With just one glance, Mingyi felt her heart skip a beat.
What a strikingly beautiful face—eyebrows like distant mountains, lips like cinnabar, a red mole at the center of the forehead, and a straight, well-defined nose. Though the figure appeared slender, there was an undeniable air of vigor about the person.
Strangely pleasing to the eye.
Bai Ying, ever perceptive, immediately had the person assisted to the rear courtyard for rest.
Mingyi turned and met Zhou Zihong's gaze, blinking innocently. "I was just looking. I won't lay a finger on him."
"As long as the Minister Superior is pleased," he replied coolly.
Knowing he was upset, Mingyi guiltily poured him wine and whispered, "I'll still come to you tonight."
His expression softened slightly as Zhou Zihong averted his eyes.
Ming An drank merrily and fell asleep as soon as they returned. Zhou Zihong took Mingyi's hand and led her back to his quarters.
"Does the Minister Superior fancy that Dancing Girl?" he asked bluntly.
Mingyi evaded, "They just caught my eye, and since they're injured, I thought to offer some care."
Zhou Zihong studied her deeply. "That person bears a seventy percent resemblance to Ji Bozhai."
"Huh?" Mingyi looked skyward. "I didn't notice."
As if she hadn't noticed—that momentary shock in her eyes had clearly betrayed thoughts of Ji Bozhai.
Hadn't she claimed to no longer care for him? Hadn't she said she'd moved on? Then why, upon seeing someone like that, was her first instinct not to send them away but to house them in the rear courtyard?
Mingyi fell silent, sighing after a long pause. "The moon is thousands of miles away—can't I at least admire a lamppost?"
"How does the Minister Superior know this isn't another ploy by that person from the palace?"
"Even if it is, so what? I won't engage with them—just keep them around to look at." Mingyi grew impatient. "Why must you always police me so?"
Zhou Zihong stiffened, then lowered his gaze.
The atmosphere turned awkward, and Mingyi spun on her heel to leave.
She'd brought people into the rear courtyard for amusement, not trouble. Whoever brought her trouble, she'd distance herself from them.
...
"Zhou Zihong has fallen out of favor."
On his first day out of sickbed, Ji Bozhai heard this delightful news.
Counting the days, he smirked. "Couldn't even last a month."
"The new Dancing Girl, Lin Huan, has gained favor but hasn't been granted any official position," Buxiu reported quietly. "This servant truly can't grasp the young lady's thoughts anymore."
"What's there to grasp? The fact that she took them in proves she still holds me in her heart." Ji Bozhai dressed and freshened up, stepping out in high spirits. "That's all I need to know."
Zhou Zihong had once basked in glory, attending to her nightly, rising from a mere talent to a noble consort in just half a month. Today, Ji Bozhai wanted to see how this noble consort fared without favor.
Of course, as the dignified Six Cities' Lord, he couldn't simply waltz into Mingyi's rear courtyard without cause—that would be improper. He found the perfect pretext: an inspection tour of the Six Cities, starting with Sunspire City.
When Mingyi received the news, she didn't even look up. "Have Master She receive him. I'm busy today."
Sunspire City had begun relocating to the Floating Island, leaving her swamped with tasks. She had no time to indulge his whims.
Bai Ying hesitated. "Master She is teaching today and isn't free either."
Mingyi paused. "What about Situ Ling?"
"Presiding over a trial."
"Zhou Zihong?"
Bai Ying finally nodded. "He's available, but—"
"No buts. Have him handle it for me." Mingyi waved a hand. "After it's done, give him one of the newly-tributed corals from the border city.""Yes."
While revising the memorials, Mingyi suddenly looked up.
Wait a minute, how could Zhou Zihong possibly be a match for Ji Bozhai? What if Ji Bozhai ended up killing him?
Hastily finishing the last few memorials, she stood up and hurried out: "Where are they now? Lead the way."
Ji Bozhai and Zhou Zihong stood on the inner courtyard's city tower, gazing at the streets of Sunspire City.
"The weather has been warm lately, yet Lord Zhou still feels so cold all over," Ji Bozhai smirked as he looked into the distance. "Is your blanket too thin?"
"Thank you for Your Majesty's concern. My constitution is weak, and I often catch colds," Zhou Zihong replied expressionlessly.
"Oh? Is that why you've fallen out of favor recently?" His smile didn't reach his eyes.
Zhou Zihong glanced at him. "I dare not say so. If I recover from the cold but still fail to win the Minister Superior's favor, wouldn't that just invite humiliation?"
Ji Bozhai's gaze turned slightly colder. "You have quite the nerve."
In all his years, no one had ever provoked him like this.
"Your Majesty flatters me. Without some courage, one couldn't become the Minister Superior's esteemed son-in-law."
"There can be many esteemed sons-in-law; you're just one of them," Ji Bozhai said leisurely. "Situ Ling is one, Lin Huan will be another in the future. She doesn't care about any of you. You're merely one of the tools she uses to spite me."
"Your Majesty truly lives up to being the Six Cities' Lord. Such confidence is something we lesser mortals could never emulate," Zhou Zihong remarked. "But then again, Your Majesty has always been favored by others. It's understandable that you can't accept the Minister Superior not having you in her heart."
"If I weren't in her heart, Lin Huan wouldn't have entered the inner courtyard."
"If you were in her heart, I wouldn't be an esteemed son-in-law today."
"..."
Ji Bozhai suddenly felt irritated.
Why was he, a Fighter with dark Essence Power and the Six Cities' Lord, wasting time arguing with a frail scholar over such trivial matters? When he disliked someone, he simply killed them—that had always been his way. So why was he hesitating now?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Ji Bozhai saw Zhou Zihong lean half his body over the edge of the tower.
"What are you doing?" he frowned.
"Would Your Majesty care to make a wager with me?" Zhou Zihong smiled faintly as he looked at the approaching figure in the distance.
"What wager?"
"Let's bet who weighs more in her heart—you or me."
Absurd. Was there even a need to bet on such a thing? He was about to retort when the man before him suddenly toppled over the edge.
His falling body flipped backward without the slightest hesitation.
Stunned by the act, Ji Bozhai instinctively leaped after him, trying to catch him.
But a pure white figure from afar arrived faster and more fiercely, swooping in to catch the falling Zhou Zihong and holding him tightly in her arms.
Ji Bozhai stared blankly at her face.
Mingyi's eyes were filled with anxiety, worry, and anger—but not a trace of him.
She landed on the ground with Zhou Zihong in her arms, scolding him angrily, "Why aren't you more careful? You don't even have Essence Power—what were you doing wandering around such a high place?"
Zhou Zihong sat on the ground, silently enduring her reprimands, but his gaze traveled over her shoulder, locking directly onto Ji Bozhai.
He didn't say a word, and there wasn't even much triumph in his eyes. Yet as Ji Bozhai looked at him, an inexplicable fury surged within him.
"He jumped down on his own," he said to Mingyi.
Mingyi didn't even turn her head, as if she couldn't be bothered to argue. "I apologize for disturbing Your Majesty. This is my fault.""Even if you considered me Your Majesty, you should have saved me first just now," he said, lowering his eyes.
Zhou Zihong was right—he was accustomed to being favored, and this feeling of being abandoned was something he couldn't accept.
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