August, midnight, Kunning Palace.

The queen, dressed in a gorgeous phoenix robe, stood in front of the Buddhist temple, staring blankly at the Bodhisattva enshrined in front of her.

"My lady, it's late, you should go to bed early."

"......"

The queen did not answer, but just turned to look out the window, her eyes empty and cold.

"Yanzhou, is there any news?"

"As the Queen wishes."

Hearing this, the woman was startled, and an expression that seemed both painful and happy appeared on her face.

"Auntie, do you think I am wrong to do this?"

The eldest palace maid lowered her head and spoke in a soft but firm voice.

"If your Majesty thinks it is right, then it is right."

"Heh... Even if it was wrong, there's no going back now."

The queen sneered and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.

"Of course, I will never look back. From now on... let's go according to the original plan."

She took out an old amulet from her bosom. It was slightly worn, as if it had been handled frequently.

"Yu'er, you are watching me from the sky."

Zhou Huaiyu was the Queen's only legitimate son and the Great Zhou's only crown prince. Unfortunately, he died suddenly ten years ago.

At that time, I was only nine years old.

"My queen..."

The eldest palace maid's brows were filled with a hint of heartache. But the queen seemed to be completely immersed in the painful memories of the past. She suddenly turned around and grabbed the maid's arm tightly.

"Why doesn't he believe it? Why doesn't he believe it?! Yu'er is obviously his child, how dare he! How could he do such a thing?!!"

The woman seemed to be caught in a whirlpool from which she could not extricate herself, and her expression seemed to be mad and insane.

"It was clearly him who had to marry me and beg the late emperor for me, but why, why did he kill my child, why......"

"My queen? My queen?!!"

Seeing this, the chief palace maid looked anxious. She quickly took out the medicine bottle from her sleeve, poured a few pills into her palm, and then immediately stuffed them into the empress's mouth.

The woman was forced to swallow the pill, and within a short moment, all her strength seemed to be drained away, and she collapsed to the ground. The head maid quickly hugged her tightly, holding her in her arms with skill.

The queen tightly held the amulet in her hand, her face was pale, her eyes were red, and tears were falling. She kept shaking and shouting,

"Yu'er...Yu'er, where are you? Why can't your mother find you? Why, why can't you be found at all..."

An hour later, the maid finally coaxed the sick empress to sleep. Looking at her pale face, she sighed softly, stood up, closed the curtain, and then quietly left.

The maid of honor looked serious and ordered,

"The Queen has been worrying too much and is feeling unwell. She has ordered that ninety-nine Buddhist lamps be lit in Kunning Palace tonight to pray for blessings."

"yes."

The palace maids below were terrified and went to light the lamps immediately.

Soon, the ninety-nine Buddhist lamps illuminated the entire Kunning Palace as bright as day.

At the same time, Zhou Huaiyan was holding his tiger cub and looking at Kunning Palace absentmindedly.

The boy named the little white tiger cub Ice Cream. Five months later, Ice Cream has grown to the size of a medium-sized dog. But he has not been weaned yet, and his voice is sweet. He has been raised by Ah Fei to be very fat.

“Ooooooo…”

Seeing Zhou Huaiyan staring out the window in a daze, Xuegao unsatisfactorily pressed his head under his palm and tried to step on the boy's belly with his claws. He whimpered in his throat and urged his father to touch him quickly.

The boy reluctantly looked away, lowered his head, held the boy's round face and rubbed it.

"Tsk, you little guy, how can you look like the king of the forest?"

——Instead, it looks like a big, cute cat.

Zhou Huaiyan looked down at the cub's eyes. He didn't notice it when he brought it home. After raising it for several days, the little tiger cub opened its eyes. Then he found that it actually had a pair of beautiful dark green eyes.

His eyes were slightly darker than Ah Fei's, but his pupils were bigger, and he had very dark eyeliner, which made him look a bit like Ah Fei. Especially when the man and the tiger looked at him at the same time.

Zhou Huaiyan suddenly recalled a joke he made that night.

[That's the cub of Ah Fei and I. ]

In a sense, yes.

Since the little white tiger was brought back, Ah Fei has been taking care of it every day, even Hongdou has never touched it. She is really like a real mother, taking care of it meticulously and attentively.

The little white tiger had no sense of being a beast at all. It even shook its ears and hooked onto the boy's collar to lick his face.

"ice cream!"

Ah Fei saw this scene as soon as she came in from the door, and she was so shocked that she immediately called out to her cub. The little white tiger was startled, and immediately recognized whose voice it was, and immediately roared with joy, leaving Zhou Huaiyan behind, and ran directly towards Ah Fei at the door.

The ice cream jumped over the ice basin in the room, skillfully hooked onto Ah Fei's trouser legs and climbed up, humming coquettishly in her throat, and insisted on getting into his arms and asking for a hug.

"You...you really are..."

There was no other way. The cub had already climbed up to her waist. Ah Fei had no choice but to pick it up.

Zhou Huaiyan supported his face with one hand, watched them quietly for a while, then turned his gaze to the window.

In the distance, ninety-nine Buddha lamps were lit in Kunning Temple. The young man stared at the bright yellow in the distance, not moving his eyes away for a long time.

Ah Fei carried Ice Cream out, fed him milk and some complementary food, and finally pacified the coquettish child. When she came in, she found Zhou Huaiyan still looking out the window.

He followed the boy's line of sight and saw that it was the direction of Kunning Palace. There were bright lights there, making the dark sky look like day.

The Empress is a Buddhist and occasionally lights Buddhist lamps in the palace. It is not unusual, but it seems that the number of Buddhist lamps lit today is a little more.

The little cat waited for another quarter of an hour. Seeing that the boy was still looking in the direction of Kunning Palace without even moving from his seat, he felt confused.

"Master, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

Although Zhou Huaiyan answered like this, he still did not move his eyes away. Ah Fei lowered his head dejectedly, feeling that the longer he stayed with his master, the more deeply he felt his own stupidity.

After a while, the kitten couldn't help but walk over, kneel down, and straighten the collar of its master's clothes that had been messed up by the little white tiger. Its eyes fell on the boy's slightly exposed collarbone.

"Then why did the master look at the direction of Kunning Palace for so long?"

Zhou Huaiyan didn't notice the kitten's overly scorching gaze. He was still thinking about something, so he answered casually,

"Waiting for news."

[......Waiting for news? ]

Ah Fei paused with her fingers.

【What news are you waiting for? 】

Before Ah Fei could ask the question in her mind, Hong Dou rushed in from the door. This was the first time she had rushed into the study room so rashly and hastily without asking for permission.

"Your Highness, urgent news from Jiangnan: The Third Prince was accidentally swept away by a flood while building a dike, and his life or death is unknown. The flood broke the dike, and in just half a month, the water flooded three states."

Hongdou's expression was more serious than ever before.

"His Majesty was so sad when he heard the bad news that he fainted. All the doctors have been summoned to Xuanzheng Hall."

Ah Fei was also shocked when she heard this. However, compared to the two people's extremely shocked expressions, Zhou Huaiyan only thought about it for a few seconds and then said "hmm", which seemed not surprising at all.

The emperor was so angry and sad that he fell ill. Now the court was in a panic and no one dared to take over this rotten stall. Not to mention that after the flooding of the three states, the victims were in turmoil and starving people were scattered all over the country. It just so happened that the followers of the White Horse Temple were spread all over the Great Zhou, and they would definitely provide relief to the victims before the court. Jian Kong would definitely not miss such a good opportunity to improve his reputation.

However, there are quite a few strange things here.

Zhou Huaiyan was in deep thought, but he did not show any surprise or heaviness on the surface.

The kitten had been observing its owner's expression carefully, and was shocked to see that the boy didn't look surprised at all.

[Master actually... even expected this? ]

However, Zhou Huaiyan had expected that the third prince would fake his death and escape, but he really did not expect the flood that would submerge three states.

Zhou Huaiyan narrowed his eyes and keenly grasped the most bizarre thing in this matter.

"Logically speaking, Jiangnan is most prone to flooding. Every year in May, dams are built to reinforce canals and various flood prevention measures are taken. Moreover, this year's rainfall is not as heavy as in previous years. How could it be possible for the tragic situation of flooding three states?"

Hearing this, Ah Fei's expression became serious.

"Could it be that they want to use the flood as a diversion so that they can take action in secret?"

Zhou Huaiyan paused with his fingers, stretched out his hand to rub the kitten's fluffy and soft curly hair, and smiled softly.

"My mind is bright today."

——Praised by the master!

Ah Fei was immediately happy, but her face turned slightly red with embarrassment.

Zhou Huaiyan thought about it and suddenly said,

"If Fourth Brother asks for permission to control floods again in the future, give him the map of the Jiangnan River System left by Mother and let Jin Cui do it. Don't let him find out that it was given by me."

Red beans are amazing.

"...Your Highness?"

Even Ah Fei was slightly stunned. After staying in the palace for so many days, he had thoroughly understood the personalities of the princes. The second prince cared most about face and was always talking about righteousness and morality, but in fact he was the most hypocritical. The third prince was very conceited and acted recklessly. As for the fourth prince, although he looked cold, he had a kind heart.

"The fourth prince, Zhou Huailing, is a man who cares about the world."

It was rare for Zhou Huaiyan to praise someone like this.

Although he himself could not do such a noble thing, he could still help. As for why he did not reveal his identity, it was of course because he was afraid of ruining his image.

After all, it would be strange if a dissolute prince who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun suddenly sent a map of the Jiangnan water system to save the people of Ming.

However, Zhou Huaiyan still has his own little plan.

"But we have to send someone to follow him and see what the situation is in Jiangnan."

Although Jiangnan still has the old subordinates and some deployments left by his mother, Zhou Huaiyan needs more precise intelligence, such as the deployment of Emperor Zhou and the opponent's back-up plan.

The fourth prince does care about the country, but he is not sensitive to the struggles in the court and the intrigues behind the scenes. The emperor also knows this, so he will probably take advantage of it.

Zhou Huaiyan needed someone to follow the Fourth Prince so that he could spy on the chess pieces secretly planted by the Emperor.

He glanced at the bright Buddha lamp in Kunning Palace again and squinted his eyes slightly.

"Now, some people have lost their beloved sons and are resentful, while others are greedy for power and are plotting against it. But no matter what the reason is, tens of thousands of innocent lives should not be sacrificed."

Ah Fei stared at him blankly and subconsciously clenched the front of his shirt. He felt as if something was burning inside, making him tremble with fear.

He had met many nobles and even knew several princes of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They were born in the clouds. But the young man in front of him, although his actions seemed absurd, he would consider the lives of civilians in his heart.

Hongdou seemed to have the same feeling. She lowered her head slightly.

"Got it. I'll send someone to do it now."

At this moment, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly caught a glimpse of Ah Fei who was kneeling beside him. The latter was clutching her clothes at her chest and staring at him eagerly.

"......?"

The boy raised his eyebrows.

"Why is it that you act like a good girl being teased?"

"......"

Ah Fei suddenly came to her senses, her ears burning, and she immediately put her hands down, but she was at a loss as to where to put them.

Zhou Huaiyan stared at his ears for a moment, and he found that this little cat was particularly shy. If he was just shy, his ears would turn red, and if he was even more shy, his face would turn red. If he went a step further, his whole body would be covered with a thin layer of pink, which was extremely beautiful.

The boy couldn't help but reach out and pinch the earlobe that was so red that it was about to bleed.

"Why is it so hot? Is it hot?"

“Yes…yes.”

Zhou Huaiyan was born with a cold body. Even in the hot summer, his fingertips were still slightly cool. Suddenly, he touched his scalding earlobe. The huge temperature difference made Ah Fei shiver.

But now he couldn't find any other explanation. Even when the boy touched him, his body started to burn. He could only respond to his master's words in a panic.

"—there's an ice basin there."

The young man suddenly spoke.

"......ah?"

Ah Fei didn't understand what her master meant, but after thinking about it, she went over obediently and brought over the ice basin.

The kitten held the ice basin, raised his head, and waited for his owner's next instruction. However, the latter just looked at him casually and said nothing more.

The young man sat crookedly on the chair. It was time to go to bed, so he didn't tie his hair. His black hair fell on his shoulders, and his pair of affectionate peach blossom eyes were shining, as if he was drowning in honey. That lazy and meaningful gaze seemed to have solidified substance, caressing his body inch by inch. At one moment, Ah Fei even had the illusion that she was not wearing any clothes.

"......Owner?"

"Um?"

The young man supported his face with one hand and responded casually, his low ending tone dragging an indescribable sexiness.

There were obviously no words that could cause misunderstanding, no ambiguous touches, and both of them were even dressed neatly. But Ah Fei had the illusion that her master was seducing her.

Now it was August, the hottest time of the year. However, there was an ice basin in the room on weekdays, so it was still relatively cool. But Ah Fei was born with a hot body, and once her heart started to burn, she was afraid that the ice basin would be useless.

Zhou Huaiyan looked at the kitten's red ears and couldn't help laughing.

"Still hot?"

"......Um."

The kitten lowered its head and spoke in a very low voice.

Zhou Huaiyan took out a small piece of crushed ice and put it on his earlobe. The excessively cold temperature made the little cat shiver noticeably.

"Now?"

"Well... much better."

The melted water from the crushed ice flowed down the boy's fingers, and the moment his eyes touched them, Ah Fei's gaze was immediately drawn there.

He saw the crystal clear water droplets flowing down the delicate wrist bone like white jade, and then, a little dark color smudged on the snow-white cuffs.

Ah Fei's Adam's apple rolled slightly. Finally, he couldn't help but leaned slightly to the side. But a moment later, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly withdrew his hand, and the loose white sleeves slid down, revealing a beautiful forearm.

The boy lowered his eyes, and the red mark on the inside of his wrist was reflected in his pupils. He didn't know why, but the little cat seemed to like his hand very much, and especially liked to leave marks on it. Ah Fei thought that he had displeased his master, and his heart suddenly became uneasy. As a result, the next second, the boy took out another piece of crushed ice, this time it was bigger than the previous one, and then casually pulled open his collar and threw it in.

"ah......"

This action was too sudden, and the ice cube rolled down from the collarbone to the waist and abdomen, and was finally cut off by the belt in the abdomen. The excessively cold temperature stimulated the kitten to subconsciously arch its back, and the burning body temperature quickly melted the ice cube, and the thin clothes were soaked with dark color.

But this seemed to be just the beginning of Zhou Huaiyan's game. He was like playing some throwing game, throwing pieces of broken ice over one by one.

Zhou Huaiyan wiped his hands with a handkerchief and asked slowly,

"Is it still hot?"

"......"

Ah Fei was speechless because his body was covered in ice water, but he felt the fire in his body was burning stronger and stronger.

"Owner......"

He tentatively put down the ice basin, and couldn't help but look at Zhou Huaiyan's hand, who was playing with a round piece of white ice. Because of the overly cold temperature, the beautiful fingertips were stained with a faint pink.

Ah Fei went over and tried again,

"Master, do you like throwing ice cubes recently?"

Zhou Huaiyan glanced at him and smiled meaningfully.

"Throw...so boring."

"......"

After a moment, the kitten slowly pulled the boy's hand holding the ice cube.