envy

Fu Huaiying heard that the noise outside had died down, and she understood that the prince had not stopped her.

Emperor Huanyu lowered his eyes, a little annoyed, "Everyone go back, Huaiying stay."

"yes."

Lin Yan'an hesitated and didn't want to leave. Emperor Huanyu glared at him, "You're not leaving yet? Do you want me to treat you?"

"I dare not."

Only when there were two people left in the hall did Emperor Huanyu relax, sit on the dragon throne, and waved for her to come over.

Fu Huaiying stepped forward and handed the tea to him, "Your Majesty, moisten your throat."

Emperor Huanyu took it, took a sip, and then lowered his eyes to look at the memorial. His face darkened again, "The Ministry of Industry is full of useless people. They can't handle the flood in the south well, and they leaked the blueprints. Idiots!"

"Your Majesty, please do not be angry. Be careful of your health. Your Highness the Crown Prince is in charge of the Ministry of Works and will naturally handle these matters."

"Crown Prince?" Emperor Huanyu's rage intensified at the mention of the Crown Prince. "Do I still count on him? He's a hopeless idiot, just like his two uncles. They're both useless."

Fu Huaiying lowered her eyes and did not respond. These two things happened today together, both targeting the prince. She did not believe that the emperor could not see who did it. He was not angry at what the prince had done, but was angry that he had been plotted against but did not realize it.

King Huan went through all this trouble just to let her confront the prince and defeat him without getting his hands dirty. She has taken note of what happened today and will definitely return the favor someday.

Ji Yuan stepped in from outside the palace and bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience."

"No, let him go."

"……yes……"

The Emperor of the Universe's anger, which had subsided, flared up again. He picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp, and his anger subsided a little.

"The Crown Prince hasn't made any progress in these years. Huaiying, what do you think? Should I depose the Crown Prince?"

Fu Huaiying was shocked. How should she respond?

The emperor said he wanted to depose the prince, but he only said that he had not made any progress, without mentioning anything else. It was obvious that he knew that the prince was not very scheming, and compared to King Huan, such an heir did not pose a threat.

"Why aren't you talking?"

Fu Huaiying was helpless. She knew she couldn't pretend she hadn't heard, so she had to choose her words carefully. "Your Majesty, deposing and enthroning the Crown Prince is a matter of great importance to the country. Besides, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hasn't done much wrong. He's just a little soft-hearted, so it's not that serious..."

Emperor Huanyu raised his eyes and glanced at her. "So, do you think what happened today was a coincidence?"

Fu Huaiying shook her head honestly, "Today's incident is indeed a bit strange. I remember that the palace maid named Chunhua was recorded in the book as being from Huayang Palace, from the palace of Concubine Yu. She shouldn't be in the other courtyard under any circumstances, but she was crying so pitifully that I couldn't just stand by and watch her die."

Huanyu listened to her and instantly understood the reason for the incident. He just sighed and said, "You've been tricked."

"It's alright. After all, Your Majesty trusts me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have kept me here today."

"Can you guess the will of the Holy Spirit now?"

"I dare not."

"The Ministry of Works is short of people right now." Emperor Huanyu was a little worried. There were six or seven people needed to deal with the muskets and floods. If no one took over, things would get chaotic.

"Your Majesty, the Hanlin Academy can take over."

"That's true, but it's still not enough."

Fu Huaiying pondered for a moment, "The position of Minister of Works is the most important, fill it first, and then we can think about the others and promote them slowly."

"You have a point, but do you have a choice?"

"The Hanlin scholar is currently a lecturer at the Eastern Palace, and we are not familiar with the new students yet. If we want to promote him, we can only wait and see."

"What's the name of the tutor? I've heard him lecture on classics and history before, and it's pretty good."

"...I think his surname is Chen? However, I don't know his first name. If Your Majesty wishes to see him, please send for him."

"What about this guy?"

Fu Huaiying was slightly startled and shook her head. "I don't know. I only met him once when I was studying with Your Majesty."

"You can recognize it after seeing it once?"

"I benefited a lot that day and I will remember it."

"In that case, he's a pretty good person."

After coming out of the hall, Fu Huaiying looked at the people waiting at the door and said helplessly: "Why are you still here?"

"Obviously, waiting for you."

Fu Huaiying looked up and said, "It's so hot."

Lin Yan'an produced an oil-paper umbrella from somewhere, opened it instantly, and placed it above his head.

Fu Huaiying turned around and looked at him, "Where did you get the umbrella? Why didn't I see it in the other courtyard just now?"

He Feng poked his head out from behind and said, "Miss, it's me. I brought it here. The sun was too strong and I was afraid you would get sunburned, so I went back to get it."

"You're quite perceptive," she said, smiling as she accepted the favor. "Lin Yan'an, how come everything that comes out of you is so good?"

"If you like it, Hefeng will give it to you."

"Okay, then master, I will leave with the girl today."

Fu Huaiying laughed out loud, "One Dahu is enough, we can't afford to raise more."

Lin Yan'an lowered his eyes and looked at her with a smile, feeling relieved. It seemed that His Majesty did not make things difficult for her.

Fu Huaiying walked under the umbrella, looking at the intertwined shadows of the two people. "I've noticed that we've been led around by King Huan lately. I'm sure he was the one who tipped us off about Wanhua Tower. He could have concealed it, but he still disguised himself and entered through the backyard. Moreover, you recognized his back at a glance. Would King Huan, who is so meticulous, allow himself to make such a mistake?"

Lin Yanan squinted his eyes, the sun dazzling them. "We've been involved since the day we met him in the Pear Garden. What happened today was him forcing us to take sides."

Fu Huaiying turned to look at him. "Your Majesty knows everything he did behind my back, but he turned a blind eye. I think maybe he just wants to fight for the Prince of Huan. He likes the Prince's soft-heartedness, but he also hopes that he will be capable, so the Prince of Huan has become the grinding stone."

Lin Yan'an took a step closer to her and continued, "If the Crown Prince is too foolish and continues to appoint people based on personal connections, Your Majesty will make a different decision."

Fu Huaiying nodded. "It's a coincidence that we saw it, and so did King Huan. He's seizing on the Crown Prince's weaknesses, wanting to uncover these hidden undercurrents and lay them out in the open for Your Majesty to see."

Tell him that your prince is not capable.

Fu Huaiying turned around and looked around. "Where is the palace maid named Chunhua?"

"Commander Ji just sent someone to send her back. Young lady, it's not nice to hear about this kind of thing, and with the Imperial Guards here, others won't dare ask. Even if they do, just say that His Majesty forbids it. Sister Huaiying, if you mind her using you..."

"She has no choice but to be driven by others. There is no need to embarrass her."

The Crown Prince is weak now, and King Huan is not much better. A monarch like Your Majesty cares most about checks and balances. Even if King Huan is flawless, he will make some mistakes.

Lin Yan'an took another step towards her, and only when he saw the two figures close together did he slowly curl his lips.

Fu Huaiying raised her eyes and saw a dark figure walking towards them. It was King Huan.

The two looked at each other and stopped to greet each other.

"Your Highness."

King Huan lowered his eyes and glanced at her. "The sun has set. Fu Zhibi, do you still need to hold an umbrella?"

Fu Huaiying smiled and said, "I love beauty and I'm afraid of getting tanned. The sun hasn't set yet, so I have to hold on."

"The sun will always set."

"That'll have to wait until it falls."

King Huan put his hands behind his back and laughed, "I have something else to do, so I'll be leaving first."

"Your Highness, take care."

Fu Huaiying looked at his back and narrowed her eyes.

Lin Yanan was dissatisfied and raised his hand to pull her back, forcing her to look at him.

Fu Huaiying raised her hand and patted his hand, "What are you doing now?"

"Don't look at him."

"I wonder what he's doing to you?"

"You can only look at me, am I prettier or is he prettier?"

Fu Huaiying was helpless and shook off his hand, "I don't want to bother with you."

She turned around and walked forward, but her hand was grabbed again. Just as she was about to explode, she heard Lin Yan'an's pitiful voice.

"Am I not good-looking? Why should I look at others?"

Fu Huaiying was a typical person who would give in to soft words but not hard ones. She sighed and looked back at him, "Why are you thinking about these nonsense again?"

"Because in your previous life, you almost married him."

"Didn't she marry you later?"

"He's obsessed with you! He didn't even take a wife for you!"

"In that case, I will switch sides at the last minute. After all, he still has the upper hand in the court."

Lin Yanan couldn't believe it, "How can this be possible!"

Seeing the smile in her eyes, he immediately reacted and felt a little aggrieved, "You are always like this, so serious even when teasing people."

On the other side, Wen Chuyan stood far away and looked at the two people's backs, holding the handkerchief tightly in his hand, trying to control the jealousy that was about to show up.

He didn't know when it started, but the person around Huaiying slowly changed from him to Lin Yan'an. He never worried before, because Huaiying was too proud to fall in love with a playboy. Lin Yan'an was inferior to him in every way except for his face.

But recently he discovered that all traces of him on Huaiying had disappeared, replaced by the marks of another person.

The bracelets on her hands, the hairpins on her hair, and even the clothes on her body were all given to her by Lin Yan'an.

The decoration of her house, the things she uses, the food and drinks, and the gifts Lin Yan'an sent her like water, which girl would not be confused?

Wen Chuyan watched the two people's backs getting farther and farther away, and recalled the time when he returned to Beijing as a young boy. Huaiying followed him like a frightened bird, and refused to leave no matter who came. He had no choice but to take her with him.

The whip wounds on her hands and the knife wounds on his back were both treated by the two of them. At that time, Aunt Liu had passed away, and her grandfather was in poor health and was rarely awake for several hours a day. There was no one to protect her, so she followed him every day.

Wen Chuyan remembered that time, he jokingly asked her why she followed him like a little tail. He originally wanted to tease her, but Huaiying was young at that time and could not keep secrets. She told everything after just a few questions.

She cried, tears falling, "Brother, I'm hungry, I have no food to eat, there is no charcoal fire in the house, I'm very cold, it's warm here, and I can eat...Brother, don't chase me away...I'm scared..."

He had forgotten how he felt at that time, but from then on, every time he returned to Kyoto, he would first check on Huaiying to make sure that his aunt did not stop giving her food.

Later, due to the war at the border, it took him a long time to return to the capital. Huaiying gradually grew up, and he had to avoid suspicion. They were not as close as they were in their youth. I don't know when the little tail behind him slowly disappeared...

Wen Chuyan restrained himself from wrinkling the handkerchief, but the sourness in his heart made him unable to control his jealousy.

“Why…”