Chapter 8 Harem His hands are so big, I feel like he could grab me with one hand…

Her reminder reminded Xie Lanzhou of the day she slept unusually soundly in the side hall, and he frowned in thought.

Su Panyue thought he was angry, so her legs went weak and she knelt down, lowering her head and not daring to say another word.

If it's like this on the first day, how will we get through the rest of the year?

Xie Lanzhou's mind raced, and he said calmly, "Considering this is your first offense, I will not punish you."

Su Panyue looked up happily, her smile radiant.

The man paused for a moment, then said, "From now on, you can come to work at the beginning of the Mao hour (5-7 AM)."

Su Panyue stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her smile instantly vanishing. After a moment of silence, she said weakly, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Hearing her gritted teeth and utter the word "Your Majesty," Xie Lanzhou curled her lips into a smile, feeling quite pleased.

She took a few steps but didn't follow. When she turned around, she saw her petite figure still kneeling on the spot.

When Eunuch Fu saw him turn around, he immediately realized what was happening and beckoned to Su Panyue: "Hurry up and follow me to serve."

Su Panyue secretly pouted, got up, and followed.

The group went to the Hall of Diligent Governance, where ministers usually kept their memorials for Xie Lanzhou to review.

Fu Gonggong, familiar with the process, stood beside Xie Lanzhou grinding ink.

Su Panyue poured him a cup of tea and then stepped aside to watch him review the memorials.

The man sat in a sandalwood armchair, leaning back slightly, holding a memorial in one hand, his face expressionless as he quickly flipped through it.

Su Panyue's gaze involuntarily lingered on him, and she thought to herself:

Wow, a serious man is the most handsome. I want to pin him down on the table and...

Xie Lanzhou paused slightly as he flipped through the memorial, then turned his head to look at it.

Su Panyue immediately looked away, lowered her head and stood obediently, imagining herself as a pillar in the hall.

Xie Lanzhou had almost gotten used to hearing her foul language, but he still kept her in the hall because he found that this big yellow girl could alleviate his headaches.

The last time he suffered a headache and fainted in the palace, it was this palace maid who came and helped him recover. He initially thought it was the pastry, but after having the Imperial Physician take it back and study it for a long time, he concluded that the pastry was nothing special.

He saw the palace maid twice more later, and both times he could feel that she was clearly refreshed and clear-headed.

There must be something wrong with this palace maid. Since she was sent by the Empress Dowager, she must be someone special.

Thinking this, Xie Lanzhou gave her a deep look and decided to spare her life for now, and wait for the conclusion.

The emperor's gaze carried a hint of oppression, making it hard to ignore. Su Panyue's back stiffened for a moment, and she muttered to herself:

Why are you staring at me instead of working properly? It's kind of scary. I think I've been doing alright.

Xie Lanzhou looked away and turned to wave at Fu Lin.

Eunuch Fu lowered his head and listened intently. Xie Lanzhou whispered, "Summon Seventeen to see me."

Fu Gonggong nodded, accepted the order, and left.

Su Panyue couldn't hear what they were saying and wasn't interested, so she leaned against the pillar and dozed off.

Xie Lanzhou picked up the memorial again and heard her innermost thoughts:

[How boring, it's not lunchtime yet.]

He raised his hand and pointed at Su Panyue: "Come here."

Su Panyue thought that it was because Eunuch Fu had gone out that he asked her to come over, never expecting that it was because he found her inner voice too noisy and wanted to give her something to do.

She responded and obediently walked to the table.

The man leaned back in his chair and glanced indifferently at the floor to the right of the desk, where many memorials were piled up haphazardly.

"It's all packed up."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Su Panyue replied, squatting down to the side to begin sorting through the memorials.

I picked up the books one by one, organized them, and then stacked them aside.

The work wasn't exactly tiring, but squatting for so long made Su Panyue gradually feel like her legs weren't even her own anymore.

My legs are numb. I hope I won't be noticed if I secretly sit on the floor.

After a brief moment of silence, Xie Lanzhou heard her innermost thoughts again.

While thinking, Su Panyue had already begun to take action. She picked out the thickest memorial, glanced at it casually, and saw that it contained some content expressing concern for His Majesty's health and urging him to establish a harem.

She secretly placed the booklet under her bottom, and as she sat down, she muttered to herself:

[It's ridiculous that His Majesty has to submit such nonsense in a memorial every day. He must be miserable.]

She finally came up with something that Xie Lanzhou also agreed with. He was still holding the memorial, but his eyes glanced at the woman squatting to the side.

The first thing he saw was a head of black hair, with a silver hairpin casually inserted at an angle, and a crabapple blossom adorning an inconspicuous corner. He then recalled the silver hairpin from last time, which was also carved with a crabapple blossom, so she must like this flower.

He touched his sleeve but couldn't find the silver hairpin from that day; he didn't know where it had fallen.

She was bending down to organize a book, revealing her slender neck. The small figure was curled up in a ball, reminding Xie Lanzhou of some harmless little animals.

The next moment, her inner voice came again:

Why are so many people wanting the emperor to establish a harem? What kind of kind family would want to send their daughter into the palace? Isn't that like jumping into a fire pit...?

Xie Lanzhou curled her lips in self-deprecation and tossed the folded document in her hand in front of her.

Su Panyue was startled and looked up innocently, but the man looked away and picked up the next memorial.

Su Panyue pouted, picked up the memorial that had just been thrown at her, glanced at it, and found that it was written by the Vice Minister of Revenue, and the content was roughly that he wanted to send his daughter into the palace.

She had just finished lamenting that no one would want to send their daughter to the palace when she saw this memorial. She stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then looked at it carefully and noticed that the name of the Vice Minister of Revenue was circled in red.

None of the memorials she had previously compiled had any annotations.

She wondered curiously, "What does this circle mean? Does it mean it's true or false?"

She tidied up the emperor's memorials for just as long as he was reviewing them.

After observing for a morning, she realized that although the emperor claimed to be reviewing memorials, he actually wrote them down a handful of times, and most of the memorials were just glanced at and then thrown on the ground.

There was a large stack of folded documents, but only two or three of them were circled, and not a single word was written on them.

Su Panyue spent half a day tidying up the memorials on the ground, neatly stacking them up. However, after squatting for a whole morning, she felt dizzy when she stood up and almost fell because she lost her balance.

A large hand steadied her, helping her regain her balance.

Su Panyue shook her head, her vision cleared, and she saw Xie Lanzhou's handsome and flawless face. Only then did she realize that he had helped her up.

She smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Oh wow, his hands are so big, I feel like he could grab my waist with one hand.

Upon hearing her thoughts, Xie Lanzhou's temples throbbed with pain, and he rubbed his hand inside his sleeve as if a trace of his body heat remained.

He didn't know why he reached out to help her up. If she had fallen in front of him, it would have been a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor, and she would have been punished. But he reached out his hand instinctively.

While Xie Lanzhou was pondering, Su Panyue had recovered and spoke again:

"Your Majesty, I have finished packing. Where should I put it?"

Xie Lanzhou snapped out of his reverie, glanced casually at the stack of memorials, and said, "Take them out and burn them."

Two eunuchs who were standing by stepped forward, skillfully picked up the memorial, and retreated.

Su Panyue stared at Xie Lanzhou's expressionless face with surprise, wondering if he was deliberately messing with her.

Although it wasn't exactly tiring, she spent the whole morning tidying up things just to take them out to burn. What was the point of having her tidy up then?

Su Panyue stood aside, angry but unable to speak out, pouting and sulking.

Xie Lanzhou could see the expression on her rosy little face out of the corner of his eye, vividly filled with accusation, especially her watery eyes, which looked as if they could drip water at any moment.

He glanced at the rambling, nonsensical document in his hand, then instead of throwing it on the ground, casually placed it on the table.

At this moment, Eunuch Fu returned from outside, seemingly having something to report. Su Panyue consciously retreated to the side of the pillar.

Eunuch Fu walked to Xie Lanzhou's side and reported, "Your Majesty, the Seventeenth Prince has returned. When would you like to see him?"

"After lunch," Xie Lanzhou said without deliberately lowering his voice.

[Lunch? When is lunch?] Su Panyue had overslept and hadn't eaten breakfast, and now she felt extremely hungry.

Xie Lanzhou glanced at the sky, stood up, and said, "Serve the meal."

Eunuch Fu waved his hand, signaling the young eunuch to serve the meal, and then took the umbrella to shield Xie Lanzhou from the sun.

Su Panyue followed behind, wanting to ask Eunuch Fu where she should eat, but she didn't find a chance to speak.

In early summer, looking at the blazing sun overhead, Su Panyue could only comfort herself: "Sunbathing is good for my health, and I'm naturally beautiful and not afraid of the sun."

Fortunately, the Hall of Mental Cultivation was not far away, and they arrived quickly.

Xie Lanzhou took his seat, and the palace servants began serving dishes one after another.

Su Panyue finally seized the opportunity and whispered to Eunuch Fu, "Eunuch, shall I go back for my meal and come back this afternoon?"

Before Eunuch Fu could answer, Xie Lanzhou looked over and said, "I remember you served me a meal."

[Aren't you supposed to be incredibly busy?! How come you still remember such a trivial matter?!]

Su Panyue roared inwardly, but remained obedient on the surface: "Yes, Your Majesty has a good memory."

"Then come on." Xie Lanzhou was too lazy to argue with her. As long as he had her stay by his side, his headache did not flare up again.

Last time, Su Panyue was preoccupied and didn't really enjoy the imperial cuisine. This time, after testing for poison with a silver needle, she picked up her chopsticks and looked at the dazzling array of dishes, suddenly finding the food quite pleasant.

She started with the silver-thread glutinous rice rolls in front of her and tried each dish one by one. Some dishes were really delicious, so she took a few more bites.

After trying all the dishes, she found they were fine and was almost full, so it was time to serve the emperor some more food.

The emperor's preferences are not discernible to others, so Su Panyue selected a few dishes that she thought were good for him. Xie Lanzhou was not picky and ate more than usual.

Having stayed in the Imperial Kitchen for so long, Su Panyue naturally knew that he always had a small appetite. She felt a great sense of accomplishment, as if her pet animal was finally eating well, and she was very pleased.

During her lunch break, Xie Lanzhou didn't need anyone to serve her, and Su Panyue finally had a chance to go back to her maid's room for a nap.

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Xie Lanzhou leaned against the bed as a man dressed in black armor entered, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

These are twenty spies trained by Xie Lanzhou, each with their own strengths. Seventeen is the one who has come now, and he is specifically responsible for gathering information for him.

Xie Lanzhou asked, "How's the investigation going?"

"Your Majesty, I have discovered that this palace maid named Su Panyue entered the palace half a year ago. She is an orphan with neither parents. Since entering the palace, she has been working in the Imperial Kitchen, where she spends her days eating and drinking, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Before she came to work, she was taken away by the chief eunuch from the Empress's palace, and we don't know what he said to her. Also..."

Xie Lanzhou frowned; he disliked speaking in half-heartedly. "What else?"

"It seems that quite a few palace servants are fond of Miss Su. She is quite close to a guard, and the two have met alone before."

Xie Lanzhou frowned even more deeply: "Keep an eye on it." With that, he waved for him to leave.

He wanted to see when this audacious woman would reveal her true colors.

A note from the author:

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I'm trying to meet the word count requirement for ranking, so I won't be updating tomorrow, but I will update the day after. [Please!]