The 17th Year of Yan Huang, First Month.
A lotus blossom formed of ice and snow drifted lightly onto Gu Chi's shoulder.
He instinctively looked up in the direction it had come from and met a gloomy face. Gu Chi's heart gave a jolt. Shen Tang, who had tossed the flower, propped her chin on her hand. "What are you jolting for? You've been having so much fun out there you forgot to come home, huh? I can't believe my Grand Censor still remembered to return. I thought I wouldn't see you until after the first month. Get up here. What are you standing around for?"
Gu Chi plucked the lotus off his shoulder and climbed the stairs with a wry smile.
The private room was mostly filled with familiar faces. Only two were strangers.
They had probably been promoted during the two years he'd taken off.
"Your Majesty, there are still a few days of annual leave left, aren't there?"
The two strangers watched the long-absent confidant of the founding court with curiosity, secretly sizing up Gu Chi's appearance and temperament. When they saw him come upstairs and speak to Shen Tang with such easy familiarity, their eyes widened in shock. Shen Tang took the ice-and-snow lotus from Gu Chi. Her literary energy surged in her palm, and the blossom melted into a stream of water that filled a wine cup. A crisp, fresh fragrance rose from it.
Shen Tang calmly took a sip.
"Are you sure there are still a few days?"
Gu Chi: "..."
Come on. She was going to hold those few days against him, too?
"Tsk. Sit down." Shen Tang's deliberately stern expression dissolved into a smile. She stopped teasing Gu Chi and had someone bring over the coconut milk and egg drink that had