Shen De seemed to have a bit of a "the face makes the case" foolish-lord streak. She was very cooperative with Tan Qu's care. Shen Tang had coaxed her for ages and still barely gotten her to eat any rice soaked in meat broth, but in Tan Qu's hands, the bowl was slowly emptied in no time, every last bit cleaned up.
She even took a few bites of fruit she didn't like.
After rinsing her mouth, she puckered her lips and waited for Tan Qu to wipe them clean with a handkerchief.
Shen Tang: "..."
Tan Qu had little appetite to begin with.
He only ate a couple of bites after Shen De finished.
He'd been distracted throughout the meal, and in the end, he asked the question he'd been holding in for a long time. "Virtuous Lord, you don't seem to dislike me?"
Shen Tang didn't want to reveal her identity in public, so Tan Qu had gone along with it and addressed her as Virtuous Lord. But his question left Shen Tang confused.
"Why would I dislike you?"
Was this some showdown between a moonlight in one's heart and a red cinnabar mole?
"Because of Chancellor Qi."
Shen Tang laughed. "Do I seem like a narrow-minded person?"
The key was that there was no clash of positions or conflict of interest between her and this "Tan Qu." Their only connection was Qi Yuanliang.
"No, but even though Kang and Qu are separated..." Tan Qu had meant to say the two countries were thousands of miles apart, practically at opposite ends of the world. But Kang had already conquered the central region and would soon be knocking on Qu's door, so the distance was hard to describe. "Even I, a commoner, often hear people praise Virtuous Lord's benevolence