Chapter 259 – Shameless Rascal (1)

“Who else did you see besides him?” Ye Zhen thought of the cloak, she had a bad feeling about her hunch of just who the owner might be.

Life in the imperial palace sharpens even the dullest minds. And Dai Mao, as young she was, was adept at handling certain matters in this premise of intrigue. See here now, how without a second thought, she simply feigned ignorance over the whole affair. “This servant didn’t see anyone else.”

Not seeing anyone does not mean that there was no one!

It was precisely this equivocal response that strengthened Ye Zhen’s conjecture, she was certain that it was Mo Rongzhan who had visited the library pagoda last night! What did he do? She was in such deep sleep that she didn’t even know someone was around her. She was a light sleeper, so the man must have moved around dangerously quietly.

“You may leave.” Ye Zhen immediately dismissed Dai Mao.

Once she was all alone, she went back, not to her books this time but for a mirror instead. After some looking around, she found one inside the house. She took a deep breath and carefully examined her body, looking to check if there was something strange. When her gaze stopped at the purplish-red mark on her chest, she turned white in anger.

What the hell is this?!

She’s quite sure that she didn’t have it before she entered the palace yesterday. Why did it take only one night for her to …

Damn Mo Rongzhan! That shameful rascal!

Even if she thought with her toes, she knew it was the hateful emperor of a man who had left behind the cloak. And here she was wondering how he had suddenly been kind enough to allow her to enter the library pagoda! It turned out that he had ulterior motives!

How she wished to go to him this instance and give him a thorough tongue-lashing. She was stewing within but knew better. This wasn’t the time to settle scores impulsively. If she were to provoke and infuriate him, the consequences could be dire. Besides, except for this tiny evidence, there was nothing else the matter with her, how could she prove it was his doing? As such, she had no choice but to huff and puff in her heart and contain her anger. It took her a while to calm down as she kept pushing herself to focus on the bigger picture.

After a while, putting on her jacket again, she returned to the library pagoda. She still had one day to stay and read books, she was unreconciled to waste this precious time on that rascal. She would record this grudge for now, and think about her next move after she was done perusing.

This library pagoda offered a plethora of books, but what she was most interested in were acupuncture and moxibustion. However, there were so many books on it that she would not be able to finish them all even after a year and she had but a day. Sigh, she could only pick the ones she needed the most, after all, something is better than nothing.

When one is immersed in things that one loves, time retreats into oblivion. But that doesn’t mean, it doesn’t exist. The dim light of the night sky peeked through the windows, heralding the arrival of night, with a heavy heart Ye Zhen looked at the books in hand. Time had flown past in the blink of an eye, reluctant as she was, she still had to leave this place tomorrow.

I wonder if I’d still have a chance to enter this library pagoda again in my life …

Regardless, she had read a lot of books in the past two days. Thanks to her eidetic memory, she was so thorough she would make a note of them and slowly peruse whenever she felt like. The old-timer had forbidden her from transcribing, but this couldn’t be counted as one, right?!

One by one, she returned all the books to their original places. When she was about to leave, the black cloak she had put aside came into view. She was as soon reminded of the loathsome Mo Rongzhan, she stomped her feet grumpily.

Step on you! Step on you! You rascal!

“How did that cloak offend you?” A cold voice resounded through the quiet and peaceful library pagoda.

Ye Zhen was frightened and turned around to see Mo Rongzhan standing by the door. Her eyes widened, words terse. “When did you arrive?”

Mo Rongzhan’s eyebrows raised slightly. The dainty girl’s boldness took him by surprise- not paying respects to the emperor and even daring to question him upon his arrival. “Zhen comes and goes as Zhen pleases.”

“This official’s daughter shall not disturb His Imperial Majesty.” Although Ye Zhen badly wanted to smash the cloak on his face, she did not do so for she also knew that the other party was the emperor, lest she is pinned down for lèse-majesté.

“So frightened of Zhen?” Mo Rongzhan asked with amusement, looking at the way she had just vented her anger on the cloak. Does she know I was here last night?

Ye Zhen fixed her gaze to the ground, refusing to even take a glance at him. “How many people in the world are not frightened of the emperor?”

“Zhen sees that you are bold enough to dare step on my cloak,” Mo Rongzhan said coldly.

“How could His Imperial Majesty’s cloak be here?” Ye Zhen glaring daggers at him, waiting to see how the unscrupulous man would explain himself.

After a brief moment, an unperturbed Mo Rongzhan slowly took a step forward, eyes never once leaving he seething beauty before him. When he neared, he suddenly lifted his finger and poked her in the face.

Ye Zhen was astonished by his impertinence. Is there anyone more shameless than him? She took a step back blatantly snubbing his touch, and with gritted teeth said, “Your Majesty, please behave yourself.”

Her anger only amused him further. The more he saw her, the cheekier the otherwise upright man became.

“Lu Yaoyao, Zhen shall have you enter the palace. All right?” he said, looking her right in the eye.