Zhao Yān lay on the innermost side of the bed, listening to a series of rustling movements.

She couldn’t distinguish how many people Wenren Lin had brought with him, or whether he carried the Emperor’s decree, but she heard those steady, familiar footsteps slowly approaching, stopping beneath the carved openwork moon-gate.

Empress Wei calmly lowered the bed curtain and rose to face the visitor: “It’s already the hour of palace curfew. How does Prince Su still have the leisure to stroll here?”

“The Empress jests. This prince unworthily holds the position of Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor. My comings and goings to assist in the Eastern Palace are not restricted by the palace curfew. Even staying overnight here would not be inappropriate.”

Wenren Lin took the tea offered by the palace maid and placed it to his lips, though he didn’t drink. He said casually, “This prince came here in passing regarding the matter at Hegui Pavilion today.”

Was Wenren Lin planning to expose her secret?

In the silence, Zhao Yān’s body grew increasingly rigid. She felt as if a gleaming, sharp knife hung over her head, ready to fall at any moment.

If death was inevitable, she might as well take all responsibility upon herself, at least to prevent other innocent people from being implicated.

Zhao Yān took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat, already prepared for the worst.

“Hegui Pavilion is a place bestowed by the Emperor for this prince’s lodging. I have handled so many state affairs there on imperial orders that even I cannot recall them all. Today, with the banquet set in Penglai Garden and guards being insufficient, the Crown Prince mistakenly entered while intoxicated and fell into a deep sleep there.”

…

…

Wenren Lin paused, his voice quite deep, as if deliberately speaking for someone to hear, “Fortunately, his palace maid discovered it early and immediately brought the Crown Prince back. Otherwise, if word spread out, with a charge of ‘prying into imperial intentions and overstepping boundaries’ pressed down, and impeachment from the Censorate, the Crown Prince’s position would likely be untenable.”

The expected bloodbath did not come. Zhao Yān’s tense heartstrings suddenly loosened, turning into boundless bewilderment.

Wenren Lin’s words seemed like a warning, but upon careful consideration, it appeared that the Crown Prince had merely entered Hegui Pavilion while drunk and fallen asleep, and was “immediately brought back.” The crucial matters of the medicine and detoxification process were not mentioned at all…

It sounded more like he was covering up for her.

Zhao Yān became more alert, increasingly holding her breath and focusing her spirit to continue listening.

Empress Wei was also trying to discern Prince Su’s meaning, but the young man in the candlelight maintained an expressionless face, with an air of principled dignity.

As if he truly were just a righteous man who had come specifically to offer advice.

Fortunately, those in high positions excel at maintaining surface harmony. Unable to fathom his intentions, Empress Wei followed his lead: “My son is young and momentarily indulged in too much wine, captivated by the spring scenery. I hope Prince Su will be lenient. When the Crown Prince sobers up, I will punish him myself.”

Wenren Lin cast his gaze toward the quiet bed curtains, his fingertips lightly rubbing together as he said, “This punishment, I believe His Highness has already received.”

Through the layers of bed curtains, Zhao Yān still felt his gaze falling on her back, heavy and chilling.

Indeed, hadn’t she been “punished”? Even now, her waist and legs were still quite sore!

Wenren Lin took out a small medicine bottle from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and tapped it meaningfully with his bent finger, without saying another word.

And just like that, he rose and left.

Zhao Yān turned her head to look at the medicine bottle beyond the shadowy gauze curtain, slightly furrowing her brow. Her heart suddenly dropped from midair to the bottom, unable to express whether it was joy at surviving a calamity or lingering terror from the unresolved situation.

What exactly was the meaning of Wenren Lin’s visit?

Zhao Yān couldn’t figure it out and felt her head might explode.

Outside the Eastern Palace, lanterns on the carriage swayed in the wind, with a penetrating floral fragrance rising and falling.

Since nightfall, Zhang Cang’s behavior had been rather strange.

At times, he would draw his sword three inches from its scabbard, using the blade as a mirror to examine his rugged, bronze-colored cheeks from different angles. At other times, his brows would twist into knots as he sighed heavily.

The right deputy commander, Cai Tian, leaned against the palace wall with folded arms, watching his troubled companion beside him, and finally couldn’t help asking: “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been so preoccupied since leaving Penglai Garden.”

Zhang Cang indeed had something on his mind.

Earlier, when he delivered medicine, he had caught the poison-stricken prince embracing someone. Because that person was slender, and the prince had protected them closely with his sleeve, he had instinctively assumed it was a young lady attending the banquet. Yet that exposed corner of light crimson clothing seemed strangely familiar.

It wasn’t until Zhang Cang watched with his own eyes as the Eastern Palace attendants arrived upon receiving news and escorted the Crown Prince back from Hegui Pavilion that he finally slapped his forehead in realization: No wonder it looked familiar—wasn’t that the Crown Prince’s clothing!

Coming to his senses, the eight-foot-tall deputy commander Zhang was struck with sudden alarm.

No wonder the prince, at over twenty years of age, had never been with a woman! Not to mention the dancing girls at social gatherings, even…

So it turned out that he had aimed to please but had taken the wrong path—the prince preferred men.

A thousand-year-old fox daring to deceive the dragon—what audacity, tsk!

Zhang Cang was shocked, but having followed Prince Su for so many years, he kept his mouth shut. However, with such a huge secret weighing on his mind, bottling it up for too long led to wild thoughts.

He touched his chin and bent his arm to flex his sturdy muscles, asking Cai Tian, “Do you think I’m good-looking?”

Cai Tian looked at his scruffy face, his eye twitching as he expressionlessly replied: “Have you seen the Zhong Kui portrait on the gate? He’s your twin brother.”

Zhang Cang wanted to retort, drew in a breath, then sighed heavily: “You don’t understand!”

“How could I not understand?” Cai Tian found it strange.

“Then let me ask you, even though you’ve been with the prince longer, why does he specifically keep me by his side to serve him?”

“Because your limbs are developed but your brain is crude, and you can’t handle intelligence or espionage work, so you can only remain as the prince’s attendant?”

Cai Tian couldn’t help speaking the truth, which Zhang Cang naturally didn’t accept.

“Didn’t I say you don’t understand! It must be because I’m stronger and handsome than you, which the prince prefers.”

As he spoke, Zhang Cang seemed to discover a new problem, his previously upturned eyebrows instantly drooping as he looked up at the moon and sighed, “But I only like women with big backsides. I’m afraid I’ll… have to disappoint the prince’s deep affection.”

“…”

Cai Tian turned his head away with a “hmph,” rolling his eyes to the back of his head.

Just then, the side door of the Eastern Palace opened. Wenren Lin, tall and straight, walked out slowly, treading on the moonlit flower shadows covering the ground.

The lantern light under the palace wall was so bright, yet it couldn’t warm his frost-white countenance.

Zhang Cang, who had just firmly resolved to “disappoint the deep affection,” immediately rubbed his hands together and went up to greet him, attentively lowering the carriage step: “Is my lord staying at Hegui Pavilion tonight, or returning to the prince’s residence?”

Just as he was about to step onto the footstool, Wenren Lin suddenly paused, raised his palm to cover his lips, and coughed very softly.

When he removed his hand a moment later, his pale palm had a small patch of dark red blood, particularly conspicuous.

Cai Tian’s expression changed slightly. He quickly shifted his position to block the view of the Eastern Palace guards in the distance and asked in a low voice: “Did my lord not rest properly after taking the antidote? Why such a sudden reaction?”

Zhang Cang said: “My lord has already labored the entire afternoon, and rushed to the Eastern Palace as night fell. How could he have had time to rest?”

Wenren Lin himself was quite calm, as if what he had just coughed up wasn’t his blood.

He slightly curled his knuckles, getting into the carriage without changing his expression. He took out a soft handkerchief from his bosom to wipe his palm, and said languidly: “Return to the residence.”

There was a gauze lamp inside the carriage. Looking at its light, Wenren Lin discovered that the fabric used to wipe the blood wasn’t a handkerchief at all, but the section of chest binding he had cut off that afternoon.

The neatly cut edge of the binding still bore that faint red, as if diluted with water, now mixing with the dark red he had just coughed up, like a licentious and gorgeous spring painting.

Before tidying up the bed, he had inexplicably folded this piece of fabric and put it in his bosom.

Wenren Lin’s eyes brimmed with a hint of gorgeous amusement. His pale lips were tinged with a touch of brightness from the blood. He changed his mind: “Go to Hegui Pavilion.”

There were many days ahead; hopefully, the little princess wouldn’t disappoint.

…

Zhao Yān was deeply troubled, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

When she finally closed her eyes, she was constantly awakened by bizarre nightmares—sometimes seeing Zhao Yǎn’s death, sometimes the panic of her identity being exposed.

By the latter half of the night, her lower abdomen began to ache dully. Upon checking, she found her monthly period had arrived a ten-day cycle early.

Liu Ying immediately took the soiled clothes to be secretly burned, then attended to Zhao Yān’s cleansing and changing. By the time they finished, the candles were dim, and daylight was beginning to dawn outside the window.

After a sleepless night combined with physical discomfort, Zhao Yān’s spirits were truly not at their best.

Liu Ying brought clean clothes and, after looking at her master’s complexion for a while, reluctantly said: “Why doesn’t Your Highness rest for two days? This servant can ask Physician Zhang to testify and request leave for Your Highness.”

Zhao Yān sat at the edge of the bed, one hand covering her stomach, the other supporting her chin, frowning and shaking her head.

“This is the first time Father Emperor has allowed the Eastern Palace to host a banquet in his place. If I report sick before handling everything properly, what will Father Emperor think?”

Zhao Yān took a deep breath, painfully donned the clothes that were brought to her, and instructed: “Have Li Fu bring the approved memorials and prepare a sedan chair to enter Taiji Palace.”

Liu Ying knew her master was forcing her for the greater picture. Though heartbroken, she couldn’t bear to obstruct her, so she went to make arrangements.

The human-powered sedan chair was not as stable as a carriage. The leisurely rocking motion that usually went up and down was now no different from torture for Zhao Yān.

Her waist was already sore, and with her period, the soreness doubled.

Even more embarrassing was that the place also felt quite uncomfortable, becoming more swollen and painful with each jolt.

Zhao Yān leaned against the carriage wall, twisting her body to slightly raise one side of her buttocks, then, after a moment, switched to the other side, trying to slightly reduce that pain, but with little effect.

Liu Ying noticed her master’s hidden endurance and placed a wrapped hand-warmer in her hands, saying softly: “We’ll arrive soon. Your Highness should use this to warm your stomach first.”

After speaking, she lifted the curtain and leaned out to instruct the sedan bearers: “Walk more steadily.”

Finally enduring until they reached the gate of Taiji Palace, Zhao Yān almost fell to her knees with weak legs when she got out of the sedan. Thankfully, Liu Ying was quick to support her, helping her recover her strength.

It had rained in the morning, and mist-like water vapor splashed at the front of the steps, making it very damp.

Zhao Yān waited outside Taiji Hall with the memorials for two cups of tea before the old eunuch who carried messages finally came out with a bow, saying apologetically: “Crown Prince, His Majesty is currently discussing the Dao with the National Master, and it might… take some time.”

Zhao Yān bit her teeth and said good-naturedly: “It’s fine. I will wait here for Father Emperor’s summons.”

Another half hour passed. Outside, the rain changed from light to heavy, then from heavy to nothing. Zhao Yān had switched from standing on her left and right feet several times. Just as her waist pain and abdominal pain became unbearable, familiar, gentle footsteps sounded behind her.

Zhao Yān didn’t even need to turn around; merely smelling that extremely faint, cold woody incense, she knew who had arrived.

She hurriedly straightened her body and lowered her head even more.

Wenren Lin was quite surprised to see Zhao Yān there early in the morning.

His gaze swept from Zhao Yān’s trembling eyelashes to her pale fingers holding the memorials, paused slightly, and then passed by her.

Remarkably, he entered the great hall without needing to be announced.

Zhao Yān stared at her toes, not knowing whether to relax or be vigilant.

Just as her thoughts were in disarray, the old eunuch bent over and came out again, this time with much deeper smile lines: “Prince Su has spoken to His Majesty, and His Majesty specially instructed this old servant to invite the Crown Prince into the hall.”

Zhao Yān pressed her lips together, composing her thoughts before saying: “Much obliged.”

The Emperor was concocting some kind of elixir, with an array of bottles and jars laid out before him.

Seeing the Crown Prince enter the hall and bow, he didn’t even look up as he said: “Regarding the flower-pinning banquet, Prince Su has told everything to imperial me everything.”

Told what?

Would Wenren Lin disclose something unfavorable to the Emperor?

Everything was unknown.

She suppressed that moment of unease and smiled naturally: “Your son has specially brought the memorials recommended by various departments for Father Emperor’s review.”

The Emperor slightly raised his hand, and the old eunuch nodded slightly to acknowledge the command, proceeding toward the Crown Prince.

Before he reached her, a cold, white, slender hand extended diagonally and took the memorials from the Crown Prince’s hands.

The eunuch was startled, as was Zhao Yān.

Wenren Lin stood tall in his deep red official robe, his fingertips deliberately brushing past her fingertips as he casually mentioned while holding the memorials: “The Crown Prince organized this banquet with great thoroughness.”

Only then did the Emperor raise his eyes, taking the memorials and flipping through them briefly before nodding: “Though the comments are inexperienced, there are still praiseworthy points.”

After speaking, he casually placed the memorials on the table and looked up at the young man before him: “What about you? Imperial me asked you to select a princess consort. Have you found someone you fancy?”

Wenren Lin bowed slightly, his eyes coming across the candlelight on the wooden frame to fall upon the “little Crown Prince.”

Zhao Yān suddenly tensed, feeling that the smile in Wenren Lin’s eyes had deepened somewhat, carrying a hint of mischievous teasing.

“Indeed, there is one who is quite interesting,” he said.