Today, Shen Que went out without bringing Chang Yue.
Chang Yue stayed in the Eastern Palace, preparing many delicacies for Gu Ningning while repeatedly recounting how dangerous Shen Que’s rebellion suppression had been the previous night.
The central idea was, “Your Highness works hard every day, risking life and limb; Madam, you should worry about him more and care for him.”
It had the uncanny feeling of telling a child, “Your parents work hard, so be obedient.”
Gu Ningning nibbled on a pig’s trotter.
“Secondary Consort Yun, Zhaoyi Bai, Zhaoyi Zhao, Jieyu Zhou—don’t they all care about Your Highness?”
Chang Yue said, “Of course they care.”
“Then with so many people caring, why should I?”
Chang Yue was momentarily speechless. After a long pause, she said, “Your Highness treats Madam differently.”
Shen Que’s genuine difference in treatment should have been reserved for the female lead, but this matter couldn’t be revealed to Chang Yue. Gu Ningning could only reluctantly reply, “Fine.”
She even seriously pondered how to “care” for Shen Que.
The proper sequence should be: when Shen Que returned, she would immediately greet him, help him remove his clothes, ask how his day had been, and express some concern at the right moments.
She rehearsed it in her mind, but when Shen Que actually returned, everything changed.
She went to greet him and helped him remove his clothes. Shen Que asked, “Why are you so obedient today? Missing me?”
“Yes.”
Gu Ningning said it casually, and Shen Que scooped her up in a horizontal embrace onto the bed.
He had her lie on the bed and then closed his eyes.
Gu Ningning busied herself, occasionally sneaking touches along his chest and checking his breath.
Shen Que asked, “What are you doing?”
“…” Gu Ningning replied, “After staying up late, intense exercise can cause sudden death.”
She feared that if he died, she would fail her mission and miss out on her reward.
“Afraid I’d die?” Shen Que suddenly laughed heartily, then…
By the time it ended, Gu Ningning was panting and exhausted. She had personally come to understand the novel’s male lead’s “godlike” abilities in certain aspects.
For some inexplicable reason, Gu Ningning ended up staying in the main courtyard.
Shen Que forbade her from leaving and told others she had returned home to visit family. Each day, apart from attending court and handling necessary affairs, she stuck closely to him.
Naturally, their time together involved only two activities: attending the bedchamber and assisting Shen Que with official duties.
Perhaps because he held himself to such high standards, he demanded the same from those around him. Shen Que asked her,
“Which books did you read that I gave you last time?”
Gu Ningning answered slowly, “Only the one on military strategy.”
Her tone carried a hint of reluctance. Shen Que looked at her amusedly. “You’re unhappy?”
Having slept with him enough, Gu Ningning had grown bolder. “This concubine doesn’t want to study. I just want to be a good-for-nothing and idle away my days in the Eastern Palace.”
Shen Que hummed and asked, “And then? What if I ascend the throne in the future?”
“The imperial harem is far more full of schemes than the Eastern Palace. Many women will be presented to Your Highness. To balance the factions, You Highness must accept several, perhaps many. Then, how will you continue to idle under them?”
Gu Ningning said, “Anyway, the boat will straighten when it reaches the bridge…”
In a few months, she would be able to poison Shen Que to complete her mission, without worrying about any of this.
Seeing her indifferent expression, Shen Que was unusually troubled.
He recalled what the deputy minister had said about educating children with both benevolence and authority. After a long pause, he spoke,
“Learning is always beneficial. Start now. In a few days, I will ask you some questions. If you answer correctly, I will grant you a wish.”
His Highness, the Crown Prince, rarely made such a promise, and Gu Ningning found it almost unreal.
She asked cautiously, “Really?”
“Yes.”
Before starting, she pondered what wish to request.
Shen Que did not dampen her enthusiasm. He noticed that Gu Ningning was lazy and indifferent to most things; having something that sparked her interest was a good thing.
Her hand rested on the memorial before Shen Que, her chin on her arm. When Shen Que glanced at the memorial, he couldn’t help noticing her fingers.
They were slender, with neatly trimmed, slightly pink nails, always pawing at him like a cat on the bed.
Shen Que took her hand, played with it briefly, then held it in his palm.
It was small; he could break it with minimal force.
He suddenly thought of something. “The rewards I gave to Jieyu Zhou—if you like, I can pick something better for you.”
Those rewards had just been casually selected by Chang Yue from the storage to distract the other Eastern Palace women; he hadn’t paid much attention to them.
Gu Ningning considered that she couldn’t bring the money back to the modern era and had little opportunity to spend it in the past.
“This concubine wants to go out for a walk.”
Shen Que hadn’t expected her request. Gu Ningning had always seemed lazy in his eyes. “Where do you want to go?”
Gu Ningning wished for a kind of public-funded travel, but Shen Que was not an ideal travel companion, nor would he let her go alone. “Just stroll around Jingcheng.”
Shen Que pulled her into his embrace again.
Gu Ningning, resting in his arms, finally picked up a book and lazily read it.
It was the same one she had read before, the one Shen Que had annotated.
When Chang Yue came with tea and glimpsed her reading that book, she smiled.
“Madam has good taste, picking this one to read. Recently, Marquis Wu’an wanted to borrow it from Your Highness, but Your Highness didn’t lend it.”
In fact, borrowing the book was pretense; the true value was in Shen Que’s annotations. Shen Que was a military genius, which was one reason why the Emperor had replaced Huai’an Wang with Shen Que as Crown Prince.
Even if Huai’an Wang had been made Crown Prince, it would have been difficult to control Shen Que if he rebelled—so why bother?
Gu Ningning hadn’t realized the book was so powerful. Just then, Shen Que had finished reading a memorial and lowered his eyes to her. “What is it?”
She nuzzled against his chest. “Your Highness has talent and vision; this concubine is utterly impressed!”
Learning to flatter one’s boss is a basic survival skill. Shen Que remained silent for a moment, his voice hoarse. “Don’t move around.”
Gu Ningning replied “Oh” and obediently lowered her head to continue reading.
With no need to go out, she didn’t bother with her appearance. Her long hair was loosely tied with a single ribbon, exposing a large swath of fair neck.
Shen Que leaned down to kiss her neck.