Having spent the entire day outside the manor, and having taken their evening meal at a restaurant close to dusk, Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning made their leisurely way back to the Crown Prince’s Manor.

“Momo pays respects to Crown Prince Uncle and Crown Princess Auntie.” Xu Mochen was being led by Ye’an, and upon seeing Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning enter the manor, he greeted them with a well-behaved bow.

“Momo.” Yan Yunning bent down and pinched the little one’s chubby cheeks, then said in surprise, “Did you come on your own?”

“No, Ye’an Uncle carried Momo here.” Xu Mochen explained in his soft, baby voice.

Yan Yunning glanced at Xuan Yanyu, who smiled and said, “Momo will be staying in the manor for a while.”

Surprised as she was, Yan Yunning asked no further questions and gave a nod.

Two days later, Yan Yunning finally understood — Xuan Yanyu was grooming Momo.

Over these past two days, apart from accompanying her, he had spent most of his time bringing Momo along with him to the Zhaozheng Hall.

Why?

Why would he be grooming Momo?

Did Prince Xuan know?

Unable to make sense of it, Yan Yunning selected some pastries — she remembered Momo had asked her for some last time and seemed to be very fond of them — and once she had chosen what she wanted, she picked up the food box and headed to the Zhaozheng Hall.

She had just reached the hall entrance when she heard Xuan Yanyu’s voice raised in sharp rebuke toward Momo, while the little one was sobbing through his apologies.

“How can you be this slow?” The man’s audibly impatient voice carried out again.

“I’m sorry, Crown Prince Uncle.” The little one, crying and sniffling, picked up the scroll Xuan Yanyu had flung to the ground.

“You may not leave to play until you have fully understood this. Is that clear?” Xuan Yanyu rapped on the imperial desk and stared with a darkened expression at Xu Mochen, who was silently weeping.

“Crown Prince Uncle… I… I miss Mother Consort. I want… to go home.” The little one had cried until his voice went hoarse.

He never wanted to like Crown Prince Uncle again. Never again…

The man remained utterly unmoved. He said, his expression blank, “Be quiet. Sit down and read. If you cry again, even once you’ve understood it, you won’t be allowed out to play.”

Xu Mochen rubbed his eyes, opened the scroll in his hands, and when he saw the many characters he did not recognize, he pressed his lips together. He still wanted to go home…

He missed Mother Consort and Father so much…

“Crown Prince Uncle.” The little one gathered his courage and said, “I don’t want to read anymore. I want… I want to go home.”

If he went home, he would never come to Crown Prince Uncle’s manor again…

Xuan Yanyu lifted his gaze to look at him. “Just as slow as your mother, unable to learn anything. If you don’t want to study, you just throw a tantrum about wanting to go back to your rooms.”

Xu Mochen: “…”

“Stop making excuses. If you haven’t understood this by today, I’ll have your roasted goose for this evening’s meal taken away.”

The little one sniffled. “But… but this morning, Crown Princess Auntie said she wanted to eat some too, and that’s why I wanted some as well. If I haven’t understood it and you take it away — does that mean Crown Princess Auntie won’t get to eat it either?”

Xuan Yanyu: “…”

“Crown Prince Uncle, I…” The little one shook his head and said pitifully, “There are so many… so many characters I don’t recognize. How am I supposed to understand it?”

“You…” Xuan Yanyu pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose in irritation, his tone still sharp. “What have you even been learning at your studies?”

The little one grumbled, “At my studies, I never had to learn this many characters either.”

“How can you be even more slow than your mother?”

“Crown Prince Uncle, I’m going home.” The little one carefully placed the scroll back onto the imperial desk and turned to run.

“Stop right there, Xu Mochen. If you haven’t finished it today, you’ll skip this evening’s meal.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice rose in a low growl.

The little one’s lips trembled, and he could no longer hold back. He burst out sobbing. “Crown Prince Uncle… I… I’m never coming to your manor again… just like Mother Consort… Mother Consort won’t come to your… your manor either.”

Xuan Yanyu exhaled slowly. He rose and crouched down in front of the little one, wiping away his tears. “When this Palace was the same age as you, I had memorized this entire scroll so thoroughly it came to my lips without thought. Momo can too. Can’t you?”

“No… no I can’t. Momo doesn’t know… that many characters… Momo is not Crown Prince Uncle… Momo can’t.” The little one buried his face against Xuan Yanyu’s shoulder, crying until his eyes turned red.

“You can. Let’s try.” Xuan Yanyu gathered Xu Mochen into his arms, walked to the imperial seat, and settled into it, his voice softening. “Whichever character you don’t know, Crown Prince Uncle will tell you.”

The little one stole a glance at the scroll, its pages dense with text, and shook his head through his tears. “Crown Prince Uncle, I don’t want to learn… Momo doesn’t want to learn. Momo wants… wants to go home.”

“Xu Mochen, why is it that you can’t? This Palace learned it — you can learn it too.” Xuan Yanyu suppressed his frustration and said.

“I can’t… I’m not… Crown Prince Uncle’s child… I can’t learn it… I don’t want to…” Xu Mochen squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at the scroll even once.

He already had to attend his studies — why was Crown Prince Uncle making him study scrolls that were even harder than what he had at school?

“Xu Mochen!”

“Crown Prince Uncle already said Momo is as slow as Mother Consort — so why do you still want Momo to study? Why don’t you have your own child study?” The little one could no longer hold back, and cried out.

Your own child?

Xuan Yanyu pushed down the bitter ache that rose in his chest, and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

“Crown Prince Uncle… I’m sorry.” Sensing the arms that held him go rigid, the little one realized he had said the wrong thing. He apologized, then cried all the harder.

“Xuan Xixi.” Yan Yunning pushed open the door and smiled as she looked at the two of them. She pretended to have heard nothing, walked up to the imperial desk, and used her handkerchief to wipe the little one’s eyes. “What happened? Why is Momo crying?”

“Crown Princess Auntie… Momo… wants to go home.” The little one reached out toward Yan Yunning, wanting her to take him.

Yan Yunning took his hand and said in a gentle, coaxing voice, “All right — after dinner in a while, we’ll have Ye Chen Uncle take you home. How does that sound?”

“Mm.” The little one gave a sniffly hiccup.

“No.” Xuan Yanyu’s throat moved with visible effort. “Ningning…”

But Yan Yunning turned her head and called out, “Ye Chen, come in. Take Momo to have his meal, and when he’s done, send him home to the Princess Imperial’s manor.”

Ye Chen stepped in, hesitated briefly, then gathered the still-weeping Xu Mochen in his arms and retreated out of the hall.

The hall doors were drawn shut. The man raked a hand through his dark hair, his handsome face filled with helpless uncertainty.

He stared at the scroll lying on the imperial desk, and said, his voice laced with grievance, “Ningning, why can’t he learn it? When this Palace was his age, this Palace could — why can he not? How long must this Palace teach him before he is able? He cannot even get through a scroll — how can this Palace bear to go with you…”

On the road back from Prince Xuan’s Palace to the Crown Prince’s Manor that day, he had thought for a very long, long time. He could not be this selfish. Ningning wanted to see her father and mother. He could not — could not selfishly keep her here.

And even if he issued orders forbidding anyone from telling Ningning, she would find out sooner or later. He dared not… could not bear to gamble on whether Ningning would come to loathe him for it…

“You cannot, Your Highness.” Yan Yunning wrapped her arms around him and said it again. “Your Highness, you cannot.”

The man lifted his eyes, reddened at the corners, and looked at her. In a trembling voice, he said, “Ningning… are you abandoning this Palace?”

“Don’t abandon this Palace. Take this Palace home with you. Please.”

Yan Yunning looked down into the man’s eyes, filled with quiet, desperate hope. She pressed her forehead to his, and in her heart, she called out softly: Fafa.