“Zhenzhen!”

Huo Feng, having experienced many battlefields, was the first to react, scooping up Huo Zhenzhen, who had collapsed pale-faced on the ground.

Huo Zhenzhen was so frightened by the sudden incident that she held her breath. Only when embraced by Princess Shoukang and Huo Feng did she finally begin to cry with reddened eyes.

“Seize this traitor!”

Empress Wei commanded in a cold, low voice, and everyone at the banquet awoke as if from a trance and rose to their feet.

Pei Sa stood up to shield Zhao Yān and the two princesses, while Liu Baiwei disregarded protocol and stepped across the table, frowning as he asked: “Your Highness, are you all right?”

As he spoke, the alerted Imperial Guards rushed forward and pinned the assassin eunuch firmly to the ground.

He seemed to have anticipated this situation, and though his face was wretched, he still gripped his dagger tightly, appearing ready to fight to the death.

The black leather boot stepped down and ground against his hand. With a hair-raising series of cracks, the eunuch let out a hoarse scream and released his grip.

Zhang Cang took the opportunity to stuff a wad of cloth into the eunuch’s mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue to commit suicide, then picked up the dagger and presented it with both hands.

…

…

The cold blade was like thin ice, reflecting Wenren Lin’s cold eyes.

The edge of the blade had a faint blue tint, clearly coated with a deadly poison, but fortunately, it bore no trace of blood.

Wenren Lin handed the dagger back to Zhang Cang and walked directly toward Zhao Yān. Meeting the terrified or astonished gazes of the guests, he bent one knee to crouch down, lowered his head, and gently removed Zhao Yān’s hand from where it covered her forearm.

The scene was silent except for Huo Zhenzhen’s occasional sobs. The sunlight was intense but could not dispel the heavy, chilling pressure emanating from Wenren Lin.

Yet his expression remained calm, his lowered eyes concealing the bottomless coldness within as he asked hoarsely: “Where are you hurt?”

Liu Baiwei rose vigilantly, but Zhao Yān shook her head at him, indicating he need not worry.

“I dodged in time, not much damage…”

Zhao Yān opened her hand to show him the torn sleeve.

The robe had a neat cut, revealing a pale forearm with a shallow red mark about an inch long. It had only injured the delicate outer skin without drawing blood or exposing flesh. Even so, it had been extremely dangerous.

Ningyang Marquis Wei Yan, having calmed his wife, approached the assassin eunuch and indeed found a jade palace token in his sleeve—the very one Wei Yan had just lost.

The birthday banquet ended in disorder, and the assassin eunuch was quickly dragged away.

Before the mastermind behind the attack was revealed, all the banquet guests were accommodated in the Flower Viewing Hall at the back, guarded by Imperial Guards.

Zhao Yān followed Wenren Lin to the main hall, where Imperial Physician Zhang Xu soon arrived.

After checking her pulse for a long time, Zhang Xu finally confirmed: “Your Highness’s pulse is stable; the poison seems not to have entered the bloodstream. To be safe, please wash the scratch and apply jade dew poison-neutralizing ointment, then remain under observation for an hour.”

Zhao Yān nodded and gestured to Liu Ying: “Go report to Mother Empress to ease her worries.”

“Yes.” Liu Ying acknowledged and withdrew.

Wenren Lin took the ointment and bandages offered by Zhang Xu, sat in a chair, and personally tended to Zhao Yān’s wound.

He held Zhao Yān’s forearm with one hand while carefully cleaning the shallow scratch with a damp cotton cloth, asking: “Do you know who did this?”

Zhao Yān recalled the bait she had set out a few days ago and said thoughtfully: “I can probably guess.”

Wenren Lin remained silent.

“Your Highness.”

Zhang Cang arrived hurriedly and requested from outside the hall: “Several officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicature have arrived and are arguing over where to send the assassin for interrogation. They’ve come to ask Your Highness’s decision.”

Wenren Lin finished bandaging Zhao Yān’s wrist, his long, frost-white index finger tightening and loosening with each wrap of the bandage. He said gravely: “Tell them to be quiet and interrogate him on the spot.”

“Here?”

Zhang Cang was surprised, but seeing Wenren Lin’s impatient glance, he quickly bowed and said, “Yes! This subordinate will go at once!”

Interrogating on the spot was indeed better, avoiding any mistakes during transfer or escort.

Zhao Yān rested her chin on her uninjured hand, her gaze following Wenren Lin’s movements as he applied the medicine, and softly asked: “May I attend the interrogation of the assassin later?”

Wenren Lin calmly cut off the excess bandage before looking up at her.

“Your Highness, today is your birthday; it’s not appropriate to see bloodshed.”

Wenren Lin’s tone was very gentle, gentle enough to conceal the surge of killing intent in his eyes. “When I interrogate prisoners, it is not a pleasant sight.”

On this auspicious day that comes once a year, she only needed to remain clean and happy.

After Wenren Lin left, Zhao Yān sat in the main hall for a while, firstly following Zhang Xu’s advice to observe whether the slight scratch showed any signs of poisoning, and secondly to conveniently listen for news of the assassin’s interrogation.

From the adjacent garden, she could faintly hear the interrogation officials’ rebukes, but they were met only with silence. Finally, someone said helplessly, “This stubborn slave refuses to speak. We can’t keep stalling! Prince Su, what do you think…”

After a jumble of footsteps, there followed two quarters of an hour of absolute silence.

Tree shadows swayed on the window paper as the sunlight remained pleasant. Zhao Yān didn’t hear any screams of torture, only the rustling of chains, before the eunuch’s voice suddenly became urgent and broken, almost hoarsely begging: “I’ll talk… I’ll tell everything… spare, spare me!”

Something viscous choked his throat, and the assassin eunuch coughed and gasped, saying indistinctly: “It was Prince Yong… Prince Yong ordered me to do it!”

A commotion erupted.

Moments later, Li Fu quietly entered and reported: “Your Highness, they’ve gotten everything. This eunuch’s only relative is held by Prince Yong, so he accepted the mission to assassinate… This servant just asked the staff, and this man indeed has a sister who worked as a maid in Prince Yong’s mansion and disappeared without a reason two days ago. It seems this is why.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yān’s face showed no surprise.

Recently, Zhao Yān had used the dead soldier captured on the day of the Zhaixing Observatory collapse as bait to lure the mastermind to silence him. The next night, a jailer indeed made his move, poisoning the death soldier to make it appear as if he had died from a sudden illness. The poison used was identical to that used to harm Cheng Jixing.

Following Zhao Yān’s instructions, Gu Xing had not disturbed the situation but secretly followed the jailer, tracing the connection through several twists and turns until finally, just yesterday, identifying the contact person.

It turned out to be a Daoist practitioner from Prince Yong’s mansion.

Unlike his son Zhao Yuan’yu, Prince Yong Uncle was extremely low-profile, at most wearing Daoist robes and refining elixirs to please his imperial brother, rarely participating in court affairs.

If he was trying to assassinate the Crown Prince for half a ledger, it didn’t make much sense. Unless there were other hidden reasons.

Zhao Yān had originally thought that if Prince Yong Uncle was truly the mastermind, given his low-profile nature, he would not make a second attempt anytime soon.

Who would have thought the second assassination attempt would come so quickly, with such desperate resolve, abnormally rushed?

Zhao Yān took a piece of sour jujube cake and bit into it, concentrating on recalling the contents of the Shenguang Religion ledger, trying to find clues.

The large quantity of candle snake glands needed by Prince Yong’s heir for alchemy had all come from Priest Shen Guang. Although this collusion was a serious crime, with the Prince Heir having been punished, Prince Yong Uncle could completely distance himself from it, with no need to take such risks…

Perhaps something else had happened in these ten days.

With this thought, Zhao Yān looked up at Li Fu and said: “Go tell Gu Xing to keep watching Prince Yong’s mansion. Before Father Emperor issues his final order, carefully note who has contact with Prince Yong.”

Next, she would need to see Prince Yong Uncle herself and get clear answers.

As she was planning, a eunuch from Taiji Hall arrived, requesting the Crown Prince to report to Taiji Hall.

Zhao Yān changed her clothes and went to the imperial audience, explaining to her father the cause and effect of the assassination attempt.

Princess Shoukang was also present and specifically mentioned before the Emperor: if not for His Highness the Crown Prince saving Princess Changle, blood would have been shed on the spot.

The Emperor respected Princess Shoukang and had no choice but to immediately order a thorough investigation.

By the time everything was settled, it was the hour of you, and the setting sun’s rays made the palace buildings appear magnificent.

Sitting in her carriage, Zhao Yān asked Liu Ying: “Have Uncle and the others left?”

Liu Ying replied: “After the suspect was confirmed, Her Majesty allowed the guests in the Flower Viewing Hall to leave the palace.”

Zhao Yān nodded: “Afterward, prepare a small gift for each attendee of the banquet. The incident today was sudden, and they should be recognized for their service in protecting me.”

“This servant understands.”

As they spoke, the sound of galloping hooves came from the palace gate.

Leading was Zhang Cang rather than Wenren Lin. Upon seeing Zhao Yān’s carriage, he pulled his reins to stop abruptly, circling his horse and gesturing to the Imperial Guards behind him to proceed first.

“Your Highness, my prince is attending to His Majesty in the palace and may be occupied until later.”

“It’s fine, no need to trouble him.”

Zhao Yān lifted the carriage curtain and smiled slightly at Zhang Cang: “May I accompany you to Prince Yong’s mansion, Deputy Commander Zhang?”

Prince Yong’s mansion was pitch black and deathly quiet.

Although the assassin eunuch had identified Prince Yong as the one who gave the order, until evidence was found to convict him, Prince Yong, being a royal relative, did not need to be stripped of his titles and imprisoned. He was merely confined to his mansion, watched day and night by Imperial Guards.

But the one responsible for the interrogation was Prince Su, and for criminal officials, falling into his hands was far more terrifying than imprisonment.

In the back garden of the prince’s mansion, the wind blew paper money into the air. The light from the Imperial Guards’ torches fell on the pale paper figurines piled in the courtyard, exuding a thick, eerie aura of death.

The Imperial Guards unlocked the side room in the back garden and pushed open the door. Prince Yong Zhao Zhen sat in the dim light of a solitary lamp, one hand resting on his knee, the other pressing down on his sleeve.

Seeing the “Crown Prince” and Prince Su’s deputy commander enter, Zhao Zhen closed his eyes desolately, seemingly having already anticipated his fate.

Zhang Cang took the solitary lamp and lit all the candles in the room. The glaring light immediately drove back the darkness, forcing Prince Yong to turn his head away like a creature from the sewers.

Zhao Yān took the opportunity to step forward: “I have come to ask Prince Yong Uncle a few questions.”

Prince Yong snorted dismissively: “The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit. I have nothing to say.”

Zhang Cang gave a cold snort and said harshly, “While your tongue is still there, Prince Yong should cherish the days you can still speak.”

“Are you going to torture me?” Prince Yong clenched his fist, his voice trembling hoarsely.

“Prince Yong Uncle is royalty; there’s no need to lose dignity.”

Zhao Yān’s voice was calm as she stood with her sleeves gathered, saying: “I just want to know why Prince Yong Uncle risked such a great crime to assassinate me. Was it for Priest Shen Guang’s ledger, or the position in the Golden Hall?”

Prince Yong was provoked by something she said and opened his eyes angrily: “Why this pretense, youth!”

Seeing his reaction, Zhao Yān’s heart tightened, vaguely guessing something.

“My imperial brother has only one son, and I only had Yuan’yu, my only legitimate son.”

Prince Yong’s face showed grief as he pointed at Zhao Yān, saying: “Poor Yuan’yu! Despite his faults, he should have been dealt with by His Majesty and judged by the law. How could he be killed by private execution, dying cruelly under your blade, you upstart!”

With her suspicion confirmed, Zhao Yān’s ears buzzed, as if recalling the sickening, sticky feeling of blood splashing on her hands.

Zhang Cang looked at her with concern, his brows knotting into a knot.

Cai Tian had recently mentioned that Zhao Yuan’yu’s grave had been dug up. He had thought it was grave robbers, but it seemed it had served a purpose here.

“And you… You and the Eastern Palace are in cahoots, ganging up to deceive me!”

“Prince Yong Uncle, when you and Zhao Yuan’yu repeatedly attacked the Eastern Palace, weren’t you trampling on the law and human ethics, weren’t you engaging in private execution?”

Zhao Yān tried not to be controlled by Zhao Zhen’s black-and-white sophistry. Her eyes were clear as she said each word distinctly: “If the law is just, how did dozens of innocent boys and girls lose their lives at Zhao Yuan’yu’s hands to be made into pills! Are only your children children, and they are not?”

“Boys and girls… yes, that’s right! Those filthy things the Crown Prince did, did you think I didn’t know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Last year’s spring hunt, my son fell from his horse and injured his vital organ, rendering him unable to function as a man or produce offspring! I always thought it was a natural disaster, but recently discovered it was man-made!”

Prince Yong’s face grew ashen, his corpulent body trembling, yet he still stiffened his neck and rebuked: “It was you who instructed the Imperial Guards to startle the horse, harming my son and forcing him to take a crooked path for the sake of alchemy to restore his yang! That he ended up this way was all orchestrated by your Eastern Palace! You killed with borrowed knives, yet kept yourselves clean, questioning and accusing from on high like saviors! What a scheme, what a cruel heart!”

The wind seeped through the nailed window cracks, causing the candlelight to flutter and flicker. Zhao Yān’s eyes also danced unsteadily.

“You lie.”

She clenched her fingers within her sleeve and drew Zhang Cang’s sword to point at Prince Yong. The cold light of the blade illuminated her solemn face. “I will not allow you to slander the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace like this!”

“Slander?”

Prince Yong trembled as the sword tip pressed against him, then laughed bitterly: “Would I dare risk my life and throw away all my glory without evidence? Alas, the Crown Prince’s fate is hard, my son’s fate light!”

“So you tried to assassinate me for Zhao Yuan’yu, to settle affairs for him? Who told you these things?”

“No one, only driven by unwillingness… your Eastern Palace leaves no way out for people, even daring to move against His Majesty’s Shenguang Religion. What else wouldn’t you dare do?”

Prince Yong slumped back in his chair, closing his eyes and pressing his rapidly heaving chest, saying: “Rather than falling into Wenren Lin’s hands and being humiliated like a pig or dog, it’s better… to go cleanly…”

Zhao Yān withdrew her sword, sensing something was wrong.

Zhang Cang also noticed something and immediately stepped forward to grab Prince Yong’s jaw, ordering the Imperial Guards outside: “Quickly! Hold down his tongue!”

Two Imperial Guards hurriedly came to help, but it was too late.

Prince Yong suddenly spat out a large mouthful of black blood, falling forward onto the table, his breathing already labored.

A silver sachet fell from his fat fingers, rolling to Zhao Yān’s boots. The sachet had been opened, and in the place where incense pellets should have been was presumably where a poison had been hidden. Due to its concealment, it had not been discovered by the Imperial Guards.

Now, the place for the incense pellets was empty.

After a chaotic commotion, the room suddenly fell silent.

After a long silence, an Imperial Guard wiped his sweat and carefully reported: “Your Highness, Deputy Commander Zhang, Prince Yong… has poisoned himself.”

Prince Yong, knowing his assassination attempt had failed and that falling into Prince Su’s hands would be worse than death, had taken poison before they entered, avoiding the suffering of interrogation.

Zhang Cang looked troubled, fearing to offend the young Crown Prince, and hurriedly blocked the horrific mess with his body: “Your Highness, this place is dirty, perhaps you should…”

“Find Prince Yong’s account books from the past few years.”

Zhao Yān pushed the sword back into Zhang Cang’s scabbard and said calmly: “Also, all the evidence of elixirs found in the mansion, bring them all for me to examine.”

Zhao Yǎn was the most benevolent and kind-hearted fool in the world, not contending in life, nameless in death.

Zhao Yān absolutely would not allow anyone to tarnish his reputation, not even the desperate accusations of a dying man!

The Imperial Guards moved quickly and soon carried in a small box filled with account books for Prince Yong’s mansion and other properties.

Zhao Yān only roughly looked through a few expenditure items and discovered that Prince Yong’s mansion spent a large amount of silver each year to support a group of alchemists.

She closed the account book and called for Gu Xing: “What about that alchemist from Prince Yong’s mansion who was in contact with the jailer?”

“This subordinate was just about to report to Your Highness.”

Gu Xing waved his hand, and immediately, someone brought forward a gray-robed alchemist with a goatee beard. “Following Your Highness’s instructions, this subordinate led men to watch Prince Yong’s mansion day and night. Just now, when the Imperial Guards came to seal off the mansion, this man was seen sneaking out over the wall and was caught by us.”

Zhao Yān signaled for the Imperial Guards to bring the torches closer and asked: “Is he the one who concocted medicines for Prince Yong?”

“That’s what I’ve heard… oh, and this subordinate found this in a hidden compartment in Prince Yong’s alchemy room. For safety, please cover your mouth and nose, Your Highness.”

Zhao Yān raised her sleeve to cover her mouth and nose, following his instruction.

Only then did Gu Xing step back and open a triple-layered, intricate box, revealing a tightly sealed black crane-necked porcelain bottle inside.

Even though Gu Xing had deliberately retreated to a safe distance, Zhao Yān could still smell a faint, peculiar fragrance.

Her heart chilled as she looked at the trembling alchemist: “Open the lid and let him take a breath.”

The alchemist immediately turned ashen with terror, hastily kowtowing: “No… no, Your Highness! This bottle contains deadly poison refined by the master. I cannot smell it!”

“When you used this poison to harm others, did you consider that it could not be smelled?”

Zhao Yān’s throat was rough as she looked down at the alchemist: “Tell me, whom have you harmed with this poison?”

“This poison was the master’s prized creation. I, I at most was just a runner, and didn’t know…”

“Gu Xing, pour all of the poison from this bottle into his mouth!”

“No! I’ll confess, I’ll confess everything!”

The alchemist trembled and said: “There were several scholars and officials, a prisoner in the Court of Judicature, and… and a letter sent to the Eastern Palace last year… just these, I can’t remember anything else. I beg Your Highness for mercy!”

Upon hearing “a letter,” Zhao Yān’s heart suddenly ached.

“Mercy?”

She tugged at the corner of her lips and said word by word: “When you see those you’ve harmed in the underworld, you can personally beg them for mercy.”

Hearing this, the alchemist suddenly broke free from the Imperial Guards’ restraints and ran.

Zhao Yān stood quietly until the alchemist had stumbled several yards away. Then she seized a bow and arrow from a nearby Imperial Guard and drew the bow like a crescent moon.

The bowstring reflected a line of gold in the firelight, and that thread of light entered her eyes, cold and beautiful.

“Use your eyes to guide your hands, aim.” Wenren Lin’s deep instruction from archery lessons still echoed in her ears.

With a release of her fingers, the arrow whistled through the air, and the alchemist stumbled and fell.

Zhao Yān slowly lowered her hand, as if she had exhausted all her strength, allowing the long bow to rest on the ground.

There was a long silence.

“Gu Xing, carefully take that bottle of poison back and give it to Imperial Physician Zhang Xu for examination and verification.”

Having said this, Zhao Yān turned to the stunned Zhang Cang and nodded: “I trouble Deputy Commander Zhang to clean up here.”

Zhang Cang’s respect for her increased even more, and he straightened his chest to respond: “Yes!”

Zhao Yān didn’t know how she had walked out of Prince Yong’s mansion.

In the rumbling carriage, Zhao Yān’s thoughts were unsettled, as if in a dreamlike trance.

She couldn’t believe that the truth she had pursued for so long had finally emerged so completely through Prince Yong.

The poisonous incense that had killed Zhao Yǎn and the others was hidden in Prince Yong’s mansion. It was highly likely that after Zhao Yuan’yu’s assassination attempt failed, Prince Yong Uncle, to cover for his son, decided to go all the way and poison Zhao Yǎn…

This seemed to explain everything.

But if Prince Yong’s mansion had such a strange poison, why didn’t they use it from the beginning? Why did they wait until after Zhao Yuan’yu’s assassination attempt failed to mix the poison into that letter written in the name of “Princess Changfeng”?

And what about Prince Yong Uncle’s claim that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace had secretly caused Zhao Yuan’yu to fall from his horse, rendering him unable to produce children…

She firmly believed Zhao Yǎn would never harm someone with underhanded methods. What worried her was that someone might be stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

Lost in thought, Zhao Yān looked down at her slender white fingers, reddened by the bowstring. She slightly curled her five fingers, then slowly relaxed them.

She rubbed her hands hard against her clothes until her palms were red before stopping, slowly exhaling the heavy air in her chest.

Wenren Lin had protected her so well, wanting her birthday to be free from bloodshed, yet she had still let him down.

At this hour, the palace gates were already locked, so the carriage stopped at the side entrance of the Eastern Palace.

As Zhao Yān alighted, Liu Ying expressed concern: “Would Your Highness like a meal? You’ve been busy all day without even a sip of water.”

“I have no appetite, forget it.”

Zhao Yān shook her head, pressing her temple and saying: “Prepare hot water, I want to bathe and be clean…”

As she spoke, she saw a figure standing at the corner ahead.

Cai Tian came forward, cupping his hands to Zhao Yān and saying: “Your Highness, my prince requests your presence.”

Zhao Yān’s eyes widened as she asked: “Wen… Prince Su? Where is he?”

Cai Tian didn’t speak, only looked up.

Zhao Yān followed his gaze and saw that Jiafu Tower was brightly lit, with Wenren Lin standing with his hands behind his back amid the warm orange glow, his dark silhouette tall and straight.

Zhao Yān couldn’t see his expression clearly but guessed that his eyes must now contain a calm, shallow smile.

Before she knew it, Zhao Yān was already walking toward the stone steps of Jiafu Tower.

At first, her steps were steady, then they became faster and faster. The last few stone steps she almost took in two or three bounds, rushing into that gentle brightness.

Wenren Lin was waiting for her at the top of the stairs, and Zhao Yān nearly crashed into his arms.

Their eyes met, the starry sky hanging low as if within reach.

The summer night breeze passed by, the palace lamps swayed on the tower, as if dust was settling.

“What are you doing here?”

Zhao Yān unconsciously brushed a lock of hair that had come loose at her temple, her rouge-colored lips slightly parted, her breath somewhat unsteady.

Wenren Lin took her wrist, folded her sleeve upward to confirm that the thin wound under the bandage had not worsened, then tapped the back of her hand, saying: “It’s only the hour of hai now, there’s still time.”

Just as Zhao Yān was about to ask, “Time for what?” Wenren Lin firmly circled her wrist and led her behind the table in the pavilion.

The stove that had previously been used to bake qiaoguo had its iron net removed and replaced with a clay pot, which was bubbling with steam.

On the nearby table was a sieve of evenly pulled fine noodles, along with vegetables, scallion oil, and other ingredients.

Zhao Yān watched in astonishment as Wenren Lin rolled up his sleeves, revealing half his forearm as he mixed the condiments in a bowl, finally realizing what he was doing.

“Plain noodles?” she asked, pursing her lips.

“Longevity noodles.”

Wenren Lin casually ladled a scoop of boiling water into the bowl. As the oil shimmered and scallion fragrance wafted, he said in a deep voice through the rising mist: “Don’t look at me like that. The noodles were pulled by the cook. My hands, apart from killing and doing evil, don’t know these things.”

Zhao Yān gave a soft “Oh,” but the light in her eyes only increased.

He lived as if he had no future, yet he wished her a long life of a hundred years—how curious.

“The noodles were soaked by the Grand Tutor himself, which makes them special.”

Zhao Yān sniffed, her appetite suddenly aroused, and she couldn’t help asking: “Didn’t the Grand Tutor already send a gift? All those books!”

Wenren Lin sprinkled a handful of fresh noodles into the pot and cracked two eggs on top with one hand. Hearing her words, he looked up and said: “Your Highness doesn’t think that when I sent those books, I was just sending books, do you?”

“What else?” Zhao Yān tilted her head slightly.

Wenren Lin laughed.

The little princess was clever and quick-witted, yet obtuse when it came to matters of the heart. Sometimes he wanted to crack open that head of hers to see what was inside.

The mist obscured Wenren Lin’s expression as he scooped out the cooked noodles and poached eggs, placing them in the soup bowl.

“Try it.” He pushed the bowl of noodles in front of Zhao Yān.

Zhao Yān inhaled the aroma, took the jade chopsticks, picked up a mouthful, gently blew to cool it, and put it in her mouth.

The clear broth was delicious, the noodles were chewy yet soft, warming all the way from her mouth to her stomach.

Zhao Yān ate mouthful by mouthful. Of all the delicacies she had eaten since returning to the palace, none compared to the simple timeliness of this bowl of noodles.

Wenren Lin just quietly watched her until she had sucked up the last noodle, then asked: “Are you full?”

“Another bowl.”

Zhao Yān had a small appetite and was already seven-tenths full, but today was also Zhao Yǎn’s birthday, and she needed to eat an extra bowl for his sake too.

Wenren Lin prepared another portion of noodles for her. What was boiling in the steam of the pot was an indescribable worldly bond.

Zhao Yān rested her chin on her hand, feeling light in body and spirit.

As the noodles were cooking, suddenly a firework shot up in the distance, then “boom!” it exploded into a beautiful flower, illuminating half the sky in red.

“Boom! Boom!”

Fireworks followed one after another, like stars, like hanging willows, colorful and brilliant.

Zhao Yān quickly stood up to look into the distance, saw that the fireworks were being launched from the direction of Hegui Pavilion, and her heart stirred. She hurriedly asked: “Did you prepare these fireworks?”

Wenren Lin neither confirmed nor denied.

He scooped out the noodles, smiling faintly as he said: “I burned that assassin to ashes and made him into fireworks to brighten Your Highness’s birthday.”