flamboyant last night, as if deliberately wanting everyone to know?

She could not understand it no matter how much she thought about it. In the end, she still disregarded the special edict allowing her to rest from the court, got herself properly dressed, instructed someone to prepare a carriage, and left the residence for the palace.

Although Xu Ting’s dismissal from his position as Prime Minister did not cause a great upheaval in court, the inevitable shift in people’s hearts was already tilting. The inner court had not issued any edict promoting or demoting Meng Tinghui, but the Emperor’s special favor in allowing Meng Tinghui a day’s rest from court attendance made all the court officials suddenly understand that Xu Ting would never have a chance to rise again, and Meng Tinghui’s position at court was increasingly one that people dared not offend.

Although there had been years of struggle between the elders of the Eastern and Western factions, Xu Ting’s fall also made the remaining important ministers of the Eastern faction in the Hall of Government feel a sense of shared fate. Whether it was out of fear that this turmoil would affect themselves or because they wanted to temporarily ease relations with Meng Tinghui, the dispatch that Meng Tinghui had previously submitted—requesting the transfer of thirteen officials from the Pacification Commissioner’s Office and the Transport Commissioner’s Office of Chao’an North Road, which had been repeatedly rejected by the Secretariat—was signed and approved by several executives as soon as the morning court session ended today, and was sent down to the outer court to draft an imperial edict.

As Acting Drafter of Proclamations, Meng Tinghui was informed of this matter as soon as she entered the palace. After a moment of slight surprise, she began drafting this edict, with some emotion in her heart, recalling what Yin Qing had said that day, which turned out to be completely true.