Chapter 41

The sun was blazing, and the petals of the peonies in the imperial garden drooped, as if their colors had faded from the sun. Even the pomegranate flowers, which usually looked the most energetic, were curled up and drooping.

Zhao Yan'er walked through the corridor with her skirt lifted, sweat already beading on her forehead. Her eyes swept across the empty Nine-Curve Bridge and the Pavilion in the Center of the Lake, and the excitement in her heart had been mostly evaporated by the sun.

She walked back, biting her lip, her skirt brushing against the hot bluestone slabs, making a rustling sound.

Ming'an had been so certain that the Crown Prince would be in the Imperial Garden when he was alone. She had already secretly checked the Eastern Palace before coming to the Imperial Garden, but the Crown Prince wasn't there. She had originally thought he'd be in the Imperial Garden, but now it seemed...

Just as he was about to turn around with a sigh, he caught a glimpse of a crimson cornice vaguely visible behind the juniper bushes on the east side.

Her steps paused involuntarily. Zhao Yan'er pushed aside the half-human-high phoenix tail bamboo, and the view suddenly opened up. It turned out that there was a swing stand hidden in the deep forest. Wisteria was climbing all over the wooden stand, and the drooping flower spikes blocked out most of the sunlight.

On the swing under the flower stand, the prince, dressed in moon-white clothes, was sitting sideways with a thread-bound book in his hand. The breeze blew past, making the hair on his forehead move slightly, and even turned two pages of the book lightly.

Zhao Yan'er stood in the shadows of the bamboo, and suddenly forgot the disappointment she had felt on her way here. It turned out he hadn't been lying, but she had simply arrived in a hurry and hadn't seen the scenery further down.

Zhao Yaner took a step forward, cleared her throat, and pretended to have just seen Li Yin. She asked knowingly, "Isn't this His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

Zhao Yan'er saw Li Yin straighten up from the swing, as if he had just realized that there was someone in front of him. Looking at Li Yin's stunned expression, Zhao Yan'er tentatively asked, "You haven't forgotten me, have you?"

"I remember," Li Yin said in a low voice, the last syllable drawn out with a touch of nonchalantness, "but why are you here?"

Zhao Yan'er lowered her eyes. Her voice was low, the ending soft and gentle that was unique to a woman from Lingnan, yet also, due to her upbringing in an aristocratic family, it added a touch of just the right amount of respect. "I have come to the palace to see the princess."

Li Yin plucked a petal from a flower clinging to the swing, tucked it into the book as a marker, and placed it on his lap. After doing all this, he asked bluntly, "Are you lost again?"

Zhao Yaner's fingertips curled slightly, as if being blown by the breeze from the corridor, and she stopped talking abruptly.

Her eyes first fell on Li Yin's hands - the joints of his fingers were distinct, and the fingertips were covered with a thin layer of calluses.

Her heart skipped a beat inexplicably, and she quickly looked away, looking around.

"So..." She recovered and said softly, "I just saw some beautiful flowers, pink and white, blooming profusely, as if all the spring colors of half the garden were gathered together in one place.

I was so lost in thought that I lost my balance and ended up here, disturbing His Highness."

Li Yin didn't stand up. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his voice was full of teasing, "This is not a place you can walk to unknowingly. Did Ming An tell you the shortcut to the dog hole?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan'er could no longer maintain her gentle and ladylike demeanor and said directly, "What? Do you think I got here through a dog hole?"

Li Yin agreed with a smile.

Seeing Li Yin's expression, Zhao Yan'er told him her purpose directly in a clear and abashed voice, "You've been discovered. I originally planned this meeting to be a beautiful encounter."

Li Yin was stunned after hearing this and repeated it with interest in his eyes: "A beautiful encounter?" He raised his eyebrows slightly, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Yaner admitted desperately, "You've already discovered everything. It's useless now."

The two were silent for a while. Li Yin was waiting for her to leave on her own, but Zhao Yan'er didn't want to leave easily and wanted to find a topic to discuss.

Zhao Yaner lowered her head to look at the book on Li Yin's lap and said, "The book says that although reading is important, you should combine work and rest. You should rest when you need to."

Li Yin repeated: "Rest when it's time to rest," with a smile on his face all the time.

Seeing Li Yin's interested expression, Zhao Yan'er stepped forward and said sincerely, "So, could you put down the book and walk with me for a while, Your Highness?"

In Luo Sanrong's eyes, the two people really matched the scenery.

Luo Sanrong lowered her eyes and glanced at the food box in her hand. The bamboo box was still warm. Inside were a few side dishes she had made before noon, including the fish slices in fermented rice wine that Li Yin always loved, and a plate of chilled lotus root slices in plum juice. She had thought that it was very hot these days, so she brought it to Li Yin to cool him down.

But when he looked up, he saw the man in the corridor listening attentively to the woman beside him. His eyebrows, which usually had a bit of coldness, were now as soft as if washed by spring water. Even the unruly strand of hair hanging down at his temples added a bit of laziness.

The woman was wearing a moon-white silk skirt and waving a round fan in her hand. When she smiled, the silver flowers on her temples rustled. They were truly a perfect match.

Luo Sanying's throat rolled slightly, and his fingertips unconsciously pinched the handle of the food box, and the bamboo strips made his fingertips hurt slightly.

She had come here according to the time, but happened to see this scene.

That's right, with such a graceful beauty by my side, saying sweet words to her, why would I worry about whether I'm hungry or full?

The inexplicable bitterness in her heart surged like a tide, but she forced herself to suppress it.

She quietly took two steps back. The hem of the eunuch's clothes brushed against the moss in front of the steps, bringing up a few drops of moisture. She did not go forward to disturb him.

She lowered her head and walked very lightly, as if she was afraid of disturbing the wind in the corridor, or disturbing her own inappropriate thoughts.

The ice in the food box gradually melted, dripping down through the cracks and landing on the bluestone slabs, creating a small dark stain, just like the loss that she could not hide in her eyes at the moment.

When she turned the corner of the corridor, she loosened her grip slightly, looked at the tightly closed moon door, and finally carried the food box that was gradually losing its temperature and disappeared into the shade of the trees.

So, she did not hear Li Yin's response to Zhao Yaner.

Zhao Yan'er had just stepped into the threshold of the side hall in her embroidered shoes. The jade pendant tied around her waist was still swaying gently with her movements. After hearing what Li Yin had just said, she felt even more uncomfortable.

She stopped abruptly, and Chuntao, who was following behind her, was startled. Just as she was about to ask, she saw her young lady suddenly turn around, her chest heaving violently, and a thin layer of red on her face - not from shame, but from anger.

Chuntao was not with them in the Imperial Garden, so she didn't know what had happened.

"What did he say?" Zhao Yan'er raised her hand and grasped the handkerchief, squeezing the lotus embroidered on the corner until it was deformed. "He said 'it seems that's not allowed'? And 'there's no special reason'?"

As she spoke, she paced back and forth in the hall, her voice carrying a hint of grievance that she herself was not aware of: "No, then why are you still laughing? You're making my heart flutter."

Chuntao dropped her hands, not daring to answer. She only heard her repeat angrily, "'No particular reason.' Oh, that's a fresh reason."

As she spoke, she suddenly stopped by the window, looking out at the pot of jasmine flowers that had just blossomed on the porch. Her voice gradually lowered. Her previous anger seemed to be suppressed by something, leaving only a slight regret.

"Forget it," she loosened the handkerchief and lightly touched the window frame with her fingertips, "Just think of it as him not understanding romance!"

Having said that, the corners of his mouth were still slightly pouting, and it was clear that he was still angry.

But the anger in those eyes had long since dissipated, and instead revealed a bit of softness that showed consideration for others - even if he himself had been wronged, his first thought was to find an excuse for the other person.

Chuntao watched from the side and sighed inwardly.

This is the thing that this young lady of our family suffers the most from. She gets angry quickly and gets over it quickly. If others are kind to her, she will remember it in her heart. Even if she is wronged, she will find countless excuses for them.

Zhao Yan'er turned around and saw Chuntao secretly looking at her. Her face flushed and she coughed lightly, "What are you looking at? Go and get that freshly brewed Rain-Predawn Longjing tea. I... I'll calm down and think about it. Maybe I'm just mistaken."

After saying that, she walked to the table and sat down, picked up an open collection of poems on the table, her eyes fell on the pages, but she didn't read it for a long time.

But his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and the previous surge of anger and irritability was finally suppressed by the soft feeling in his heart that did not want to blame others.