After Lord Shen’s gift, the subsequent gifts lacked creativity and were less interesting. The banquet continued until evening, and the guests dispersed after dinner.
Shen Fengyue returned to the palace and asked someone to bring his book of stories. While rubbing his sore cheeks, he read through the book. However, he had already become familiar with the patterns in the stories, which were either about talented scholars and beautiful ladies or about gods and ghosts. It was all the same, and he found it boring.
As he was flipping through the pages lazily and yawning, he heard a faint sound coming from the window.
“…”
It could only be Lord Shen or a thief climbing through the window. Although the former was more likely, Shen Fengyue quickly rushed to his bed, lifted the pillow, and grabbed the dagger hidden underneath. He unsheathed the blade, and with a flash of cold light, he thrust it toward the person.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I brought you this dagger for self-defense, not for me to get killed myself,” the person agilely dodged and grabbed Shen Fengyue’s wrist, turning the dagger in the opposite direction.
Shen Fengyue looked up and saw the person sitting on the windowsill with one leg propped up, one hand holding onto the window frame, and the other hand grabbing his wrist. The person was smiling at him with a playful tone.
Tsk, he must remember to lock the window next time.
“Let go,” he said calmly, and the person obediently let go and jumped down from the windowsill, looking at him eagerly. “Empress Dowager.”
Their commotion had attracted the attention of Hong Mei outside. Hong Mei stood at the door, her blurry figure was reflected by the candlelight inside.
“Your Majesty, is there anything you need?” Hong Mei asked.
Shen Fengyue made a hushing gesture towards Lord Shen and raised a finger to his lips. Lord Shen nodded to indicate that he understood. Then Shen Fengyue said towards the door, “It’s nothing. I accidentally dropped my book on the ground earlier.”
After Hong Mei murmured a response, she left, and the shadow on the paper pasted on the door disappeared.
After sending Hong Mei away, Shen Fengyue finally had the chance to deal with the person in front of him.
Lord Shen had already sat down on a stool voluntarily. “Empress Dowager?”
Shen Fengyue put the dagger away heavily on the table, making a dull “thud”. He asked accusingly, “Lord Shen is quite free, able to come and go as he pleases in my Shoukang Palace.”
“Ahem.” He cleared his throat and made gestures to say something.
Shen Fengyue raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain.
“The things in the palace must have bored Your Majesty by now. Why not go out and see something new?” Lord Shen changed the subject, pushing the dagger further away from Shen Fengyue- pushing it out of the reach of the Empress Dowager Shen. Empress Dowager was easily angered, and even though Empress Dowager couldn’t beat him with a dagger, he was afraid of hurting him while making gestures.
“Oh?” Shen Fengyue sat a little further away from him, closed the book on the table and put it aside, and said meaningfully “Lord Shen’s actions today have really opened my eyes. I can’t think of anything new that I haven’t seen before.”
As soon as the words were spoken, he realized it was not good. It looked like he was actually praising him, and this person always wanted to take advantage of any opportunity. Sure enough, Lord Shen took advantage of his hesitation and immediately climbed up the pole, “To have Your Majesty’s attention, my heart is overjoyed.”
There was a stool between him and Shen Fengyue, and Lord Shen couldn’t help but feel that the stool was unpleasant to the eyes.
“Besides, although inside the palace, one can see all the rare treasures in the world, it’s also interesting to go out and explore the common people’s world.” Lord Shen said as he moved his buttocks to the front stool, facing Empress Dowager. “Empress Dowager, what do you think?”
Shen Fengyue was intrigued, but still had doubts, “What’s so special about the common people’s world?”
Lord Shen replied, “Your Majesty is celebrating Empress Dowager’s birthday, and the common people are also celebrating. It’s not too late, we can catch the night market. What do you think, Empress Dowager?”
This was indeed tempting. Since Shen Fengyue came to this world, he had been trapped in a small place, unable to explore. How could he not be tempted to go out and see?
So he nodded in agreement and asked, “How do we get out?”
“Just a little disguise will do. I will secretly take Empress Dowager out, and when the time comes, I will send you back with no one noticing.” Lord Shen achieved his goal, hiding the hint of cunning in his eyes, and blinked at him. Then he suddenly sounded disappointed, “Unfortunately, I came in a hurry and didn’t bring men’s clothing for Empress Dowager, so I can only inconvenience Empress Dowager.”
“…”
Shen Fengyue was speechless and glared at him. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?!
Lord Shen was not afraid of him and still had a regretful but helpless look.
Shen Fengyue had no choice but to rely on this scoundrel if he wanted to go out, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.
“You are not allowed to look!”
After reminding him, he opened the changing screen and picked a less conspicuous dress.
“As you command, my Empress Dowager.”
There was no sound outside the screen, and Shen Fengyue was worried. As he undressed, he tentatively asked, “Lord Shen, what are you doing?”
Immediately, a lazy voice came from outside, “To answer Empress Dowager’s question, I’m flipping through your book. Have you finished changing?”
“No! I’m still undressing.”
Lord Shen chuckled, and this sound, whether it was because Shen Fengyue was too sensitive or not, was like a firework exploding in his ear.
With a bang, Shen Fengyue’s face turned red and his ears were burning, and even his heartbeat quickened.
What’s so funny? Is it that amusing?!
There were only two people in the room, and their movements were clear to each other’s ears. Shen Fengyue heard the sound of pages being flipped one by one, while Lord Shen heard the sound of fabric rubbing.
He had always had sensitive ears, and the sound of the fabric rubbing seemed as if it was rubbing against his heart, making him feel a tingling sensation. As he listened, a vivid and fragrant image appeared in his mind, making him blush.
“Cough.” He coughed lightly, feeling dry in the mouth and tongue. But adhering to his personal upbringing, he kept his back to the changing screen and absentmindedly flipped through the book, trying to distract himself.
This torment of the heart ended with Shen Fengyue changing into his dress. He wore a light yellow skirt with a light gold cloak on top. The skirt’s material was light and elegant, and the skirt swayed with the wind as he moved, enveloping his beautiful body, and adding a touch of mystery.
