“Find the imperial edict and give it to me.”
Fu Xinghe turned around to return to her room to change clothes and instructed Xia Mian, “Go stand guard at the entrance. If His Majesty arrives, have him wait in my room first.”
Mi Dinglan and Xia Mian were both startled. Fu Xinghe’s tone sounded exactly like an ordinary wife ordering her husband around.
It must have been because Fu Xinghe was in too much of a hurry and spoke without thinking.
So Mi Dinglan and Xia Mian also hurried, rushing off to carry out their tasks.
Fu Han lay alone on the bed, coughing violently, insisting that he must speak with His Majesty personally, but no one listened to him.
Ming Xu stood anxiously in the courtyard. When she finally saw her young lady coming from the main residence, her eyes reddened.
“Miss…”
Fu Xinghe said, “Find me some clothes first.” “Alright.”
Ming Xu swiftly pulled out Fu Xinghe’s favorite outfits from before.
“Which one does Miss like?”
Fu Xinghe glanced over them. “The blue one.”
Solemn and steady, suitable for negotiating with a tyrant later.
Ming Xu skillfully helped Fu Xinghe change.
Then something awkward happened.
The original owner of this body had been very slim and liked fitted clothing that cinched at the waist. Fu Xinghe was now a bit… unable to fasten it properly.
Of course, it could still be buttoned, but there would not be enough fabric at the chest.
She was here to negotiate, not to seduce a tyrant.
If Meng Dongting saw her dressed like this, he would probably turn around and leave immediately.
Honestly, Fu Xinghe had never experienced this kind of embarrassment before. No matter how tight a uniform was, she had always fit into it.
Ming Xu said awkwardly, “I’ll go look for something else.”
After Fu Xinghe entered the palace, her unmarried clothes had been stored away. Only a few had been left in the wardrobe for emergencies, and Ming Xu had hung mostly waist-cinching styles according to her own taste.
Fu Xinghe casually slipped on her inner and outer robes without fastening the buttons. As she pulled them together, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.
Then someone pushed the door open.
Who the hell doesn’t knock?
There were guards from Wenhua Hall outside. Fu Xinghe’s alarm bells went off. In the entire realm, the only person who would dare not knock
Damn it. Meng Dongting.
Why did he arrive so fast?
“Your Majesty,” Xia Mian’s voice sounded.
Fu Xinghe was stuck. She couldn’t finish dressing, and she couldn’t stay undressed.
She couldn’t force the clothes closed. Meng Dongting would notice she had gained weight and could no longer wear her old clothes.
The tyrant was extremely sharp. Even the smallest clue was a major risk. Fu Xinghe clenched her teeth and chose a reverse tactic. She took it off.
Meng Dongting’s face was cold. The Grand Preceptor had requested an audience, yet upon arrival Xia Mian said it had changed to the Noble Consort instead. He hated having his time wasted by people feigning illness.
He pushed the door open and said coldly, “Don’t tell me you want me to escort you back to your family home”
“…Even a beauty trap won’t work.”
Meng Dongting slammed the door shut and bolted it. After standing there for a long moment, he clenched his fist against the bridge of his nose and stiffly finished his sentence.
Catching Fu Xinghe undressing was an entirely unforeseen accident in his life. His brain failed to issue instructions on whether to look or not, and his body froze completely.
Fu Xinghe had her top half pulled down to her elbows, her back to him. Her cheeks burned crimson, yet her voice remained calm and clear.
“Your Majesty, knocking is a virtue.”
Only after Fu Xinghe hurriedly pulled her clothes back up and covered that stretch of fair, smooth shoulder blade did Meng Dongting say displeased, “Why didn’t you lock the door while changing?”
Fu Xinghe replied, “With so many guards outside, was that necessary?”
Meng Dongting waited, then frowned when she still did not turn around.
“Does the Noble Consort plan to face Me with the back of her head?”
Fu Xinghe said, “These clothes are dirty. I’m waiting for Ming Xu to bring another set.”
“I have a cleanliness obsession.”
Meng Dongting fell silent.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became strange, as if returning to the night they first met.
If a small snake crawled in through the window at this moment, she would probably panic and hide behind Meng Dongting without thinking.
Fu Xinghe cursed her overactive imagination. She could even imagine the slick, cool scales brushing against her skin, making goosebumps rise along her neck.
It was already this cold. Why not finish dressing first? Was this really a beauty trap?
Meng Dongting clicked his tongue and stepped forward to pull her collar straight.
He did it entirely out of righteousness and moral obligation, forgetting that he was a full head taller than her. Even standing behind her, his line of sight inevitably fell forward.
He had measured Fu Xinghe with his own arms before.
Meng Dongting’s breathing grew heavier. The next moment, he unintentionally saw her entire face and neck flushed red.
As if seizing evidence, he struck first.
“Why are you blushing? Did you do something guilty?”
Fu Xinghe had done guilty things, but on the surface, the lecher was clearly Meng Dongting. She was stunned by his accusation. If you hadn’t suddenly gotten so close.
She reached back and pushed him away.
Meng Dongting neither dodged nor moved.
Time seemed frozen at the most awkward point.
Fu Xinghe clutched the front of her robe, looked at the sky, looked at the ground, trying to say something to break the silence.
“You aren’t cold?”
“Your Majesty…”
“Mm.” Meng Dongting responded lazily through his nose.
Remembering she must not appear submissive before a tyrant, Fu Xinghe raised her voice.
“Your Majesty has already seen me exposed. Shouldn’t I get to see someone in return?”
Meng Dongting immediately touched his belt warily.
“Who do you want to see?”
“Ji Qinggou.”
“Ji !”
Meng Dongting wanted nothing more than to throttle her with the same motion he’d used to adjust her collar.
“I look at my own Noble Consort, and you want to look at another man? Do you also plan to see him half-naked?”
He sneered. “After dozens of lashes, skin split and flesh torn, Ji Qinggou’s clothes probably wouldn’t be able to stay on anyway.”
Fu Xinghe realized she had panicked and opened a terrible line of conversation.
Meng Dongting’s reaction was… not quite right.
She steadied herself and said gently, “It’s not torture-induced confession. Is visiting him really forbidden?”
Meng Dongting sat down leisurely on the Noble Consort’s couch, poured himself tea but did not drink it. Ji Qinggou had already confessed everything and only sought a quick death. Torture was unnecessary.
The person inside the prison wanted to die. The people outside still wanted to save him.
“You father and daughter came to see me today just for this?”
Ming Xu arrived late, braving the oppressive atmosphere to help Fu Xinghe change clothes.
Meng Dongting stared at the tea, not lifting an eyebrow.
Once she was dressed, Ming Xu discreetly slipped a yellow silk secret edict into Fu Xinghe’s hand.
Fu Xinghe unfolded it. Sure enough, it was a pardon decree granting amnesty to the Fu family.
So he really planned to keep it for his own survival.
But her own crisis was just as pressing.
Fu Xinghe respectfully presented the edict with both hands.
“My father is advanced in age. He cannot bear a parent burying a child. I beg Your Majesty to spare Ji Qinggou’s life.”
Meng Dongting examined the handwriting. It was indeed the Late Emperor’s, showing extraordinary trust in Fu Han.
Meng Dongting folded the silk and tucked it into his sleeve.
“Pardon Ji Qinggou? In my view, the name written here should be yours.”
Fu Xinghe’s heart jumped to her throat. Had he noticed something from the clothes?
Meng Dongting continued, “With the Noble Consort’s courage, you may need it more than Ji Qinggou in the future.”
Fu Xinghe flushed red. This was pure slander.
“Will Your Majesty agree or not?”
“No. Treason implicates nine generations. This edict can only save the Fu family itself.”
Fu Xinghe clenched her fists. No wonder Fu Han still intended to sacrifice his own life.
What a damn emperor. He takes the goods and refuses to do the work.
“Then give it back.”
Meng Dongting stood and walked out.
“No.”
Fu Xinghe nearly wanted to leap at him and bite him. She stood her ground and said angrily, “Then I’m not going back either.”
Meng Dongting stopped, staring at her in disbelief. What kind of nerve did it take to say something like that?
Was he wrong that the edict might one day need her name?
Just this attitude alone deserved execution eight hundred times over.
They confronted each other.
Experience told Fu Xinghe that she could not back down. A tyrant’s thinking was nothing like a normal person’s. He might actually agree. And if she cowered over something this small, how would she survive living with him later?
Meng Dongting said coldly, “Why aren’t you following?”
Fu Xinghe pondered his meaning.
Fu Quan asked softly, “Is Your Majesty returning to the palace?”
“To the Heavenly Prison,” Meng Dongting snapped.
Fu Xinghe broke into a smile and hurried after him.
Seeing her smile for the first time that day, Meng Dongting found he could no longer stay angry.
Xia Mian said to Ming Xu, “The Heavenly Prison is cold. Bring one of Her Highness’s cloaks.”
“Oh.” Ming Xu hurried off, thinking Xia Mian was a bit like Ming Feng. They both seemed to know everything.