Chapter 55

In the afternoon, sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices and gently fell into Zhao Yaner's boudoir.

The room was filled with a faint scent of incense, and on a pearwood table, brand new embroidery frames, silk threads and embroidery needles were neatly arranged.

Zhao Yan'er was wearing a light pink silk dress, with her hair loosely tied up, a few strands of hair hanging down beside her fair cheeks, and her eyebrows and eyes were gentle.

She picked up the embroidery needle. There were various colored silk threads in the embroidery basket beside her. Zhao Yan'er stretched out her slender fingers and carefully selected the suitable color.

Zhao Yaner fixed the embroidery cloth firmly on the embroidery frame and began to sew.

The movements are a bit jerky and the stitches are crooked.

The sun gradually set in the west, and the light in the room became softer. Zhao Yan'er was immersed in her embroidery, completely unaware of the passage of time.

Finally, the outline of the peony gradually emerged. Although it was still a little immature, it had begun to take shape.

Zhao Yaner smiled with satisfaction, thinking about the expression on his face if he received this embroidery.

She packed up the embroidery and other things, called Chuntao, and asked her to deliver them to the palace in her father's name.

Chuntao hesitated to speak, and Zhao Yaner also knew that doing so was not in accordance with etiquette, but she remembered what Luo Sanrong once said, "Be brave to pursue your true love." Zhao Yaner decided that she would try again. What if, by chance, she succeeded?

Chuntao delivered the "gift" to the palace as instructed by her mistress.

When Li Yin saw it, he was confused and asked, "What is this?"

Eunuch Ma bowed and replied, "This was sent by the Minister of War, Your Highness."

Li Yun looked at the gift on the table, which was obviously packaged in a feminine style. After a moment of hesitation, he came to his senses and did not open the gift. Instead, he took the gift and went out.

At this time, Luo Sanrong happened to come to find Li Yin. Seeing Li Yin hurriedly walking out with something, she was about to call him, but thinking that loud noises were not allowed in the palace, Luo Sanrong stopped thinking about it and hurriedly followed him.

But she found that the person he met was someone she knew, Zhao Yaner. Only now did it dawn on her mind that she had come to her with a distressed look on her face to seek experience in love. It turned out that the person she liked was actually His Highness.

Luo Sanrong recalled what Zhao Yan'er had said to him. He had encouraged him to pursue his true love. Now thinking about it, it seemed so ridiculous. And seeing how the two of them were talking to each other happily, Luo Sanrong felt a little inferior. How could he compare with the young lady from an official family?

Then, he left dejectedly.

Li Yin extended his hand and handed it back to Zhao Yan'er, his movements filled with an undeniable determination. His gaze didn't linger on the gift for long, but rather tilted his head slightly, his expression slightly cold, as if he was deliberately avoiding Zhao Yan'er's fiery gaze.

When Zhao Yaner saw this, a trace of astonishment and loss flashed in her eyes. She subconsciously bit her lower lip, and her hands unconsciously clenched the corners of her clothes, her knuckles turning slightly white.

After a moment's silence, she finally plucked up the courage, raised her head, looked straight into Li Yin's eyes, and asked softly, "Don't you like my gift, Your Highness?" Her voice was soft and cautious.

Li Yin answered bluntly: "I didn't open it because I didn't know what this package meant."

His gaze finally fell on her face. Those eyes, which usually carried a certain indifference, were now clear and piercing. There was no rebuke, no impatience, only a directness that bordered on alienation.

Zhao Yaner paused, wanting to say "I like you", but the words turned around and became "You are my savior!"

"It was just a coincidence." Li Yin said coldly.

Zhao Yaner felt a tightness in her throat, and she remembered what Luo Sanrong had said to her, and decided to fight for herself again.

She took a deep breath, her fingertips tightly grasped the handkerchief, and her voice trembled slightly: "I don't like embroidery, and I'm not good at it."

Li Yin's footsteps seemed to pause, but he still did not turn back.

She took another half step forward and said stubbornly, "But this handkerchief was made for Your Highness by me for a long time."

When she finished speaking, she was surprised to find that her eyes were red.

She didn't expect him to cherish her, she just hoped he could understand. She said word by word: "I often can't help but think of you."

“…”

——

When Li Yin returned to the hall, he found Luo Sanrong staring blankly at the book, and she didn't even notice when he approached.

Li Yin sat down next to Luo Sanrong and jokingly asked, "What are you daydreaming about?"

Luo Sanrong suddenly came back to her senses and looked at Li Yin in front of her. It was hard to imagine that he was smiling and accompanying another woman before. Also, who was she?

In the eyes of others, he is just a favored servant.

But Luo Sanrong still mustered up the courage to ask, "Your Highness, may I ask you a question?"

Li Yin nodded.

Luo Sanrong's eyes held a certain stubbornness as he asked, "Have you ever admired a woman?"

Li Yin thought of the people who had risked their lives to go on stage to help him at the envoys' banquet, looked at the man in front of him who would stand in front of him to protect him, and looked at the girl who was obviously afraid but still stubbornly sought an answer from him.

How could he not have admired her? Countless times, he wanted to say "I admire you" to Luo Sanrong, who was clumsily pretending to be a man!

Li Yin nodded and admitted: "I have admired her."

Luo Sanrong didn't know that Li Yin already knew that she was a girl, and thought that he was in love with Zhao Yaner, who was a perfect match for him and had a "secret meeting" with him in the Imperial Garden.

However, she still pressed on, "You said you admired her? When? What kind of woman?"

Li Yin's eyes held a certain smile, thinking that Luo Sanrong understood his feelings, and he said, "Right now, I'm in love with a very beautiful woman."

Luo Sanrong sniffed, her fingertips curled slightly, "Then you..." She paused, her voice suddenly lowered, "...why are you always so mean to me?"

Li Yin then realized that Luo Sanrong was not in the right mood, as if he had misunderstood something. He hurriedly explained: "That is..."

But before he could explain, he was interrupted by Luo Sanrong, who was crying. "Every day, I repeat myself. I am happy, angry, and sad because of you. I am in great pain. What kind of mood do you have towards me, Your Highness?"

Her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, and there seemed to be raging anger in them. She looked directly at Li Yin, and her voice trembled slightly with excitement. "Even if you don't know, even if you want to know, you can't ask? You can't decide my heart, right?"

After saying this, Luo Sanrong turned around and left without any reluctance, leaving Li Yin alone and at a loss.

——

A few days later, Weidao received a reliable tip-off that someone who had been in contact with 'Luo Er' had appeared on Yuncong Street. Weidao followed the tip-off and found a person.

I just didn't expect that others would find out his whereabouts so quickly.

Wei Dao had no choice but to protect him secretly and appear in front of him at the right time.

The man was about forty or fifty years old, and made a living by performing in a theatre troupe. He was dressed in a neat short suit and had a fairly clean-cut face.

Weidao appeared in front of him and asked about Luo Zhen.

When the man heard the name 'Luo He', his face immediately became alert and he asked a series of questions: "Luo He? What do you want to do with her? And how do you know this name?"

Wei Dao did not answer his questions directly, but said bluntly: "She is the girl you adopted during the Mid-Autumn Festival ten years ago!"

Seeing the man's alert expression, the usually quiet Otoko added, "I don't want to harm her, I want to protect her, so please tell me the truth."

The man waved his hands and said impatiently: "I don't care whether you want to hurt her or protect her, she left here a long time ago anyway."

Wei Dao paused and asked again, "Do you know where she went?"

At this point, the man said with some guilt and a guilty conscience: "Of course I don't know! That's why I've been waiting for her here! I thought she might come here."

When Wei Dao saw the man's appearance, he felt that he could not get anything out of him. Before leaving, he told the man, "Someone will come looking for her in the future. When that happens, please say that you don't know her."

Then he thought that they might be from the Prime Minister's faction. Thinking of their cruel methods, Wei Dao said, "No... You'd better find a place to hide before that. It's very dangerous here."

Just as Wei Dao was about to turn around and leave, the man stopped him and asked tentatively, "Wait a minute, did something happen to Luo He?"

Before Otoko could answer, the man asked the next question: "Are you really looking for her to protect her?"

The man complained: "Really, Sanlang"

"What did you say?" Weidao exclaimed in surprise.

The name seemed strangely familiar to Wei Dao. "What's the relationship between Luo Er, San Lang, and Luo San Er?"

The man repeated, "Sanlang, she's in the palace now. She was kidnapped by loan sharks and sold to the palace to pay off her debts."

After looking at Wei Dao's expression, he added weakly, "I just heard about it."

“…”