77 Discipline (R18)

The emperor didn't stop summoning him. Even after a week, when Hua Zhixuan's had more or less made a full recovery and they could no longer remain absent from the petty politicking of the morning assemblies, the same messenger eunuch waited outside Changchun Palace to present the same invitation to him again and again. 

Yan Zheyun tried to pretend he couldn't feel the jealous eyes glaring holes into his back every time he departed in the direction of Tianlu Pavilion. Once there, nothing had changed. When he wasn't grinding ink, he was lounging on the divan, white robes cascading onto the floor as he poured over books and scrolls about the past military conquests of the imperial forefathers or interesting travel annals that painted a colourful picture of the Ye Empire.