Her face was half-hidden behind the gauze curtain. From afar, he only felt her gaze like needles, pricking him all over with an unbearable itch and pain.
He jolted back to his senses.
Madness.
He must have gone mad just now, to do such a thing in this place and at this moment.
In the deep silence of the Crown Prince’s palace late at night, his mind was filled with images of her, completely unclothed. Behind the desk less than ten zhang away from her, he had indulged so freely that he even forgot she was still there.
Under her gaze, he watched as she unexpectedly rose, picked up a few memorials from the desk in front of her, and walked toward him. She even lifted her sleeve to rub her eyes, looking every bit as if she had just woken up.
He couldn’t help but doubt what he had seen earlier. Her gaze was so gentle and soft now—she must not have seen what he had just been doing… How could she have seen? The high corners of the desk in front of him completely concealed everything below his waist. From where she had been sitting earlier, it would have been impossible for her to see.
She pushed aside the gauze curtain and walked slowly toward him, stopping before his desk. Placing the memorials on it, she said softly, “Your servant has something to ask Your Highness.”
He raised his eyes to her face. Her delicate, rosy complexion shimmered with a faint golden hue under the dim candlelight. Her eyes seemed to hold countless stars, dazzling and mesmerizing. As she spoke, her parted lips looked as though they had been traced with vermilion ink, stirring the heat in his body that had only just calmed.
How could he have imagined that she was the same grubby, disheveled little girl who had once huddled in his arms, barely able to speak clearly?
In their previous encounters, he had never noticed how captivating her appearance was or how alluring her expressions could be.
Shen Zhishu, by nature a romantic, often teased him for his lack of appreciation for women, saying he only knew whether a woman was beautiful or not but failed to discern the subtle charm that lay within.
Indeed, he knew little of women’s allure.
His mother, the Empress, had once been the most famous beauty in the land, unparalleled in looks, talent, courage, and spirit. Since childhood, he had heard his father say that his mother was the kind of woman who could captivate a person’s soul with a single glance. How, then, could any woman in this world still astonish him with her beauty?
But she was different.
She was not a peerless beauty, yet every word and every action of hers drew him in.
He had always been decisive and efficient in handling matters, but he found himself unable to be so with her. Especially after he had, to his own surprise, fantasized about sharing intimate moments with her.
Even now, as she stood beside him, speaking softly with downcast eyes, his mind conjured up all sorts of inappropriate scenarios.
For years, he had focused solely on court affairs and military matters; women had never been indispensable to him. And he knew well that physical indulgence was not necessarily connected to matters of the heart.
Though he found her somewhat alluring, he was clear about his own feelings.
“Your Highness?”
She had spoken to him but received no response, forcing her to call out to him again.
He snapped back to attention, pressing his hand over the memorials she had brought. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “What is it you wish to ask?” He flipped through the documents, his eyes scanning the contents. Seeing that they were all related to Chaoan North Circuit, he began to understand and examined them more carefully.
One was about the eight prefectures and counties of Chaoan North Circuit engaging in trade with the Northern Frontier, and the other was about his decree to handle the officials of the Chaoan military command concerning the Qing Province camp affair.
Seeing that he was already reading, she offered no further explanation and went straight to the point: “Does Your Highness harbor other intentions regarding the Northern Frontier?”Hearing this, his hand holding the memorial stiffened slightly. His peripheral vision caught her resolute expression, and for some reason, irritation flared within him. "Your rank is merely sixth-grade. You have no authority to inquire about such matters."
She pressed her lips together and remained silent.
His fiery tone confirmed her suspicions were correct.
When the Emperor and Prince Ping unified the realm, they refrained from invading the Northern Frontier. Though the Northern Frontier pledged allegiance, their tributary missions had grown increasingly sparse over the years.
He had petitioned the Emperor to authorize border trade, yet personally traveled incognito to Chaoan North Circuit to inspect military defenses at Qing Province’s main camp and dozens of other Northern Frontier strongholds. Later, he erupted in fury at the Chaoan military command over Qing Province’s lax defenses.
If this didn’t rouse her suspicions, then Meng Tinghui would be unworthy of her triple-crown scholarly honors.
His years of discreet political involvement didn’t mean he’d blindly follow the path laid by his parents.
His gaze upon her was complex—wary, yet with a faint crack in his defenses. Being read so easily angered him, but also stirred other, subtler emotions.
Suddenly remembering something, she leaned forward to grab the brush he’d left on the desk. "This subject has something to write for Your Highness."
Her full, soft breast lightly brushed against his elbow where he stood.
A shiver ran down his arm, flames seeming to crawl along his spine before settling at his waist, igniting him.
Appearing unaware, she dipped the brush in ink, then half-turned toward him.
His breathing grew slightly heavier, gaze fixed on her eyes yet repeatedly drifting downward in his periphery. Though her crimson official robe was loose, the rhinoceros-horn belt at her waist accentuated the alluring curve of her chest.
Leaning closer, she asked, "Did this subject earlier strike upon Your Highness’s concerns?"
This time, her soft fullness pressed firmly against him.
A faint smile touched her eyes as she added, "Long have I heard Your Highness disdains feminine charms, yet never guessed you... take matters into your own hands."
His body stiffened momentarily before he suddenly pressed her against the desk behind them, lowering his head. "Meng Tinghui, repeatedly overstepping boundaries demands repayment."
She had seen it.
She truly had seen it.
Her repeated audacity in a single day had exhausted his patience.
Going pliant under his grip, she melted against the desk, eyes still sparkling with casual indifference. "This subject already bears the infamy of being a sycophantic favorite. Your Highness need not hold back."
He caught her implication, his brow lifting slightly.
Her words subtly mocked his earlier manipulations of her while probing his intentions in crafting her notorious reputation.
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