The Top Scholar's Wife in the Emperor's Court 03

As Yuan Fuju walked out of the room, he couldn't stop grumbling, "That Xilan, he's really putting women before friends. He's completely forgotten his brothers."

The sourness in his tone was almost palpable, though he was the only one who didn't notice it.

Xiao Mingting remained silent, his presence heavy and oppressive. He lifted his eyelids slightly and said flatly, "Then perhaps you should stay?"

Yuan Fuju halted mid-step, staring at him in utter disbelief. "Jingyao, since when did you start making jokes?"

Xiao Mingting waved his voluminous sleeve lightly, his tone returning to its usual calm. "Let's go. It's their wedding night—what business do we have intruding?"

As he slowly pushed the image of the young woman falling into his arms from his mind, he walked toward the front hall without looking back.

He reminded himself inwardly: she was the wife of a trusted minister, the spouse of a dear friend. One must not covet a friend's wife—she was just a woman, after all.

Yuan Fuju quickly caught up, letting out a sigh before declaring with gusto, "At least it's our brother's happy day—tonight we drink until we're drunk!"

In contrast, Yuan Xuzhi seemed even more out of sorts.

Xiao Mingting didn't look up. He simply used his long, slender fingers to hold the delicate porcelain cup, staring at the amber liquid inside, his brows furrowed the entire time.

"Burp! Let's keep going—drink till we drop!"

His table companion Yuan Fuju poured himself another full cup, swaying as he raised his arm high, as if seeking a toast.

Plenty of the wine spilled, but he didn't seem to care. He just tilted his head back and took another deep gulp.

Xiao Mingting lowered his gaze. Though he had drunk just as much as Yuan Fuju, his expression remained utterly unchanged.

He simply lifted his hand in silence and drained his cup as well.

*

Back at the palace.

Standing in the Imperial Study, Xiao Mingting wasted no time in retrieving the scroll painting he had placed in the hidden compartment the night before.

He glanced down at the stunning young woman in the painting, and his gaze darkened involuntarily.

His fist clenched at his side as he, with a grim face, removed the shade from the candleholder on the desk.

Then he brought the scroll close to the dancing flames, clearly intending to burn it.

Eunuch De, standing nearby in attendance, watched with his pupils contracting sharply, his heart racing with unease.

He couldn't understand how, after just one day—even before Shuang Ren, the commander of the shadow guard, had reported back on this girl—His Majesty had suddenly... wanted to destroy the painting?

Fortunately, just as the flame's tip was about to lick the very end of the scroll, Xiao Mingting seemed to snap back to his senses. His wrist jerked, and he swiftly pulled the painting away.

Eunuch De's heart, which had climbed to his throat, finally settled back down.

"Shuang Ren." Xiao Mingting clutched the scroll tightly, his voice cold as he called out.

"At your service!" The man, still in his black fitted outfit with a masked face, appeared in the Imperial Study the moment the words left his mouth.

"What news of the matter I tasked you with yesterday?"

Xiao Mingting sat down at the desk, his gaze lowered, dark and unreadable, fixed on the painting he had spread open once more.

"Your Majesty, your servant has ascertained the general background of this young lady." Shuang Ren replied.

Xiao Mingting parted his lips. "Speak."

"This lady is named Xie Chenyao, from Shunyang, Jiangping. Her father, Xie Zhanfang, once served as the deputy magistrate of Jiangping, but was later demoted due to his involvement in the imperial examination fraud case of the third year of Taihe. The Xie family fell into decline and was rarely heard from thereafter. It was not until the beginning of the second month this year that Miss Xie traveled alone by boat to the capital, seemingly to fulfill her mother's dying wish..."

Shuang Ren was interrupted by Xiao Mingting, who raised a hand. His brow furrowed slightly. "Both her parents have passed away?"

Though it was her mother's dying wish, if her elders were still alive, how could a young girl be sent alone on such a long journey to an unfamiliar capital?

"Yes. The Xie family now only has Miss Xie remaining." Shuang Ren lowered his head in response.

Xiao Mingting's voice betrayed no emotion. "Continue."

"Miss Xie's mother, Wang Xiuhe, was a native of the capital. Before her marriage, she was a close friend of Zhang Rui, the wife of Liu Pengyi, a former registrar of the Imperial Censorate. Hence, on her deathbed, she advised her daughter to seek refuge with the Liu family in the capital. However, upon her arrival in the capital, her striking beauty attracted the attention of a dissolute young noble, who sought to take her by force as his concubine."

Shuang Ren had barely finished speaking before he felt the atmosphere in the Imperial Study plunge, as if frost had formed in the air.

He quickly added, "Fortunately, she was rescued by Lord Shen Yunxiu. At the time, he was still a commoner, before he had passed the palace examination. But he still used his wits to severely punish that rogue, who remains imprisoned to this day."

"I have never once heard Xilan mention this matter."

Xiao Mingting did not realize that his expression had turned dark enough to drip water.

Though he knew that such a small matter would have been easily handled by Shen Yunxiu, who would not have bothered to inform him—after all, his identity had not yet been revealed back then—he couldn't help but think that if it had been him who had encountered her first...

Xiao Mingting abruptly snapped back to reality, forcibly suppressing his wandering thoughts.

His face was tight, his hand on the painting clenching unconsciously as he asked coldly, "Which family's good-for-nothing is he?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he turned his dark expression to Eunuch De. "Never mind. Dequan, later you will convey my order to the Censorate to handle it. If a father fails to teach his son, it is the father's fault. He dared to forcibly seize a young woman in broad daylight; who's to say his family isn't shielding him and bending the law?"

A sharp gleam passed through his eyes as he scoffed, "Have the Censorate thoroughly investigate this matter. See to it that he doesn't get off easy!"

Eunuch De, his head bowed, was so terrified he hardly dared to breathe. At once, he bent forward and answered, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao Mingting lifted his hand, instinctively reaching to touch the eyebrows of the girl in the painting, but then he caught himself again.

His fingertips tightened slightly as he said in a deep voice, "Shuang Ren, continue."

"After that incident, Miss Xie and Lord Shen became acquainted, and subsequently pledged to spend their lives together. They were married today."

Shuang Ren lowered his eyes and stated the final sentence in a tone as calm as a still lake, though he added silently: Your Majesty even attended the wedding banquet in person.

Eunuch De, listening nearby, felt his back turn cold, a fine sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.

So that was it!

No wonder His Majesty had come back and, in a foul mood, tried to burn the painting. The very beauty he had just set his heart on had been married off within a single day... No one could accept that.

After Shuang Ren finished his report, the Imperial Study fell into an almost suffocating silence.

It was a long while before Xiao Mingting spoke, his voice flat and unreadable. "I see. You may go."

Eunuch De remained standing silently with his head bowed, utterly afraid to look at His Majesty's expression.

He didn't dare imagine the resentment and fury churning inside him.

Yet, in the end, all Eunuch De heard, after a long pause, was a very soft, barely perceptible sigh from Xiao Mingting, still seated in his chair—a sigh so faint it almost seemed a trick of the ear.