However, Yinqi remained deaf to her words, his breathing growing increasingly labored, his body trembling uncontrollably as if he were experiencing a violent chill.

Zhenzhen called to him again, and he looked at her with a bewildered gaze, his eyes unfocused and appearing completely lost. After gasping heavily for a moment, he suddenly clutched his head in pain, opening his mouth as if about to let out a cry of alarm. Without thinking, Zhenzhen rushed behind him, extending both arms—one around his neck and the other covering his mouth—to prevent him from making any violent sounds.

Yinqi struggled, and Zhenzhen exerted all her strength to keep him confined within her embrace. Yinqi raised his hand to grasp Zhenzhen’s wrist, trying to break free from her restraint. As Zhenzhen resisted, her sleeve brushed across Yinqi’s face, and a familiar scent that he remembered entered his nostrils—warm and sweet, like the fragrance of baked pastries lingering on clothing.

Yinqi froze, stopping all movement. After a moment of silence, he gently reached for Zhenzhen’s hand, lowering his head toward her sleeve to pursue that fragrance from his memories.

Zhenzhen was startled, sensing his sudden gentleness but unsure whether she should release her hold. Two warm tears had already fallen onto her sleeve as Yinqi closed his eyes and called softly, “Aunt…” sobbing like a child.

He was clearly in his confused state again, mistaking Zhenzhen for Liu Sishan. Realizing this, Zhenzhen felt her earlier tense and anxious emotions dissipate, and that single word “Aunt” made her heart soften. She slowly moved around to face him, using her sleeve to gently wipe away the tears covering his face. When Yinqi caught her hand and called her “Aunt” again, she showed him a gentle smile: “Yes, I’ve returned, Jia Lan’er.”

A layer of bewildered expression surfaced in Yinqi’s joy: “Where did you go, Aunt?”

“I went to make pastries for you.” Zhenzhen arranged the pastries she had earlier asked him to guess while blindfolded back in front of him, one by one. “Crispy prints, peony cakes, wrapped steamed buns, small steamed cakes, and noodles with shrimp sauce… which one do you like eating most?”

“I like eating most, like eating most…” Yinqi repeated, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the bowl of wontons that Zhenzhen hadn’t mentioned, staring at it with a pale face but unable to say the name of this food.

“Wontons.” Zhenzhen said it for him, smoothly pushing the bowl of wontons before his eyes. “These are chicken broth wontons I cooked today. Try them and see how they differ from the first time you ate wontons I made.”

Yinqi looked up at Zhenzhen, then gazed down at the wontons again. After much deliberation, under Zhenzhen’s gentle persuasion, he finally took the spoon and brought a wonton to his mouth.

Zhenzhen patiently waited for him to savor it carefully. After he swallowed, she asked with a smile about his impression.

Yinqi was quite calm by now and could answer her question composedly: “Very similar to the first time I ate them. Back then, Aunt also made chicken broth wontons.”

Zhenzhen remembered often eating her mother’s chicken broth wontons as a child, and guessed that if Liu Sishan had made them for young Yinqi, she would likely have used chicken broth as well. She hadn’t expected to guess correctly and immediately beamed with joy, pressing Yinqi further: “Do you still remember when you first ate these wontons?”

“It was at a banquet,” Yinqi lowered his eyelids slightly, entering into childhood memories. “I had just recovered from an illness and had no appetite. The banquet was full of foods I didn’t like… I quietly slipped away, passed by the kitchen, and smelled the rich chicken broth aroma from inside. I went in and saw Aunt…”

Zhenzhen immediately understood: “So Aunt cooked chicken broth wontons for you—soft, smooth, and easy to digest, nourishing for the spleen and stomach.”

Yinqi remained immersed in warm memories, showing a child-like pure smile: “Besides wontons, Aunt also gave me delicious pastries and sang songs for me… Aunt told me not to be afraid of taking medicine, smiling as she said that whenever I drank bitter medicine, I should just come find Aunt, and Aunt would give me sweet pastries… But what I loved most was still the wontons Aunt made…”

At this point, his words faltered, mist rising in his eyes. He suddenly frowned and grabbed Zhenzhen’s left wrist: “Why did they want to harm you? If I hadn’t asked for that bowl of wontons, wouldn’t you have been taken away?”

Zhenzhen placed her right hand over his grip, looking directly into Yinqi’s bewildered eyes and shaking her head: “Taking Aunt away was an unavoidable misfortune, not because of the wontons you wanted.”

“Misfortune?” Yinqi repeated in a murmur.

Zhenzhen continued her gentle persuasion: “Can we prevent the appearance of storms? Aunt’s fate was like a storm—an unavoidable disaster. You had already done everything in your power to build a fence to protect Aunt. Though it was destroyed by wind and rain, that wasn’t your fault. Aunt will always remember being so carefully protected by you.”

Yinqi buried his head on the table and began to sob. Zhenzhen silently kept watch beside him. When he seemed slightly calmer, she gently stroked his back and said warmly: “Let those unpleasant memories be blown away by yesterday’s wind and rain. There are still many wontons in this bowl, each one containing Aunt’s heartfelt intentions. Come, finish eating them and keep Aunt’s love for Jia Lan’er in your heart.”

After speaking, Zhenzhen took the spoon and brought another wonton to Yinqi’s lips. Yinqi stared at her silently for a long moment, then finally opened his mouth and gradually accepted all the food she offered him.

Yinqi fell asleep quickly after eating the wontons. When he woke the next day and saw Zhenzhen, he recognized her immediately and no longer called her “Aunt,” appearing clear-minded. Zhenzhen wasn’t certain whether the shadow of wontons had been eliminated, so she later made another bowl and quietly presented it to him. Yinqi also quietly tasted it without any signs of distress. So Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief, secretly celebrating that things had developed as she wished—this heart ailment of his should now be considered resolved.

However, new troubles followed closely. The Lady of Chen came again to bring up the matter of taking concubines, presumably having seen that Zhenzhen and Yinqi had been getting along very harmoniously these past few days, thus rekindling hope. Zhenzhen still refused, and the Lady of Chen couldn’t save face, unable to help but scold Zhenzhen for not knowing what was good for her. Zhenzhen remained silent and indifferent, while Yinqi tried to mediate between both sides. The Lady of Chen left in a huff, and Zhenzhen, thinking of the current unsolvable predicament, couldn’t help but feel worried. Yinqi saw her distress and remained silent for a long time, probably feeling quite uncomfortable himself.

The Crown Prince’s birthday banquet arrived in the blink of an eye, and Yinqi indeed decided to bring Zhenzhen along, just as Feng Xian had predicted.

On this day, the Eastern Palace banquet’s guests were mostly imperial relatives and court relatives. Earlier, the Emperor had appeared, toasted one cup of wine, then hurriedly departed, saying he had urgent state affairs to discuss with the chief ministers. Without the Emperor present, the remaining guests appeared much more relaxed, with conversations between the royal brothers and various cousins increasing, accompanied by continuous laughter amid the flowing wine.

Second Prince Zhao Ai and Third Prince Zhao Hao sat in order beside the Crown Prince’s seat, while the Yin brothers sat opposite them. Zhenzhen stood behind Yinqi, and looking around, she immediately noticed that Feng Xian was also there, standing behind Zhao Ai and currently watching her. When their eyes met, Feng Xian smiled slightly and nodded at Zhenzhen, seemingly indicating that everything had been arranged properly.

The Eastern Palace banquet, like imperial banquets, involved nine rounds of wine, with each round accompanied by several fine dishes, interspersed with music, dancing, and various entertainments. The first four rounds of wine were accompanied by songs and dances with sheng pipes, flutes, and whistles as accompaniment. First, singers performed middle-register songs, followed by male and female dancers and groups of young girls who entered to perform before the guests’ seats. When the fifth round of wine was served, the music suddenly changed to the clashing of gongs and drums. At this moment, two teams of armored male performers appeared, wielding unsharpened precious swords and performing sword dances to the rhythm of the music.

At the same time, the dishes accompanying the fifth round of wine were presented one by one: Immortals’ roast, heavenly flower cakes, lotus meat cakes, peaceful flatbread… and there was also what appeared to be a soup, served in a small covered silver cup, its contents unknown for now.

Each dish was first brought by Eastern Palace servants, which Zhenzhen received and then offered to Yinqi’s table. When the servant bringing the small silver cup approached Zhenzhen, she quietly called Zhenzhen’s name. Hearing this, Zhenzhen looked over and discovered it was actually Yun Ying Ge.

Ying Ge handed the small silver cup to Zhenzhen, smiled at her, and quietly instructed: “Be careful… don’t burn your hands.”

Zhenzhen vaguely guessed what it was. After receiving the small silver cup, she looked toward Feng Xian and indeed saw her also observing her, then shifting her gaze to the silver cup.

Zhenzhen’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and when she placed the small silver cup on the table in front of Yinqi, her hand couldn’t help but tremble, causing the silver vessel to make a light but distinctly audible collision sound against the table.

Yinqi looked back at her, then turned to regard the small silver cup, and before Zhenzhen could react, he lifted the cup’s lid himself.

His eyes, which had been flowing with movement just moments before, instantly froze.

The Crown Prince noticed Yinqi’s action and explained the origin of this delicacy with a smile: “These wontons are the creation of a newly entered Eastern Palace servant named Yun. They’re made with chicken paste filling, supplemented with pine nuts and hazelnuts, carefully seasoned, and have an excellent texture. I quite like them, so I allowed them to be included in today’s banquet to share with all of you.”

Upon hearing the word “wontons,” Yinqi’s younger brother Yin Rui immediately turned pale as earth, frowning with worry as he looked at his elder brother not far beside him, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn’t immediately make a move to prevent his brother from encountering the wontons.

Yinqi remained speechless, only staring down at the exquisite and delicate wontons on his table, appearing quite peaceful and not resembling his previous appearance when stimulated.

Zhenzhen felt slightly reassured, silently comforting herself: His previous heart ailment regarding this food has been eliminated, so there should be no major problem…

However, the next instant, Yinqi slammed the table and stood up, leaping into the dance area amid the still-continuing drum music, forcibly seizing a long sword from the hand of an unprepared male performer, then turning back with the sword raised, stepping forward several paces, and with slightly reddened eyes, thrusting the sword toward the now dumbfounded Zhenzhen.