Chapter 12 Returning the Jade Intact to Zhao I don’t know what title I’m giving…

Chang’an raised his voice slightly: “How so? Does Official Qiu not fancy these charming young men?”

Qiu Shuzhi said in a low voice: “This official has no interest in such matters.”

Chang’an smiled with satisfaction, happy for Yue Guanyi, and said: “In that case, please get in the carriage, Official Qiu.”

After giving Qiu Qiushuang a few instructions, Qiu Shuzhi boarded the carriage. Chang’an cracked his long whip, and the carriage slowly drove off, carrying Qiu Shuzhi into the private garden.

Once inside the garden, Chang’an arranged for her to wait alone in a side hall. In the quiet room, the silk curtains swayed gently in the breeze, soft and ethereal. A pot of orchids was placed by the table, cool and serene.

She didn’t know how long she had been waiting in the side hall. As the sun gradually set in the west, warm orange light slanted in, casting her shadow long and hazy.

Yue Guanyi had just finished interrogating prisoners and came out of the prison covered in blood. His official robe was stained with blood splattered from the prisoners’ bodies, and the smell of blood all over him was nauseating.

He was about to return to the palace to change into clean clothes and remove the smell from his body.

Just as he was about to leave, a young attendant came running. He frowned slightly: “What’s the matter?”

The attendant hurriedly said: “Lady Chang’an just asked me to inform you that Official Qiu is waiting for you in the private garden.”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes widened instantly, and he nearly tripped over the threshold, not watching his step.

“Be careful, Your Highness.” The attendant hurried to support him.

Yue Guanyi pushed him away, his mind buzzing with the news that Qiu Shuzhi was waiting for him in the private garden.

Why had she come back?

Could it be that she was dissatisfied with the men he had chosen?

Yue Guanyi, anxious and worried, said urgently: “Quickly prepare the carriage.”

Even with a fast horse, news from the private garden would take some time to reach the palace. He was afraid Qiu Shuzhi would grow impatient waiting, and also worried that Chang’an’s clumsy servants wouldn’t attend to Qiu Shuzhi properly, making her feel neglected.

He hurriedly left the palace, wishing he could appear before Qiu Shuzhi in the next second by whipping the horses to shreds.

By the time Yue Guanyi arrived at the private garden, it had grown darker. Lamps had been lit in the garden, their flames flickering.

As soon as he entered, he saw Qiu Shuzhi sitting alone in the side hall. The antique furniture cast a cool hue on her, while the lantern light from outside the window warmly illuminated her gentle profile. Her long hair fell casually over her shoulders, beneath which was skin as smooth and white as mutton-fat jade.

The orchids bloomed beside her, seeming to borrow her radiance. The wind stirred, she remained still, flower shadows dancing all over her body.

His nervous, wild heartbeat calmed the moment he saw her. His footsteps unconsciously became light and slow, afraid of disturbing her.

“Your Highness.” Yue Guanyi’s shadow fell diagonally at her feet. She looked up and saw Yue Guanyi standing outside the door, light and shadow enveloping him from behind, his hair slightly disheveled, his chest heaving slightly as if he had rushed here.

“I didn’t know Official Qiu was waiting in the private garden. Please forgive me.” Yue Guanyi was full of self-reproach, his beautiful jade-like eyes fixed intently. Even the current Emperor and Empress Dowager didn’t receive such respectful treatment.

Qiu Shuzhi hurriedly said: “Your Highness is an important minister of the state. It is only right for me to wait for you. Please, have a seat.”

Yue Guanyi lowered his head slightly, his body as tense as a fully drawn bowstring. He sat stiffly beside her, resisting the faint fragrance emanating from her body as he struggled to speak: “In the future, if Official Qiu wishes to see me again, just have the servants inform me directly. No matter where I am, I will come immediately.”

Qiu Shuzhi’s eyebrows raised in surprise: “You are busy with state affairs and manage countless matters daily. Even high-ranking officials must submit a visiting card to see you. I am merely a fifth-rank minor official. It was already improper for me to visit abruptly today. How could I trouble you specially in the future?”

Yue Guanyi shook his head firmly, though his voice was barely a whisper: “You are different from them.”

Those old hands steeped in officialdom, each sucking the flesh and blood of the Great Qi nation, gorging themselves on the people’s fat and marrow, their eyes clouded and muddled, minds full of calculations for profit with no trace of clarity.

But Qiu Shuzhi was different.

Since escaping from the dark and hopeless male brothel, he had been maneuvering in this dark officialdom. For ten years, he had lurked in this world shrouded in black mist, with Qiu Shuzhi as his only solace. He had endured this gloomy period by clinging to thoughts of her. Only the spring of Qiu Shuzhi’s appearance brought long-absent vividness to his life.

“Do you have any business in coming this time?”

Qiu Shuzhi smiled faintly: “Look at me, I’ve forgotten about this matter. I came today to ask you to take back those young men.”

Yue Guanyi’s expression changed, and he asked nervously: “Is Official Qiu dissatisfied with them? Do you find their appearances unattractive?”

His heart pounded, and his breathing slowed. He had sent those men to Qiu Shuzhi intending to provide her with some diversion, but it seemed he had been too clever for his own good.

“I’ll go find you some more beautiful men who understand poetry.” Yue Guanyi said carefully, the corners of his eyes turning slightly red with tension.

Qiu Shuzhi shook her head disapprovingly: “Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but my household is too small. I don’t need these men.”

Since ancient times, which woman didn’t have a harem full of husbands? But Qiu Shuzhi had never taken a husband since coming of age, not even a small attendant to warm her bed.

If before he could deceive himself with the reason of Qiu Shuzhi’s family’s decline, now that she had become an official in the capital, countless men in the city wanted to marry her, yet she still remained chaste. He couldn’t help but have some unsavory guesses.

His thick eyelashes trembled slightly, the corners of his eyes reddening to an almost rich hue: “Does Official Qiu already have a man she admires?”

Qiu Shuzhi was taken aback, and it was this moment of hesitation that made Yue Guanyi feel as if he had been sentenced to death, his heart stopping.

A moment later, Qiu Shuzhi laughed dryly: “Your Highness is joking. This official has no one in her heart. Please allow those men to reunite with their families.”

Yue Guanyi let out a long sigh of relief, like a drowning person pulled from the water, his heart beginning to beat again after nearly stopping.

He was relieved that Qiu Shuzhi hadn’t been captivated by other men, yet also vaguely regretful. If she had someone in her heart, and that person was himself, how wonderful that would be.

He quickly concealed his bitter and obscure thoughts: “Alright.”

“There’s one more thing this official would like to ask Your Highness.”

“What is it?” Yue Guanyi looked at her.

Qiu Shuzhi placed a medium-sized box that had been beside her on the table and opened it to reveal a row of neatly arranged gold ingots.

“This official feels unworthy to accept this. Please take it back, Your Highness.”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes flickered, slightly surprised: “How did you know it was from me?”

Qiu Shuzhi wasn’t foolish. To be able to place a box of gold in her courtyard without anyone knowing, in broad daylight while Qiu Qiushuang was at home, and without leaving a name, this couldn’t be the work of an ordinary official.

If it were the young Emperor, she wouldn’t need to hide it.

Jiang Si, she had a penchant for sending men.

As for the Empress Dowager, although she had helped her enter the Shun Tian Prefecture, there was always an invisible thread binding her, constantly restraining her. She wouldn’t need to do such a thing.

Thinking it through, the only one who made sense and had the ability to do such a thing was Yue Guanyi.

Qiu Shuzhi wasn’t stupid, and she hadn’t watched idol dramas in her past life for nothing. The way Yue Guanyi acted around her – flustered, panicked, and eager to please – was just like a teenage boy experiencing his first crush.

But to say that Yue Guanyi liked her seemed absurd and unbelievable. She and Yue Guanyi had never interacted before, let alone met. How could he suddenly like her?

And more importantly, there was Yue Guanyi’s identity. Could someone who could navigate the officialdom so skillfully, thriving as a man in a world of women, really be so lovesick?

She didn’t believe it.

Rather than this ridiculous guess full of pink bubbles, Qiu Shuzhi, somewhat conspiracy-minded, felt that Yue Guanyi, like the Empress Dowager, wanted to use her as a pawn.