When Zanying returned to the Yuzhu Palace, the Crown Prince had already left.

She didn’t ask a word about it.

By midday, she calmly ate her lunch: most of a bowl of purple glutinous rice porridge, one rice dumpling, accompanied by duck broth and shredded bamboo shoots with water shield greens.

As the meal was cleared, Chun Jin cheerfully remarked, “Today, the young lady has eaten much more than usual.”

Zanying’s appetite had always been small.

She barely touched more than three plates per meal.

Some even exaggerated, saying the number of grains of rice she consumed could be counted.

It wasn’t that she was picky, but eating too much made her chest feel uncomfortable.

However, those hundreds of days lingering on her sickbed in her previous life had made Zanying deeply understand one thing: nothing was more important than a healthy body.

The torment of being helpless and in pain had left a deep shadow on her.

She didn’t want her body to weaken again.

Anything within her control, she had to keep firmly in her hands.

After the meal, her maid Okra prepared a bath in the cleansing room, but Zanying said it wasn’t necessary.

Okra looked at Chun Jin in surprise.

The young lady always required a bath after sweating, especially in summer, sometimes bathing three times a day. Today was a hot day, so why the exception?

“I don’t feel particularly hot; take it away,” Zanying said as she rolled up her sleeves and loosened the sash at her waist.

Her slender fingers took hold of a silk handkerchief, gently wiping the light sweat from her forehead.

Her back still felt slightly sticky, but Zanying thought it must be because she had lived too delicately in the past.

She recalled how her mother had traveled from place to place to discuss business; surely, she didn’t bathe three times a day.

There were more important things than bathing at the moment.

She called for Chun Jin, “Sister, you’ve handled all the items Manager Du has delivered to the palace, haven’t you? Prepare a list for me; I’d like to take a look.”

Skipping even her afternoon nap, Chun Jin was puzzled by the young lady’s thoughts.

Since early morning, she had felt that something was different about Zanying today.

In the past, the young lady never bothered with such household matters.

The Empress had never taught her these things, and Zanying wasn’t interested in them either.

But she never disobeyed the young lady’s orders, so she acknowledged the request and began counting the items.

The results were astonishing.

In the twelve years Zanying had been in the palace, Manager Du, as the head of the Tang family’s business in the capital, had delivered an incredible amount of goods each season for her.

From everyday necessities and luxurious playthings to elegant jade porcelain and writing instruments, there was nothing Manager Du couldn’t procure.

By evening, even after refilling the oil in the bear-shaped porcelain lamp twice, Chun Jin still hadn’t finished compiling the list.

The bamboo slips filled with writing were laid out across the desk from one end to the other, with more piled on the floor.

Zanying told Chun Jin to rest for the day and continue tomorrow.

While sipping chrysanthemum tea by the window, she instructed the servants to pack everything listed on the bamboo slips into boxes.

During this time, Madam Lu came in, surprised to see the palace in such disarray.

After understanding the situation, she teased, “The young lady isn’t even of age yet, and she’s already eager to move her dowry to the Eastern Palace.”

But when she turned and saw the five large red-lacquered chests in the side room, each filled to the brim with items such as gold inkstones, ivory combs, jade mirrors, phoenix-embroidered shoes, butterfly-shaped hairpins, brocade, and jade ornaments, she couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

Zanying put down her tea cup and slowly spoke in her clear, gentle voice, “It’s true I lost my parents at a young age, but when it comes to preparing for marriage, I have people to arrange things for me. I don’t need to rush to gather things myself and give others something to gossip about. These are just everyday accessories and playthings. My tutor has always taught me to observe the rules of hierarchy and speak with caution, so today I’m leading by example.”

Madam Lu felt her face flush with embarrassment, realizing she had made a fool of herself.

She thought to herself, even daughters from noble families wouldn’t prepare such a grand dowry.

Yet to Zanying, these enviable items were merely her everyday trinkets.

News of the recent events quickly reached the Xianyang Palace.

When Empress Yu heard of it, she didn’t think much of it and asked Lu Pozi(Lu Yao), “The Crown Prince hasn’t been to Yuzhu Hall since he left yesterday, has he?”

Lu Pozi confirmed, then quickly realized, “Your Majesty means that the young lady is throwing a little tantrum?”

“What else could it be? It’s just about the extent of her capability.”

Empress Yu teased the parrot in the cage, thinking helplessly.

The girl didn’t inherit the intelligence of Tang Su, nor the reckless bravery of her father, who died at the border.

She was just a useless piece of rotten wood.

And she never considered that the Crown Prince of Jin, destined to inherit a grand legacy and leave his mark on history, couldn’t be entangled in romantic whims, spending his days indulging in a woman’s affection.

But what Empress Yu wanted was precisely a piece of rotten wood.

“Let her be.” A glimmer of something flashed in Empress Yu’s eyes.

She had carefully cultivated this person.

No matter how much she struggled, could she ever escape the palm of her hand?

After the coming-of-age ceremony, everything would be settled.

In the following days, Zan Ying stayed behind closed doors, fully focused on inventorying everything related to the Tang family inside Yuzhu Hall.

Chun Jin, with her exceptional memory, could recall even an old pair of earrings or a pair of silver chopsticks from years ago, remembering when they were brought into the palace and where they were placed.

In the end, they collected everything neatly, filling eight redwood chests.

And this did not even include the many items Zan Ying had offered in filial piety to the Emperor and Empress over the years.

As for the Eastern Palace, it was needless to say—Crown Prince Li loved unique calligraphy, rare brushes, and fine inkstones, along with the sachets, tea cakes, and incense stamps she had painstakingly crafted for him.

The gifts she sent over the years were countless.

Sitting in her now significantly emptier bedchamber, Zan Ying dressed simply, listening to the cicadas chirping outside her window.

Listening, she suddenly laughed.

It was only now that she truly understood why Headmaster Shopkeeper Du had insisted on paying for everything she needed in the palace over the years without touching a single penny of the palace’s allowances.

This was her way out, her confidence.

Everything she ate, drank, wore, and used over the past decade had been paid for by her own family’s wealth.

She owed nothing to this palace.

On the contrary, the Tang family had subsidized half of the inner palace.

“Lady, what’s the matter?” Chun Jin stood beside her, watching as the young lady’s once gentle and lively eyes sank into a desolate coldness.

Although she was smiling, her expression was more desolate than anyone’s.

Chun Jin’s heart sank involuntarily.

Zan Ying absentmindedly rubbed her right arm, “Sister Chun Jin, would you be willing to stay with me always?”

Chun Jin was stunned.

She had always been under the Empress’s orders to care for the young lady; naturally, she would always follow her mistress.

Then, recalling the unusual changes in the young lady these past few days, her heart skipped a beat as she looked at Zan Ying.

Quickly, Chun Jin knelt and said, “This servant will always follow the lady.”

If not for the young lady’s plea, she would have rotted away in Yongxiang, and no one would have known if her bones were even collected.

She wasn’t someone who would forget a debt of gratitude; she had always remembered this kindness, even if it meant shattering her bones, she would repay it.

Zan Ying thought back to her previous life; Chun Jin was the last one who stayed by her side.

She knew all too well that Chun Jin, like Qiukui and Lu Pozi, had been chosen by the Empress.

The only difference was that this elder sister would silently weep when she couldn’t bear to watch the imperial physician cut away Zan Ying’s infected flesh.

In that desolate garden, Chun Jin was the only one who ever asked her, “Does it hurt, young lady?”

It did.

Zanying helped Chun Jin up and respectfully bowed deeply, saying, “In that case, I have a matter I’d like to entrust to you, sister. I humbly ask for your help in handling it.”

Zanying’s birthday was on the 16th of May, and though she hadn’t left her residence since, it was now the 15th.

She remained calm, but it was clear that someone in the Eastern Palace couldn’t sit still.

“She still hasn’t come today?”

Li Jinghuan, who had taken over the Ministry of Personnel earlier that year, overseeing matters of promotion and demotion, returned to the palace after a day at the office.

His footsteps paused when he saw the empty desk that hadn’t changed since he left in the morning.

The eunuch Li Jian, immediately noticing the Crown Prince’s displeasure, held his breath and shook his head.

Ever since the 8th, when the prince returned from the Yuzhu Palace, he had asked the same question every day.

But Miss Fu still hadn’t come.

She just didn’t come.

“Your Highness, she hasn’t been to the Eastern Palace, and I heard she hasn’t gone to the Central Hall to pay respects to His Majesty either. His Majesty thought Miss Fu had a heatstroke and sent Eunuch Yuan to check on her, but… Miss Fu only said a few perfunctory words through the door and didn’t even show her face.”

Li Jian’s voice grew softer with each word as he watched the Crown Prince’s expression.

That Eunuch Yuan was the chief steward of both the Eastern and Western Palaces, His Majesty’s trusted confidant.

Even he had been turned away at the door—a rare occurrence.

Li Jinghuan stood tall beside a landscape screen, his fingers gripping a jade dragon pendant as his face darkened.

His gaze lingered on the empty desk.

Fu Zanying had always loved making small pastries and desserts, and the first place she would send them was the Eastern Palace, a habit she had maintained for years.

Back then, every day after he finished his studies, before even stepping inside, the sweet, sticky fragrance would greet him, signaling that a little glutton had brought treats again.

The little girl loved sweets but often couldn’t eat too much without feeling sick.

The leftovers would always end up in his stomach.

They’d sit together at the small dining table, with her seated beside him, her delicate fingers holding a peach blossom pastry, pushing it toward his lips.

Her soft waist, like a slender willow, would bend as she reached forward.

When he didn’t immediately react, she’d get anxious, her long eyelashes fluttering, her arm nudging closer.

Only after he took a bite would the little girl’s eyes fill with joyful innocence, her dimples brimming with sweetness, sweeter than the pastries themselves.

When they were younger, he indulged her little antics, even though he didn’t particularly enjoy girls being overly delicate.

All because of that sweetness in her eyes.

But as they grew older, his taste for sweet things waned.

“You can come without bringing food. I don’t care for those anymore.” That was what Li Jinghuan had told Zanying just last month.

He didn’t mean for her to stop coming altogether.

The Crown Prince sat down on a low stool, his brow furrowed in cold frustration.

Was she sulking because she saw him with Fu Zhuangxue that day?

Acting like a child and refusing to come out, expecting someone to coax her?

And why would she compete with Zhuangxue in the first place?

Li Jinghuan still remembered the first time he saw the girl in pink who accompanied Zhuang’an.

He had been amazed by her gaze.

It was different from the usual fragile softness; her eyes carried a depth of resilience and quiet strength.

Upon further inquiry, he learned that Fu Zhuangxue had been born in Yongliang.

After her mother’s death, she had traveled thousands of miles with tens of thousands of refugees, eating wild plants and enduring the hardships of the road before finally arriving in Jiangnan.

When she spoke of these experiences, there was no bitterness in her expression. Instead, her bright eyes held an indomitable innocence.

At that moment, Li Jinghuan realized she was unlike any other noblewoman in Jiankang.

Especially unlike Fu Zanying, who had been pampered in luxury her entire life.

Zanying’s delicacy was just that—delicacy. Innocent but unable to endure hardship, well-mannered but lacking in passion.

And yet, because of their childhood connection, he had always indulged her.

Still, she wasn’t being obedient.

She had to make a fuss.

Li Jian noticed the prince spread out an official document on his desk, the brush heavy with ink hovering above it, yet unmoving.

After some thought, he suggested, “Tomorrow is Miss Fu’s birthday. Perhaps, Your Highness, you could prepare a gift for her. That would surely brighten the mood at Yuzhu Palace.”

In his mind, he thought: one of them has to offer a way to smooth things over, right?

But Li Jinghuan responded, “My mother has already prepared everything. What could she possibly be missing?”

As he spoke, a drop of ink fell from the brush, staining the paper black.

It reminded him of the times he cradled Zanying in his arms, teaching her to write.

The clumsy little child would leave messy black blobs on the paper, much like this.

He stared at it for a moment before crossing it out with his brush.

With a soft sigh, he muttered, “Let’s wait a little longer.”

From what he knew of Fu Zanying, she was accustomed to relying on him, always wanting to share everything with him. Li Jian was right.

Tomorrow was her big day—she wouldn’t be able to resist coming to see him tonight.