Half a month after the Third Prince entered the Imperial Academy, the Crown Prince came.
His arrival was entirely unexpected. He had not sent a calling card in advance or had anyone announce him.
He simply strode through the gates of the Imperial Academy with four eunuchs and six guards in tow.
Lu Yanli was teaching Class A when he saw the Crown Prince enter. He froze for a moment, then led the entire class in paying their respects.
The Crown Prince waved a hand dismissively. His gaze swept across the classroom, passing over everyone’s heads before landing precisely on Shi Huai.
He was dressed in an apricot-yellow dragon robe, with a white jade belt around his waist. He looked thinner than when he had last visited the Marquis’s residence, with faint dark circles beneath his eyes.
He looked as though he had gone several nights without proper sleep.
The Crown Prince’s gaze lingered on Shi Huai’s face for a moment. His pupils contracted slightly, and his lips pressed into a thin line before he looked away.
He walked up to the Third Prince and looked down at his younger brother, a smile of unreadable emotion playing at the corners of his lips.
“Third Brother, have you grown accustomed to studying at the Imperial Academy?”
The Third Prince rose and bowed properly, his voice neither servile nor arrogant.
“Replying to Your Highness, the instructors at the Imperial Academy are learned, and the students diligent. I have benefited greatly.”
The Crown Prince nodded, but his gaze drifted toward Shi Huai once more, almost against his will.
Just then, Shen Jinghong stood and walked over to bow before the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, have you come to the Imperial Academy for something today? Shall I ask the Director to come over?”
The Crown Prince glanced at Shen Jinghong, a trace of impatience in his eyes.
Time and again, it was this man blocking his way.
He had done so at the Eastern Palace last time, and he was doing it again at the Imperial Academy.
But the Crown Prince did not lose his temper, because he noticed Shi Huai looking up at him.
Shi Huai simply gazed at him in silence.
The Crown Prince’s heart began to race.
He drew a deep breath and forced down the emotions roiling inside him. His voice was calm and indifferent.
“No need. I merely came to see Third Brother, and to have a look at all of you while I was here. You are the finest students at the Imperial Academy. One day, you will all become pillars of the court.”
He turned to the Third Prince and patted his younger brother on the shoulder. The force was neither light nor heavy, carrying both a brother’s affection and an heir apparent’s authority.
“Third Brother, study hard. Don’t bring shame upon Father. I’ll come see you again another day.”
After saying this, the Crown Prince turned and strode out of Class A.
He walked so quickly not because he was in a hurry, but because he was afraid that if he stayed even one second longer, he would be unable to resist walking over to Shi Huai, sitting beside him, and speaking with him.
When he reached the gates of the Imperial Academy, the Crown Prince paused.
He looked back at the vermilion gates and drew a deep breath.
He was the Crown Prince.
He could not act on a whim, could not do whatever he pleased, and could not simply follow his heart.
At least, he could not do so yet.
He had to preserve the dignity of the imperial family, consider the opinions of the civil and military officials, and take into account his father’s view of him and his mother’s expectations.
But it was so difficult.
Truly, so difficult.
The Crown Prince closed his eyes and slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding in his chest for what felt like an eternity. Then he turned and climbed into the carriage.
When the curtains fell, he leaned against the carriage wall and covered his face with both hands, letting out a muffled sigh.
The carriage rattled along Chang’an Street. The noise of the street filtered in through the gaps in the curtains: hawkers calling out their wares, people talking, laughter, curses...
All the sounds blended together like a pot of bubbling mixed-grain porridge. Every flavor was there, yet none of them could be distinguished.
The Crown Prince sat in the carriage with his eyes closed.
As the curtains shifted, light slipped through in intermittent flashes, illuminating his face and leaving it in shadow. His young features looked especially weary.
He was only seventeen, an age when a young man should be full of spirit and ambition.
Yet his brows and eyes already carried a weariness and heaviness that did not belong to someone his age.
He was the Crown Prince, heir to the Great Yan Dynasty, the future emperor.
He could not be willful.
He could not.
Not yet!
The Crown Prince repeated those words to himself three times before opening his eyes and lifting the curtain to look outside.
The carriage happened to be passing along the street where the Yongning Marquis’s residence stood.
The vermilion gates were especially striking beneath the afternoon sun. Two stone lions crouched outside, their mouths open to reveal sharp teeth.
The Crown Prince’s gaze paused on the gates for a moment before moving away.
He let the curtain fall, leaned back against the carriage wall, and closed his eyes.
The Imperial Academy had a small garden in its rear courtyard, with several stalks of emerald bamboo and an old plum tree.
It was not large, but it was quiet.
Shi Huai liked to go there during the midday break, sit for a while, look at the bamboo, and let his mind wander.
That afternoon, he went to the rear garden as usual.
He had just sat down on the stone bench beneath the plum tree when he heard footsteps behind him.
It was not one person, but a group.
He turned around.
He saw the Third Prince approaching from the left with a plate of pastries.
Wang Ren came running from the right with a food box in hand.
Shen Jinghong wandered over from the front, carrying a book.
Lin Mo peeked out from behind him with a pot of tea.
Gu Changning leaned against the moon gate, a book in his hand.
Five people, coming from five different directions, all with the same destination.
Shi Huai sat on the stone bench and watched the five of them converge on him from all sides. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and he sighed inwardly.
The Third Prince’s voice held the characteristic urgency of a young man.
“Shi Huai, I had the imperial kitchen make some lotus pastries. Try one.”
Wang Ren’s voice was earnest and stubborn.
“Shi Huai, my family’s chef came up with a new pastry. It’s called osmanthus crisp, and it tastes even better than lotus-paste pastry.”
Shen Jinghong’s voice was lazy and irritatingly smug.
“Shi Huai, I brought you a book. It’s that rare edition you said you wanted to find last time.”
Lin Mo’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Brother Shi Huai, I... I brought some Junshan Silver Needle. It’s new tea from this year. You... you should try it.”
Gu Changning said nothing.
He simply leaned against the moon gate with a book in his hand, his gaze resting on Shi Huai over the top edge of the pages. His cold, phoenix-shaped eyes held an emotion that was difficult to define.
Shi Huai looked at the plate of lotus pastries in the Third Prince’s hands, then at the osmanthus crisps in the food box beside him. He glanced at the rare book in front of him, then at the teapot Lin Mo held behind him.
Finally, he looked at Tangerine, who had poked his head out from behind the moon gate. Its round eyes were fixed on the pastries in his hands, its whiskers twitching with every eager breath.
The little creature followed him to school every day now, wishing it could cling to him every moment of every day.
Shi Huai sighed, scooped Tangerine up, and settled it on his lap. He gently scratched beneath its chin with one finger.
Then he raised his head and looked at the five people before him, an exasperated smile on his lips.
“Don’t any of you eat lunch? Why have you all come looking for me?”
