The carriage was passing through Wuben Square.
As the curtain fluttered, Tang Xiaobai saw soone standing under a tree by the roadside.
It was early sumr, the shade of the trees growing dense, dappled leaf shadows covering half of his body. The person’s raised right hand was exposed to the sunlight, and the object in his hand seed to have threads intertwined with gold and silver, reflecting a blinding light.
Tang Xiaobai was attracted by that dazzling light and then clearly saw the object.
The carriage stopped in front of the man.
When she got off the carriage, the man raised his head, his gaze as gentle as a breeze under a bright moon.
Seeing that it was Tang Xiaobai and Li Mu, he was slightly surprised, then greeted them and casually slipped the item into his sleeve as he did so.
Tang Xiaobai nodded slightly, staring at his sleeve, asked, "Mr. Zhang, what were you holding just now?"
Zhang Yin seed a bit surprised and took the item out of his sleeve again: "Crown Princess Consort, are you referring to this?"
Tang Xiaobai looked at the object in his hand and gave an "Mm" sound.
It was a small, exquisite sachet, ink-colored with a dark floral pattern.
The only difference from the one she had just seen belonging to Gu Yulan was that it didn’t have any tassels.
In that instant, nurous images flashed through Tang Xiaobai’s mind.
A long ti ago, she accidentally glimpsed the back of Gu Yulan outside Zhang Yin’s residence. Zhang Yin’s surprise when he personally answered the door and saw her, and last ti, the unmistakable regret in his eyes when they talked about Gu Yulan, along with more scenarios from the storyline that she imagined but hadn’t seen.
"I just saw an identical sachet," Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but speak before Zhang Yin could, "Sir, can you guess where we’ve just co from?"
Zhang Yin looked in the direction she ca from, suddenly smiled, looked down at the sachet in his hand, and said, "This sachet just fell from my book bag; I don’t know who carelessly left it."
Tang Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at his book bag.
It seed that Zhang Yin had just co out of the Imperial College.
After the palace examination results were announced last month, the Imperial College students lost much of their ground, giving the Eastern Palace a handle to change a batch of people.
Because there was no suitable person in the Eastern Palace to manage the Imperial College, this replacent focused on the doctors in charge of teaching.
Zhang Yin and Pei Xuan both entered the Imperial College at that ti.
The hierarchy within the Imperial College is clear. The offspring of officials of Third Rank or above enter the Imperial College, and those of Fifth Rank or above enter the Imperial Academy; these students are the future elite of the dynasty.
Pei Xuan started teaching at the Imperial Academy, while Zhang Yin began teaching at the Imperial College.
The significance of Zhang Yin to the Eastern Palace could not be overstated.
Perhaps because of this, there was this sachet.
Tang Xiaobai curved her lips into a smile and said, "This sachet is exquisite and cute. Would you be willing to part with it and give it to , sir?"
Just as she finished speaking, before Zhang Yin could react, the Crown Prince beside her coughed three tis.
Tang Xiaobai turned her head to look at him in confusion.
Li Mu stopped coughing, his expression slightly cold, and took the sachet from Zhang Yin’s hand and tossed it aside, turning his face to look down at Tang Xiaobai, and said lightly, "Don’t touch things of unknown origin."
Tang Xiaobai: ???
Zhang Yin laughed: "His Highness is indeed right."
Li Mu nodded at him and pulled Tang Xiaobai’s hand toward the carriage.
Once in the carriage, Tang Xiaobai couldn’t resist asking: "Why did you throw away the sachet?"
"Unknown origin."
Tang Xiaobai was amused: "Isn’t it because it’s of unknown origin that we should check it out?"
"And what if we find out?"
Tang Xiaobai fell silent.
That was true.
In fact, everyone already had suspects in mind; even if they found out, nothing could be done as nothing had happened.
She just wanted to take the sachet away from Zhang Yin, with no specific intentions.
"Besides—" the Crown Prince spoke again.
Tang Xiaobai looked at him.
The young man sat upright with a cold and proud deanor, then he said, "That sachet isn’t particularly exquisite either."
Tang Xiaobai: ???
"If you like it, I’ll find so for you when we get back. Why take soone else’s?"
Tang Xiaobai understood, chuckling helplessly: "Is this why you threw the sachet away?"
"No." He answered quickly, his deanor still aloof and proud, but with the tips of his ears quietly turning red.
Tang Xiaobai giggled and pinched his earlobe: "Still, don’t throw things around, what if it hits the flowers and plants?"
Li Mu expressionlessly pulled her hand down and casually drew her into his embrace, saying, "Mr. Zhang wouldn’t care about flowers and plants."
Hearing him ntion Zhang Yin, Tang Xiaobai stopped joking around and whispered, "Mr. Zhang is indeed upright, but everyone has weaknesses."
When she asked Zhang Yin for the sachet, there was a clear hesitation in his eyes.
If soone can’t be defeated head-on, often the opposing side will play on personal flaws, especially regarding relationships between n and won; once rumors start, it’s hard to defend against them.
Li Mu lowered his head, rubbing his nose tip against hers, and said, "In such matters, no one can help him. If he can’t overco his weakness, we’ll replace him." His words were extrely ruthless, but his gaze was floating and elusive, indescribably sweet.
"With whom?" Tang Xiaobai instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, asking.
When they were intimate, the Crown Prince behaved particularly submissively, nudging against her as he said, "My little uncle." With a hint of nasal sound, as innocent as could be.
Tang Xiaobai, unable to help herself, bit his lower lip...
...
The carriage entered through the side gate of the Eastern Palace and stopped in front of Lizheng Hall.
After getting off the carriage, Tang Xiaobai glanced at the Crown Prince’s bright red lips and hurriedly pressed her own to avoid being noticed.
After pressing her lips together, she appeared to have a longing expression.
Li Mu turned his head to look at her and, upon eting her gaze, felt a sudden warmth in his chest.
Could it be... she didn’t think it was enough?
He suppressed the corners of his mouth, with a faint expression, taking Tang Xiaobai’s hand and leading her inside the hall.
In their haste, Tang Xiaobai stumbled as she started.
The Crown Prince reacted quickly, turning so that she fell right into his arms.
"What’s the rush?" Tang Xiaobai rubbed her slightly sore nose and suspiciously asked him, "Were you doing that on purpose?"
"Doing what on purpose?" Li Mu was puzzled.
Tang Xiaobai pouted: "Intentionally pulling so I’d trip!"
Since childhood, she had trained in riding and archery, with excellent physique and no habit of stumbling on flat ground. Yet each ti, she was yanked by the young prince, causing her to fall into his embrace.
His eyes flickered, and he replied, "You found out."
Tang Xiaobai: !!!
"You... you’re so silly!" What kind of clichéd soap opera scene was this?
Li Mu lowered his head and gently bumped her forehead: "I can do sothing even sillier."
Tang Xiaobai: ???
Before she could think much, she saw him suddenly squat down, grasp her ankle, give it a squeeze, and look up to ask, "Did it hurt when you fell?"
Tang Xiaobai: ...
Like it hurt!
But evidently, the Crown Prince didn’t ask for a response to his question.
After asking, he slightly rose, nestled her leg in his arm, and lifted her entirely, continuing to walk toward Lizheng Hall.
Tang Xiaobai gripped his collar and whispered through gritted teeth, "The Oscars owe you a golden statue!"
"Hmm?" Li Mu didn’t hear clearly.
"I’m complinting you!"
His eyes crinkled with a smile.
Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but laugh and playfully punched him: "You’re indeed sillier!"
Having shown affection in the Eastern Palace nurous tis, Tang Xiaobai had learned to mostly ignore the surrounding palace attendants and guards.
Yet, a chance glance caught sight of soone lowering his head, yielding his path.
In black garnts with a sword, tall and slender in build, head bowed but sneaky gaze raised—a pair of phoenix eyes filled with an amused smile.
It was Yao He.
Tang Xiaobai’s face reddened as she briskly patted Li Mu: "Put down!"
Li Mu frowned, casting a cold glance at Yao He, unwilling to comply.
But with Tang Xiaobai hastily patting him twice, each ti more urgently, he had no choice but to let her down with a cool expression.
Tang Xiaobai cleared her throat and asked Yao He: "Any leads on what I asked you to investigate?"
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