Zhao Qian shook his head, turned around, and walked into Hidden Dragon Palace.
After Long Yang had taken a bath in his sleeping quarters, he donned a moon-white inner garment and lay sideways on the couch to read.
When he saw Zhao Qian come in, he asked casually, “Has she left?”
“Yes,” Zhao Qian stood beside him and replied respectfully.
Looking up and seeing his cold and aloof master sitting under the light, Zhao Qian hesitated before dropping his voice and saying, “Master, what the Virtuous Consort truly wants is the Emperor’s sympathy. She looks rather pitiful to me...”
When Zhao Qian sensed the master’s overwhelming gaze on him, his voice became softer and softer until he went completely silent.
Long Yang could not help but snicker. Under the light, there was an unconcealable gloom on his stunning face. “How unexpected that a eunuch like you knows how to treasure women. Since you pity the Virtuous Consort so much, how about I give her to you?”
Hearing this, Zhao Qian threw himself on his knees in a panic. “Forgive me, Master. I just said that off the top of my head. That wasn’t what I meant...” After a pause, he plucked up the courage to say, “I just feel for you, Master. The night is long, so why not summon a beautiful woman to accompany you in bed?”
Long Yang’s expression turned colder, but he did not say another word.
As Zhao Qian did not hear the master speak after a long time, he raised his head a bit more boldly and saw that the master had already returned to burying his head in his book.
The butler sighed inwardly.
He had served the master for so many years, yet he had never seen him summon anyone to bed.
Normally, apart from busying himself with state affairs, he hardly indulged in the imperial harem.
He remained indifferent despite the broken hearts of those beauties.
The imperial harem was just for decoration.
What a pity for those young and lovely consorts.
If he had not stayed by the master’s side for so long, he would have believed that the master preferred men over women.
All was silent in the room, except for the occasional flickering of candles.
Zhao Qian had been kneeling on the floor for a while and had not received permission from the master to get up. He could not help feeling a little dismayed.
In hindsight, he should not have spoken so brazenly. What did the Virtuous Consort’s matter have anything to do with him anyway?
If his master did not even care, why should he bother?
As something came to his mind, his eyes lit up, and he spoke cautiously, “The Virtuous Consort usually has a sense of propriety. I suppose that she was behaving so anxiously today because of Second Miss Lu.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that his icy yet dignified master was finally willing to look up from his book. “What has it to do with her?”
Zhao Qian immediately became more enthusiastic. “Tonight, Second Miss Lu received a series of rewards from you with just a bowl of longevity noodles. I think that not only the Virtuous Consort but also many others in the hall were rather critical of this.”
Long Yang’s slender fingers turned over a page of his book as he spoke in an indifferent tone, “Have I rewarded the court officials less over these many years? Is such an insignificant reward worthy of arousing their criticism?”
Zhao Qian choked a little and pursed his lips inconspicuously. An insignificant reward, seriously?
Did the master not even notice his differential treatment toward Second Miss Lu?!
The master was usually gracious in rewarding the court officials, but it was unprecedented to give the same person one reward after another, as happened tonight.
The master had rewarded Lu Liangwei with the precious and rare Southern Seas pearls without even blinking.
Aside from that, the master would never give his food to the people below him before this.
However, he had rewarded it to none other than Second Miss Lu.
Was this an exception for her?
Even Zhao Qian felt that the master treated Second Miss Lu differently, not to mention those schemers.
Moreover, was the Emperor not paying a bit too much attention to her?
He even noticed what she liked to eat.
There was still another thing that Zhao Qian did not dare to say out loud.