Jiu’er was momentarily taken aback. She looked back at Feng Qingyin.

Feng Jiu’er liked peonies? Then why had the Crown Prince said she loved little golden chrysanthemums?

As for these little golden chrysanthemums — she genuinely did love them. Not only could they be admired, they could also be used in medicine, and she was someone who preferred things with a practical use.

Even when it came to appreciating flowers and plants, she favored those that served a purpose.

Peonies were beautiful, to be sure — but they were only in bloom for a moment, a fleeting entertainment for the eye. Once they fell, they were good for nothing at all.

Zhan Yuheng’s gaze had also settled on Feng Jiu’er’s face. It seemed as though he was studying every expression that passed across it.

Feng Qingyin walked over and met Zhan Yuheng’s eyes: “Crown Prince Brother, in truth Jiu’er doesn’t like little golden chrysanthemums at all — she likes…”

Without warning, Zhan Yuheng reached out and grasped Feng Jiu’er’s hand, and led her straight toward the rear courtyard.

Jiu’er reacted a beat too slowly. With Feng Qingyin right there, she had nothing convenient to say.

She could only let him lead her, following along as he walked toward the rear courtyard.

Feng Qingyin tried to follow after them, but was blocked by Qingyun, the guard at Zhan Yuheng’s side.

“Eighth Miss, His Highness wishes to admire the flowers with the Ninth Miss. Please do not disturb them.”

Feng Qingyin bit her lip, her eyes brimming with the shimmer of tears, looking utterly pitiable as she gazed at Qingyun.

Unfortunately, Qingyun had not the slightest inclination to show tenderness to a beauty. In his heart, there were only four words: loyalty to the Crown Prince.

“Miss Qingyin, His Highness commands you to report back to the Empress!” He gave weight to his words.

The Crown Prince had already made himself perfectly clear. Why was this woman still dawdling here?

If she delayed the hour of the Empress’s meal, was she also prepared to shoulder that responsibility?

Feng Qingyin bit her lip. The glimmer of tears in her eyes vanished in an instant. She shot one more fierce glare in the direction of the rear courtyard, then turned and walked away.

Wretched Qingyun — how dare he speak to her in that tone. One day when she became Crown Princess, she’d see to it that he was flayed alive!

But for now, it was time to go back and report.

Feng Jiu’er had barged into the palace to seduce His Highness the Crown Prince — how could something like that not be reported to Her Majesty the Empress?

……

Zhan Yuheng did not take Feng Jiu’er directly to the chrysanthemum garden. Instead, he had a banquet laid out in the rear courtyard to fill her stomach first.

He had not forgotten — even when she dismounted, she had already been crying out about being hungry.

Though it was clearly deliberate provocation toward Feng Qingyin, the sky had grown quite late by now, and it was genuinely time for the evening meal.

During the meal, the two of them exchanged not a single word.

Even when Zhan Yuheng had something to say, Feng Jiu’er had little inclination to pay him any mind.

Mainly because after being hungry the entire afternoon, faced with a spread of fine food and delicacies, she truly could not resist the temptation.

She simply adored eating — it had always been this way since childhood. When it came to food, she would not recognize her own kin; her vigor for it was formidable.

Zhan Yuheng ate quite a bit this evening as well — though he had spent almost the entire meal with his eyes fixed on Jiu’er.

What he had put into his own stomach, he probably could not have said himself.

After they finished, young eunuchs brought lemon water for rinsing the mouth, and once everything was tidied away, Zhan Yuheng stood and moved to take Jiu’er’s hand.

Jiu’er drew her hand back and met his gaze: “Your Highness, I can walk on my own.”

“So you’re finally done pretending to be foolish in front of me?” A smile, along with a tenderness, flickered in the depths of Zhan Yuheng’s eyes.

Feng Jiu’er replied with a calm smile: “Since I’ve already been seen through, why keep up the performance? I’m not actually a fool.”

These words stirred no small measure of sourness and guilt in Zhan Yuheng’s heart.

She had been called a fool by others for ten years — had her heart not been wounded to its core? And even he had failed to see through it, believing her truly lost to foolishness!