Ning Yi glanced at her, patted the carpet beside him, and said, “Then come and sit down. Aren’t you tired after walking around for so long?”
Feng Zhi Wei couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Thinking inwardly: What walking? We rode horses the whole way and only looked at this hidden hall. This guy is so lazy, he can’t even make an effort to find a good excuse.”
She sat down on the carpet, carefully keeping a safe distance of two feet from Ning Yi. Seeing the wry look on her face, Ning Yi chuckled but didn’t say anything. He lay back on the carpeted steps and said, “Tell me about what happened in Xiliang. That brat Ning Cheng ignored all the serious matters and only talked about random nonsense. Reading his letter really made my blood boil.”
“Yeah, right.” Feng Zhi Wei leaned against the steps, looked up at the magnificent gilded ceiling, and briefly summarized the assassination of the Regent in Xiliang. She then added, “Your precious guard. Openly following me is one thing, but he even stole my painting. Hey, do you have it? Give it back, give it back.”
Ning Yi smiled and said leisurely, “Ah, that painting? Marquis Wei’s calligraphy is priceless. I had it mounted and hung it on the wall of my study.”
Feng Zhi Wei let out an “Ah!” and exclaimed in surprise, “No way? Hasn’t anyone mocked you for your bad taste?”
“How could they?” Ning Yi reached out and flicked her nose, “The last time His Majesty came to my study, he stared at that painting for a good while, then asked me what kind of new school of freehand painting it was– said it made his eyes dizzy. Xin Ziyan happened to be there at the time. With a perfectly straight face, he fooled the old man, saying that it was the calligraphy work of the Daoist Master Danyangzi. He said the circles represent Tai Chi thus a bunch of circles piled together meant a pile of Tai Chi. The first Dao produced another one, two produced the third, and from the third came all things. When you understand all those circles and Tai Chi, then you will attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality.”
Feng Zhi Wei burst out laughing, “Head Scholar Xin is so bold! Isn’t he afraid of the crime of deceiving the Emperor?”
“His Majesty has always favored him and knows of his free and unrestrained personality, so he doesn’t hold it against him.” Ning Yi said, “He has been supervising the army at the frontline. Very hard work. He came back to the Capital quite a bit lighter in weight. His Majesty intends to promote him to the cabinet once he finishes compiling the Records of Tiansheng.”
Feng Zhi Wei listened quietly, and Ning Yi continued, “This time, on your convoy mission to Xiliang, you upheld our country’s dignity. There were some people in the court with ulterior motives who jumped on the opportunity to suggest that your rank to be promoted. I blocked them. I said that upholding our country’s dignity was the duty of an envoy when he is abroad, but getting involved in another country’s internal affairs is actually a crime. Thus, strictly speaking, you should actually be punished instead. There was quite a debate in court. In the end, His Majesty compromised between the two sides and said that your merits and faults cancel each other out, so you remain a first-rank marquis.”
Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes flickered as she listened intently. After a while, she signed “You are still the one who understands His Majesty the best…advancing by retreating, judging everything with perfect precision. Congratulations, Your Highness. There is no one in court who can rival you now.”
“You are wrong.” Ning Yi’s reply made her turn around with surprise. He said with a chuckle in his voice, “There is still one person worthy of being my opponent.”
Seeing his sparkling smiling eyes, Feng Zhi Wei looked away and didn’t feign ignorance by asking who he was referring to. Instead, she causally changed the subject, “I suppose Your Highness helped me out this time. How should I thank you?”
“Thank me, hmm….” Ning Yi drawled, then suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed, “What is that!”
As his palm slapped down, Feng Zhi Wei felt a tremor beneath her. The floor seemed to tilt, causing her body to involuntarily lean towards Ning Yi. Startled, she instinctively reached for the soft sward at her waist, but the moment her hand touched her waist, another pair of hands pressed down on her hands. Her body sank, and with a thud, she crushed into someone’s arms.
The moment she crashed into him, she knew she had been tricked. She twisted her body to leap away, but Ning Yi moved even faster and pulled her tightly into his arms, before saying with a laugh, “…How will you thank me? Hmm…how about repaying by giving yourself to me?” (The literal translation would be “giving your body to me” but that would be the wrong meaning, since the sentence is referring to marrying someone out of gratitude…but of course this only applies when the person you owe the debt of gratitude is handsome, tall, and rich.)
His finger pressed against her numbing acupoint at her waist. Feng Zhi Wei tried hard to resist and stop her body from going soft and melting against him. She pushed against his chest with her elbow, her face flushing slightly as she snapped with annoyance, “Having not seen you for half a year, you have become even more shameless.”
Ning Yi suddenly sighed and said, “If being a gentleman can win the lady’s heart, then what man would choose to be a scoundrel? This was all forced upon me.”
Feng Zhi Wei was so speechless that she laughed and nodded, “Yes, yes, it was I who forced you. I am truly sorry.”
Ning Yi nodded, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
Feng Zhi Wei was so speechless that she almost wanted to bang her head on the ground. Unfortunately, beneath her was his chest. If she actually did it, he would probably accuse her of throwing herself into his arms so she could only struggle resentfully. However, Ning Yi wouldn’t let go. Instead, he patted her shoulder as if soothing a child, and said with a laugh, “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I was actually doing this for your own good. You sat in the wrong place just now. There was a trap there. Sitting there briefly was okay, but after a while, the trapdoor would sink, and you would fall into the trap.”
Feng Zhi Wei turned to look and, sure enough saw that half of the jade steps had sank down. This only fueled her anger, “So you timed it to set me up!”
Ning Yi was still smiling. He took her hand and slowly interlaced his fingers with his one by one. Startled, Feng Zhi Wei watched his movement, unsure of his intention. But then she saw Ning Yi carefully clenched her hand into a fist before bringing it down against his own chest, “Here, go ahead and beat me up.”
Feng Zhi Wei stared at her fist, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. After a while, she finally said, “Your Highness really seemed to be in a playful mood today.”
Ning Yi suddenly lost his smile. Holding her fist, his said lightly, “Is that so? That’s because you have no interest in playing. Because you are forever so rational, so restrained. Just now, in that one moment, I truly hoped that you could be like an ordinary woman, after being tricked by her lover’s teasing scheme, she would be half-annoyed, half-amused, and raised her fist to hit back lightly.”
Feng Zhi Wei looked at her fist, a hint of confusion flickered in her eyes. Watching her expression, a hint of a sigh flickered across Ning Yi’s own eyes, “I hoped that you and I could be an ordinary couple tonight, but it seems that you have difficulty playing the part.”
Feng Zhi Wei forced a smile and said, “I am dull-witted and not good at acting. What a shame, what a shame.”
Ning Yi glanced at her, but didn’t argue. He released her fist, but pulled her to him and said, “Lie down for a while…There is something I want to see with you.”
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