Chapter 49 Sweet Talk: Zhao Liangxu Only Kept Flattering Him
Zhao Liangxu felt that An He was like a ghost at this moment, his voice hollow, eerie and gloomy.
She guessed that if she actually said "I want to hear it," An He would probably flip the table and drag her away to be torn to pieces.
Zhao Liangxu completely covered her face with the book again, her soft voice soothing Anhe through the scent of the book: "There's no need to tell me, I'm not too curious."
There was nothing more to say.
If she had explained a little more gently, he would probably have weighed his anger and suppressed it, but she just gave him such a perfunctory answer!
These words made An He's face even more gloomy. Zhao Liangxu didn't take him seriously at all. She was always curious and always liked to teeter on the edge of An He's anger and rage.
Even if she realized she had been too lenient with her, she shouldn't have acted so tactlessly.
Anhe chuckled, a soft laugh squeezed out of his throat: "What? Weren't you just curious? Come on, what do you want to hear?"
He pinched a corner of the folded paper between his fingers, grinding it back and forth fiercely. His head was tilted to one side, half of his face hidden in the shadow of his hair, the other half facing Zhao Liangxu, his mask-like smile trembling.
"Do you want to hear the sounds from the bed... or what we've seen and thought? Would you like me to lay bare my thoughts and feelings for you? Hmm?"
Zhao Liangxu, carrying the book, joined in the head-shaking motion.
She started the topic, and now she's pushed him to the limit. Seeing him angry, he wants to pretend nothing happened.
He shouldn't have been so lenient with Zhao Liangxu. Even if he hadn't killed her, he would have had plenty of ways to teach her what to say and what not to say.
Zhao Liangxu asked such a blunt question so easily. An He closed his eyes and thought about those few words more deeply and more frantically.
Anhe clenched his jaw muscles so tightly that he felt an uncontrollable buzzing coming from his ears, as if even his hair was trembling.
But before he could utter any harsh words, Zhao Liangxu was startled by the action. Her other hand, which was not being grabbed, pulled on An He's clothes around his waist and stood up. She grabbed him so tightly that she pinched the flesh around An He's waist. Zhao Liangxu herself naturally felt it and subconsciously touched that spot to comfort herself, as if burying her head in the sand.
Zhao Liangxu interrupted first: "Don't be angry, Eunuch An." She hadn't just been casually brushing her off; she had been using the book as a cover while her eyes darted around, trying to come up with a solution.
Anhe has indeed been very lenient with her these past few days. Having just gone through a life-or-death experience, she is now acting recklessly and without restraint. Anhe has so drastically changed his attitude, so she goes along with it.
In short, she realized she was getting a little carried away.
With Anhe grabbing at her like that, Zhao Liangxu stopped thinking and subconsciously grabbed Anhe's clothes at the waist. She raised her eyes and said, "I only asked because I like Qiansui. Now that I know Qiansui doesn't like me, I won't ask anymore."
Anhe was so angry that he couldn't breathe.
He knew that Zhao Liangxu would call him "Your Excellency" when she needed something from him, when she was teasing him, and when she was trying to appease him after upsetting him. This was her usual tactic, and there was no real affection involved. He had known this for a long time.
But she said she liked him.
It's ridiculously fake, laughably fake.
But his vicious words were still stuck in his throat for a moment. He felt that Zhao Liangxu must have hurt him. Anhe said in a strange voice, a little choked up: "You, you take off your clothes and leave us alone!"
She even lightly touched him twice as if to comfort him, but who was she trying to fool!
Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangxu let go of her hand. Now that there was no book to hide her expression, she could only act without missing a beat: "I didn't mean anything by it. I just felt that Qiansui had to work night shifts and that it was too tiring for her. I like Qiansui and I care about her."
She still liked it at the time, so she didn't feel awkward and said it smoothly, but she might not feel that way in the future.
An He was furious; sometimes he really wanted to strangle Zhao Liangxu.
It still sounds very fake!
His previous bad thoughts were all dispelled by Zhao Liangxu's act, and he felt even more frustrated, as if he were tasting a glimmer of poison that was clearly meant to deceive people.
An He took a few steps back and sat down, but the anger that had been building up inside him couldn't be contained. He picked up the book that Zhao Liangxu had read from the table and pointed it at Zhao Liangxu: "You!"
Zhao Liangxu took a step back.
He was even angrier, and threw the book on the ground. He said to Zhao Liangxu what he had already planned to say in a vicious tone, "Tomorrow, when you're ready, I'll take you to the Ministry of Rites to get your appointment. If you dare to say anything out of line again tomorrow, watch your tongue!"
Zhao Liangxu calmly bowed to An He and said, "Yes, thank you, Your Highness." It had been a while since she had properly bowed to An He.
Anhe's brow twitched even more as he looked at Zhao Liangxu's appearance.
"Get out! Get out!"
Out of sight, out of mind.
*
The next day, Zhao Liangxu dressed in simple clothes and went with Anhe to the Bureau of Officials and Clerks. Anhe was still angry and ignored Zhao Liangxu with a cold face.
An He had already mentioned Zhao Liangxu's appointment as secretary in court, and the people of the Ministry of Rites had been preparing for His Majesty's arrival for a long time.
He first led Zhao Liangxu into the Ministry of Rites, where they met with the officials in charge of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. Zhao Liangxu looked around the office and happened to spot a familiar face.
From afar, she saw a man in his thirties dressed in a purple official robe, with a slightly shorter female official standing beside him, and the two were talking.
Zhao Liangxu didn't recognize the man, but she was very familiar with the female official's uniform.
The light blue round-necked robe embroidered with white bird patterns—isn't that Qiu Cheng?
With An He making such a grand entrance, Qiu Cheng and the man naturally couldn't pretend not to see him, so they came forward to greet him.
Qiu Cheng was initially puzzled as to why Zhao Liangxu was there, but then he remembered the recent discussions among the officials in the capital and asked, "Is she here to take up her new post?"
Zhao Liangxu nodded, and the man in purple beside her said in a gentle and refined manner, "I have long admired Princess Zhao's name. I am Yu Shaoyuan, and I serve as the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."
The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices did not need to treat the clerk with such courtesy, but with An He accompanying her, the situation changed completely. He had been an official for quite some time and naturally knew what to say.
"What are Lady Qiu and Junior Minister Yu doing here?"
Qiu Cheng smiled and said, "I came to see the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and I happened to run into Lord Yu, so we chatted for a few minutes."
Zhao Liangxu only exchanged a few casual words with the two people she met; otherwise, if she had continued the conversation, An He would probably have started picking a fight with them.
After meeting with the two superiors of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice, Anhe took her to the place directly in charge of the clerk's office to make some harsh remarks.
As soon as Zhao Liangxu and An He entered the office, Chen, the head of the department, and others came to greet them: "Greetings, Your Majesty, and Princess Zhao. We have been waiting for you for a long time."
Anhe was clearly in a bad mood at this moment, and she nitpicked, "What kind of name is Princess Zhao? Once you're appointed, you're just Secretary Zhao. If you can't do your job, then take that hat off your head!"
When Chen heard this, he was terrified. He felt that Anhe's words about taking off his hat were probably an implication that he was going to take his head off.
He treated An He with even greater caution, and Zhao Liangxu was subjected to a subtle scrutiny tinged with fear as a result.
Is this Zhao Liangxu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty?
While Chen, the head of the department, was flattering An He, he was secretly scrutinizing Zhao Liangxu. Not only him, but the entire Ministry of Rites was incredibly curious about this legendary and eventful princess.
Some people who had seen Zhao Liangxu would boast about how beautiful she was, and those who hadn't seen her also had something to talk about.
The rumors that had circulated in the capital were about how she had become a eunuch's woman, and how she was indeed cut from the same cloth as Anhe, a veritable vixen who had bewitched the emperor. Even though Li Ying had ordered everyone to stop spreading these rumors, who could truly stop what happened in private?
Chief Chen was a shrewd man. An He didn't notice Chief Chen's subtle glances, but he did notice the other clerks' boldness and recklessness. Although they were secretly sizing up Zhao Liangxu, their actions were extremely obvious. An He was already annoyed and said sarcastically, "Where are the rules? How can you look at people like that? If you want to look, stand right in front of Clerk Zhao and take a good look! After you've looked, just gouge out your eyes!"
The minor official was so frightened that he knelt down.
Knowing An He's ruthlessness, Chief Chen rushed over to the clerk and kicked him, saying, "You don't know the rules with the Ninth Prince here? You want a beating?"
Taking advantage of the fact that her sleeves were intertwined with An He's and she couldn't see clearly, Zhao Liangxu tugged at his sleeve.
Although the scrutinizing gazes displeased her, if she were to gouge out someone's eyes or hastily kill them over this matter, her colleagues would likely scare her away on her very first day in office.
Anhe felt Zhao Liangxu gently tugging at her, glared at her, and said nothing.
Taking advantage of the lull, Chief Chen cursed the clerk a few more times: "What are you still doing here? Hurry up and go receive your punishment!"
He had scolded the minor official away, but it had also saved his life. Chief Chen flattered An He with a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, you see, this subordinate is ignorant. He has already gone to accept his punishment. Please calm down."
An He had no intention of drawing blood. He was used to saying such things, and threatening people today was a piece of cake. It would be one thing if ordinary people misunderstood him as being so ruthless, but Zhao Liangxu tugging at his sleeve made him uncomfortable.
An He glanced at Zhao Liangxu with a gloomy look in his eyes, and found that Zhao Liangxu had not moved any further away from him, but was still the same distance as before. A little more secret and twisted thoughts arose in his heart.
He hated Zhao Liangxu for thinking he was a great villain, yet he also felt that Zhao Liangxu knew about his treacherous eunuch image but did not back down.
Thinking this way, I tried to persuade him to agree more readily.
"Oh? In Manager Chen's eyes, is our family member such an easily angered person?" He remained sarcastic, but his words carried a slight upward inflection.
Manager Chen broke out in a cold sweat: "This..."
"Alright, look how scared you are, Manager Chen. I didn't come here today specifically to make things difficult for you. You all remember this well: this is Secretary Zhao, a position personally approved by His Majesty. If I find out that any of you have offended Secretary Zhao or been gossiping behind his back, you'll be in for a world of trouble!"
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Author's Note: The descriptions of clothing and government offices are fictional, so please don't nitpick the details.
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