Nan Shu wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
She hurriedly helped Sui An straighten her skirt, only to see Sui An call out toward the front: “Father Emperor.”
Nan Shu froze as if struck by lightning.
Yan Pingxiao sat in the pavilion before the grassy area, with a minister beside him. The two seemed to be discussing something, while Tang Shunfu stood guard outside the pavilion, staring at them dumbfounded.
The man’s expression was unreadable, his gaze sweeping from her dirty state to Sui An’s equally disheveled appearance. After a long pause, he finally said: “Did you fall into a mud pit?”
Nan Shu flushed with embarrassment and quickly stood up: “Your Majesty, this subject was accompanying the princess to fly a kite…”
“A kite?” Yan Pingxiao looked at the cricket in Sui An’s hand, his thin lips parting slightly, “Is this what your family’s kites look like?”
Meng Changque beside him looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Had he heard correctly? Was His Majesty actually speaking like this?
Sui An ran toward him, unusually giving him a smiling face: “Father Emperor, your daughter tripped over this cricket while flying the kite and wanted to catch it.”
Yan Pingxiao extended his hand, and Tang Shunfu immediately handed him a clean handkerchief. With less than gentle motions, he wiped the dirt from Sui An’s face.
“Isn’t it time for you to be at the Imperial Study?”
Sui An looked completely dejected: “Your daughter doesn’t want to go…”
“Don’t want to go?” Yan Pingxiao suddenly glanced at Nan Shu outside the pavilion, “So she encouraged you to skip lessons?”
Nan Shu: “……”
“Not at all!” Sui An snorted, “Fine, I’ll go then!”
Angrily, she tried to pull Nan Shu away with her.
“Stop.”
Nan Shu trembled all over at the sound of his voice. Yan Pingxiao rose from the stone stool and said to Meng Changque: “Bojian, please escort Sui An to the Imperial Study.”
Meng Changque resignedly stood up and, ignoring Sui An’s struggles, picked her up and bounced her in his arms: “Alright, little princess, time to study properly.”
Yan Pingxiao signaled Tang Shunfu with his eyes, and Tang Shunfu immediately followed them.
After seeing Sui An to the Imperial Study, Meng Changque stopped Tang Shunfu: “Tang Gonggong, who was that earlier?”
Meng Changque had been Yan Pingxiao’s childhood study companion, and the Meng family were meritorious officials in the current emperor’s succession struggle. Although Meng Changque knew of Shen Lan Shu’s existence, he had never met her.
But some matters could only be explained by Yan Pingxiao himself, not from his own mouth.
Tang Shunfu sighed, feeling the frustration of having a belly full of secrets he couldn’t share. Not wanting Meng Changque to feel too comfortable either, he said mysteriously: “She resembles an old acquaintance.”
“An old acquaintance?”
Meng Changque was completely baffled.
Tang Shunfu walked away smugly.
Chang Yuan Lake.
Yan Pingxiao called out to Nan Shu, who stood with her back to him until she heard footsteps approaching from behind. She took a deep breath and turned around.
Unexpectedly, this turn brought her crashing directly into the man’s chest.
Both of them froze.
Nan Shu hurriedly retreated two steps and made a slight curtsy: “Your Majesty, please forgive this offense. Today was this subject’s fault for indulging the princess in mischief.”
Yan Pingxiao suddenly raised his hand. Thinking he was so angry he might hit her, Nan Shu instinctively closed her eyes.
But the expected pain never came. Instead, the slightly rough pad of the man’s thumb brushed across her cheek. The warm touch made her open her eyes abruptly.
Yan Pingxiao had wiped away a mud stain from her cheek. Under the woman’s stiff and bewildered gaze, the bright yellow sleeve quickly withdrew.
The surroundings seemed to fall into silence, leaving only the deafening sound of Nan Shu’s rapidly accelerating heartbeat.
“Miss Nan appears quite afraid of this emperor.”
Nan Shu snapped back to reality, noticing that Yan Pingxiao’s gaze held no trace of desire, as if the intimate gesture moments ago hadn’t come from him at all.
He was still testing her.
Nan Shu’s eyelids fluttered as she stepped back two paces as if suddenly awakening. “Your Majesty’s majesty inspires not fear in this humble subject, but reverence.”
Her earlobes flushed pink, her eyes reflecting both alarm and fleeting embarrassment. For a sheltered maiden like her, such overly familiar contact was profoundly discomfiting.
“Reverence?” Yan Pingxiao repeated the word with ambiguous tone.
“Yes.”
“If Your Majesty has no further instructions, may this humble subject take her leave? My dress has been soiled, which is truly improper.”
Just as she turned to leave, Yan Pingxiao unexpectedly seized her wrist, pulling her effortlessly into his embrace with a single motion.
“Your Majesty!”
Nan Shu struggled fiercely, but the vast difference in strength between men and women allowed him to easily pin both her arms. Leaning down, his thin lips brushed her ear: “Miss Nan, do this emperor a favor.”
Before Nan Shu could react, a somewhat familiar weeping voice sounded from afar:
“Cousin, you…”
It was Princess Leyang.
Nan Shu shuddered at the memory of her whip. Fortunately, she faced away from Leyang, temporarily avoiding recognition.
Yan Pingxiao gently held the nape of her neck, pressing her face against his chest. Where Nan Shu couldn’t see, his gaze toward Leyang remained utterly placid. “What brings you here?”
Leyang dared not act presumptuously before him, standing rooted while weeping: “Cousin, who is she? Is she why you refused my entry to the palace?”
Yan Pingxiao grew impatient. Were she not the Grand Princess’s daughter, he’d have ordered her removed long ago.
“This emperor respects your mother, but that doesn’t permit your insolence before me, nor disregard for palace decorum.”
“Cousin…”
Yan Pingxiao cut her off, his cold stare piercing: “Leave.”
Leyang was forcibly escorted away by palace attendants. Once certain of her departure, Nan Shu immediately pushed away the man holding her.
Indignantly, she demanded: “Was Your Majesty using this subject as a shield?”
Yan Pingxiao replied: “This emperor holds the Grand Princess in high esteem. Out of respect for her, unless Leyang commits grave offenses, I cannot completely disregard her dignity.”
Nan Shu retorted heatedly: “Did Your Majesty consider, when using me as shield, what predicament I’d face if the princess targeted me?”
Her nose tingled with sudden emotion, memories flooding back of her previous life when he’d always claimed the capital was unstable, thus could only house her in the Separate Courtyard outside the city, thus couldn’t frequently visit.
He never asked whether she wished to share his hardships. He always imposed his decisions upon her this way.
Watching her reddened eyes, Yan Pingxiao’s expression gradually cooled.
“This emperor won’t allow such things to occur.”
Nan Shu couldn’t resist scoffing: “Your Majesty resides in high position, naturally unable to comprehend this subject’s circumstances and feelings.”
“But in this world, some matters inevitably escape even Your Majesty’s control, and won’t always conform to Your Majesty’s desires.”