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"Then let's cancel it."

"Hah..." Heaving a sigh of relief, the two grown men out on a date at night—if word got out, how was she supposed to show her face in Dongxu Mansion anymore?

"I meant cancel your romantic rendezvous for tonight. Come back to the mansion with me."

What! What the hell?! He just casually canceled another maiden's romantic rendezvous? And she had to go back to the mansion with him? What the hell for? What the hell was she going back to the mansion for?

"Allow me to speak frankly, sir. Your bringing this humble scholar back to the mansion is—"

"To see my father."

"..."

What the hell?! Bringing a man back to meet his own biological father in the middle of the night, did he even consider his father's feelings? Was he seriously trying to court disaster for his old man? Was he not going to rest until he choked his own father into a fit of anger and white-foam-frothed vomiting?

"To tell him about our relationship."

"...Do we even have a relationship?" How come she had no idea when they had gotten involved?

He glanced at her. "The relationship of being together."

"...What?!" Asking her to smile brightly at the reigning Prime Minister and say, "Hello, sir, this humble scholar is currently together with your son, and I have specially come to visit my father-in-law?!" She might as well gouge out her own eyes and vomit blood on the spot!

"Look... this humble scholar's status is lowly, while you, sir, are the noble Prime Minister's son. A rash visit might cause undue inconvenience. In my view, we should pick an auspicious day next time, and you can make the formal introduction on my behalf. How does that sound to you?" Did he take her for a complete idiot? Seducing the Prime Minister's son and making an enemy of the current Prime Minister?

"Sneaking into the Six Ministries Forbidden Land and prying into the Ministry of Revenue Study. The standard penalty is expulsion from the mansion, never to be hired again."

"..." Such a brute! Despicable! He was actually striking at her weakness and threatening her...

"Come back to the mansion with me, or pack your bags and get out of Dongxu Mansion tomorrow. Suit yourself."

"..."

"I forgot to mention, being expelled before even a month in the mansion is a waste of the imperial court's provisions for talented individuals. The standard penalty is a fine of thirty taels, with double the taxes."

"..." She hadn't even scraped together a single coin yet, and they wanted her to cough up thirty taels? Did they take her for a sucker? Bah, at the very least she had to stick around long enough to earn back her application fee before anything else. "Sir, do you really take this humble scholar for an ungrateful wretch? Ahahaha, you have truly misjudged me. You bestowed upon me the grace of protecting my 'bird', and that magnificent silhouette of yours when you rescued me simply blinded this humble scholar's dog-like eyes! This humble scholar will surely sacrifice his life for righteousness for your sake!"

"..." Li Chenjing uncomfortably lowered his gaze, looked at someone's "bird", and rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it just telling your dear father that we're together? Let's go! How are we going to torment your old man? Should we gaze deeply into each other's eyes with shy, unspoken words, or lock fingers? You choose, this humble scholar will obey your every wish. The man I respect, admire, and adore most in my life is a man like you, sir—you are truly a man among men, a rugged hero among men, a real husband among men! To serve you, sir, is my three lifetimes of supreme fortune, four generations of accumulated blessings, and five generations of fasting in exchange, so... please, I beg you, don't drive me away! This humble scholar will definitely live up to expectations and choke your old man into a fit of anger! I can even hug your trouser legs and wail another grievance, do you need me to?"

"..."

Night fell heavy, the bright moon hung high, and a cold silver light brushed over the plaque inscribed with the three characters "Prime Minister's Residence" personally written by the Holy Emperor. Two stone lions sat majestically on the left and right of the mansion gates, their paws proudly pinning down jade spheres.

Outside the mansion gates, departing sedan chairs and snorting horses kicked up a flurry of busy farewells. Inside the gates, however, the Prime Minister's study was enveloped in complete stillness. An unfinished longevity character was spread across the desk, and the wielder of the brush made vigorous, sweeping strokes in one unbroken flow.

"Lord Prime Minister, you summoned Rongrong on your birthday, yet instead of letting me play the zither to liven up your birthday banquet, surely you didn't just want me to watch you practice calligraphy?"

The large character was finished, but the small inscription remained. Changing to a fine-tipped brush, the dark sleeve continued smoothly and gracefully across the xuan paper.

"If Lord Prime Minister has nothing else to say, this humble woman will take her leave. As for the silver used to invite Rongrong here, it will not be returned." Liu Rongrong rose from her chair, turned, picked up her accompanying guqin, and started to walk away.

"Please stay, little niece." Making the final stroke, he laid down the fine-tipped brush as the dark sleeve slid off the desk. The current Prime Minister, Li Xiangfan, called out to the top courtesan of Chunfen Pavilion.

The title "little niece" made Liu Rongrong's steps pause. With her flawless, delicate makeup, she slowly turned back, her fine eyebrows and alluring eyes slanted toward him.

"Lord Prime Minister, you flatter this humble woman too much. Rongrong cannot bear it. Although my late father shared mutual schoolmate ties with Lord Prime Minister, things are vastly different now." Offering a slight curtsy, she replied formally.

"Yet you still called me Uncle Li in the end. I could hardly just stand by and watch you drift into a pleasure house." Rubbing his calloused palms together, Li Xiangfan raised his eyes to look at the former little niece in the doorway. "How about this, Miss Liu. I will immediately have the accountant tally up the silver to buy back your indenture and send you to Jiangnan to settle down. How does that sound?"

Liu Rongrong tightened her grip on the zither base. "...Why is Lord Prime Minister taking such a deep interest in Rongrong? Buying out my indenture, sending me to Jiangnan. We are neither kin nor acquainted; you have no need to worry about Rongrong smearing the reputation of the Prime Minister's Residence. Back then, my father and you served as officials in the same court, but times have changed. If Rongrong has ended up in the courtesan registries, it is simply the Liu family's ill fortune. My father was an unrighteous official, and your presiding over his corruption and bribery case back then was already an act of considerable leniency. Why must Lord Prime Minister make this redundant gesture?"

"I am not afraid of Miss Liu smearing the Prime Minister's Residence; I am only afraid that my wayward son will lack sense and go disturb your peace, which is why I made this arrangement." Running his dark sleeve over the longevity character, gently flicking away stray hairs from the surface of the xuan paper, Li Xiangfan spoke with unvarnished honesty while smoothing the matter over so thoroughly that it was almost impossible to hear the barbs of contempt in his words. "My wayward son has a simple nature and knows nothing of the world. He does not understand that some unclean places are not where he, as the Chief Counselor of Dongxu, should go, nor are certain people with ulterior motives anyone he, as the Chief Counselor of Dongxu, should touch."

"The unclean places Lord Prime Minister speaks of—do you mean Chunfen Pavilion? And that person with ulterior motives no doubt refers to Rongrong herself?" Liu Rongrong's arched brows furrowed tightly as a sharp, glinting light flashed through her shifting gaze.

Ranking List

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Historical Romance

Woman Dressed as a Man