Chapter 55 Sandalwood and the Scent of Her
"Besides jasmine seeds, what else is there? There's no mercury, is there?" Zhao Liangxu cherished her life very much.
Anhe glared at him sharply: "No, no! There's no mercury! I've never seen you so timid before!"
“Besides, how would our family know every single ingredient? Zhao Liangxu, are you doing this on purpose?” An He looked at Zhao Liangxu suspiciously.
Zhao Liangxu looked An He up and down. He was usually in good spirits and had plenty of energy to curse people. She had never seen him suffer from any serious illness. He had applied the jasmine kernel powder to his face many times. Zhao Liangxu had seen it countless times. So, the powder must contain natural plants and should not contain anything poisonous.
Zhao Liangxu had already felt mostly at ease.
"You, Zhao Liangxu, you called me out just to talk about these nonsensical things? What exactly do you want?"
After this commotion with An He, Zhao Liangxu's previously depressed and confused mood inexplicably improved. She pretended not to understand An He's words and said, "No, I didn't call you, Eunuch An. You are next to His Majesty, and I am next to the main gate. We are so far apart that I can't even see you clearly. How could I possibly have the chance to call you out?"
A smile finally appeared on her lips: "I just felt too stuffy inside, so I came out for a walk to clear my head. I also think it's quite a coincidence that I met Eunuch An like this."
"Uncle An, do you think we're on the same wavelength?"
Zhao Liangxu was as cunning as before, and An He sneered, "Do you ever tell the truth?"
Did he think he couldn't see through her? Zhao Liangxu glanced at him several times in the main hall, and the last time she even pointed to the side door with her chin. Wasn't that a clear hint that she wanted him to leave?
But he couldn't make his point too clear, otherwise Zhao Liangxu would start spouting nonsense.
There's really no evidence to back up this. If Zhao Liangxu asserts that she didn't do anything, but just blinked at him, it's because he insists that Zhao Liangxu is hinting that he should go out.
How could he possibly argue against Zhao Liangxu's shameless argument? Why should he go through the trouble of forcing Zhao Liangxu to admit it?
That's really unreasonable.
An He snorted coldly at Zhao Liangxu and flicked his sleeves.
Suddenly, he caught a faint scent that he recognized immediately.
It's the sandalwood scent he usually uses.
But he usually wears incense quite heavily, not so lightly and softly. Since it's not him, then it must be...
Anhe moved closer to Zhao Liangxu. The two were almost the same height, so Anhe lowered his head slightly, pressed his shoulder against Zhao Liangxu's shoulder, and gently sniffed her neckline.
"Hmm?" Zhao Liangxu asked in confusion.
Anhe moved closer to Zhao Liangxu, her breath light and shallow. Zhao Liangxu didn't realize that Anhe was leaning down to sniff her; she only felt that Anhe was angry and had suddenly moved closer to her.
An He sniffed for a while, so close it felt like his nose was about to touch Zhao Liangxu's neck, before whispering, "Golden Sandalwood?"
Zhao Liangxu then realized what An He meant by leaning close; he was smelling her.
Today is, after all, a grand banquet for merchants, and she is, at least, participating in the banquet as someone of considerable importance.
Although she doesn't usually like the smell of incense or burn incense, she thought that for such an occasion, she should burn some incense to show that she valued it.
It just so happens that when she was flirting with Anhe earlier, Anhe kindly said he would give her some sandalwood incense. Not long after, he sent someone to deliver it, and she had no reason to refuse, but it just sat there unused.
She didn't dislike the scent, and since it happened to be useful, she used it.
Zhao Liangxu hadn't expected An He to be so observant, actually noticing the fragrance on her body.
Zhao Liangxu nodded and said, "What's wrong? Does Eunuch An not want me to use it? If he gave it to me, it's mine. Even if he doesn't want me to use it, I've already used it."
Why wouldn't he let me use it?
Anhe felt a tingling sensation in her fingertips, and her heart felt numb as well.
He smelled the faint sandalwood scent on Zhao Liangxu, and only one hateful thought grew arrogantly and pretentiously in his mind.
She smells like me.
He was such a stingy and picky eunuch that he finally found such a fragrance. Once he started using it, people in the capital dared not use it anymore. This fragrance could indeed be said to be exclusively his.
Who would dare use this incense? An He thought this without any shame; his current status gave him reason to be so proud.
Zhao Liangxu, however, was very bold.
Aside from An He, only Zhao Liangxu has this fragrance.
He only gave this incense to Zhao Liangxu.
Even if Zhao Liangxu only used it once, it still counts as one time.
Zhao Liangxu was covered in his scent once.
She once said that she didn't like fragrance, so she used a lighter scent, which was good.
This faint scent seemed more like the scent he had imparted to Zhao Liangxu, rather than the fragrance she had applied beforehand.
Such thoughts made him feel ashamed and made him feel dark and despicable.
What chance would he have of getting Zhao Liangxu covered in his scent? Such thoughts are utterly despicable and licentious.
Such thoughts immediately brought to mind the unbearable reality.
In this silence, Zhao Liangxu also re-examined her feelings for An He.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, a slightly nervous greeting came from beside them, interrupting An He and Zhao Liangxu's chaotic thoughts.
"Why is Secretary Zhao here? The banquet is over."
The voice was gentle yet firm, hesitant yet continuing, "I have met... Your Excellency."
A drab blue robe came into their view, and when Zhao Liangxu heard the voice and greeted her familiarly, she knew who it was.
Wearing a blue robe similar in style to hers, with a gentle voice and a scholarly air, who else could it be but Chen Qinglie?
An He was displeased that his time with Zhao Liangxu had been interrupted by someone else, and the person who raised his head and revealed a scholarly face made him even more irritated.
How could such a young and gentle gentleman be so familiar with Zhao Liangxu?
What's with this friendly reminder? How did Zhao Liangxu become so familiar with this man in just two months?
And that jarring blue robe. Looking at Chen Qinglie's young face, he knew that Chen Qinglie must be a translator from the Imperial Academy, which would make him a colleague of Zhao Liangxu.
She was still a colleague who had spent two months working closely with Zhao Liangxu.
An He made no attempt to conceal his sharp scrutiny as he examined Chen Qinglie inch by inch. He did not respond to Chen Qinglie, but instead adopted his usual arrogant demeanor. The eunuch's stature proved quite useful at this moment, as he raised his head and made a disdainful gesture.
Chen Qinglie felt An He's hostile gaze and swayed slightly.
He was still making a bowing gesture, his hands clasped together, but no one knew that his palms were already sweaty, his thumb nails tapping against his knuckles, as he endured it with some embarrassment.
While in the main hall, he noticed that Zhao Liangxu had left the banquet first, her face seemingly filled with worry. He wondered what had happened to her, which moved Chen Qinglie and made him worry about her.
However, the businessmen he was in charge of were very sociable, which made it impossible for him to leave.
As soon as the banquet ended, he hurriedly left the main hall through a side door, his mind still preoccupied with Zhao Liangxu's pale complexion.
He even put himself in Zhao Liangxu's shoes, thinking that if she was in a bad mood, given her aloof nature, she would surely find a quiet place.
He went to look for her and did see Zhao Liangxu, but he also saw An He blocking Zhao Liangxu's view from afar.
Chen Qinglie was startled for a moment; he had just seen that distinctive python robe in the main hall.
An He actually cornered Zhao Liangxu against a pillar!
What he saw was An He lowering his head to smell Zhao Liangxu.
From his perspective, Chen Qinglie couldn't see Zhao Liangxu's expression, but he could clearly see An He leaning over and pressing down on Zhao Liangxu, pressing down on her shoulders and neck. Such a distance that crossed the line, such a coercive action, must have made Zhao Liangxu extremely fearful.
Chen Qinglie was just an ordinary person, and like most people, he was afraid of the prestige of the Ninth Prince and the power of the eunuch, praying that he would never offend this eunuch.
Seeing this "forced" scene, he was suddenly filled with a surge of extremely brave courage. He could not let Zhao Liangxu be humiliated like this, and he could not let this outstanding woman be humiliated by An He in broad daylight!
Even as he took those few steps, he imagined Zhao Liangxu helplessly trapped in the An family mansion, being humiliated by this despicable eunuch every day. An He was so hateful to break off such a beautiful plum blossom!
It was only after An He stepped forward and actually said those words to help Zhao Liangxu out of the predicament that An He's glance at him brought him back to his senses.
Before me stood the eunuch who could berate and imprison the six ministers, a powerful eunuch whom even the great general Zhou Feng could not gain the upper hand against! He was the Ninth Prince, who had confiscated the homes of countless officials and whose hands were stained with countless blood!
He was starting to regret it.
I acted too impulsively and ended up in an embarrassing situation.
What if I really anger Anhe and he kills me?
Chen Qinglie gritted his teeth, trying his best to stop his body from trembling.
"I apologize for my abruptness, and I fear I have offended Your Majesty and Secretary Zhao by discussing important matters."
Since he had already offended An He anyway, he might as well be a little more reckless and at least prevent Zhao Liangxu from being trapped in this situation. He had already hinted that the two of them were talking about something serious, so An He shouldn't be so close to Zhao Liangxu during the day.
When Zhao Liangxu saw An He's hostile attitude towards Chen Qinglie, she assumed that Chen Qinglie had rashly offended An He, causing him to become petty again.
Zhao Liangxu poked An He's arm with a finger and said to Chen Qinglie, "It's Chen Yisheng. Get up quickly. Eunuch An won't blame you, right, Eunuch An?"
When An He heard that Zhao Liangxu had come to Chen Qinglie's rescue, he felt even worse. He really wanted to blame this rash Chen Yisheng!
“Oh? It seems this is Zhao’s colleague,” An He said slowly.
"Chen Yisheng, it seems that Chen Yisheng truly has deep feelings for his colleague Zhao Shuban."
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Author's Note: That's great! I still have one chapter saved up today. Right now, I can only type on my phone during my breaks, and I have a little time to type on my computer in the evenings. I don't have much time to carefully revise the saved chapters. Please forgive any typos, dear readers! [Please!]
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