“What are you doing?” Pei Wenxuan was somewhat surprised when he saw her asking someone to fetch darts.

Li Rong wore an ambiguous smile. “I know you learned this from Su Ronghua, but you should also ask why Aya kept his portrait.”

After a moment’s thought, Pei Wenxuan understood. “She kept his portrait… to vent her anger?”

“What else did you think?” Li Rong laughed aloud. “That she was keeping it to reminisce fondly?”

Pei Wenxuan understood. He nodded, then waved to the person beside him. “Then take down all these portraits.”

At that moment, Jing Mei had already brought the darts over. As soon as Pei Wenxuan saw them, his heart skipped a beat. Before the darts could reach Li Rong, he reached out and grabbed the tray holding them, transferring it directly to his own hands. He immediately handed it to a nearby servant, instructing, “Sharp weapons can hurt people. Don’t let Her Highness touch these things. Hurry up,” Pei Wenxuan turned and waved to the side, “quickly take away the portraits.”

Li Rong watched with a smile as Pei Wenxuan directed everyone to handle these matters. After he finished giving instructions, they walked together toward the study.

“I heard Your Highness recently met with Minister Liu,” Pei Wenxuan inquired. “Is Your Highness busy with transfer arrangements?”

“Don’t worry about this matter.”

Li Rong waved her hand dismissively. “It’s a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. Rest assured.”

“It seems Your Highness is very confident.” Pei Wenxuan smiled. “This humble minister will await Your Highness’s good news.”

“Rest assured,” Li Rong raised her fan and lightly tapped Pei Wenxuan’s chest. “When the time comes, I’ll definitely give you a surprise.”

Pei Wenxuan raised his eyebrow and lifted his hand. “Then this humble minister thanks Your Highness in advance.”

Seeing Pei Wenxuan so proper and formal, without even a hint of the occasionally ingratiating attitude he’d shown before, Li Rong felt somewhat disappointed. She cleared her throat softly and asked carefully, “Pei Wenxuan, have you noticed lately…”

“Hmm?” Pei Wenxuan tilted his head. “What?”

“Have you noticed,” Li Rong gestured, “that I’ve been a little bit better to you?”

Hearing Li Rong’s words, Pei Wenxuan knew what she was thinking. He lowered his head and smiled. “Your Highness has always treated this humble minister well.”

“Don’t you feel it’s more? Better than before?”

Pei Wenxuan kept his head down, suppressing his laughter, finding Li Rong like a child asking for candy. He said softly, “This humble minister knows of Your Highness’s kindness.”

“Good that you know. My painstaking efforts haven’t been in vain.”

Having received Pei Wenxuan’s acknowledgment, Li Rong immediately felt much more comfortable. She turned her head and reached out her hand to Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan raised an eyebrow. Li Rong smiled. “Cultivating feelings, you know. I’m getting used to it.”

Pei Wenxuan couldn’t hold back anymore and finally laughed aloud. He extended his hand and grasped Li Rong’s, walking together toward the dining hall, smiling as he said, “Everything is at Your Highness’s arrangement.”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong said, holding hands with him. She spoke in a low voice, “Tell me the truth.”

“Hmm?” Pei Wenxuan looked at her sideways. Li Rong seemed somewhat pleased. “Are you jealous?”

“Your Highness jests,” Pei Wenxuan said with a smile on his face. “What would this humble minister have to be jealous about?”

“Oh, that’s good then.” Li Rong nodded. “Tomorrow Aya is hosting a literary salon. I plan to go take a look. I heard this year there’s a scholar surnamed Yang…”

“The literary salons at home aren’t enough? You need to go elsewhere to look?”

Pei Wenxuan spoke with a smile. Li Rong turned to look at him, stared for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“Saying one thing but meaning another.”

Li Rong turned her head away, clasped both hands behind her back, and walked forward happily.

Behind her, Pei Wenxuan stood for a moment. He snorted derisively. “All crooked melons and split dates. Blind.”

After speaking, he raised his hand and rubbed his face, restoring his usual gentle smile, and followed after Li Rong.

Before they knew it, it was the end of February. After Li Rong had spoken with people from the Ministry of Personnel several more times, confirming that everything above and below had been smoothed over and Pei Wenxuan’s name had been added to the Ministry of Personnel’s transfer list, only then did she set her mind at ease.

Since Li Rong was managing this matter, Pei Wenxuan completely let go, only occasionally inquiring about Li Rong’s progress.

Whenever Pei Wenxuan asked, Li Rong found it annoying and would raise an eyebrow to ask back, “Don’t you trust me?”

Pei Wenxuan was taken aback and naturally didn’t dare say yes, quickly responding, “Of course not, just curious.”

After that, he didn’t dare ask again.

But he’d always preferred to keep things under his control. Now, this feeling of placing his official career in someone else’s hands inevitably made him somewhat uneasy. He thought about this matter all day, even having difficulty sleeping at night. But seeing Li Rong’s enthusiastic appearance as she helped him, he couldn’t bring himself to discourage her.

After all, Li Rong was being good to him. With such a good start, he couldn’t criticize her too much.

Fortunately, this difficult time wasn’t long. On February twenty-sixth, the court internally finalized the list and would announce it. If no one filed an objection within seven days, transfers would begin in early March.

The twenty-fifth was the last day to modify the list. Li Rong, being cautious, went to see Liu Hangchun once more. Only after Liu Hangchun repeatedly confirmed there were no problems did Li Rong finally relax.

Liu Hangchun escorted Li Rong out of the Liu residence. At the entrance, Li Rong raised her hand to put on her hat, then turned to speak quietly with Liu Hangchun, “Minister Liu, no need to escort me further. This palace will take my leave first.”

“Your Highness, take care.”

Liu Hangchun quietly bid farewell. Li Rong boarded her carriage, which departed into the night with the clip-clop of horse hooves.

After Li Rong’s carriage had gone far, Liu Hangchun wiped his forehead. An elegant voice suddenly came from the shadows, “Minister Liu, stay a moment.”

Liu Hangchun looked up to see a young noblewoman standing in the night, her hands tucked in her sleeves. Her face was unclear in the darkness, but he heard her laugh and say, “This palace comes on behalf of Consort Rou with a message for Minister Liu.”

Hearing these words, Liu Hangchun’s expression changed. He quickly said, “My lady, please.”

Having handled the matter, Li Rong was very pleased. Thinking that tomorrow Pei Wenxuan would be promoted and would thank her, a sense of satisfaction welled up inside her.

She played with her fan, closed her eyes, as if enjoying something. Beside her, Jing Lan looked up at Li Rong and couldn’t help but smile. “Your Highness seems happier helping the Prince Consort with his affairs than handling your own.”

“I’m used to handling my own affairs,” Li Rong said with her eyes closed, quite candid. “This is the first time I’ve worried and planned so much for someone else.”

“Your Highness is strange,” Jing Mei said as she poured tea for Li Rong. “Other people are happy when men solve women’s problems. The Prince Consort dotes on Your Highness, yet Your Highness doesn’t feel particularly joyful. Now that Your Highness is doing things for the Prince Consort, you’re quite happy yourself.”

“What do you understand?” Li Rong looked up, quite smugly. “Being doted on isn’t a skill; doting on someone is the real ability. When others love you, sooner or later your beauty will fade. When you dote on them, that’s completely different. You can like them when you want, and withdraw when you don’t—very free.”

“Your Highness thinks so openly,” Jing Mei said with some admiration. Jing Lan shook her head with a smile. “Your Highness is just being stubborn as usual. Don’t listen to her nonsense.”

“How am I speaking nonsense?” Li Rong raised an eyebrow, looking at Jing Lan. “What’s your reasoning then?”

“Your Highness,” Jing Lan placed peeled melon seeds in front of Li Rong, saying gently, “Perhaps when a person feels happy about being good to another person, there’s no particular reason—it’s just because they like them.”

Li Rong’s movements paused. She heard Jing Lan continue, “It’s not shameful.”

“Mm,” Li Rong nodded, her gaze turning toward the window. “Indeed, there’s nothing shameful about it.”

Jing Lan smiled, thinking Li Rong was embarrassed, and said no more.

Li Rong looked at the bustling traffic outside the window.

The weather was warming up at the end of February, and there were more people on the streets. The night market was much more prosperous than before.

Her gaze circled over the people coming and going on the street. She watched the pairs of young men and women walking by with laughter and conversation. She clearly realized—

Jing Lan was wrong. Her instinctive avoidance wasn’t because she felt it was shameful.

She was afraid.

But she quickly suppressed these emotions, simply sitting in her seat, listening to the two maids chat and joke, remaining silent.

After making the final confirmation with Liu Hangchun, Li Rong stopped worrying. That night she slept extremely well, but Pei Wenxuan had difficulty sleeping.

This year’s imperial examinations were crucial. Many capable ministers in the future would emerge from these examinations. If he couldn’t get into the Ministry of Personnel tomorrow, requesting to oversee the imperial examinations would be somewhat difficult.

Pei Wenxuan somewhat regretted letting Li Rong handle this matter, but then thought that given Li Rong’s abilities, there shouldn’t be any problems.

He tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep. Li Rong woke up groggily, her consciousness unclear. “What are you doing?”

Pei Wenxuan’s body stiffened. He hesitated for a moment, then turned his head and finally asked, “Your Highness.”

Li Rong opened her drowsy eyes, looking at Pei Wenxuan’s extremely serious face in the night.

Pei Wenxuan’s expression was too earnest, which woke her up immediately, though not completely. In the darkness, she just watched as Pei Wenxuan looked at her with burning eyes.

In that instant, a thought involuntarily flashed through her mind.

Could it be that Pei Wenxuan had finally reached his limit and planned to make a move on her?!

Li Rong’s body tensed up, feeling somewhat nervous. Scenes from their wedding night in their previous life began floating through her mind, followed by thoughts about whether it would be appropriate for a child to arrive if they accidentally conceived, and whether she would regret raising this child alone if Pei Wenxuan left her…

Li Rong’s thoughts scattered wildly in the middle of the night with her muddled, sleepy brain. Pei Wenxuan, seeing her sleepy and confused appearance, hesitated for a moment, carefully choosing his words. “Did Your Highness meet with Liu Hangchun today? To confirm the position of Merit Assessment Director?”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan ask about this, Li Rong immediately calmed down.

She instantly felt ashamed of herself, steadied her emotions, and said, “What about it?”

“Liu Hangchun values profit over trust. Besides giving money, did Your Highness…”

“Oh, aren’t you annoying?”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan go on and on, Li Rong cried out in distress. “In the middle of the night, you talk to me about this? You might as well just sleep with me! I’m not discussing this with you. I’m going to sleep.”

Having said that, Li Rong turned over and covered her ears with the quilt.

Seeing Li Rong’s attitude, Pei Wenxuan was momentarily speechless. He lay down on the bed. After a while, he felt he should trust Li Rong more and not always act clever like before, ruining Li Rong’s plans and causing both of them to fail completely.

He reviewed his past mistakes of sabotaging Li Rong, then thought about Li Rong’s achievements at court. Finally, he felt much more at ease. Only when the roosters began to crow did he barely manage to fall asleep.

The next day when they both got up, Li Rong had slept quite well, but Pei Wenxuan had two dark circles under his eyes.

Li Rong looked him up and down and couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t you sleep all night?”

Pei Wenxuan smiled, somewhat bitterly. “Your Highness, I finally understand something.”

Li Rong raised an eyebrow. Pei Wenxuan said gently, “This must be a test you’re giving me, right?”

“Ah?” Li Rong was somewhat confused. Pei Wenxuan seemed like a wandering spirit, his steps somewhat unsteady as he “floated” out of the room and walked with Li Rong toward the court. He wore a transcendent smile, comforting himself. “We two have been suspicious of each other for years. In crucial matters, we’ve always handled things personally, never trusting others to do them. This is the first time in my two lifetimes that I’ve entrusted such an important matter to someone else. This is also a test of this humble minister’s faith in Your Highness.”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words, Li Rong couldn’t help feeling somewhat guilty. Pei Wenxuan continued comforting himself. “Your Highness is extremely capable. As an opponent, I have never not trusted Your Highness. Now I should continue to trust Your Highness in this way, not only trusting that Your Highness has my best interests at heart, but also trusting that Your Highness’s abilities are absolutely without question.”

“You can be uncertain about the former,” Li Rong turned back confidently, “but absolutely trust the latter.”

“Your Highness is right.” Pei Wenxuan, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, had eyes full of trust. “I’ve always believed in Your Highness.”

One full of confidence, one pretending to be strong, they went to court together.

Because everyone knew the most crucial matter today was announcing the transfer lists for all departments, there wasn’t much idle talk. After quickly reporting the key matters, the Minister of Personnel stepped forward and respectfully said, “Your Majesty, all departmental transfer lists have been decided. Please allow this minister to read the list.”

“Read it.”

Li Ming sipped tea from the side and granted Wang Houwen’s request. Wang Houwen took out the list and began reading from the Ministry of Rites.

Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan had already inquired about the lists for each department, and most of the high officials present at court knew the list contents, so everyone just listened quietly.

When they reached the Ministry of Justice, both Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong waited to hear Pei Liming’s name.

After all, as Vice Minister of Justice who had also handled Xie Lanqing’s case, in terms of qualifications, political achievements, and status, Pei Liming was the most suitable candidate to take over.

However, after Wang Houwen calmly read “Minister of Justice—” the name that followed was “Su Rongqing.”

Pei Wenxuan’s head shot up abruptly, only to see Li Rong looking back at him in shock.

Li Rong hadn’t expected Su Rongqing to intercept halfway. Although he was Vice Minister of Justice, in terms of qualifications, he was indeed too young.

Moreover, based on her understanding of Su Rongqing, in their previous life he hadn’t coveted fame or profit and rarely competed with others for anything. Even the position of Vice Minister of Justice had been arranged by his family. Now that Pei Liming was already the obvious choice for Minister of Justice, for Su Rongqing to become Minister of Justice, he must have employed some means behind the scenes.

Pei Wenxuan also knew this. After briefly making eye contact with Li Rong, he frowned and turned to look at Su Rongqing ahead.

Su Rongqing stood calmly ahead, eyes looking straight forward, as if everything was within his expectations, composed and unhurried.

Days of exhaustion had already left him somewhat unwell. Now suddenly hearing that Su Rongqing had become Minister of Justice, and seeing Su Rongqing’s ethereal, detached, indifferent-to-fame appearance, he felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, finding it hard to breathe.

Pretending.

Who knows how many underhanded tactics he used behind the scenes to snatch the position of Minister of Justice, yet now he still puts on this act!

Pei Wenxuan was so angry that he gripped his tablet much harder. Just at this moment, Wang Houwen reached the Ministry of Personnel list.

The list announced at court today included all positions at Fifth Rank and above. Merit Assessment Director was Lower Sixth Rank, not high enough to be read in the hall, so Pei Wenxuan was completely unprepared.

Just when he had no preparation whatsoever, he heard Wang Houwen seemingly amplify his voice and read aloud, “Vice Minister of Personnel—”

“Pei Wenxuan!”

Hearing these words, Pei Wenxuan couldn’t catch his breath. His vision went dark, the world spun, and his entire body could no longer hold up. He fell straight backward.

Before fainting, Pei Wenxuan wanted to praise Li Rong.

Well done.

The agreed-upon Lower Sixth Rank Merit Assessment Director had now become Upper Fourth Rank Vice Minister of Personnel.

Such a high position—now everyone at court was probably watching him, even Li Ming might have other thoughts.

Li Rong’s abilities were truly a bit too outstanding.