"Tap, tap, tap."
As the gates of the Minister's Residence were struck.
Concubine Lin entered the residence and came into the courtyard.
Zeng Shilin sat in a reclining chair, leisurely sipping tea. Hearing the movement, he did not turn around and merely said in an unhurried voice:
"Just in time, the tea's gone. Go refill it for me."
Without a word, Concubine Lin wore a smile as she slowly approached Zeng Shilin, gently picked up the teapot, and headed out of the courtyard.
Only then did Zeng Shilin sense that something was wrong.
He slowly raised his head and glanced sideways. When his gaze landed on Concubine Lin's retreating figure, he cried out in astonishment:
"Why are you back??"
"Who told you to come back?"
"Where's Huzi?"
Three questions in a row revealed just how caught off guard he was.
At that moment, the sun had only just begun to set.
It was just like when they had first met, when Concubine Lin stood by the bridge holding an umbrella.
Only this time, what she held was no longer an umbrella, but a teapot.
She looked at Zeng Shilin with a sweet smile, blinked, and a trace of mischief shone in her eyes.
"This lord has been staring at this servant girl so intensely that this servant girl is feeling a little flustered."
The moment those words fell.
Zeng Shilin's face flushed bright red.
He, too, recalled their first meeting, when he had been deeply captivated the instant he saw Concubine Lin.
That was what she had said back then as well.
"You already knew?"
Zeng Shilin sighed, looking at Concubine Lin with a complicated expression.
"This concubine does not know."
Concubine Lin still wore that sweet smile, though her exquisite face was serious.
"But no matter what Master intends