Emperor Xuanzhao had never expected the system to dredge up an embarrassing incident from eight hundred years ago to mock him.
His face flushed crimson at once.
Mo Yao's shoulders shook as he bent slightly at the waist.
He kept struggling to hold back his laughter so Shen Yuxi would not notice.
"Father is usually so imposing and rigidly proper. Who would have thought he was such a mischievous little troublemaker? And he has the nerve to scold me for being a handful."
"Imperial Grandfather must have been stamping his feet in fury at Father every day back then, before finally spanking him."
At the thought of that scene, Mo Yao laughed even more merrily.
Beside him, Mo Jingyu likewise pressed his lips together in a quiet chuckle, though his laughter was nowhere near as unrestrained as Mo Yao's.
Ahem, ahem, ahem...
He was their own father, after all. They still had to leave him that much dignity.
Emperor Xuanzhao glared at Mo Yao.
You little brat, how dare you laugh at your father! See if I don't have you beaten!
Mo Yao immediately wiped away his cheeky grin and put on a solemn expression.
Shen Yuxi suddenly asked, [What about Mo Xuanchen? What was he like as a child?]
[Him? He was even naughtier than the old emperor. Leave him unbeaten for three days, and he would climb onto the roof and tear off the tiles. At one point, he drove the old emperor to question his whole life.]
[You really can't tell.]
[In temperament, Mo Xuanchen was actually the one most like the old emperor. It was just that everything that happened later changed him.]
[Mo Xuanchen doesn't look much like His Majesty.]
The system said, [Mo Xuanchen took after his mother. The late empress was an absolutely stunning beauty.]
Shen Yuxi looked toward Mo Xuanchen, and he sensed her gaze.
He met her eyes and smiled faintly.
For some reason, Shen Yuxi felt her heart skip a beat. Seeing that faint smile curve his lips, her ears instantly flushed a light red.
She then looked away as though nothing had happened.
[Host, why are your ears red?]
The system deliberately drew out its mechanical voice, soft and teasing.
[Th-they aren't! It's certainly not because of Mo Xuanchen!] Shen Yuxi denied it at lightning speed, all but planting a sign declaring there was no silver buried here.
Only after speaking did she realize her mouth had run ahead of her brain.
[Host, I never mentioned Mo Xuanchen. You confessed without even being questioned.]
[Well, well, System, you dare tease me? Your host has decided to cut ties with you for two hours.]
The moment she finished speaking, the ministers could no longer hear Shen Yuxi's thoughts.
They felt a little regretful.
Emperor Xuanzhao let out a great sigh of relief. As long as they were not feasting on his gossip, anything else was negotiable.
Yet everyone's gazes began drifting between Mo Xuanchen and Shen Yuxi, some subtly and some less so.
They were laden with meaning.
And the most unfriendly gaze of all came from Shen Lang.
Minister Shen stared indignantly at Mo Xuanchen, his eyes full of the unmistakable look of someone watching a tender, juicy little cabbage about to be rooted up by a pig.
He secretly resolved to guard his youngest daughter well and never give the Fourth Prince the slightest opening.
Without the system chattering in her ears, drowsiness crept over her.
Shen Yuxi yawned, swept her gaze around, and, finding that no one was paying attention to her, furtively leaned against a pillar carved with coiling dragons and fell asleep.
The civil and military officials were long accustomed to it and simply pretended not to see.
Only when Eunuch Yang's shrill, drawn-out voice rang out did Shen Yuxi open her eyes in an instant.
Her gaze was clear, without the slightest trace of someone who had just woken up.
Emperor Xuanzhao wondered whether she had been asleep at all.
"Lord Little Shen!"
"Daughter!"
Two voices stopped her at the same time.
Minister Shen spoke first. "Daughter, since His Majesty has appointed you as an invigilator for this spring's metropolitan examination, there are some precautions I need to explain to you in detail."
"Don't go home yet. Come to the Ministry of Rites with me."
"All right."
The other voice belonged to the Duke of Dingguo.
The Duke of Dingguo was frightened. Being "kept in mind" by Lord Little Shen was absolutely a matter of life and death.
"Duke of Dingguo?"
Puzzlement showed in Shen Yuxi's expression. She had never had any dealings with the Duke of Dingguo.
"Lord Little Shen, I..."
The Duke of Dingguo looked as though he wanted to speak but hesitated.
He did not know how to explain things to Lord Little Shen, fearing that abruptly bringing up his youngest daughter would arouse Shen Yuxi's suspicions.
The words reached his lips, only to fall silent.
Under Shen Yuxi's uncomprehending gaze, the Duke of Dingguo gave two dry chuckles.
He said, "My birthday is in half a month. The Duke of Dingguo's residence will be holding a banquet then. I sincerely invite you, Lord Little Shen, and hope you can attend my birthday banquet."
Shen Yuxi muttered, [Is the Duke of Dingguo really this friendly? I barely know him, and he invites me to his birthday banquet right off the bat? More like a Hongmen banquet.]
The Duke of Dingguo inwardly cried out that he was being wronged.
He only wanted to build a good relationship with Lord Little Shen.
His youngest daughter had indeed been getting rather close to a man lately. As she was concubine-born and unfavored, the Duke of Dingguo had never paid her much attention.
He had never expected her to provoke Lord Little Shen this time.
He absolutely could not let this slide.
By the time the birthday banquet was held, Lord Little Shen would have just finished her duties for the spring examination.
Then he would find a pretext to have his youngest daughter bring that Chen Shisong along. However Lord Little Shen wanted to vent her anger, he would support her.
After all, his daughter had been in the wrong first.
The system said, [Host, you seem rather fond of conspiracy theories. He simply wants to get closer to you.]
[Why would an old man like him want to get closer to a young girl like me?]
[You're no longer merely a sheltered young lady of the Shen household who "never steps beyond the main gate or the inner gate." You're also the Duke of Dingguo's colleague, highly valued and trusted by the emperor. There's nothing wrong with him inviting you to a banquet.]
After finishing her inward conversation with the system, Shen Yuxi suddenly raised her head and smiled. "Certainly. I will be there on time."
"Good, good..."
The Duke of Dingguo exchanged a greeting with Minister Shen and slipped away.
Inside a residence in the capital.
A faint lily fragrance scented the warm chamber, its aroma spreading amid lingering laughter and tender words.
"Shisong, I cling to you all day long. Don't you find me annoying?"
Shangguan Niao reclined against Chen Shisong's chest, her lavish clothes hanging loosely from her body and exposing broad swaths of snow-white skin.
Her slender, jade-like fingers toyed with the front of his robes, her shifting gaze brimming with soft allure.
Chen Shisong wrapped one arm around her slender waist and picked up a honey mandarin from a silver dish with his other hand, lowering his head to bring it to her lips.
His voice was gentle as water, and his nose brushed the soft hair at her temple. "How could I? I wish A'Niao would cling to me forever, never parting for our entire lives."
"Here, open your mouth."
Shangguan Niao parted her red lips and gently took the mandarin segment into her mouth. Her tongue seemingly brushed his fingertip by accident, drawing a low chuckle from Chen Shisong.
"Shisong, the spring examination starts in three days, but you don't look nervous at all."
"That good wife of yours is hoping day and night that you'll place first as the top scholar and bring her to the capital to enjoy a comfortable life. Tell me, if you don't work hard, would you be doing right by her?"
Despite those words, there was not a trace of sincerity in the woman's voice.
It was full of mockery, even mingled with a measure of ridicule toward "Wanxue."
"Don't mention her. Bad luck."
Thinking of Wanxue far away in Qingzhou, Chen Shisong unwittingly revealed a trace of disgust in his eyes, along with an inexplicable aversion.
"I've long since had enough of her. Back then, if she hadn't insisted on marrying me, how could I possibly have married her?"
"And now, because of that, I don't even have the right to ask for your hand."