In the Kun Ning Palace, the Empress was sitting on the phoenix throne.

Aunt Anru lowered the curtain in front of the throne and instructed Xiao Liangzi to bring in the Imperial Guards.

“Has His Highness returned to the East Palace?” the Empress asked slowly.

It was late at night, and she sounded very tired.

The Imperial Guard knelt and answered, “Yes. When he returned, His Highness’s grandson was already asleep. The Crown Prince carried him all the way back to the East Palace.”

The Empress gave Aunt Anru a look.

Aunt Anru understood and ordered, “Explain everything that happened today from beginning to end. Don’t leave anything out.”

“Yes. I was ordered by the Empress to follow the Crown Prince. After the palace banquet, the Crown Prince took His Highness’s grandson to the Imperial Garden to see the lanterns.

Miss Yuanrui from the Jingning Marquis’s residence played with His Highness’s grandson for a while.

Later, Young Master Yuanchu arrived, and His Highness’s grandson stopped playing with Miss Yuanrui and went off with Young Master Yuanchu to a secluded place to talk privately.

Miss Yuanrui tried to follow them but was sent away by Young Master Yuanchu.

After a while, Young Master Yuanchu and His Highness’s grandson led the Crown Prince out of the palace…”

“Wait, you said that Yuanbao and Yuanchu led Liu Zhen out of the palace?” the Empress suddenly asked in surprise.

“Yes. Even though I was far away and couldn’t hear what they were saying, I saw clearly that Young Master Yuanchu was walking in front, and His Highness’s grandson was leading the Crown Prince.”

The Empress frowned, puzzled, and then said, “Continue.”

“The three of them left the palace but went separate ways.

The Crown Prince took His Highness’s grandson back to the East Palace, while Young Master Yuanchu left in his own carriage.

I followed the Crown Prince and His Highness’s grandson back to the East Palace.

Soon after, they came out in ordinary clothes, each wearing a mask, and went straight to the lantern market in the city.

However, they didn’t start browsing immediately but found a place to sit.

Since the Crown Prince and His Highness’s grandson were always followed by secret guards, I kept my distance.

I then saw Young Master Yuanchu arrive at the lantern market with two young ladies.”

The Empress smiled meaningfully.

“But Young Master Yuanchu didn’t meet the Crown Prince. Instead, he went west with one of the young ladies.”

“And the other young lady?”

“The other young lady stayed with the Crown Prince and His Highness’s grandson. After leaving the lantern market, they went towards the East Lake. Young Master Yuanbao seemed to like the young lady very much and held her hand the whole time. The three of them boarded a pleasure boat, sailed around the lake, and then disembarked. The Crown Prince carried Young Master Yuanbao and took the young lady to Huaihua Alley before returning to the East Palace.”

“Alright,” the Emperor raised his voice, stopping the Empress from speaking.

He put down the calming soup, squinting his eyes, a glimmer of light flashing through them. “Regarding that matter from years ago, I indeed made a mistake with you.

I feel very saddened seeing him like this.

But he should understand his parents’ intentions.

Now that he has recovered, it’s a good thing.

You don’t need to rush.

Let’s see what he wants to do this time.

We will follow his wishes.

Stop having people spy on him, and delay the matter of choosing a consort for him.”

The Empress moved her lips but knew the Emperor had made up his mind.

She could only sigh and give up.

---

Eastern Palace.

The Crown Prince returned to his sleeping quarters with Yuanbao in his arms.

Anyue and Fuquan stood side by side below.

“Did that person follow us to the Eastern Palace?”

“No, he already went back to the palace,” Anyue replied. “It was my negligence; I didn’t notice anyone secretly following Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes were deep. “He is one of the top stealth experts in the Forbidden Palace. It’s natural you didn’t notice.”

“I will train harder in the future. Please punish me, Master.”

“Indeed, you should train harder. Otherwise, you won’t even know if there are two spies following you,” the Crown Prince said coldly.

“Two spies?” Anyue was so shocked his jaw almost dropped.

Fuquan was also puzzled.

It was one thing for people in the palace to watch the Eastern Palace’s movements, but who else would dare to follow the Crown Prince?

“Leave.”

“Yes.” Anyue and Fuquan dared not say more and quietly left the sleeping quarters.

After they left, Yuanbao, who was nestled in the blanket, secretly opened his eyes and smiled at the Crown Prince.

“Playing asleep again,” the Crown Prince said, tapping Yuanbao’s nose. “When did you wake up?”

Yuanbao blinked and didn’t answer the Crown Prince’s question.

Instead, he asked, “Why did Grandpa Emperor send someone to follow us?”

The Crown Prince snorted softly, “Your Grandpa Emperor couldn’t care less about these trivial matters.”

“Then it was Grandma Empress?” Yuanbao sat up from the blanket suddenly. “Now I know.”

…

The Empress’s brow remained slightly furrowed.

After thinking for a moment, she said in a deep voice, “You may leave.”

But the Imperial Guard remained kneeling. “Your servant has one more matter to report.”

“Speak.”

“During this outing with His Highness, it seems he noticed something.”

“Noticed? You found the secret guards from the East Palace, and he still noticed?”

“It’s not the secret guards. There was another person with superior lightness skill. I sensed their presence several times but couldn’t locate them.”

“Your lightness skill is among the top in the Imperial Guard,” the Empress said.

The kneeling guard didn’t dare respond and buried his head lower, clearly feeling ashamed.

“Forget it. There’s always someone better. I won’t blame you. You’ve worked hard today. You may go.”

The guard knelt and bowed before silently retreating.

The Empress extended her hand, assisted by Aunt Anru, and rose.

She walked around the screen behind the phoenix throne and looked at the Emperor, who had been sitting there drinking tea.

She smiled and said, “Did you hear that? On a festival day, your son chooses to leave the palace with so many beautiful lanterns inside and go outside to celebrate the Lantern Festival with someone else.”

The Emperor, already bathed and changed into a bright yellow silk robe, responded slowly, “The moon is high, and people meet after dusk. The Lantern Festival is a time for lovers to meet. What’s wrong with him leaving the palace for a bit?”

“You make it sound so easy,” the Empress said with a slight huff.

She sat down and drank the tea the Emperor had just poured for her in one go.

“You’re not sleeping well. Don’t drink tea at night. Aunt Anru, bring the calming soup for the Empress.”

“Yes.” Aunt Anru brought over two bowls of calming soup that had been prepared earlier and placed them on the table before quietly stepping aside.

The Emperor picked up a bowl of soup and brought it to the Empress.

She raised her chin, not wanting to drink.

The Emperor had to lift the bowl higher and fed her a sip.

“Now that our son is older, his ideas have also grown. We shouldn’t interfere too much with his matters, or he’ll be unhappy.”

“But look at his life now. As the heir to the throne, he doesn’t even have a woman in the palace, living like a monk. Had I known this would happen, I wouldn’t have sent him to that temple. I’d rather have kept him…”

…

“Lie down.” The Crown Prince pushed Yuan Bao back into the bed, tucking the covers in tightly to prevent Yuan Bao from getting up.

He then asked slowly, “What do you know?”

“Grandmother must have found out about Aunt Rong Rong and wants to see what kind of woman could charm Father.”

“Where did you see that Father was charmed?” the Crown Prince asked, sounding annoyed.

Yuan Bao replied with a satisfied look, “I just know.”

Then Yuan Bao’s face showed some concern, “Grandmother has always liked Aunt Yuanrui. Will she be angry?”

“So, you should keep a distance from her in the future so she won’t upset Grandmother.”

Yuan Bao’s face twisted with worry as he thought for a long time before saying, “Then I’ll ask Grandpa. Grandfather’s words will definitely be listened to by Grandmother.”

“What if Grandpa also likes Aunt Yuanrui more?” the Crown Prince asked with a smile.

“Then…” Yuan Bao furrowed his brow, thinking hard, and finally came up with a good idea, “I’ll ask Uncle Yuanchu to quickly marry off Aunt Yuanrui.”

That’s indeed a good idea.

Little Yuan Bao’s head must have a lot of clever ideas.

“You really like her that much?” the Crown Prince said helplessly.

Since that night when he understood why he had been so attentive to Xue Rong Rong, he had decided not to see her again.

His mother was right in some ways.

As the Crown Prince, he should focus on more important matters and not be overly concerned with certain things.

When Yuan Bao mentioned wanting to see the lanterns outside the palace, he sensed something unusual.

Seeing Xie Yuanchu’s shifty eyes, he knew what these two were planning.

Nevertheless, seeing Yuan Bao’s hopeful eyes, he nodded in agreement.

“Yes,” Yuan Bao nodded vigorously, “I don’t know why, but I really want to see Aunt Rong Rong and enjoy being around her. Father, do you really not want to see Aunt Rong Rong? If you really don’t like her, then… can you let Uncle Fu Quan take me to see her in the future?”

The Crown Prince patted Yuan Bao’s little head, “It’s late, go to sleep. We have early lessons tomorrow.”

Yuan Bao closed his eyes as instructed, rolled around under the covers, then opened his eyes again, “Father, besides Grandfather and Grandmother, who else is following us?”

“I don’t know.” The person following them was very discreet.

The Crown Prince only realized he was being watched when they reached the entrance of Huaihua Alley.

After sending Rong Rong away, he tried to investigate but couldn’t find any trace of the follower.

Either this person’s lightness skill was exceptionally high, or they were hiding somewhere in Huaihua Alley.

Yuanbao was a bit worried. “Father, is that person a bad guy? Will he hurt Aunt Rongrong?”

Huaihua Alley…

The Crown Prince suddenly thought of something.

Perhaps that mysterious person was indeed connected to Xue Rongrong, at least related to Huaihua Alley.

He couldn’t investigate personally, as that would give the person too much importance.

However, Liuli and Anyue’s movements had already been monitored and couldn’t be used.

There was one pawn he could still utilize.

---

The next few days passed very peacefully.

Yang Tong visited once to ask about the manuscript, and Rongrong claimed she was busy making ham and hadn’t had time to look at it.

Rongrong and Chunxing finished the embroidery work they had taken before the New Year and brought it to the embroidery workshop to settle the payment, completing another task.

One day, Chunxing went to the marquis’s residence to collect her wages, while Rongrong sat alone in the room, managing the drying hams.

The reason these hams sold at a high price was not only because the method was a closely guarded secret but also because the process was extremely intricate.

Each ham had to be carefully inspected daily to ensure the skin wasn’t damaged. Once damaged, it would lose its value.

After all, hams were displayed and slowly sliced for consumption.

If the outside looked dirty, who would want to eat it?

“Miss.” Rongrong was busy when she suddenly heard Chunxing crying outside.

She quickly stood up and opened the door to see Chunxing standing at the entrance, crying like a child.

“What happened? Did the marquis’s residence not give you your wages?” Recently, it seemed Wang Yilan hadn’t come to her senses, but now she was surely back in control, so did she refuse to pay Chunxing, who worked outside? “Don’t worry, if they don’t give you your wages, I’ll pay you.”

“No, Miss, that’s not it.” Chunxing cried so hard she could barely speak.

Rongrong didn’t know what had happened, so she pulled Chunxing inside and fetched some water to wash her face.