The Imperial Recorder was helpless.
He wanted to jump up and remind His Majesty to watch her frivolous behavior, but feared that shouting out her identity would cause even more unnecessary trouble. Trapped in the crowd, he was both anxious and furious—using the excuse of asking for water to coax a respectable woman into feeding it to him was truly not something a ruler should do. She looked exactly like a wandering knight roaming the streets, a romantic rake. Fortunately, His Majesty was usually so absorbed in state affairs. Otherwise, with her level of audacity, who knew how many romantic debts she would incur? How would the history books judge her private life in the future?
The Imperial Recorder's face stretched longer than a donkey's.
The proprietress covered her lips and laughed. "You little rascal. It's lucky you're a girl. If you were a man, wouldn't you have stolen everyone's hearts?"
Shen Tang laughed. "I don't like hearing that."
She glanced around. There were only a few faces that stood out.
Though the Imperial Recorder wore a neatly trimmed beard, his brows, eyes, and features were upright and refined. Even shaved, he would still be handsome. But even if Shen Tang had ten times the courage, she would never dare tease him. Who knew what he would write in the daily records...
Just then, the corner of her eye caught sight of the young man standing to one side.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled faintly. Her spirited face brimmed with bewitching charm. "One bowl of water can't quench my thirst. Since my lady is so stingy with that bowl, why not have this dashing gentleman do it instead and share a mouthful with me?"
Jimò Qiu, who had been quietly watching His Highness fool around, had not expected to