Qi Shan's lips twitched as if he were about to smile, but he forcibly suppressed it.
He was the sort who was practically over the moon inside but still had to argue a little on the outside. "Thankfully, the Imperial Recorder didn't hear you say that, my lord."
Shen Tang covered her nose with a handkerchief, her voice muffled.
She asked in confusion, "What does that have to do with the Imperial Recorder?"
She hadn't said anything out of line this time.
Qi Shan's brows curved with a smile as he teased her in a cheerful tone. "If the Imperial Recorder heard you, then everyone under heaven would know that Shan is more important than Chu Wu Hui and more favored by Your Majesty!"
Shen Tang looked a little embarrassed, almost bursting out laughing. She hurriedly put the handkerchief back over her nose and said crossly, "Yuan Liang, are you three years old this year? Why are you still acting like a child, competing with Wuhui over things like this? It's a good thing Wuhui is older and doesn't hold it against you."
Qi Shan said smugly, "It's not that he doesn't hold it against me."
Was there a day when Chu Yao didn't hold it against him?
Their open and covert rivalry had never stopped all these years.
Besides—
"If a minister doesn't compete for the sovereign's favor, how can he ever have the chance to distinguish himself?" Being capable wasn't enough to rise to a high position. The sovereign's favor was also an important measure in officialdom. Winning it meant securing the greatest possible freedom, authority, and resources, and only then could one show one's talents. "My lord just told me to wait and bring back the entire Northwest Continent for you. If the Imperial Recorder writes that