- 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓 -

𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

It was still dark when he heard footsteps outside the door. Wang Yibo woke up right away. He hadn't slept soundly at all, and a single sound could easily wake him up. The first thing to do after getting up was to step on Xiao Zhan's body: "Get out."

Xiao Zhan got up in two or three movements, arrived at the door in strong and vigorous form, and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Xiao Gao." Gao Tan knocked on the door. "My lord, are you going to court today?"

"I'm going," Wang Yibo replied.

He hadn't gone to the morning court for many days in a row, and if he didn't go again, those people might think he was dead.

Gao Tan opened the door and came to dress him in court clothes. The purple robes fit his upper body snugly. After being specially fumigated with incense, there was a faint fragrance left behind, and the robes were embroidered with cranes spreading their wings. A gold and jade belt adorned the waistline, and a gold fish pouch[1]* hung at the waist.

*[1] The gold fish pouch is like an ID card for officials. Those of the highest rank wore a pouch decorated with gold fish, those just below them wore one decorated with silver fish, and lower ranks didn't wear them at all. Wang Yibo's clothing also indicates his rank, with the purple robes being worn only by officials of the highest rank, and the cranes symbolizing a high ranking civil official. While civil officials wore birds on their clothing, military officials would wear beasts such as tigers and lions.*

After returning to Beijing, Xiao Zhan also went to court several times, but looking around, there was no one in the civil or military courts who could wear court clothes with such an awe-inspiring aura.

He couldn't help but look a few more times before going to change his clothes.

The official uniforms of Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo were very similar. They were both purple, symbolizing honor and glory, but the military general's robes were embroidered with a tiger, and he could carry a sword to court. Ordinary military officials could only wear one, but generals could wear two.

He randomly picked two swords to wear and said to Wang Yibo with emotion when they went out: "It's a pity that my good sword was lost by you in the gambling house."

The corners of Wang Yibo's mouth twitched as he sat in the sedan chair, but Xiao Zhan stood outside and persuaded: "It's such a short distance, just walk over to exercise your body."

"Raise the sedan chair." Wang Yibo ruthlessly lowered the curtain, letting him walk alone in the cold wind blowing outside.

When he arrived outside the palace gates, he ran into many colleagues, and one of them enthusiastically took the initiative to greet him and say, "Having not seen the General for many days, I feel refreshed."

He and Xiao Zhan smiled.

The sedan chair at the side stopped, and Wang Yibo walked out expressionlessly without even looking at them, walking straight to the palace gates.

The colleague was embarrassed for a moment and immediately found an excuse to leave, slipping in from the other side, disheartened.

"Who was that person just now?" Xiao Zhan asked in a low voice, catching up with Wang Yibo.

"Senior Neisi, he's only seventh rank," Wang Yibo said flatly. "He's good at brown-nosing."

Xiao Zhan laughed softly. "What about you, Wang-daren, what are you good at?"

Wang Yibo slanted a look at him and said coldly, "If you want to know, you can come and give it a test."

"Then I'd rather be obedient than respectful." Xiao Zhan suddenly raised his hand.