c19 - Gift
In the empress’s private office, the temperature was comfortable, and the fresh air system kept the indoor air consistently clean and clear.
But He Meng felt chilled all over, struggling to breathe.
She never imagined that it was the empress’s idea to have her directly removed.
“Your Majesty, I—”
Her words had barely begun before she could no longer continue.
At this moment, He Meng was both shocked and afraid, her mind in utter chaos.
Without waiting for her defense, Gu Junwan shifted her gaze to Xu Zhao: “Bring up the video.”
Shortly after the empress’s cool, flat voice fell, a holographic screen popped up in front of He Meng.
The screen played the scene from yesterday evening, when He Meng was waiting on the bench outside Shen Han’s apartment.
Just as the tired-looking alpha appeared at the edge of the screen, He Meng, in her sexy spaghetti strap dress, took out a small bottle from her bag.
After spraying herself several times on the neck, she casually tossed the bottle into a trash bin before calling out to Shen Han.
The subsequent scenes and conversation were what Gu Junwan had witnessed yesterday.
After He Meng was frightened away, Shen Han returned to her apartment pinching her nose. Suddenly, a uniformed security guard walked into the frame.
The guard, wearing white gloves, retrieved the small bottle from the trash bin.
Under the device’s detection, a red indicator light flashed urgently, giving a sense of inexplicable tension.
Seeing this, He Meng almost collapsed to the ground, her legs weak.
“As an instructor in the special training camp, Miss He should be very clear about the relevant regulations, right?”
“Using that kind of pheromone-enhancing spray in front of alphas is explicitly prohibited.”
The empress’s voice wasn’t loud, but to He Meng’s ears, it made her entire brain buzz.
If this matter spread, not only would her reputation plummet, but the entire He family would be disgraced.
“Your Majesty, I… I didn’t mean to, I know I was wrong. Your Majesty, please give me another chance.”
He Meng pleaded, losing her voice. Her panicked, soft demeanor was a stark contrast to her earlier loud demeanor at the gate.
Gu Junwan had many matters to attend to and had no time to waste on her.
“Miss He, your abilities are actually evident to all, but I hope in the future you can focus your attention on proper duties.”
“Go back and await the results. Xu Zhao, see the guest out.”
The special assistant immediately obeyed, pulling the terrified and weak-kneed He Meng all the way out of the administrative office area.
Many nosy office workers had been paying attention to the movements in the empress’s office.
Now, seeing someone come out, they immediately focused their gazes.
They saw that He Meng, who had been so arrogant earlier, now looked like a frost-bitten eggplant.
She appeared completely dispirited and dejected, her eyes red, tears constantly welling up.
In an instant, rumors about “He Meng challenging Special Assistant Xu only to be slapped in the face” blossomed in various internal communication groups.
After getting rid of He Meng, Xu Zhao immediately returned to the empress’s office.
“Your Majesty, should He Meng’s handling be publicly announced through an official document?”
Gu Junwan had already picked up her pen again to review documents.
Hearing her assistant’s inquiry, she didn’t even lift her eyes, only saying softly: “No need. She is Old He’s granddaughter after all. Scaring her to teach her a lesson is enough. Proceed with the usual handling.”
Xu Zhao suppressed a smile as she secretly glanced at her serious empress.
Having followed Gu Junwan for so many years, how could she not understand her thoughts?
Considering He Meng’s grandfather’s face was only one aspect; in reality, her empress didn’t want to expose Shen Han to the public too early.
Because once an official document was involved, that video would certainly be retrieved by various parties.
The empress really did favor that alpha!
…
Due to the low-key handling of the “He Meng incident,” its impact wasn’t significant.
When mentioning this omega who was the first to loudly demand “rights protection” in the compound, people mostly discussed the scene of her standing outside the gate clamoring to see the empress.
Besides this, Shen Han’s name was also inexplicably mentioned within a small circle.
On this day, just as Gu Junwan was passing by a tea break area, she heard someone inside say: “That alpha called Shen Han is too fierce, not understanding how to cherish flowers and jade at all!”
Another person immediately chimed in: “I heard about it too, it’s that Instructor He who just resigned, she was almost beaten by her!”
“No way! Surely there wouldn’t be cases of alphas beating omegas in the compound?”
“But I heard it was because that Instructor He tried to touch the other’s gland, which angered that alpha? What do you think, did she actually touch it?”
“…”
The staff’s gossip continued.
Gu Junwan had lost interest in listening further.
She continued walking towards her office, casually mentioning to Xu Zhao: “Have they been too idle lately?”
The special assistant immediately understood and expressed sympathy in her heart for those administrative department people.
Could this be the legendary: The overtime you bring on yourself, you must finish even with tears in your eyes.
Another month of intensive training passed.
The number of prospective guard team members had been reduced from over a hundred to seventy.
Special training courses still existed, but the omega instructor had been replaced.
For some reason, Shen Han always vaguely felt that the new Instructor Chen seemed to be “a bit” afraid of her.
Several times when they met privately, the other would directly walk around her.
Shen Han looked left and right, then quietly asked Ning Xi beside her: “Am I that scary?”
Ning Xi turned her head, looking at the other’s clear and beautiful features, and sighed: “Boss, since you’ve asked, I’ll be honest with you.”
Hearing this, Shen Han immediately became inexplicably nervous: “Don’t be so serious, I’m scared—”
But Ning Xi lowered her voice and asked: “Boss, are you particularly rough when marking omegas?”
Shen Han drew in a sharp breath, pressing on her shoulder as if to punch her.
“What nonsense are you talking about! Am I that kind of person?”
“I’ve never even marked an omega!”
Ning Xi, who had been grinning like an idiot, immediately drew in several sharp breaths after hearing Shen Han’s words.
Realizing the other wasn’t joking at all, her expression became as shocked as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
“No way, Boss!” Ning Xi stammered, “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
Shen Han was too embarrassed to say more about this to the other, mumbling: “She hasn’t agreed to be with me yet.”
Their conversation was quickly interrupted by the call to assemble for training.
All morning, Ning Xi was in a daze.
She couldn’t understand how an S-rank alpha like Shen Han, who was good-looking and easy to get along with, had never marked an omega!
As far as she knew, there were several omegas in this compound who were interested in her boss.
Occasionally during regular drills on the field, they would come to sneak peeks!
At the same moment.
In the empress’s private office.
Gu Junwan and her special assistant sat at opposite ends of the desk, looking as if they were having a serious conversation.
“If an alpha receives a gift, would she be very happy?”
Gu Junwan’s hands were clasped on the desktop, beneath them a pen she had been gripping until it was warm.
The lenses on Xu Zhao’s nose bridge reflected a clear light: “Your Majesty, are you going to give Shen Han a gift? She’ll definitely be very happy!”
Having her intentions exposed so directly, Gu Junwan’s ears reddened slightly, but her face remained composed.
“Then what do you think would be good to give her?”
“I think no matter what it is, as long as it’s from you, Your Majesty, she’ll like it.”
“Hmm, then let’s give her a car. She just got her hovercar license recently.”
Xu Zhao’s eyelids twitched slightly, secretly shedding tears of envy in her heart.
Gu Junwan coughed lightly, then continued: “Go do some research, like her preferred car type, style, or design.”
Xu Zhao nodded and left to carry out her orders.
That afternoon, the prospective guard team members were subjected to a surprise test.
This test wasn’t strict; team members could even whisper to each other within a small range.
The content of the test questions also had no so-called correct answers.
It tested these alphas’ understanding and vision of transportation vehicles.
Shen Han’s answers were very official, basically copying knowledge points from textbooks.
Until she came to the last question.
The question was: What is your ideal car type? Among existing models, which is the closest?
Shen Han had only recently gotten her driver’s license after crossing over, how would she know about car models and styles?
She twirled her pen, turning her face to ask Ning Xi: “How should I answer this last question?”
Ning Xi was excitedly scribbling on her paper, seemingly already listing her third car model.
She covered her mouth with her hand, turning her head to whisper: “It must be the Flying Dragon Sagg! That explosive power, that streamlined design, absolutely the car of dreams!”
After saying this, she continued writing furiously.
Shen Han neatly wrote on her answer sheet: Flying Dragon Sagg.
After the test papers were submitted, Xu Zhao quickly made a copy.
Soon, a scan of Shen Han’s answer sheet appeared on the tablet screen in the empress’s hands.
“Flying Dragon Sagg, is that from the brand where most models are globally limited editions?”
Hearing Gu Junwan’s question, Xu Zhao nodded slightly.
She thought: That one has quite high standards, if only we had used a different questioning method.
Gu Junwan pulled up information on the relevant brand, quickly looking through Flying Dragon’s models, finally resting her gaze on Shen Han’s neat and graceful handwriting.
She thought for a moment, then spoke: “The Flying Dragon Sagg is too flashy, and the waiting period for a new car is too long.”
“Change it to the Flying Dragon McLaren, use my personal account.”
Xu Zhao: “!!!”
The Flying Dragon McLaren is actually very flashy too!
About a week passed.
Shen Han had just returned to her apartment building and stepped out of the elevator when she saw Gu Junwan standing not far away, along with Xu Zhao.
“Why are you waiting here?” Shen Han ran over in a few steps. “Why don’t we record a fingerprint today, so you can come in directly in the future?”
Gu Junwan held the other’s sleeve, saying softly: “No rush to go in, come with me, I have something to give you.”
Shen Han’s eyes lit up, following her towards the exclusive elevator at the end of the corridor.
While curiously inquiring about what the other wanted to give her.
She didn’t forget to remind: “After we’re done, we still need to come up and record the fingerprint. Special Assistant Xu has already noted it down as a to-do item!”
Xu Zhao: “…” Hehe~