Bai Zhen’er stared at him blankly.
Shen Hanzhi gave a cold laugh.
“Why have you stopped talking?”
“If Miss Bai has feelings for him, then perhaps I…”
Bai Zhen’er suddenly beamed.
“You really are jealous!”
Shen Hanzhi: “!”
“Nonsense!”
Bai Zhen’er lowered her gaze to the hand gripping her wrist. Shen Hanzhi immediately let go.
Bai Zhen’er gently rubbed her wrist.
“Ouch, that hurts.”
“I…”
Shen Hanzhi turned his head away, slightly irritated, but his tone softened.
“I didn’t use much force.”
“It still hurts.”
Bai Zhen’er stepped closer, and Shen Hanzhi instinctively took a step back.
“You didn’t use much force, but I’m delicate.”
Bai Zhen’er leaned closer to study his face.
“Let me take a look. What do you look like when you’re jealous?”
“Bai Zhen’er!”
Shen Hanzhi glared at her.
“You!”
“What about me?”
Bai Zhen’er smiled.
“My handkerchief looks exactly like Yue’er’s. It’s easy to mix them up. What does it matter who has it?”
“What matters is…”
She advanced step by step, forcing Shen Hanzhi backward.
Bai Zhen’er placed one hand against the wall. Though the top of her head barely reached his chest, she somehow managed to make the gesture feel like a full-on wall pin.
“What matters is who I want to give it to.”
“Doesn’t the Regent know?”
Shen Hanzhi’s expression remained cold, but his ears had turned red.
“Stop fooling around.”
“How am I fooling around?”
Bai Zhen’er looked up at him.
“Haven’t I made myself clear enough?”
“I don’t like Xie Anshi. I like—”
“Mmph!”
Shen Hanzhi covered her mouth.
“Miss Bai.”
His eyelashes lowered as he spoke softly.
“In this capital, whoever you want, I can bring that person before you.”
“But Xie Anshi’s origins are unclear. You should keep your distance from him.”
“Fine—”
Bai Zhen’er pulled his hand away and smiled brightly.
“Then I’ll only stay close to you.”
Shen Hanzhi’s throat bobbed.
He turned his gaze away.
“…I won’t do either.”
Bai Zhen’er frowned.
“Why not?”
Shen Hanzhi didn’t dare meet her eyes.
“I am a man without heart or emotion. I have no place for love in this life.”
“If you get close to me, it will only damage your reputation.”
“…Please go back.”
“It’s a pleasant Flower Appreciation Banquet. Don’t stay here with me in this cold, secluded courtyard.”
“You!”
Bai Zhen’er felt a little deflated.
Here he goes again.
Every time she felt like she was finally making some progress with Shen Hanzhi, he would suddenly pull away.
He was like a slippery loach bouncing around all over the place. Impossible to catch!
Seeing how determined he was to send her away, she knew that if she didn’t leave obediently, he would probably call someone to escort her out.
Bai Zhen’er didn’t force the matter.
She simply tugged on his sleeve.
“All right.”
“But remember this.”
She still remembered Liu Yueti’s instructions and repeated herself.
“I really don’t like Xie Anshi!”
Shen Hanzhi: “…”
He watched her leave and muttered almost petulantly,
“If it were really true, why would you keep emphasizing it?”
……
Bai Zhen’er had only taken a couple of steps when she ran into Liu Yueti, who had come looking for her.
“Yue’er!”
Bai Zhen’er hurried over.
“Why didn’t you stay there and wait for me?”
Liu Yueti waved her off.
“I ran into a few people looking for trouble, so I came over here.”
“What?!”
Bai Zhen’er immediately rolled up her sleeves.
“Who were they? I’ll go teach them a lesson!”
“Whoa, whoa!”
Liu Yueti quickly grabbed her.
“I don’t remember. They looked way too much like disposable cannon fodder.”
“Don’t worry. I just saw some drama, too. I’ll tell you—I saw that illegitimate son of the Marquis of Yongchang! The one from the street that day…”
Liu Yueti animatedly shared the gossip with Bai Zhen’er.
The two heads drew close together, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Wow—”
Bai Zhen’er pulled her over to a nearby table, sat down, and stuffed a handful of fruit into her hands.
“I remember Lin Qingwan!”
“I had Jianshu look into her before!”
“The Marquis of Yongchang got into trouble before and was stripped of his real authority by His Majesty. Now he’s nothing more than a marquis with a title and no power.”
“Whether his legitimate son will even inherit the title in the future is still uncertain, let alone that illegitimate son.”
“I heard the marquis once hardened his heart and wanted to send Yuan Shaoqi to the military to toughen him up. It scared him half to death. Not long afterward, rumors started spreading about him and the Minister of War’s daughter. Apparently, the two families were considering a marriage.”
“Oh…”
Liu Yueti cracked a melon seed.
“So he couldn’t handle hardship and decided to climb the social ladder instead!”
“Too bad the male lead ruined it for him.”
She glanced around and lowered her voice.
“We originally thought we wouldn’t need to get involved in all this political intrigue, so I never got around to asking.”
“What faction is the male lead on? And what about your father?”
She had arrived in such a hurry that before losing consciousness, she had only managed to glance at the basic information the system gave her.
She knew the current emperor was only eight years old and had a six-year-old empress.
The Empress Dowager controlled the government.
The Regent was at odds with her.
Princess Pingyang also wanted a share of the political power and was trying to establish influence of her own.
Beyond that, she didn’t know much.
“The male lead is on His Majesty’s side.”
Bai Zhen’er lowered her voice.
“My father belongs to the fence-sitter faction.”
“He says he doesn’t care who becomes emperor, as long as it doesn’t interfere with his position as Chancellor.”
“Oh—”
Liu Yueti gave a thumbs-up.
“Our uncle really knows how to play it safe.”
“But the Empress Dowager doesn’t seem to like my father very much.”
Bai Zhen’er continued.
“He Jiaoyun’s father, the Imperial Censor we saw earlier, was one of the Empress Dowager’s trusted men.”
“The Marquis of Yongchang was also originally on the Empress Dowager’s side.”
“And then there’s Shen Hanzhi…”
She scratched her head.
“You know he’s the antagonist, right?”
“Mhm!”
Liu Yueti nodded.
“I know. So naturally, he must be on the opposite side from the male lead—the anti-emperor faction!”
Her eyes widened.
“Bestie, he’s not planning to rebel and become emperor himself, is he?”
“Well…”
Bai Zhen’er pursed her lips.
“People in the capital do say things like that.”
“But did you know Shen Hanzhi is the Empress Dowager’s younger brother?”
“He was originally the Emperor’s maternal uncle, but he was deeply trusted by the late Emperor.”
“When the late Emperor was dying, he didn’t summon the Empress Dowager. Instead, he first left a secret edict with Princess Pingyang.”
“After that, he entrusted his young son to Shen Hanzhi, appointed him Regent, and ordered him to protect the imperial dynasty at all costs.”
Liu Yueti rubbed her chin.
“So the late Emperor valued him very highly?”
“It certainly seems that way.”
Bai Zhen’er rested her chin in her hands.
“He is the only prince with a different surname in the entire dynasty. He handles state affairs on the Emperor’s behalf, commands the Imperial Guards and a force of black-armored cavalry, and stands above everyone else.”
“But then the Emperor removed him from the Shen family genealogy…”
“My father said the late Emperor wanted him to become completely alone.”
“From then on, he would be a minister of the dynasty and nothing more—a man of the imperial court, not a son of the Shen family.”
“A minister must put family and country first. Once Shen Hanzhi lost his family, he would have no personal interests left. He could devote himself entirely to the country.”
“Huh?”
Liu Yueti sighed.
“That’s actually kind of sad.”
Bai Zhen’er cupped her face.
“Over the years, the Empress Dowager and the Shen family repeatedly tried to seize power.”
“The Regent eventually broke with the Empress Dowager and repeatedly clashed with the Shen family.”
“He made countless enemies…”
“Everyone says he’s cold-blooded and heartless, but who remembers that he was only sixteen years old back then?”
“A young statesman with power in his hands, cold and detached…”
“But when he was alone, did he ever find it difficult to bear?”
Liu Yueti clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Bestie, you’re done for.”
“The moment you start falling for a man is when you start feeling sorry for him.”
“Ahem.”
Bai Zhen’er nervously twisted her fingers.
“What were we talking about?”
Liu Yueti reminded her.
“The Regent, the Empress Dowager, and the Shen family breaking apart.”
“Oh, right.”
Bai Zhen’er nodded.
“His Majesty is the Empress Dowager’s youngest son, and when he was little, he was closer to his mother.”
“To keep the Empress Dowager in check, the Regent openly defied the young Emperor several times.”
“There are quite a few people in the court who believe he intends to rebel.”
“Even the system says he’s the great antagonist.”
Bai Zhen’er rested her face in her hands.
“But my father insists that Shen Hanzhi is probably the most blindly loyal man in the entire world.”
Liu Yueti’s eyes shifted as she asked,
“Then what do you think of him?”