Huo Zhenzhen left, still mumbling under her breath.

Zhao Yān gathered her sleeves and went to the study, sitting down by the gauze lamp. She couldn’t hold back anymore and collapsed onto the desk, laughing uncontrollably.

Wenren Lin looked up from his book and, after she had laughed enough, leisurely pushed a cup of tea toward her.

Zhao Yān picked up the teacup and took a sip, resting her chin on her palm as she looked up at Wenren Lin with her peach blossom eyes, laughing breathlessly: “Huo Zhenzhen says you like her, that’s why you can’t stand her getting close to me. Is it true?”

She knew the answer but asked anyway. Wenren Lin showed not the slightest surprise as he calmly held his book and replied: “If it were true, what would Your Highness do?”

Zhao Yān paused, blinking her eyes.

“Although Huo Zhenzhen is somewhat spoiled, she’s innocent and adorable, quite good at being coquettish. If I were a man, I’d want to take care of her, too.”

As she spoke, her voice grew softer, and her eyelashes gradually lowered.

Wenren Lin’s page-turning hand paused as he pressed down the book, fixing his gaze on the little princess who claimed she “didn’t know how to be coquettish,” slightly frowning with dissatisfaction.

“But the Grand Tutor, absolutely impossible.”

…

…

Zhao Yān quickly raised her eyes, her slender white fingers picking up the purple brush from the stand, pressing the brush handle against her chin as she said, “I really can’t imagine someone as shrewd and formidable as the Grand Tutor bowing and scraping before a boisterous young girl.”

Wenren Lin’s brow relaxed as he nodded and uttered an “Mm”: “This prince has no interest in people who are too simple-minded.”

If Huo Zhenzhen knew that Wenren Lin called her simple-minded, she would probably stomp her feet in anger.

Zhao Yān smiled, then thought of something and hesitantly asked: “Then, have you ever liked anyone?”

As she asked this, she unconsciously averted her gaze, her voice so indistinct that even she found it strange.

Wenren Lin watched her twirling the brush handle and smiled faintly: “A villain like this prince never knew what it meant to like someone.”

Zhao Yān’s eyelashes fluttered, and after a while, she softly said, “Oh.”

“Later, I met a clever and interesting little thing, which allowed me to taste a bit of joy.”

Wenren Lin added in a low voice, his index finger lightly tapping the book in his palm as he unhurriedly continued, “Whom this prince cherishes, does Your Highness truly not know…”

His deep voice suddenly stopped. Zhao Yān quickly looked up, meeting Wenren Lin’s unfathomable gaze.

Those lacquer-like eyes, as calm as a deep pool, were like two small cages, imprisoning her current silent stupor and many surging emotions.

Zhao Yān recalled what he had told her on the palace path before the imperial lecture: “Someone who crawled out of the abyss has no future.”

She had always thought this was a warning to her.

Now she vaguely felt it was more like a shackle he had placed on himself.

With a sudden pain in her heart, Zhao Yān seemed to grasp a thread of something, eager to hold it tighter.

She grew stubborn, raising her eyebrows and resting her chin on her palm: “If the Grand Tutor doesn’t say it, how would I know?”

Her eyes were clear, appearing especially transparent and bright in the lamplight.

Wenren Lin also realized he had said a bit too much. “Don’t make promises lightly” had always been his principle. To truly cherish someone, every word spoken to her would be carefully considered, fearing to have a guilty conscience.

But seeing those rippling, expectant eyes, no man could maintain silence.

“Come here,” he said.

Though puzzled, Zhao Yān leaned forward as told, moving closer across the desk.

“Come closer.”

Zhao Yān had no choice but to place both hands on the desk and lean her entire upper body across, getting close to Wenren Lin’s face: “Being so mysterious, what do you want to—”

Before she could finish, Wenren Lin leaned forward from his chair, raised his palm to gently cup the back of her head, lowered his face and eyes, and pressed his cheek against hers.

Cheek to cheek, temple hair brushing against each other, the man’s cheek was slightly cool and firm, the flawless skin beneath revealing his bone structure.

“…do?” Zhao Yān finished her sentence in a daze.

Warmth spread from where their cheeks touched, all the way to her burning heart.

“Didn’t Your Highness say you couldn’t imagine this prince bowing and scraping before a woman?”

Wenren Lin whispered in a low voice, placing a soft kiss on the tip of her ear, “Now Your Highness knows.”

Zhao Yān involuntarily clenched her fingertips, causing the temple hair behind her ear to fall onto her shoulder. With reddened earlobes, she said: “How is this bowing and scraping…”

It seemed more like an intimate caress.

“Is it not?”

Reminded of something, Wenren Lin rubbed the back of her head and chuckled, “You’re right. When this prince serves Your Highness in bed, that’s more like bowing and scraping.”

Kneeling when required, able to bend and stretch, absolutely without hesitation.

Seeing the conversation taking an embarrassing turn, a rush of heat surged to her head. Zhao Yān angrily grabbed a nearby brush and threw it at him.

Wenren Lin easily caught it, not spilling a single drop of ink.

The brush twirled like a flower between his long fingers before he placed it back on the jade brush rest, saying with a deep laugh: “Does Your Highness still wish to study by night?”

“Of course!”

Zhao Yān squeezed the words through her lips, returning to her seat and using one hand to press against her burning cheek as she browsed through the books she hadn’t finished last night.

Under the lamp, the “young man’s” long eyelashes concealed the tear mole, with snow-white cheeks flushed red.

How beautiful.

……

In early November, the uprising in Luozhou could not be suppressed despite several attempts and grew increasingly intense.

“What nonsense about ‘the Son of Heaven is a Heavenly Lord incarnate’! If the Son of Heaven were truly a Heavenly Lord incarnate, why doesn’t he save us from fire and water?”

“Exactly! The Emperor’s throne is illegitimate to begin with. How do we know the successive disasters aren’t heaven’s punishment for his usurpation?”

Another county fell, and the insurgents, armed with sickles and axes, swarmed in, smashing the temple of the Divine Light disciples.

Inside the already chaotic county office, a Taoist priest in a blue robe, holding a duster whisk, walked quickly, wiping sweat as he spoke to his attendant: “No matter how glib this poor priest might be, I can’t turn beans into soldiers. Seeing such chaos, without deploying troops to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys, it simply can’t be contained! Is there still no message from the palace?”

The attendant replied: “Reporting to the Right Protector, the envoy sent by the Priest has arrived and is waiting for your response.”

The blue-robed Taoist was overjoyed. He crossed the courtyard, completely unaware that on the concealed high rooftop, an extraordinarily tall figure was crouching like a hawk, its fierce eyes locked onto all of them.

Chou Zui had been sent here on a mission.

Despite his physical strength, his mind wasn’t particularly bright. It wasn’t until Wei Yan was sentenced and executed that he realized his master’s death was a conspiracy between this man and the Divine Light sect.

He had arrived too late; Wei Yan was dead, and he couldn’t avenge his enemy with his own hands.

He wanted to seize Wei Yan’s head to offer it in sacrifice to his master, but he couldn’t defeat that man.

Yes, he had lost again. That young man’s martial skills made him seem even more monstrous than Chou Zui himself, terrifyingly powerful beyond description.

The man had said that if he wanted to help the Eastern Palace destroy the Divine Light sect, he should come to Luozhou and watch these Taoist priests.

Since the Crown Prince’s death, Chou Zui had become a dog without a home, wandering wherever he could. So he came.

In the courtyard, the two groups had already met.

The blue-robed Taoist raised his palms in greeting, but saw that the envoy in the courtyard was wrapped in a tightly sealed cloak, hood covering the face, who returned the greeting with bent fingers: “Divine Light descends upon the world, the Boundless Priest.”

The voice was cold and clear—a young female Taoist.

Chou Zui stood up, pressed his neck, and leaped down from the tiles in a single bound, expressionlessly reaching behind to his waist for his two curved blades.

After a moment of startled cries, silence fell.

The female Taoist tried to rise from the ground but was stopped by a blade dripping with blood pressed against her throat. The fierce killer with a scar across his face crouched down and asked in a hoarse, strange voice: “Who is your master?”

A heavy killing intent swept over her. The female Taoist’s pupils trembled, even her hair strands quivering.

She suddenly stiffened her neck, as if gripped by an invisible hand. Trying to speak, her mouth could only gurgle out dark red blood. With her eyes wide open, she convulsed briefly before going still.

She had committed suicide by poison.

Chou Zui crouched indifferently for a moment, then picked up a bronze waist token that had fallen from the female Taoist’s sleeve, holding it up to the light to examine.

It was something from the palace.

……

In Prince Su’s mansion, the bathing chamber was filled with mist.

The tub contained hot spring water drawn from the deep springs of Yuquan Palace, greatly beneficial for dispelling cold and treating poison.

Wenren Lin casually rested his arm on the edge of the bath, listening to Cai Tian reporting intelligence from behind the screen.

“In Luozhou, the insurgents are raising the banner of the former deposed Crown Prince, denouncing the current Emperor for slaughtering his brother and usurping the throne, an act intolerable to heaven and earth.”

Cai Tian spoke in detail in a low voice, “Their momentum is tremendous. The Divine Light sect cannot suppress them. General Huo Feng is still in the north, so the Emperor can only ask Your Highness to lead troops to quell the rebellion.”

Everything was within expectation.

Wenren Lin closed his eyes. Water droplets slid down his cold jaw, then meandered down his chest.

“How is Chou Zui?”

“The other day, he raided the Divine Light sect’s stronghold in Luozhou. With him disrupting their surveillance, it’s more convenient for Your Highness to act…”

As Cai Tian spoke, he heard an unusual sound from behind the screen. The arm casually resting on the bath edge suddenly tensed, blue veins bulging.

“Your Highness!”

Cai Tian called out in a low voice, wanting to step forward but not daring to be presumptuous. He could only say gravely, “As the day of the poison’s outbreak approaches, Your Highness should leave the palace for a few days of recuperation and seek Physician Sun’s thorough diagnosis! I heard the old master has recently developed a new formula that might be effective against your cold poison. With proper treatment, there might still be hope of reversal…”

“Unnecessary.”

Wenren Lin felt the restless, bone-chilling pain stirring within his body and even found a certain pleasure in it. “Having followed this prince for many years, you should know that my only hope is the day when vengeance is complete…”

Before he finished speaking, a beautiful smiling face appeared before him, soft and warm.

Wenren Lin instinctively pressed his hand to his heart and slowly opened his eyes.

With a splash of water, a strong, graceful figure was silhouetted against the screen. He stepped out of the bath with his long legs and pulled on the clean robe hanging on the screen.

“Enter the palace,” he commanded.

Taiji Hall.

With the winter solstice approaching, Zhao Yān entered the hall to pay her respects, unfortunately encountering her father in great anger.

Though described as great anger, her father was accustomed to hiding his light and biding his time, never revealing joy or anger. Even loud rebukes were rare. Yet that formless imperial majesty was like a mountain, pressing down so heavily that one could not raise their head.

A group of officials knelt in the hall, all supporting themselves with their hands on the ground, trembling prostrate.

Zhao Yān knelt at the front, listening to her father pacing back and forth, his Taoist robes fluttering. Barefoot and seemingly oblivious to the cold, he spoke coldly: “The former Crown Prince? Hm, this elder brother of mine was deposed for treason and died eighteen years ago on the way to exile. Who are these rebels in Luozhou supporting?”

The officials touched their foreheads to the ground, repeatedly saying: “May Your Majesty calm your anger and take care of your dragon body!”

The Emperor stopped walking. Zhao Yān lowered her head, looking at the corner of the Taoist robe before her, feeling that heavy gaze falling upon her.

“Crown Prince, speak.”

The Emperor spoke, “What do you think of this matter?”

Zhao Yān suddenly returned from her drifting thoughts, somewhat surprised.

The Crown Prince had no real power and should not inquire about such major affairs. Why did her father suddenly think to ask her?

She was cautious in her heart and chose her words carefully: “Your son is young and ignorant, and dares not comment. But heaven blesses the Great Xuan, and evil will certainly not triumph over righteousness.”

The Emperor said nothing, preoccupied with his thoughts, but also forgot to let her rise.

With her father silent, Zhao Yān naturally had to kneel with the group of officials. The floor tiles were cold and hard, the chill penetrating to the bone. After less than a quarter of an hour, her knees began to sting terribly.

Early in the morning, truly unlucky.

She sighed inwardly, looking at her reflection on the floor tiles, emptying her mind again and trying her best to divert attention from her painfully numb knees.

It was at this moment that Wenren Lin strode into the great hall, his crimson official robe sweeping up a frost-like chill.

As he passed by the stiffly kneeling Zhao Yān, he lowered his gaze.

“Prince Su, you’ve come at just the right time.”

The Emperor pointed to the pile of memorials on his desk, “Look at these memorials, all related to the Luozhou rebels!”

Wenren Lin bowed slightly, his gaze sweeping over the pile of memorials without commenting.

“Your Majesty forgot to let the Crown Prince rise,” he said calmly.