Damn it!
The dark circles are from staying up late, and I’m holding my waist because the Warm Jade Bed in the Secret Chamber is too hard, okay!
Shen Yue was instantly furious and was about to get up and teach them a lesson when she heard Bai Yunfei’s scolding from outside the door:
“Are you all that idle? How dare you gossip about the Director behind her back!”
Zhang Dayong chimed in righteously:
“Exactly! Do you deserve the Director’s guidance? Do you deserve her day-and-night, tireless, painstaking teachings?”
The shadow guards: “…”
Shen Yue: “…”
These two are way too exaggerated. She’s only been the Director for a few days—hardly “painstaking”…
But then again, even if they’re exaggerating, their hearts are in the right place. It wasn’t for nothing that she went all the way from the east side of the city to buy them wrist guards.
You really find out who truly cares about you when things happen…
Soon, it quieted down outside. Shen Yue thought the shadow guards had all left and pulled the covers over her head to go back to sleep, but then she heard Bai Yunfei whisper:
“Brother Zhang, they’re all gone. Hurry up and tell me, is it true about the Director?”
“Of course it is!” Zhang Dayong chuckled softly in reply. “The whole Wangfu knows already—it’s spreading like wildfire!”
“Huh? I never thought Wangye and the Director had such… preferences…” Bai Yunfei looked shocked.
“Yeah, Department One and Department Three have already started betting on whether Wangye or the Director is the top. I placed a bet too, hehe… Want in? I’ll place one for you… A Fei? A Fei?”
When Zhang Dayong noticed Bai Yunfei wasn’t responding and was just frantically winking at him, he smacked him on the back of the head.
“What’s wrong with you? Got crap in your eyes?”
Bai Yunfei gave an awkward laugh and shouted, “Director, I’m going to make lunch!” before darting off.
Zhang Dayong, left behind, scoffed. “Silly kid, the Director just received favor last night and is still sleeping. She probably won’t wake up for a full day and night…”
As he spoke, he turned around and saw a stunning young man smiling at him.
“D-Director, let me explain…”
“Lao Zhang.” Shen Yue cracked her knuckles.
“Yes, I’m here.” Zhang Dayong forced a smile uglier than crying.
“Received favor, huh?”
Thump—
A punch landed on his left chest.
“Placing bets, huh?”
Wham—
A kick struck his right buttock.
“Placed a bet, huh?”
Crash—bang—
Smack—
Crack—
He felt like his entire body was falling apart.
“Oww! Director, I was wrong!”
…
Half an hour later, Bai Yunfei sat at the dining table, looking at Zhang Dayong’s bruised and swollen face, and couldn’t help but laugh: “Pfft—ha ha ha—Serves you right for gossiping! Got beaten up, didn’t you, Brother Zhang!”
The next second, an iron fist flew toward his face. His head instantly buzzed, and blood gushed from his nose.
“Director, you hit me…”
Shen Yue expressionlessly picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks. “Shouldn’t I? Look at what you’ve cooked!”
Bai Yunfei looked down at the table: red date and goji black chicken soup, crucian carp stewed with tofu, soybean pork rib stew, and donkey-hide gelatin stewed eggs—all dishes to replenish qi and blood. Nothing wrong with that! He’d spent a lot on ingredients!
“Director, these are all to help you regain your strength. You should eat more…”
“Forget it.” Shen Yue shot him a glance and put down her chopsticks. “After all, I’m not recovering from childbirth.”
Eating too much might induce lactation.
“Lao Zhang, tell me the truth—how far has the rumor spread?”
Zhang Dayong covered his swollen cheek, which was puffed up like a steamed bun, and whispered, “Reporting to the Director, everyone in the Wangfu who can breathe knows about it.”
“Including Wangye?”
“Well… this subordinate doesn’t know if Wangye knows or not. If you want to know whether Wangye knows, I can go find out for you whether he knows or doesn’t know.”
“…Are you playing tongue twisters with me?”
Shen Yue looked annoyed and picked up her chopsticks as if to hit him. Zhang Dayong hurriedly stacked his hands in front of his face to block.
“Director, please calm your anger! This subordinate also knows that the rumors in the Wangfu are roughly divided into two schools!”
“There are schools?” Shen Yue put down her chopsticks. “Tell me about them.”
“It’s like this: the first rumor says that you, Director, forcibly took Wangye.”
“Nonsense! What about the second rumor?”
“The second rumor says that Wangye was forcibly taken by you, Director.”
Shen Yue was so agitated she nearly jumped up. “What the hell… Is there any difference? Are you deliberately asking for a beating?”
“Director, don’t get so worked up!” Bai Yunfei couldn’t bear to see Zhang Dayong get beaten again and tightly held onto Shen Yue’s arm.
“At this point, Director, hitting us won’t help. We should think about how to solve the problem.”
Shen Yue thought it made sense, broke free from Bai Yunfei’s grip, sat back in her chair, and crossed her legs.
After frowning in thought for a moment, she asked, “Do you two want to atone for your mistakes with merit?”
“Yes!”
They answered in unison.
“Good. Lao Zhang, how many people from the four departments are involved in the betting, and what are most people betting on?”
“From what this subordinate knows, about two hundred people have placed bets. As for what they’re betting on…”
Zhang Dayong nervously swallowed.
“The vast majority of shadow guards believe that you are… the one on the bottom.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly stood up and hid behind Bai Yunfei, afraid that his Director would give him a thorough beating in her anger.
“Hiding from what? You spoke very well.”
A wicked smile curled at the corner of Shen Yue’s lips. “You two, come here.”
They approached hesitantly.
“Lao Zhang, I want you to spread the word tonight that after I returned, your Director has been complaining of back pain, sore legs, and a sore butt. The more people who know, the better. Try to get all the shadow guards to place their bets.”
“Ah?”
Zhang Dayong suspected his Director might have gone mad from anger and carefully examined her head. “Director, don’t be like this. I’m scared…”
“Get lost!”
Shen Yue brushed his hand away and continued to Bai Yunfei, “A Fei, I want you to gather all the silver the three of us have and place the bet at the last moment before the wager expires. You know which one to bet on, right?”
Bai Yunfei immediately understood upon hearing this.
“I understand, Director!”
Zhang Dayong also exclaimed excitedly, “We guarantee to complete the task!”