Chapter 34

Perhaps Guang Wei and Chen Xiang were being too noisy, or perhaps Lu Siling simply wanted to be done with it, because she finally stepped out and ordered the blind boxes to be opened.

Guang Wei was the first to open the largest one. Inside was a set of office furniture. The materials were high-quality, but the Grand Chancellor’s manor was hardly lacking in furniture.

Chen Xiang then stepped forward to demonstrate. She rocked the chair, and the back actually reclined until it transformed into a small cot; with a blanket on top, one could sleep right there. The backrest could even be adjusted to various angles—perfect for leaning or lounging.

Guang Wei played with it curiously for a moment. “My Lady, this is wonderful! If you are tired, you can take a nap immediately. This should be placed in the Secretariat.”

Lu Siling, however, was looking at a small box on the desk. Guang Qing, being more perceptive, opened it to reveal a set of miniature imperial memorials. She looked at her Lady, and seeing no objection, opened one. Written inside in large characters was: The Grand Chancellor is on holiday today.

The bottom was even stamped with the imperial seal, followed by three words: “I permit it.” She had actually used the official seal for this.

Lu Siling frowned. Did the dog Emperor think she meddled too much? Was she telling her to stay out of trouble and just go to sleep? Was she trying to dismiss her as Grand Chancellor? It was a standard enough gift, but if it were only this, she would have made the young Emperor wait three days.

Next was the cabinet that was as tall as a person. What could be inside? When it was opened, there was another cabinet inside it.

Guang Wei: “? Is Her Majesty gifting a set of differently sized cabinets?” Chairs, desks, and read the original at bailiantales.comnow cabinets—the young Emperor must be worried the Grand Chancellor’s manor was short on furniture!

After opening five consecutive cabinets, a chest finally appeared. Guang Wei used all her strength to haul it out. The chest was opened to reveal… a box. Then another box, and another, and another!

Guang Wei put her hands on her hips, panting. “My Lady, has our manor become so poor that we can’t even afford to buy boxes?”

Lu Siling remained silent. The calm in her eyes had turned to cold indifference, which by now had become: I’ll see what kind of ghost you’re playing at. “Continue.”

Guang Wei nodded and resignedly kept opening. Finally, the chests turned into boxes, and the boxes into smaller boxes. After several more layers, the true form of the object protected by countless layers was revealed.

“A… a book?” Guang Wei was speechless. “Is this some secret martial arts manual? To be protected like this?”

Looking at the mountain of locks on the floor, one could imagine how many layers she had opened just to reach this book. But wait—the title was wrong. Guang Wei read it out syllable by syllable: “The… Things… That… Must… Be… Said… Between… Me… and… the… Grand Chancellor?!!!”

Would the Grand Chancellor kill her to keep her quiet? No matter how slow Guang Wei was, she realized she had just blurted out something scandalous. What a sin; why did I have to read it aloud?

Everyone present thought they had misheard. Their heads were full of question marks, and the sound of shocked coughing was constant.

Lu Siling frowned, stepped forward, and took the book. The title was indeed: The [bailiantales.com]Few Things That Must Be Said Between Me and the Grand Chancellor. At the sight of the title, Lu Siling’s temples throbbed. Such a title was usually reserved for the erotic pulp novels sold in the streets.

Lu Siling remained expressionless, but her gaze swept across the faces of those present. Their expressions varied—some pretended not to see, some pretended to look at the sky—but without exception, their eyes betrayed an intense curiosity.

The dog Emperor is truly a piece of work!

Lu Siling didn’t immediately flip the page. She didn’t know what Lin Jiayue had written inside; if it was nonsense, where would her dignity be? But if she didn’t open it, rumors would only fly faster. Everyone here was her person, except for Chen Xiang. If the contents were not for outside eyes… the dog Emperor’s person? Then she would simply poison her and make her mute.

Chen Xiang felt a sudden chill and quickly lowered her head, not daring to look. How was she to know her sovereign was so bold as to play a prank—no, that wasn’t right. The first gift was genuinely considerate of the Grand Chancellor; more accurately, this was… flirting?

Madness. The Emperor was the monarch, so the Grand Chancellor couldn’t do much to her, but Chen Xiang’s small life was in peril. She trembled, not daring to look.

Lu Siling snorted softly but opened the first page anyway. Given the young Emperor’s recent performance, she likely wouldn’t use such a sordid tactic. An inexplicable hint of trust in the young Emperor led her to turn the page.

The first page featured a small cartoon figure in crimson robes—a slightly larger version of herself holding a book. A tiny Emperor sat nearby, shouting, “At the beginning of life, nature is good.” The drawing was vivid, yet in a style she had never seen before. The cartoon Emperor in her dragon robes, with that silly, honest aura, was truly lifelike.

But was she really that strict? She looked so cold in the drawing. The young Emperor had drawn herself so cutely—what a dog. But the writing was actually quite good, done with a charcoal pen. She hadn’t used her own charcoal pen yet, but there were several sharpened ones in the box.

Lu Siling’s lips curled into a faint smile; it was an interesting book. On the next page, she stolen contenthad grown a bit larger, and the Emperor was slightly smaller. This time the Emperor was silent, but she was saying: Your writing is ugly.

It was very ugly; she wasn’t wrong. Page after page depicted their interactions and dialogues over the past few days. Lu Siling’s eyes held a trace of amusement as she flipped to the final pages.

“More homework!” The cartoon Lu Siling had her hands on her hips, her body small but her head and mouth large, as if shouting those words. The young Emperor was even smaller than on the previous page. The following pages were the same: “More homework!” “More homework!”

The Emperor grew smaller with every page, illustrating her dominance and the Emperor’s weak helplessness. The very last page showed the tiny Emperor with her hands clasped in a pitiful pose: Teacher Lu, I beg you.

Dog Emperor, always using little tricks.

Looking at the courtyard full of cabinets and chests, Lu Siling frowned. “Put these away. Since it is Her Majesty’s intent, our manor shall preserve them well.”

“Grand Chancellor,” Chen Xiang pointed to the routine gifts—those given according to rank to everyone. But there were four prepared personally by the Emperor. Lu Siling had only seen three. She took a box from the pile. “Your Majesty instructed that this contains ‘top-secret information’.”

Top secret? Lu Siling took the box. With the previous gift as a warning, she had already wanted to open it in her room. Chen Xiang’s words gave her an excuse, so she took it inside.

This Chen Xiang is perceptive; perhaps I won’t poison her mute for now.

Back in her room, Lu Siling gently opened the box. She wanted to see what kind of “secret” it was. To her surprise, there were several imperial edicts and various seals inside. Most of the seals were private ones. The young Emperor was in danger in the palace; to send read the original at bailiantales.com several edicts and even her private seals… was the Empress Dowager planning a coup?

Lu Siling’s gaze instantly turned cold. She reached for an edict to unfurl it, but a sweet fragrance hit her nose. It was… pastry.

Lu Siling: “…”

Dog Emperor! Not only were the edicts made of pastry, but the seals were too.

Wait, Lu Siling noticed a difference among the edicts. One was slightly different from the others. She reached for it and opened it.

— Teacher Lu, you’ve been tricked.

There was even a little cartoon Emperor on it, laughing with a loathsome expression. The dog Emperor is truly asking for a beating.

Lu Siling walked back out with a cold face, meeting the curious expressions of the crowd. Because of the previous gifts, everyone was even more curious about this final one. They hadn’t seen the contents of the book either, so what had the Emperor sent now?

Lu Siling had no intention of telling them, and no one dared to ask. The Grand Chancellor’s face was like ice, and her voice was even colder: “This official thanks Your Majesty for the gifts.”

“By the way, Her Majesty mentioned today that the homework I left was too little and that she has already finished it. Since that is the case, [unauthorized copy]Chen Xiang, pass on my word to Her Majesty: twenty pages of calligraphy every day, to be delivered to the Grand Chancellor’s manor daily for my inspection.”

Chen Xiang hesitated; the Emperor was quite resistant to homework. Well, not exactly resistant, just that she didn’t like it—though she still grumbled and finished it. It seemed the Emperor respected the Grand Chancellor immensely, doing even the things she disliked. Or was this “flirting” between the two? Chen Xiang didn’t understand, but she keenly felt that the Emperor didn’t actually mind the work, or she wouldn’t have dared to report it.

Sure enough, upon hearing the report, the Emperor looked annoyed but didn’t show any real anger. She even gave her a task: to deliver the calligraphy to the Grand Chancellor in the future. As a eunuch following the sovereign, one didn’t fear work; one feared having nothing to do. Only by being “used” could she get ahead.

Lin Jiayue was quite satisfied with Lu Siling’s reaction. Playing pranks on a friend and being happy when they get annoyed—classic. Lu Siling increasing the homework meant she was definitely annoyed, which meant the prank was a success.

Tsk. Back then, to earn money in her spare time, she had learned simple digital illustration and occasionally did advertising design for $10 or $20 a pop. It wasn’t a daily occurrence, but it covered her food costs. In the ancient world, most of her skills were useless, but for the New Year gifts, she couldn’t give Teacher Lu the same thing as everyone else. It had to be special.

So she thought of blind boxes, Russian nesting dolls, and simulated pranks. Even just hearing Chen Xiang’s description of Lu Siling’s reaction made her very satisfied.

“Hateful Lu Siling, she actually increased it to twenty pages.” Lin Jiayue turned and asked, “Did Teacher Lu specify what to write?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, she did not.”

Is that so? Lin Jiayue picked up her pen. On the first page, she wrote: Teacher Lu, twenty pages is too many, please reduce it.

Second page: I won’t do it again next time. (Well… maybe the time after next).

— Teacher Lu, you are the number one best teacher under heaven.

— Sister Teacher Lu, don’t be like this to me; am I not your favorite student?

When Lu Siling saw this line, she took a deep breath.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would see the young Emperor again. She would definitely make sure she knew “why the flowers are so red” (an idiom for a harsh lesson).