“Your Highness is brilliant.” Hearing Li Rong make her decision, Shangguan Ya immediately bowed and flattered her. “The transfer is what troubles the Prince Consort most right now. If Your Highness can help him resolve it, when he learns of it, he will surely be deeply grateful, extremely delighted, feel Your Highness’s care for him, then open his heart and join Your Highness on Wushan to consummate the marriage.”

“The latter part isn’t necessary.” Li Rong coughed lightly. “As long as he’s happy. As for the rest,” Li Rong thought about it, “what he says isn’t necessarily wrong either.”

“What does Your Highness mean?” Shangguan Ya was somewhat puzzled. Li Rong put her hands behind her back and smiled: “I’ve never properly been in a romantic relationship. I looked at a portrait once, then hastily married someone. It was all muddled—I actually don’t know what it feels like when two people fall in love, pledge their hearts, and marry.”

As Li Rong spoke, she turned to look at Shangguan Ya. The current Shangguan Ya was lively and beautiful. Li Rong looked at her for a long time, slowly smiling: “You’re not young anymore either. Don’t just look for prospects for others all day—look for yourself too. When you should make a move, make a move. If you can’t make a move, call me,” Li Rong raised an eyebrow, “and this palace will help you.”

“Thank you for Your Highness’s kind intentions.” As soon as Shangguan Ya heard Li Rong wanted to help her, she immediately said: “Your affairs are still more important. This subordinate can resolve the small matter of marriage herself.”

Li Rong nodded and didn’t concern herself further. After all, this was Shangguan Ya’s private matter—whatever she wanted to do, Li Rong wasn’t interested.

So she returned to the matter of Pei Wenxuan’s transfer, contemplating methods in her mind.

For Pei Wenxuan to transfer to the Ministry of Personnel, first the Censorate had to be willing to release him, and second the Ministry of Personnel had to be willing to accept him. The Censorate was under Shangguan Minzhi’s control, so the difficulty wasn’t great, but the Ministry of Personnel was under Wang Houwen’s control. She had offended quite a few Wang family members before. If Pei Wenxuan tried to transfer there and Wang Houwen learned of it, he definitely couldn’t transfer. So the most secure method now was to find someone who could make decisions in the Ministry of Personnel and have Pei Wenxuan quietly enter a small position in the Ministry. Once it was settled, even when Wang Houwen found out, it would be very difficult to drive Pei Wenxuan out again.

First sneak into the Ministry of Personnel, then plan for subsequent promotions.

What Pei Wenxuan needed now was someone willing to secretly put his name on the Ministry of Personnel’s transfer list.

Li Rong thought about the name of the person in charge of internal and external personnel transfers for the Ministry of Personnel this time and made up her mind.

“Strange.”

As Li Rong was thinking about Pei Wenxuan’s promotion, she heard Shangguan Ya murmur something. Li Rong raised her head and noticed that many scholars from outside Hua Jing seemed to be coming and going on the street. Some were asking for directions, others chatting. Accents from all over mixed together, filling the streets, making Li Rong look several times.

Shangguan Ya also noticed this situation. She was somewhat curious: “Recently there seem to be many more scholars from outside the city.”

“Do you know why?”

Li Rong turned to look at Shangguan Ya. Shangguan Ya shook her head. Though she was proficient in the ways among the upper nobility, she wasn’t very clear about matters concerning common people below.

Li Rong was very familiar with these scholars’ origins: “The Imperial Examination begins in the third month. At the beginning of the second month, local students and provincial candidates must arrive at the Department of State Affairs to register.”

This was a matter of national importance in the later period of her previous life.

“Then why are they coming so early?”

“Naturally there are other purposes. The Imperial Examination not only tests essays written at that time, but candidates can also submit their usual essays to the chief examiner. If the chief examiner likes them, even if the examination essay is mediocre, they can still enter the palace examination based on their usual essays.”

“But how do these ordinary students submit their usual essays to the chief examiner? Do they hand them over together during the examination?”

Shangguan Ya was somewhat puzzled. Li Rong looked to the side and saw two scholars discussing their experiences visiting the Su residence. After listening briefly, she explained to Shangguan Ya: “So they arrive in Hua Jing early to submit their writings to the residences of nobles who enjoy collecting poetry. If they’re valued, these nobles will recommend them to the chief examiner at that time.”

“In that case,” Shangguan Ya pondered, “this Imperial Examination actually isn’t very meaningful.”

“How so?” Seeing Shangguan Ya seemed to have realized something, Shangguan Ya pursed her lips: “If nobles can recommend candidates and the chief examiner can give bonus points at his discretion, wouldn’t the children of nobles taking the examination all become top scholars?”

“Why would children of nobles need to take the Imperial Examination?” Li Rong smiled. “Children of aristocratic families already benefit from their ancestors and can be directly recommended to enter court. For example, Su Rongqing at age twelve attended court to discuss politics with his grandfather—did he need to take the Imperial Examination? So most who take the Imperial Examination are from ordinary families, or they’re proud young men who want to test how much they’re truly worth. The unfairness of the Imperial Examination lies in the struggles among these ordinary people, not in aristocratic interference.”

Listening to this, Shangguan Ya sighed. Li Rong couldn’t help but laugh: “What are you sighing about?”

“Your Highness,” Shangguan Ya sighed emotionally, “good thing we worked hard when we were being reincarnated.”

The two chatted all the way as Li Rong escorted Shangguan Ya back to the residence. After returning to the residence, Li Rong immediately instructed someone to investigate Liu Hangchun, a Bureau Director in the Ministry of Personnel.

After handling a series of matters, she heard that Pei Wenxuan had returned.

After Pei Wenxuan returned, he didn’t come to see her first but instead detoured to the bathhouse. Only after washing did he return.

Li Rong was reviewing memorials. Seeing him enter after changing clothes, she didn’t raise her head, only saying: “Where did the Prince Consort go drinking at the pleasure houses?”

“Your Highness wrongs me.”

Pei Wenxuan smiled and walked over to Li Rong, sitting down cross-legged: “With this humble servant here, who would be bold enough to take me drinking at pleasure houses?”

“Those old foxes at court are quite bold,” Li Rong put the reviewed memorial aside. “Didn’t they take you before? It’s not like I don’t know.”

“The past differs from the present,” Pei Wenxuan leaned to the left, smiling: “Back then when they took me drinking at pleasure houses, Princess Pingle would at most complain to His Majesty, and His Majesty would just scold them verbally. Privately, he’d probably want Your Highness to cultivate more wifely virtues. But now if they take me drinking at pleasure houses,” Pei Wenxuan grabbed a peanut from the plate and tossed it in his mouth, “the Constabulary Bureau would immediately be at their door investigating. They’d be making trouble for themselves.”

“Women,” Pei Wenxuan sighed emotionally, “become fierce when they have money.”

“What, was I very gentle before?” Li Rong raised an eyebrow to look at him. Seeing warning in her eyes, Pei Wenxuan quickly said: “You’re gentle now too, especially gentle.”

Li Rong was amused by him. Too lazy to bother with his impropriety, she only said: “Today was to discuss the transfer matter?”

“Exactly.” Pei Wenxuan sighed. “I went to great efforts, inviting all the Ministry of Personnel people. Every single one hemmed and hawed—I can recite their words by now.”

“Prince Consort, it’s not that we won’t help you,” Pei Wenxuan straightened up, imitating those people’s manner, speaking sarcastically. “This matter must be done according to the rules. When the time comes, whoever is suitable, whoever should be chosen, will be chosen. Prince Consort, don’t worry—just follow the rules.”

After speaking, Pei Wenxuan lightly spat: “Those old foxes, they have no rules in their hearts—what they want is money. But they don’t dare accept my money.”

“How about,” Li Rong probed, “you leave this matter to me?”

“You think I can’t handle it?”

Pei Wenxuan twisted his head, raising an eyebrow: “Your Highness,” he straightened his body, quite serious, “you can say I’m a bad person. But,” Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to point at his head, “you can’t say I’m stupid.”

“Then…” Li Rong asked carefully, “you’ll handle this matter yourself?”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to roll up his sleeves, saying slowly: “It’s a small matter—no need to trouble Your Highness.”

“What if I want to be troubled?” Li Rong hesitantly asked this question. Pei Wenxuan’s movement paused. This sentence entered Pei Wenxuan’s mind, and he instantly analyzed Li Rong’s various possible motives for saying this.

What does it mean to want to be troubled—she hopes he can rely on her?

Why does she want him to rely on her?

Could it be…

Pei Wenxuan reviewed all the fragments of their time together in his mind. He suddenly realized that every time he was in difficulty, Li Rong seemed to treat him a bit better.

Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but recall what his grandmother used to say to his mother: “In a marriage, you must learn to show weakness. If you do everything yourself and the other party can’t do anything for you, even if you’re wonderful in a thousand ways, it will be difficult for them to keep you in their heart.”

Translated, this roughly meant that if everything came without cost, naturally it wouldn’t be cherished.

Looking at it this way, was he usually too strong?

For ordinary women, if he was domineering, they might be delighted. But Li Rong was someone accustomed to being strong—if he showed weakness, would it actually make Li Rong happier?

A pile of thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind. Pei Wenxuan’s sleeve-rolling movement paused for only a moment before he smiled and continued rolling his sleeves up to his arms, saying unhurriedly: “Then how does Your Highness wish to be troubled?”

“How about you leave this matter to me?” Li Rong became enthusiastic, saying happily: “I don’t seem to have helped you with anything before. Let me help you once. I guarantee I’ll handle it perfectly!”

“Good.”

Pei Wenxuan smiled slightly, raising his head: “Then I’ll trouble Your Highness. Actually, this matter would be very difficult for me to handle properly. If Your Highness can help, that would be best.”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan say it would be very difficult for him to handle, Li Rong instinctively ignored his earlier words about it being a “small matter” and immediately became happy.

Seeing her happiness, Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to stack her memorials neatly, then stood up and reached out to pull Li Rong: “Alright, it’s late—let’s sleep.”

Li Rong let him pull her up and walked toward the bed with him. After getting on the bed, Pei Wenxuan lowered the curtains. Only then did Li Rong remember something. She turned on her side to look at Pei Wenxuan beside her: “Did you drink today?”

“No.”

Hearing her question, Pei Wenxuan also turned on his side to look at her: “Nowadays I don’t drink if I can avoid it.”

“Why not drink for a lifetime?” Li Rong was somewhat puzzled. She remembered that back then, Pei Wenxuan had navigated officialdom with ease, his alcohol tolerance trained through drinking with superiors. Hearing her question, Pei Wenxuan only said: “First, I don’t want you to have to take care of me again—if I drink, it’s troublesome for you to care for me. Second, I cherish my life.”

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he raised his hand to gently tuck the hair from Li Rong’s face behind her ear, saying softly: “In our previous life, we both tormented our bodies terribly. You were plagued by serious illness in your early fifties, and I wasn’t much better. When you were lying in a sickbed, I was coughing up blood too.”

“I didn’t know.” Li Rong sighed. “You hid it too well.”

“Only I and the physician knew.”

Pei Wenxuan’s voice was gentle: “And not long after, we both passed away together. I think if I had still been alive, it wouldn’t have been much longer. So in this life let’s not torment ourselves. If we live longer, I can keep you company longer. I still have to wait for you. If my life is short and I don’t wait…”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Li Rong didn’t like him saying such things. Pei Wenxuan smiled and didn’t say more. He thought for a moment, and seeing Li Rong seemed interested in talking with him, he said: “You went to see Lin Feibai today?”

“Mm. I’m having him serve in the Southwest military and properly establish merit.”

“That’s good. We can’t rely entirely on Qin Lin. He’s already quite exposed now.” Pei Wenxuan nodded. Li Rong thought for a moment, then suddenly said: “Pei Wenxuan, in your previous life, did you want children?”

This question made Pei Wenxuan pause. After a moment, he slowly said: “Of course I wanted them. Especially later, every time I returned to an empty home, I felt very lonely.”

“Did you want boys or girls?”

Li Rong was somewhat curious. Pei Wenxuan pondered, answering: “That didn’t really matter—they’re about the same. However, now I don’t really want them anymore.”

“Why?” Li Rong was surprised. Pei Wenxuan gazed at her. After a long while, he gently touched his forehead to hers: “I’m afraid something might happen to you. I don’t want any at all—I don’t want to take even the slightest risk.”

Hearing this, Li Rong lowered her eyes. Pei Wenxuan looked at her appearance, raised his hand to gather her in his arms, and said gently: “Sleep.”

After Pei Wenxuan agreed to let Li Rong handle the transfer matter, he truly stopped concerning himself with it.

Not worrying about the transfer, Pei Wenxuan became idle. He set up a wooden tube at the Princess residence gate with the two characters “Receiving Talent” written on it.

This wooden tube was called a Receiving Talent Tube. Before the Imperial Examinations, if prominent Hua Jing families were interested in viewing scholars’ essays, they would set up a wooden tube at their gate. Scholars could place their works in the tube and sign their names for the nobles to review.

If they liked a scholar’s essay, they could invite the person to the residence as a guest.

After Pei Wenxuan established the Receiving Talent Tube, the residence began holding frequent gatherings. Every day when Li Rong came home, she could hear Pei Wenxuan discussing current affairs with a pile of scholars. Besides these scholars, some aristocratic young masters would also come. Before the Imperial Examinations, because scholars attended banquets everywhere, it was also the most popular period for intellectual discussion banquets.

Sometimes Li Rong would secretly go over and see a room full of scholars engaging in lofty discourse. Pei Wenxuan wore a white robe with gold cloud patterns, a jade crown on his head. One leg was folded while the other knee was bent, one hand holding a teacup while the other rested on his bent knee. He looked casually unrestrained with several notes of pride, but when he smiled while observing people, he added several notes of composure and restraint.

At first, Li Rong secretly went over just by chance when going to see Pei Wenxuan. When she ran into this and saw so many people, she felt it was inappropriate to enter and quietly left.

But later she discovered that every time she went over, there seemed to be a pile of maids gathered at the door, secretly sizing up the people inside.

Once when she went over, she not only saw maids but also saw Shangguan Ya. She remained impassive, pretending not to have seen her.

Later still, she discovered that not only had Shangguan Ya come, but a crowd of noble young ladies had all started following Shangguan Ya to visit the Princess residence. Each time they gave Shangguan Ya’s name, then a whole group would hide in the garden to watch Pei Wenxuan’s intellectual discussion gatherings.

This matter was exposed to Li Rong one day when she had a sudden impulse to go see Pei Wenxuan. When she went over, she discovered a bunch of familiar high-born ladies all following Shangguan Ya in her courtyard.

She confirmed that this whole group hadn’t been announced—only Shangguan Ya’s name had been given. She looked from a distance and confirmed that all these young ladies’ eyes and gazes were entirely on the men in the discussion gathering, with over half focused on Pei Wenxuan.

She silently walked over and lightly kicked Shangguan Ya from behind. Shangguan Ya angrily turned around and said quietly: “What the—”

Before finishing her words, she saw Li Rong looking down at her from above. Shangguan Ya was so frightened she stuttered: “You you you…”

“Come with me for a moment.”

Li Rong directly grabbed Shangguan Ya’s collar and dragged her away. After the two walked far away, Li Rong crossed her arms and looked at Shangguan Ya, who stood before her with her head lowered, not daring to speak.

“Well done,” Li Rong laughed coldly. “Not doing your work, but bringing a group of young ladies to my residence to look at my Prince Consort?”

“Your Highness,” Shangguan Ya stammered, “actually they’re not all here to look at the Prince Consort…”

“Should I thank you all for letting him off?”

“Your Highness,” Shangguan Ya took a deep breath, “actually, this is also a strategy for us to win hearts and minds.”

“Using my Prince Consort’s face?”

“No,” Shangguan Ya immediately said. “Your Highness, you must understand—one good-looking man actually doesn’t have much lethal power, but a group of good-looking and talented men is different. Especially this feeling of secretly watching. If you don’t believe me, let me show you.”

Hearing Shangguan Ya’s words, Li Rong was dragged by her and followed her into the crowd with half belief and half doubt.

There were too many young ladies here, all hiding outside. Li Rong felt somewhat awkward for a moment. She didn’t know why she had to be so sneaky about watching her own husband.

Most importantly, why could those men be comfortably wearing light robes in the warm room while they had to shiver in the cold wind?

She felt these young ladies’ brains were all broken, yet she was still curious why even Shangguan Ya’s brain could be broken like this.

So she decided to follow Shangguan Ya and experience it.

Pei Wenxuan’s intellectual discussion banquets had recently become the most popular among all families, so many people came today. Prominent figures like Su Ronghua and ordinary humble family members like Cui Yulang were all in this great hall.

Whether Su Ronghua or Cui Yulang, both were famous romantic figures in Hua Jing. Yet Pei Wenxuan among them, in plain robes with a jade crown, showed no weakness at all. Whether sitting or standing, his posture was elegant and refined. In composing poetry and debating, he was very skilled.

Today he and Su Ronghua engaged in debate on the topic of “Propriety.”

The two each took a seat and settled on the ground. Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to indicate Su Ronghua should go first. Su Ronghua nodded and inquired: “Propriety—is it law?”

“What is law?” Pei Wenxuan’s expression was calm as he calmly countered.

“Rules are law.”

“What is legal code?”

“Law is legal code.”

“How do rules differ from legal code?”

This question made Su Ronghua hesitate for a moment before finally saying: “Legal code is rules, but rules are not legal code.”

“Propriety is rules, legal code is also rules. Both are types of rules, yet they’re not the same. If you violate legal code, you’ll be punished by the authorities. If you violate propriety, you won’t necessarily be punished. Therefore,” Pei Wenxuan picked up tea from the side and smiled as he raised his eyes, “propriety is not law.”

This smile of his seemed to carry brilliance. Li Rong bent at the waist hiding in the garden watching him. She didn’t know why, but her heartbeat quickened half a beat.

She watched somewhat dazed for a moment. Just then, it seemed a young lady behind her became too excited and suddenly slipped, falling forward.

So one pushed another, and Li Rong happened to be at the very front. Pushed like this, she directly fell out. She hadn’t yet recovered from Pei Wenxuan’s smile when someone pushed her, and she fell straight out.

Li Rong stumbled and fell to the ground. Everyone was startled and collectively looked over.

Pei Wenxuan still held his teacup, his eyes full of smiles looking over. When he discovered the one who had fallen was Li Rong, he raised his eyebrows.

Being stared at by so many people, embarrassment filled Li Rong’s heart.

Fortunately her face was thick. She tried her best to maintain an elegant posture as she stood up, then gracefully patted off the dust and commented: “Well spoken. Everyone, please continue.”

With that, she waved her fan and smiled as she stepped into the crowd. As she walked, she kicked the leg of Shangguan Ya who had pushed her from behind.

Shangguan Ya sucked in a cold breath but didn’t dare cry out. She quickly limped after her.

Everyone watched as Li Rong swayed gracefully away waving her fan in the dead of winter. At this moment, finally a scholar reacted and turned to look at Pei Wenxuan, puzzled: “Lord Pei, who was that lady just now?”

Hearing this question, Pei Wenxuan turned back and smiled rather apologetically: “My wife is mischievous—how embarrassing.”

With that, he drank a sip of tea. Thinking of Li Rong’s dazed look when she fell to the ground staring at him, his smile grew even broader.

After Li Rong led Shangguan Ya far away, she could finally lose her temper. She turned around and pointed her fan at Shangguan Ya, her anger overflowing: “Look at you…”

“Wasn’t the Prince Consort very handsome!” Shangguan Ya raised her hand to grab Li Rong’s fan. Li Rong, asked this question, was actually choked speechless for a moment.

Shangguan Ya stared at Li Rong and said seriously: “Your Highness, don’t you feel your heart flutter? Watching a group of men together feels different, right?”

Li Rong: “…”

“Did you investigate Liu Hangchun or not?” Li Rong felt it was meaningless to quibble with a teenage girl. After all, Shangguan Ya was still young—a young maiden’s heart stirring with spring feelings. She had been the same when young. She didn’t want to answer whether Pei Wenxuan was handsome or not, so she could only change the subject.

Shangguan Ya nodded: “I investigated. Tomorrow I’ll deliver everything you want to your desk. Speaking of which, considering how much effort I’ve put into helping you with work, could you help me with a small favor?”

“Speak.” Li Rong nodded. As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Shangguan Ya pull out a pile of colorful papers.

“Your Highness, could you trouble yourself to tell the Prince Consort to distribute these papers and have the people whose names are written on them write something on the paper? Writing their names, writing poetry—anything is fine.”

“Are you crazy?” Li Rong’s face showed shock. “You want me to ask Pei Wenxuan to do this?”

“Your Highness,” Shangguan Ya looked completely serious, “my relationship with the young ladies of all the great families depends on you.”

Li Rong said nothing. She quietly looked at the papers Shangguan Ya held. After taking them and examining each name, she finally took a deep breath: “These names won’t be signed for free—five taels of silver per paper.”

“Deal.”

Shangguan Ya exclaimed happily. Li Rong stuffed the papers into her sleeve and went back to her room by herself.

By evening, Pei Wenxuan’s intellectual discussion gathering was about finished, and he returned to their room.

As soon as he entered, he saw Li Rong waiting for him in the room. Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan enter, but thinking of the afternoon’s events, she felt somewhat embarrassed and didn’t want to greet him proactively. Pei Wenxuan stepped in and sat across from Li Rong, saying with a smile: “Your Highness?”

“You’re back?” Li Rong didn’t raise her head, continuing to review memorials. Pei Wenxuan smiled and stared at her for a while. Li Rong knew he was sizing her up, so she pretended nothing was wrong. She raised her head to look at Pei Wenxuan: “Your intellectual discussion gathering was done quite well. Did you see a few people you can use?”

“Naturally there are some. After all, this year’s Dragon and Tiger Rankings have many talented people.”

Hearing this, Li Rong nodded. Pei Wenxuan smiled as he watched Li Rong making small talk. Li Rong felt somewhat embarrassed under his gaze, but she didn’t show it on her face. She only coughed lightly: “Then you should interact with them more.”

“Of course,” Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to pinch a peanut from Li Rong’s plate, saying slowly, “How long did Your Highness secretly watch?”

“Not long.” Li Rong instinctively refuted, then felt this direction was somewhat wrong and quickly remedied: “I wasn’t watching you.”

“Oh.” Pei Wenxuan answered carelessly. Only then did Li Rong remember she had a task today, so she quickly softened her attitude: “Um, Pei Wenxuan, could you help me with something?”

“Your Highness please speak.” Pei Wenxuan rubbed the peanut in his hand. Seeing Li Rong’s expression was somewhat embarrassed, he guessed the favor Li Rong wanted him to help with most likely had nothing to do with official business.

If it had nothing to do with official business, it should be some private matter. Thinking of Li Rong’s expression looking at him during the day, plus Li Rong’s series of actions wanting to help him with his transfer, he couldn’t help but guess that Li Rong’s request for this favor now might also be because she liked him and wanted to do something.

For example, asking him for a piece of calligraphy to practice copying?

Thinking of this, Pei Wenxuan’s smile grew. He exerted effort to restrain himself and heard Li Rong say: “I know you scholars all write well. Could you possibly…”

“Of course.” Pei Wenxuan happily agreed. “Does Your Highness want to practice cop—”

“Look at this stack of papers,” Li Rong pulled out a pile of papers with a somewhat ingratiating manner. “Could you distribute them according to the names on the papers and ask your friends to help sign their names?”