Su Rong had spent quite a while in the Crown Prince’s study. When she returned to the Yuzhen Pavilion, she saw Fen Ling’s face full of sorrow.
Various cakes, brought back from Chengji House, were neatly arranged on the table, untouched.
Su Rong was pleased. "Not bad, you didn’t sneak any bites."
Seeing her return, Fen Ling immediately picked up a piece of cake and started eating. "Do you think I am that kind of person?"
As Su Rong began her meal, "Mmhmm, you’re not. You passed my character test."
Fen Ling: "..."
Was his character still in question at this point?
Without waiting for him to ask, Su Rong explained, "I was discussing meeting Lu Fengyan today with the Crown Prince, that’s why I was detained for a while. I find Lu Fengyan quite interesting, what do you think?"
Fen Ling nodded. "Hmm, he’s indeed not simple."
Su Rong laughed, "So you think he’s complex as well, that’s great. Starting from tomorrow, go undercover by his side to observe him for a few days. After the imperial examination, I will decide what to do based on the situation, considering how to win him over."
Fen Ling agreed readily, "Certainly."
He had nothing to do recently anyway, just drinking tea and reading books, bored out of his mind. He felt safe seeing his lady in the Eastern Palace, not needing his daily protection. Yun An had supposedly been dispatched by the crown prince on a mission, gone for a lengthy period of time, with no chance to spar with him.
The two of them together polished off several servings of cakes, accidentally overeating.
Su Rong commented, "A century-old shop truly stands by its reputation, every kind of cake is delicious."
Fen Ling nodded in agreement, "We should go buy some more tomorrow."
"Get in line early and don’t spend silver on buying a place in line." Earning money is no easy task; how could he spend so lavishly? Ten taels of silver! She received only two taels of silver for her monthly stipend, he was such a spendthrift.
"Sure!" Fen Ling also thought that one experience was enough. Silver was a good thing, he should learn to save.
Once the two reached an agreement, they ate a few more slices of hawthorn, settled their meals in the courtyard for a while, and then each went back to rest.
Lil Quanzi these days noticed that the Crown Prince was retiring himself without any prompting. As the prince came out of his study an hour early every day, he was relieved, feeling that his years of efforts had finally found a purpose.
Yan Huisheng exited the study, carrying a bag of food in his hand. When Lil Quanzi stepped forward to take it, Yan dodged, "I can hold it myself."
Lil Quanzi thought to himself, isn’t it just a five-nut fresh flower cake from Chengji House? Not a rarity. Strangely, the Prince seems insistent on not letting him assist.
As he followed half a step behind Yan Huisheng, he softly said after a while, "Your Highness, if you’re fond of the five-nut fresh flower cakes, I can arrange for someone to buy more from Chengji House tomorrow."
"No need." Yan Huisheng shook his head.
Lil Quanzi understood, the Crown Prince never showed a specific preference for food. Even the cakes from the Chengji House were overlooked in the past. Presently, he seemed to have taken a liking to them only because of the person who bought them.
The next morning, as Fen Ling was about to leave, Su Rong handed him a letter. "Find a way to send this letter to Zhou Gu at the Duke Residence, in the guise of a letter from Jiangzhou."
"That’s easy!" Fen Ling took the letter, weighed it, and asked: "Miss, are you only writing to Young Master Zhou? What about the Elder Master? Didn’t you write a letter for him?"
"My older brother doesn’t need one." Su Rong waved her hand.
Fen Ling responded with a "Alright," and left with the letter.
After returning to the Duke Residence from the Eastern Palace yesterday, Zhou Gu had dispatched a messenger to Jiangzhou. His mood did improve somewhat after the person was sent off, although it still didn’t sit quite right with him.
That day, after breakfast, while he was studying, Ziye brought him a letter. "Young Master, here’s a letter from Jiangzhou. Take a look quickly, is it a letter from Lady Su Qi to you?"
Zhou Gu looked up, took the letter with the envelope reading ’Zhou Gu, Personal’, it was indeed Su Rong’s handwriting. He nodded with dignity, "Hmm, it’s hers."
He leisurely accepted the letter, leisurely opened it. Within his view, it was still a thin piece of paper, on which Su Rong said that she planned to come to the Capital City after the Imperial Examination; she asked him to focus on his studies and hoped to congratulate him personally on his achievement.
She also mentioned that her elder brother was very talented and encouraged him to strive even harder. If he happened to surpass her brother, she would book an entire restaurant in the Capital City to celebrate.
In addition, she’d heard that the scholars from various regions this year were all highly skilled. She cautioned him against underestimating them, however, since not only is her brother among his competitors, but he must also rank within the top three.
After reading this short letter several times, Zhou Gu smiled a leisurely smile. After a while, he muttered softly, "She has a conscience for thinking of me."
Ziye was also thrilled and quickly urged Zhou Gu, "Young Master, in that case, you should start studying right away! Lady Su Qi has high expectations for you. She even mentioned in the letter that you should strive to exceed the performance of Master Su."
Zhou Gu didn’t feel pressured, instead, he was motivated. He put the letter away and started studying, feeling more determined than ever. "Yes, I’ll do my best".
The Emperor was quite satisfied with Yan Huisheng’s lately unexpected inactivity. He was starting to feel less disappointment about the matter with Jiang Sheng, believing that Yan Huisheng still knew where to draw the line, of keeping his loyalty towards the Emperor, by not recruiting scholars to enter the Eastern Palace.
As for the information that a guest of high status had moved into the Eastern Palace, the Emperor was unaware of these circumstances. Yan Huisheng had strictly governed the Eastern Palace, and in the previous few years, when the Crown Prince had faced repeated assassinations, the Emperor was arrogantly expelled, making the Emperor unable to get involved in the Eastern Palace. Thus, everything within the Eastern Palace was kept secret from the Emperor’s knowledge, which was precisely the reason for his growing suspicions and wariness towards him in recent years.
However, even so, Yan Huisheng would not allow anyone to freely plant spies in his Eastern Palace, his resting place, not even if the Emperor feared him.
Therefore, only those within the Eastern Palace knew Su Rong was staying there, and only the housekeeper, Little Quanzi, who served at Yan Huisheng’s side, knew the true identity of Su Rong.
One day, after the early court assembly, the Emperor called Yan Huisheng into the Imperial Study Room and told him, "You are the Crown Prince. You will preside over the Imperial Examination tomorrow".
Yan Huisheng bowed his head in agreement.
The Emperor looked at him and said, "The Imperial examination was initially scheduled for Spring, but it has been postponed to Autumn. I hope that there will be no issues with the Autumn exam. Keep an eye on things".
Yan Huisheng nodded, "Father, rest assured".
The Emperor waved him off without saying anything else.
Upon leaving the Imperial Study Room, Yan Huisheng thought to himself, dispassionately, that the examination would commence tomorrow, and he was only delegating the responsibility today. Even though he had not recruited scholars and had maintained a low profile, which should have reassured the Emperor, it now seemed as though he wasn’t doing enough. His musing made him wonder whether his Emperor father realized his own contradictions.
Perhaps, the Emperor did understand, but he could not control his increasingly suspicious and authoritative nature.
Because the Emperor had suddenly issued a decree, Yan Huisheng was assigned a task and suddenly found himself busy. The staff in the Eastern Palace were constantly in and out, which made it inconvenient for Su Rong to stay in the Crown Prince’s study room. Having already read most of the documents hidden in the secret compartments over the past few days, she decided to take a few days break.
Consequently, she hid in the Yuzhen Pavilion, imitating Fen Ling’s previous actions: sipping tea while reading picture scrolls. When she was too lazy to look at the picture scrolls, she called Little Chengzi to her and let him guide her on leisurely strolls around the Eastern Palace and when tired, would find a spot to sit and listen to Little Chengzi’s latest gossip about the major residences in the Capital City.
After several days of stealthy observation, Fen Ling finally returned to the Eastern Palace once Lu Fengyan had entered the examination hall. Seeing Su Rong so carefree, he felt envious, "Master, you have too much free time!"
Touching her nose, Su Rong pushed the grapes that the butler had delivered to her front, "Look at these grapes, they’re each so big and purple; very tempting. I heard they were gifted from the feudal territory. The Crown Prince had all of them sent here, without keeping any for himself. I specifically kept these for you".
Fen Ling picked up a grape and popped it into his mouth, letting out a small "hmm", "Master, you’re the best".
He said to Su Rong, "Today, many mistresses and young mistresses of the upper-class residences have gone to the large Buddha Temples outside the city to pray for success in the Imperial examination. Do you want to go to the Buddha Temple and pray for the success of Young Master Zhou and Master Su?"
Su Rong declined, "No need, I believe they can perform well without the need for prayers".
Fen Ling nodded, "Since Young Master Zhou and Young master Xie have entered the examination hall, why don’t you go out and have some fun? After all, no one recognizes you, and you won’t run into anyone familiar".
Su Rong considered the suggestion, "The candidates are busy pursuing their ambitions in the examination hall, and we are thinking of having fun. Is this appropriate?"
"It is!" Fen Ling had no misgivings, "Don’t you believe in Master Su and Young Master Zhou’s abilities? Whether we have fun or not, they’ll still perform well, right?"
"Fair point," Su Rong lost her misgivings, "Shall we go, then?"
Fen Ling held onto the plate and didn’t let go, "Wait for me to eat another cluster of grapes".
Su Rong had no objections. She simply went inside the room to change her clothes and put on her veil. When she came out, Fen Ling had finished eating the whole plate of grapes. He stood up, feeling satisfied, and accompanied Su Rong out of the Eastern Palace.
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