“Wei Shenbi, you’re quite bold,” Xi Linxuan remarked, continuing to eat.
The small bowl emptied quickly. He pulled Wei Linxia’s hand to sit side by side at the desk, saying, “After eating my wontons, you should contribute something. Sitting alone looking at these boring things is headache-inducing. Keep me company.”
“I’ll get a headache too,” Wei Linxia said, carefully looking around the hall.
In any dynasty, women’s involvement in state affairs was taboo.
“Then we’ll be in pain together, and brew two bowls of headache medicine. I’ll feed you, and you’ll feed me,” Xi Linxuan said, seemingly unconcerned.
At first, Wei Linxia sat quietly, but then Xi Linxuan asked her to help turn over the memorial documents. Later, he claimed he needed to rest due to slight abdominal pain, so she read the documents aloud while he wrote comments.
By the time the documents were reviewed, dinner had passed by two hours. Wei Linxia’s throat was parched from reading, despite drinking countless cups of tea.
“With a beautiful woman beside me, I don’t even feel hungry without dinner,” Xi Linxuan said, glancing at the bronze water clock. “Didn’t we lose track of time?”
“It’s time for a late-night snack and then to rest,” Wei Linxia said, helping him up, aware he was taking advantage of his injury. But who cared? Even an emperor couldn’t always be serious; a bit of willfulness was harmless.
Xi Linxuan said he wanted to return to the inner palace to eat the small treats she prepared.
As they walked back, moonlight spilled over the palace grounds, brightening the corridor.
“The moon is beautiful,” Xi Linxuan sighed.
“Isn’t it the same as usual?” Wei Linxia replied, puzzled by what was so special.
Xi Linxuan playfully tapped her forehead. “Shen Bi, can we discuss something?”
“What?” Wei Linxia asked.
“Promise me first.”
“You speak first.”
Xi Linxuan pulled her to sit in the pavilion and whispered in her ear. Wei Linxia’s brows furrowed with each word: “No.” She quickly rejected his proposal.
“My wound, my heart – a thousand years of cultivation leads to sharing a pillow. Will you really watch me work myself to death after we waited a thousand years?” Xi Linxuan’s tone was pitiful.
