Chapter 59

Led by a maid, Luo Sanrong entered the inner hall of Jingren Palace and found Yongning huddled together in a corner.

The maid beside her explained, "This is what happened when the princess woke up."

Luo Sanying gave the maid a look, and the maid understood and quietly left the inner hall.

Yongning sat on the ground, hugging himself with his arms. Luo Sanrong knew it was just a defensive posture.

Luo Sanrong squatted in front of her and said softly, "Your Highness, I'm here to talk about my own business. If you find it annoying, you can let me go."

Yongning raised his head when he heard the voice and looked at Luo Sanrong silently without saying a word.

Luo Sanrong sat next to Yongning, looked into her eyes, and said, "If you don't want to talk, how about expressing yourself with gestures?"

She gestured as she spoke, "When you're happy, give me a thumbs up. When you're unhappy, clench your fist. That way I'll know!"

Princess Yongning remained silent, immersed in her own emotions.

Luo Sanrong snapped her fingers awkwardly and waved her hands, "No, even if I asked a question, you don't have to answer it."

Luo Sanrong leaned closer to Yongning and whispered, "Actually... I have a lot of secrets too."

When Yongning heard this, he showed an interested expression.

She continued, "Although I don't know what your secret is, Your Highness, I think I can understand your thoughts. I am also deeply trapped in it. I am hiding reluctantly, afraid of being discovered, and living in fear."

Yongning felt as if something was tightly gripping his heart, and a sour feeling flowed through his blood vessels to his eyes. His forced composure was instantly shattered.

First, one or two tears fell on the lapels, leaving small wet marks, and then they could no longer be held back, rolling down the pale cheeks and wetting the pearl flowers on the temples.

She turned her head away, her knuckles clenched white, and tiny whimpers escaped from her throat. Like a wounded animal, she dared not make a sound, but only held back her grievances and sorrow in her chest, which turned into suppressed sobs.

Luo Sanrong wiped the tears from her face with her hands and murmured, "When can we open the door and go out?"

——

After Li Yin finished talking with Mr. Chashan, he began to reflect on his own problems, and then the scene of him and the prime minister appearing in the Purple Palace appeared.

The Purple Palace was so quiet that one could hear the soft clink of the agarwood burning in the incense burner. Li Yin did not ascend the steps to sit on the throne covered with bright yellow brocade and decorated with dragon patterns. Instead, he walked into the hall. The dark gold dragon pattern embroidered on his dark formal clothes was faintly visible in the light and shadow of the bronze crane in the corner of the hall.

The emperor and his minister stood facing each other at half an arm's length apart. The wind outside the palace blew the sycamore leaves across the window screen, casting their shadows on the golden brick floor.

Li Yin raised his hand and stroked the jade pendant at his waist. The jade tassel brushed the corner of his robe as it fell. He suddenly turned sideways to look at the sundial outside the hall: "Prime Minister, how do you feel standing here?

He paused, then continued, "Everyone is busy with their own things, but it's surprisingly quiet here."

Ji Ke had no intention of playing coy with him, so he went straight to the point and said, "Did you summon me to know what I think?"

"This Lord..." He paused, as if rolling over some difficult words on his tongue, before continuing, "The palace examination will be held as originally planned."

As soon as the last syllable fell, he lowered his eyelids slightly, avoiding the gaze of the man below him. The edges in his voice were deliberately smoothed out a little, but there was still a hint of stiffness. "From now on, please return to the court."

Ji Ke looked up in surprise, as if he didn't expect him to lower his head. He couldn't help but say, "Are you telling the truth?" for fear that there would be some trap.

Li Yin smiled and said jokingly, "Would I tell a lie?" But neither of them laughed.

He then explained: "I changed the palace examination to an entrance examination in order to achieve fairness and justice. The original intention of the imperial examination was definitely not to infight with ministers and hinder government affairs."

"Your Highness, ignoring the system and changing your approach to each problem day by day in order to achieve your goals is absolutely not the right approach."

After he finished speaking, he realized that his words might be too harsh, so he softened his voice a little: "It is not too late to make a wise judgment now. If all things must be carried out according to the rules, the court officials will definitely return to the court to assist Your Highness."

Li Yin also promised: "Don't worry, I will hold the imperial examination according to the principles you mentioned."

The two of them knew tacitly that there was no winner or loser in this game between the king and his subject.

——

After returning from Jingren Palace, Luo Sanrong was staring at the "Eternal Chain" in the library. Just as he was absorbed in it, a voice came from behind him, "You chose my absence specifically to go to a place I'm not in!"

Looking at Luo Sanrong's haggard appearance, her face as pale as paper, her eye sockets sunken, her eyes full of fatigue and alienation, Li Yin's heart felt like it was being grabbed by an invisible hand, and it hurt terribly.

He couldn't help but take a step forward, his voice filled with endless tenderness and pity as he slowly said, "Sanlang, you understand me better than anyone else in this world. If you truly wanted to avoid me, with your intelligence and wit, even as the Crown Prince, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to find you."

He paused slightly, a hint of loneliness appearing in his eyes.

Luo Sanrong took a step back and whispered, "Looking at you with so many eyes, I can't walk with you, Your Highness. If you stay with me, there will be no peace for the whole day."

Li Yin took another step forward and pressed, "Do you think my life will be easier if I leave you?"

Luo Sanrong: "Your Highness, as an eunuch by your side, you would be in danger or hurt because of me. I was so nervous that I dared not even get close to you."

Luo Sanrong took off the bracelet and placed it on the bookshelf beside him. He took a deep breath and finally made up his mind. He said, "I know this is shameless. If you allow me to leave the palace, I will not forget your kindness and live a good life."

She herself felt that this request was a bit rude. For an eunuch, it was almost impossible to leave the palace. However, she was a woman, and if she wanted to stay in the palace, it would only bring endless danger to His Highness. Therefore, she had to make this unreasonable request.

She could only say, "I am terrified, Your Highness."

Li Yin looked at the person in front of him, and the remaining light in his eyes dimmed little by little. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his originally straight back seemed to have lost some strength. His fingertips unconsciously stroked the corner of his sleeve, and the loneliness spread along the lines under his eyes, making people feel heavy.

"Is this what you really want?"

"yes"

Li Yin didn't want to give up and continued to ask, "There's still so much I can do for you and so much I want to do for you, but is this all you want? To hide, to avoid me, to live on? Is that your first and last request to me?"

Luo Sanrong: “Yes.”

Li Yin waved his hands weakly and said, "Okay, I understand. You can leave now!"

Shortly after Luo Sanrong left, Eunuch Ma came to report that Princess Yongning had disappeared again. Li Yin was about to say, "Why don't you go find her quickly?" Eunuch Ma promptly reported, "She's already been found!"

Li Yin breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Is she injured?"

Eunuch Ma bowed and replied, "She's not injured." He then muttered, "Somehow the princess managed to get back into that closet. When the maid found her, she fainted in front of it. How strange!"

Hearing this, Li Yin was also surprised and said to Eunuch Ma, "Let's go to Jingren Palace!"

When Luo Sanrong heard that Princess Yongning had fainted, he hurried to Jingren Palace and found that the princess had woken up, but her eyes were staring blankly ahead.

Luo Sanrong asked gently, "Your Highness, why did you go there?"

Her hand touched Yongning's shoulder, and Yongning couldn't help but shudder.

Luo Sanrong noticed and gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid. I heard that you suddenly disappeared in the middle of your walk, so I asked you. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

After Luo Sanrong soothed Yongning to sleep, she rubbed her shoulders and walked out of the hall, only to find that Li Yin, who had just separated from her, was looking at her with burning eyes. Luo Sanrong instinctively wanted to escape, but Li Yin grabbed her fiercely.

Luo Sanrong couldn't struggle free, so she could only accept her fate, close her eyes, and turn around to face him.

But then I heard Li Yin say, "I regret it. I should have pretended not to know. If I had known earlier, you would have thought of escaping as soon as you had the chance. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have been so distressed about whether you were an inner court official or a woman."

Luo Sanrong didn't say anything.

Li Yin: "That way, you will stay with me longer..."

Li Yin: "I'm sorry, I didn't consider the problem from your perspective."

After Li Yin finished speaking, Luo Sanrong looked up at the sky, trying hard to hold back tears. She calmly said, "Your Highness, take care."

Li Yin's voice revealed a hint of pleading. He held Luo Sanrong tightly in his arms and whispered, "But, even so, can you hold on? Not somewhere else, but here, by my side..."