Winter has arrived, temperatures have plummeted, and rain and snow have been falling continuously.

After returning to the Brocade Palace, Su Tiyue rested for two more days and felt better.

After dinner, under the cover of night, Su Tiyue went to Wenhui Pavilion alone, without letting Liu Wan and Qingwu follow her.

The Wenhui Pavilion houses tens of thousands of books, as well as many volumes of household registration records for people in the palace.

When they arrived at Wenhui Pavilion, they found it deserted, not even the eunuch who usually organized the books was there. Only a faint light was visible inside the room.

Su Tiyue was very familiar with this place. In the past, when she was bored in the Brocade Palace, she would come here to stay, look around, and pass the time.

The room was spacious and clean. At the entrance stood a long, wide mahogany table carved with dragons and phoenixes, intended for reading and research. On either side of the table were rows of neatly arranged bookshelves, with very little space between them, barely enough for one person to fit.

Just as Xiao Heye said, there were more eunuchs than palace maids in the palace, so much so that the records of them alone filled more than three bookshelves.

Su Tiyue leaned slightly against the bookshelf, holding the dossier in her hand. Her slender white fingers traced the names on the table of contents one by one as she carefully examined the documents, afraid of missing even the slightest bit of information about Xiao Heye.

She was so engrossed in watching that she didn't even notice a tall, upright figure entering the room and slowly approaching Su Tiyue.

The man walked very lightly, and from the moment he entered, he spotted Su Tiyue through the gaps in the bookshelves.

The dim candlelight in the room cast his long shadow until he stood before Su Tiyue, where the shadow enveloped her small body like a nightmare.

Su Tiyue was startled to find someone blocking the light. She looked up in surprise and discovered that Xiao Heye had been standing in front of her at some point.

"Master Xiao?" she whispered, then quickly closed the file in her hand and hugged it tightly to her chest after a moment of surprise.

"Um."

He snorted coldly, "This servant had no idea that Your Highness loved reading so much?"

"I...I was just browsing around because I had nothing to do..." Su Tiyue stammered, sounding somewhat guilty.

She wasn't there to read books; she was clearly there to secretly investigate his background.

"Just taking a look?" Xiao Heye stopped staring at her and turned to look at the files on the bookshelf.

His slender, pale fingers with distinct knuckles gently traced the old, yellowed scrolls. As he looked at the numbered lists of eunuchs, the darkness in his eyes deepened.

He let out a cold laugh.

Then he turned around, approaching step by step, his strong arms encircling her, his deep, sinister voice slowly drifting into her ears:

"Is Your Highness investigating my background?"

“I didn’t expect Your Highness to be so interested in this servant…?” he added.

Su Tiyue gasped, her heels and her whole body shifting backward, only to find that her back was already pressed against the bookshelf, with nowhere left to retreat.

"How could that be? Master Xiao, you've misunderstood. I was just flipping through it casually."

"I suppose there's nothing in this pavilion that Your Highness is looking for. However... if Your Highness is curious, you can simply ask this servant. Why bother sneaking around in the middle of the night to investigate someone else's background?"

As Xiao Heye spoke, he reached out and pulled the files from her arms, carefully placing them on the bookshelf above her head.

"Then let me ask you this: will the Master really tell the truth?"

Since he had already said that, Su Tiyue was just going along with his question.

Xiao Heye said calmly, "No."

Su Tiyue frowned and glared at him fiercely.

What a scoundrel that damned eunuch!

Didn't he tell you to ask that? Now you're going to reject him?

"Oh, it's getting late. If there's nothing else, I'll head back to the palace..."

Su Tiyue bent down, preparing to crawl under his arm, but he moved his arm down further, blocking her way.

"Time is of the essence. I believe Your Majesty should not waste time on these trivial matters."

"Instead of racking your brains to dig up the servants' secrets, you should go find Consort Ji and learn how to win the Emperor's heart."

They couldn't stop talking about that deal.

"Thank you for the reminder, Master. I will definitely study hard," Su Tiyue replied irritably.

Su Tiyue rolled her eyes at him and was about to leave when a burst of playful noises suddenly came from the corridor outside the door.

She looked up and met his gaze, her face full of suspicion.

It's so late, who would come to such a remote place as Wenhui Pavilion?

As the laughter drew closer, Su Tiyue finally heard it clearly...

Isn't that... the Emperor's voice?

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she covered her mouth, whispering, "The seal... it's the Emperor and Consort Ji!"

Su Tiyue opened her mouth, her small, porcelain-white face filled with fear and helplessness.

Xiao Heye didn't make a sound, but gently placed his index finger on his lips in a 'shh' gesture, signaling her not to make a sound.

Su Tiyue turned her head and peered through the gaps in the bookshelves toward the door, silently praying, "Don't come in, please don't come in..."

Hopefully they were just passing by...

But things didn't go as planned. The two of them, arm in arm and laughing, swaggered in.

They hadn't walked far into the room when their lips met in a kiss...

As they kissed, Consort Ji lifted her delicate buttocks and sat down on the mahogany table, her arms tightly wrapped around the man's neck... The kiss was passionate and intense.

With a tearing sound, Consort Ji's clothes were ripped open, revealing her voluptuous and alluring figure. As the two kissed passionately, a soft, sweet cry could be heard from her.

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