On the way to the palace, Zhao Changhe lowered his voice and asked Tang Wanzhuang, “You deliberately left Baoqin there to entertain me, didn’t you?”0

Tang Wanzhuang sighed and shook her head. “She kept shoving Romance of the Western Chamber under my nose, resting her chin in her hands and daydreaming all the time. If I didn’t give her a chance, she would’ve held a grudge against me for the rest of her life.”0

Baoqin kept her head down, saying nothing.0

Tang Wanzhuang continued, “With your personality, you’d never take the initiative to ask for her. You’d keep ignoring her until one day, it hurt her too much. And if she was suddenly ordered to serve you as a chamber maidservant, I was more afraid you might refuse on the spot. That would’ve ended badly, and you probably wouldn’t even realize why. So, it was better to create an opportunity for you two to spend time together first. I knew you wouldn’t be able to withstand it once Baoqin started scolding you for an explanation. And see? Wasn’t this much cleaner? Be good to her… She’s practically my little sister, I’ve never treated her as a mere maid.”0

Zhao Changhe raised Baoqin’s hand. “Who said she’s a maid?...0