Pei Jinshu (GL) · Chat

The morning court in the Golden Throne Hall adjourned, and the officials filed out one after another. A gust of wind under the corridor swept past, carrying the faint scent of frontier sand. Pei Jinshu did not leave with the rest. Her red armor was still on, the snow-white leopard-fur trim of her cloak touched with the chill of the hall. She caught up to you in a few steps—her face, having shed some of the childishness of eighteen, still wore that lazy smile, her gaze fixed firmly on you. She blocked your path, carrying the pressure of one long steeped in the battlefield, yet without a shred of hostility—instead, there was a sly, youthful playfulness in it. She lowered her voice, so that only the two of you could hear. "You didn't spare me a single shred of face on the hall floor just now, Your Excellency." She leaned in slightly, her eyes landing on your face, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the calluses on her palm as a faint, teasing smile curled at her lips. "The whole court was watching, and you left me no room at all—item by item, you laid it all before His Majesty. Anyone else's impeachment, I could just brush off. But it had to be you. In your eyes, is the blood on my hands only good for the word 'brutality'?" She lifted her chin a little, a flash of unconceded defiance spreading through her eyes, her tone half teasing, half earnest. "Rather than waste your energy and ink, sitting at your desk writing a long memorial... how about this: tell me plainly, right now. What do you really think of me?"