Page 183

Pfft... Zhu Bafu almost spat a mouthful of old blood. She had spent the entire previous year's night reviewing academy student essays that had passed the imperial exams, yet not a single one resembled Lord Li's assignment—uh, so uninhibited and dissolute...

"Look. Even Lord Zhu cannot endure you. Little Jing, are you choosing this palace poem to openly flirt with Zhen? Or to flirt with Zhen's imperial concubines?" Zhao Huangpu's eyes held a smile, his lips curving, "Or... helping Rongrong remind Zhen of just how long it has been since he last visited her bed?"

Li Chenjing remained silent, merely lowering his gaze to slightly tighten the horse's reins, with no intention of explaining anything whatsoever, yet a superfluous voice suddenly sounded beside his ear—

"Your Majesty, this minister thinks Lord Li probably did not mean what you said."

His ears felt as though they had been pricked by that voice, carrying a slight tingling warmth, and his eyes involuntarily turned toward the person kneeling on the soft palanquin.

Zhu Bafu's words caused Zhao Huangpu to raise a brow as well. "Then perhaps this Zhu boy would care to explain what our Lord Li's intent is."

Zhu Bafu blinked, that palace poem once more flashing through her mind, and lightly pressed her lips together. "On the surface, these verses depict an imperial concubine's longing for favor, gazing out without avail, harboring both resentment and expectation. Yet if we apply this under the three characters of possessing talent, does it not truly speak of unappreciated talent awaiting Your Majesty's imperial selection?"

The sound of her words faded, yet no one answered her. The surroundings grew so quiet that only the footsteps of eunuchs and the clip-clop of hooves remained. Both the emperor and Lord Li gazed at her with bizarre expressions,