The Prince of Lingque had left the capital three days ago, embarking on his journey back to Lingque.

The deposition of the Crown Prince was a major event. What kind of person the Emperor of Great Zhou was, what kind of person the deposed Crown Prince was, and what kind of person Prince Wei—who would undoubtedly be installed as the new Crown Prince—was, the Prince of Lingque needed to hurry back and report everything he had seen and heard to the King of Lingque.

Although Princess Lingque didn’t particularly rely on the Prince of Lingque, now that she truly was the only one left in this foreign land, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat empty and lonely.

She summoned a maidservant and inquired whether anything interesting had happened recently.

Previously, at Princess Lingque’s hint, these maidservants and guards brought from Lingque had deliberately interacted with people around them to gather various information.

The maidservant had just heard about the Wuxiang Flower Essence Shop and told Princess Lingque about it.

“That does sound interesting.” Princess Lingque stroked her nails and stood up. “Let’s go take a look.”

When she said “take a look,” she didn’t head straight to Wanqing Street, but first made a trip to the Hanlin Academy.

Princess Lingque had come here to find Yang Zhe several times already. The guards at the gate had long since recognized her and all knew this foreign princess was not to be trifled with.

Yang Zhe received the message and set aside his work to come out.

“Yang Zhe.” Seeing him emerge, Princess Lingque smiled and called out.

Yang Zhe walked over, his tone gentle: “What can I do for you, Princess?”

“You’re not busy, are you?”

“I am busy.”

Princess Lingque’s eyebrows lifted slightly: “Even if you’re busy, you can come out for a meal at noon, can’t you? I’ll treat you to lunch, and after the meal, accompany me to look around—how about it?”

“I’m truly sorry, but my superior is waiting for some materials. I don’t have time to go out at noon.” Yang Zhe remained courteous and polite. “How about I accompany the Princess when I have my rest day?”

Although Princess Lingque felt dissatisfied, the other party’s attitude left nothing to criticize, so she didn’t persist: “Then we’ll talk about it later.”

Yang Zhe watched Princess Lingque leave, then turned and walked into the government office, brushing off his colleagues’ teasing with a smile.

Having already come out, Princess Lingque naturally wouldn’t wait for Yang Zhe’s rest day to go shopping. She took her maidservants and guards to Wanqing Street.

“Is this the place?” Standing at the street entrance, Princess Lingque examined the flower essence shop with an appraising gaze.

The shop didn’t look particularly large from the outside. The stone pavement in front of the door was obviously cleaner than other places—it could be called spotlessly clean.

“Princess, this is the place.”

Princess Lingque nodded and stepped inside.

A row of shelves, neither too high nor too low, stood against the wall, displaying glass bottles of various heights filled with flower essences of different colors—the hues were gorgeous and dreamlike.

Apart from the row of shelves and the counter, there were four sets of tables and chairs arranged in a scattered but orderly manner. The bamboo tables and chairs were small and elegant, making the shop appear much more spacious.

At this moment, two of the tables were occupied by young ladies, elegantly eating something. There was also a woman sitting by the window, her head turned to look outside.

Princess Lingque’s eyes showed confusion.

Had she come to the wrong place? This seemed to be a teahouse rather than some flower essence shop. She even saw the maidservant of one of the young ladies swallowing her saliva!

“Miss, are you here to buy flower essence?” Chunni came forward with an enthusiastic greeting.

Princess Lingque assessed the sweet and lovely young girl with a glance and nodded reservedly.

Chunni invited Princess Lingque to sit at the last empty table and asked with a beaming smile: “We have rose essence, jasmine essence, and newly available osmanthus essence here. Which scent does Miss prefer?”

The maidservant standing behind Princess Lingque spoke up: “Just bring them all over.”

Chunni nodded and went to fetch the flower essences. Ling’er brought over a cup of flower tea and placed it in front of Princess Lingque.

Princess Lingque glanced at the tea, her peripheral vision involuntarily sweeping to the side.

Why was it different from what was served to the others?

Lin Hao had noticed Princess Lingque when she entered. Considering this princess’s destructive power, she decisively faced the window, pretending to admire the scenery.

As she looked at the scenery, she spotted a new customer heading toward the shop: Princess Yi’an.

Lin Hao’s calm expression became somewhat stiff.

Princess Lingque and Princess Yi’an crossing paths would absolutely ignite everyone’s gossip fire—she couldn’t help but be curious either, but this was her shop!

What if the two princesses got into a fight—

Lin Hao pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling her head throb.

“Please come in, Miss.” Duo’er, Hu Shi’s daughter, greeted warmly.

Although the little girl hadn’t been here long, the sorrow had already faded from her face, leaving only a sweet smile and big eyes that found everything fresh and new.

Princess Yi’an didn’t even look at Duo’er. Her casual gaze fell on Princess Lingque and suddenly became sharp as she strode inside.

Though it was just a back view, she recognized that slut at a glance!

Princess Lingque heard the commotion and turned her head.

“What a coincidence.” She raised her eyebrows in surprise and smiled faintly.

After the Crown Prince of Great Zhou was deposed, she had encountered Princess Yi’an twice. The other party’s hostility couldn’t escape her eyes.

In front of a loser, she didn’t mind appearing magnanimous.

“I didn’t expect to encounter Elder Sister here.” Princess Yi’an swept her gaze around and frowned at Duo’er. “How do you serve customers here? Is there no place to sit?”

At this point, Lin Hao could no longer play invisible. She stood up and showed a surprised expression: “So it’s—”

Princess Yi’an and Princess Lingque simultaneously gave her a look, not wanting to reveal their identities.

Lin Hao was happy to comply and continued: “So it’s you two young ladies. I was just lost in thought and didn’t pay attention. Miss Kou, you can sit at my spot.”

“No need.” Princess Yi’an simply pulled out the chair opposite Princess Lingque and sat down.

One had stolen her man, the other had seduced her man—neither was any good.

If Princess Yi’an’s feelings toward Lin Hao were disgust, then toward Princess Lingque it was hatred. Encountering her in such a small shop, she not only didn’t want to avoid her but instead felt a hostile impulse to confront her.

“Miss, which of the three flower essences would you like to try first?” Chunni came over carrying a tray with three differently shaped glass bottles, sensing the strange atmosphere between Princess Lingque and Princess Yi’an and asking hesitantly.

Princess Yi’an glanced at the flower essences and smiled lightly: “If I’d known Elder Sister was short of flower essences, I would have sent you a few bottles—quite a few more varieties than here.”

This was a veiled mockery of Princess Lingque’s poverty.

Princess Lingque acted as if she hadn’t caught the implication, smiling as she pointed toward the door: “I heard the shop across the street has many varieties of flower essences. The reason I came to this shop is naturally for the quality.”

Princess Yi’an became even more disdainful: “Quality flower essences are not found in such a small shop.”

This remark was too unpleasant. Chunni couldn’t help but glance at Lin Hao.

Lin Hao gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, indicating she shouldn’t speak.

Princess Lingque’s beautiful eyes widened slightly, full of puzzlement: “Then why did Younger Sister come here?”

Princess Yi’an was momentarily stumped by the question. Her peripheral vision caught sight of the white porcelain bowls on the neighboring table and found her excuse: “I heard there’s a particularly delicious dessert here, that’s why I came.”

She looked at Duo’er: “Bring two servings of dessert.”

“I apologize, but our desserts here require purchasing flower essence before—”

Lin Hao interrupted Duo’er’s words: “Go bring two bowls of sugar cheese with cherries.”

Meeting their puzzled gazes, Lin Hao explained: “This shop is my family’s.”