Chapter 428
Li Qingxun turned her head curiously, eager to catch a glimpse of the renowned Lord Zhang He'an. In her opinion, ancient living conditions were far from ideal, and without proper skincare products, how good-looking could men possibly be? At best, they might stand out like a crane among chickens—tall only in comparison to the short.
Frankly, Li Qingxun didn’t believe this feudal land could produce any truly handsome men.
The palace maid Yuan'er trembled with anxiety, tugging at Li Qingxun’s sleeve with a timid voice. "Your Highness, perhaps we should leave quickly. The Seventh Princess has just been released from confinement. If she sees you meeting with Lord Zhang, she’ll surely make trouble for you."
Li Qingxun ignored Yuan'er, craning her neck to get a better look at Zhang He'an’s appearance.
Under the sharp sunlight of early summer, fiery peonies bloomed vibrantly in the courtyard. Li Qingxun caught sight of a figure in crimson official robes. Tall and poised, he moved gracefully through the flowers, approaching them.
Her gaze landed on his face.
In that instant, it was as if she had glimpsed the moon hanging high in the cold night sky—untouchable, distant.
Li Qingxun was spellbound.
She swallowed hard, murmuring to herself, "Good heavens, what a stunning man."
He was far more attractive than any of the men back at the research institute. She had never seen anyone so breathtakingly handsome.
His features were flawlessly refined—pale, cool-toned skin, impeccable bone structure. The crimson official robe was fastened meticulously, not a single thread out of place. His beauty was almost hypnotic.
Li Qingxun couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Who would have thought such a flower could bloom in this backward era? Excitement bubbled within her, as if she had stumbled upon a fascinating new research subject.
"Third Highness," Zhang He'an’s voice was cool and composed. "The meeting at Guangwen Hall is about to begin."
Prince Li Ang chuckled. "Ah, I was so engrossed in chatting with Sixth Sister that I nearly forgot my duties. Sixth Sister, Third Brother must take his leave now. I’ll visit you another day."
Li Qingxun’s attention remained fixed on Zhang He'an.
The more she looked, the more she liked him.
Pure attraction at first sight.
Zhang He'an turned and bowed slightly to Li Qingxun. "Greetings, Sixth Princess."
Her eyes drifted to the embroidered crane pattern on his chest. Through the thin red fabric of his robe, she could already imagine his well-built physique.
He must have abs!
Grinning, Li Qingxun stepped closer and blurted out shamelessly, "Lord Zhang, show me your abs?"
Zhang He'an: "..."
Prince Li Ang: "..."
Yuan'er’s face flushed crimson as she desperately grabbed Li Qingxun’s arm. "Your Highness! It’s time for your medicine! Let’s return to Qiuliang Palace before it gets cold!"
Summoning the strength of eighteen generations of ancestors, Yuan'er dragged the lovestruck Li Qingxun away. Even as she was being hauled off, Li Qingxun’s lingering gaze remained glued to Zhang He'an—as if she wanted to strip him bare with her eyes.
A breeze rustled past, stirring the forgotten carp flopping on the ground. Li Ang burst into laughter. "Lord Zhang, my sixth sister certainly holds you in high regard, hahaha!"
Zhang He'an’s expression remained unreadable.
He bent down and picked up the fishing net left by the pond. It was a simple contraption—crude wooden sticks and cloth strips, yet ingeniously assembled with basic joinery and leverage.
Even the most skilled craftsman in the Imperial Workshop couldn’t have fashioned such an efficient tool from such rudimentary materials. Lost in thought, Zhang He'an gently returned the struggling carp to the water.
...
...
Qiuliang Palace.
After downing a large bowl of bitter herbal medicine, Li Qingxun grew restless and ordered Yuan'er to fetch some wood and hemp rope. She was never one to sit idle—being forced to behave like a proper noblewoman, embroidering and studying etiquette all day, was pure torture.
With practiced ease, she fashioned a slingshot and a simple wooden bow, then carved a box full of stone pellets.
She took aim at the sparrows flitting across the sky. One by one, the birds dropped with a plop. Yuan'er covered her face in horror. "Your Highness, why are you playing with a slingshot?"
Li Qingxun replied lazily, "If not this, then fetch me a few thousand tons of uranium ore. I’ll build a centrifuge to refine it, heat the extracted material to trigger nuclear fission, and set off an ancient-style atomic firework."
Yuan'er stared blankly.
What centrifuge?
What fission?
She had no idea what her princess was talking about.
After an afternoon of bird-hunting, Li Qingxun grew bored again.
She slumped onto the stone table in the courtyard, listless. Returning to the modern era seemed impossible, and palace life was mind-numbingly dull. Suddenly, Zhang He'an’s moonlit face flashed through her mind.
The more she thought about him, the more obsessed she became. "How can a man be that good-looking? And wearing red official robes? He’s practically begging me to pounce on him."
Life in ancient times was dreary, and Zhang He'an was the first interesting thing she’d stumbled upon.
He was like the radiant moon in the sky, like the blooming peonies in the garden—she wanted to savor him, to play with him and see how he tasted.
Whether Zhang He'an was willing or not didn’t factor into her calculations.
What Li Qingxun desired—be it top-tier lab materials, cutting-edge equipment, or the most beautiful man—she would obtain.
"Your Highness, the Chief Eunuch is here with an imperial decree!" Yuan'er scurried in to announce.
Li Qingxun set down her slingshot and went to receive the edict.
Qiuliang Palace was usually quiet, rarely visited by outsiders. For the Emperor’s chief eunuch to deliver a decree personally suggested it was no trivial matter.
Kneeling haphazardly, Li Qingxun pricked up her ears as the eunuch read the decree. The gist was that, effective immediately, the Sixth Princess was to attend lectures at Guangwen Hall alongside other imperial children under twenty.
Li Qingxun accepted the decree.
Rubbing her sore knees, she still wasn’t accustomed to kneeling.
Gritting her teeth, she swore to herself—one day, she would no longer kneel before anyone. Even in this feudal era, they would bow to her.
"Why is the Emperor sending me to Guangwen Hall?" Li Qingxun didn’t grasp the deeper implications.
Yuan'er explained, "Your Highness is of marriageable age. The Emperor wishes for you to learn poetry, literature, and etiquette so you won’t embarrass yourself when you wed."
Li Qingxun nodded vaguely. That made sense.
Imperial princesses were raised in luxury, trained in the arts and decorum from childhood. But Li Qingxun had been neglected—illiterate, unskilled in music or calligraphy.
The Emperor intended to use her for political marriages, but she was hardly presentable. Hence, this last-minute effort to polish her into a proper noblewoman.
Yuan'er added, "Your Highness, this is a rare opportunity. With your brilliance, you’ll master the arts in no time."
Li Qingxun scoffed. "Starting today, I’m feigning illness. No way am I going to Guangwen Hall."
Yuan'er whispered, "Lord Zhang He'an is the lecturer."
Li Qingxun immediately changed her tune. "Knowledge is the ladder of human progress. Even a science student shouldn’t look down on the humanities and arts."