Chapter 122: Returned

Lin Miaomiao lifted her head, her voice slightly hoarse as she slowly spoke to Crown Prince Li Hanwen, "I suppose, Your Highness, even you must feel weary at times."

Hearing her words, Crown Prince Li Hanwen was momentarily taken aback. Then, fixing his gaze on her, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Lin Miaomiao glanced at the blooming flowers in the garden, lowered her eyes in thought for a long moment, then looked up and said, "Long ago, I heard a saying."

"There are many palaces within the palace walls, but none is as much a thorn in the side of those in power as the Eastern Palace."

"There is no existence more difficult than that of the heir apparent. Behind closed doors, they are father and son; when the doors open, they are sovereign and subject. What is called loyalty is, after all, just a matter of interests."

After finishing her words, Lin Miaomiao lifted her gaze to meet the Crown Prince’s and said, "From the very first moment I saw you, I sensed loneliness emanating from you."

"But to become one above all and many below, Your Highness, this is the path you must walk."

She then glanced at him again and said, "I know that Da'ankou Factory also has business dealings with you."

"Now that I am in the capital, I have entrusted my affairs to others. Should you require any assistance, I am willing to be of service."

Crown Prince Li Hanwen raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Miaomiao. "If you possess such ability, why not…?"

Lin Miaomiao heard his words and sighed after a long pause. "It’s nothing, just a feeling of weariness."

"Besides, if I truly loved Li Yanhe, I would not support him in vying for this position. After all, who pushes the one they love into the fire?"

A mocking smile curled at the corner of Crown Prince Li Hanwen’s mouth. Fourth Prince Li Deren had stood in the garden for a long while, watching until Lin Miaomiao’s figure faded from sight.

Listening to Lin Miaomiao’s words, a strange mark was left in the Crown Prince’s heart, for reasons he could not explain.

Only after ascending to his position did Crown Prince Li Hanwen realize with shock that every word Lin Miaomiao spoke cut straight to the core.

After Lin Miaomiao left, Fourth Prince Li Deren looked at the dazed Crown Prince and curiously asked, "Brother, why are you standing here lost in thought?"

The Crown Prince was startled, then sighed heavily. "I am not lost in thought, only pondering some matters. Yet, no matter how much I think, I cannot make sense of them."

After hearing this, Fourth Prince Li Deren sighed deeply and said nothing.

September soon came, yet Li Yanhe still had not returned. Lin Miaomiao, holding letter after letter, felt a growing unease in her heart.

Finally, on the last day of the twentieth year of Yongchang, in December, Lin Miaomiao sat in the manor through the night. Only in the late hours did the servants begin to stir.

She rose and saw Li Yanhe standing there, covered in snowflakes and ice, the biting cold almost palpable.

A delicate smile graced Lin Miaomiao’s lips. Fireworks suddenly lit the sky above the capital, marking the first day of the twenty-first year of Yongchang.

Feeling the blossoms of color in the night sky, Lin Miaomiao sighed softly and asked Li Yanhe, "Has everything in Jiangnan been resolved?"

Li Yanhe nodded. "It’s all settled. The matter has been concluded, with various factions’ men sent away, and those responsible held accountable."

Lin Miaomiao nodded as well. Jiangnan was rich and fertile, and its people were seasoned merchants. The saying that Jiangnan was strewn with gold was not without merit.

Yet, the recent events there, with layers of official corruption and protection, had embezzled vast sums of silver. The Yongchang Emperor could not turn a blind eye.

Moreover, with Li Zheng missing and Fifth Prince Li Anping’s pulse injured—though not favored, he was still a prince, the son of the emperor.

Seeing Li Yanhe’s weary state after his long journey, Lin Miaomiao sighed and asked, "Why the rush to return?"

Li Yanhe glanced at her. Lin Miaomiao found herself strangely drawn to the deep darkness of his eyes, as if ready to be lost within them.

"Nothing much," he replied. "I just wanted to spend the new year with you."

At this, Lin Miaomiao’s lips curved into a lovely smile. Li Yanhe continued, "The Fifth Prince’s pulse is unharmed. It was only a ruse."

Lin Miaomiao was surprised. "Then why did he do that?"

Lowering his handsome gaze, Li Yanhe said, "Simply to urge Father to investigate the Jiangnan affairs thoroughly and to bring down the Crown Prince."

Lin Miaomiao sighed quietly, and her thoughts drifted to Fifth Prince Li Anping—the man whose smile always carried a trace of sorrow.

She said nothing further.

Li Yanhe looked at her and slowly said, "The situation in the capital won’t ease anytime soon."

Lin Miaomiao nodded in silence. Her business at Da’an Kou was flourishing, and she cared little for the turmoil in the capital.

The day after the New Year, Li Yanhe took Lin Miaomiao to the palace to pay respects to the Yongchang Emperor and the Virtuous Imperial Consort Yuan Chuxia, as was protocol.

Early that morning, both dressed in splendid attire, they entered the palace.

Lin Miaomiao looked at herself in the mirror, clad in regal palace robes, and felt a touch of unreality.

She had worn similar garments when taking modern artistic photographs—then, the clothes were light and weightless.

Now, her robes were rich and heavy, adorned with real gold and silver. The hairpins atop her head bore their own weight.

As she stepped out, Li Yanhe was momentarily struck silent.

She smiled beautifully and tilted her head. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing… you simply look very beautiful," he said.

Smiling, Lin Miaomiao walked ahead, Li Yanhe following closely behind. As they proceeded, she suddenly reached out to take his hand.

Since no carriages were allowed in the palace, they entered hand in hand.

At the last palace gate, they encountered Fourth Prince Li Deren and his princess consort. Li Deren bowed formally to Li Yanhe.

Lin Miaomiao naturally returned the bow. Li Deren was momentarily stunned by her splendid attire.

He said, "That dress suits you beautifully."

Startled, Lin Miaomiao grinned mischievously. "Your wife is standing right beside you. Aren’t you afraid she’ll get jealous hearing you praise another woman?"

She teased lightly, and Li Deren laughed, shaking his head. Then he glanced at his wife. "Probably not."

With no empress established, the Virtuous Imperial Consort Yuan Chuxia was the one all princes came to greet.

Lin Miaomiao sometimes admired Consort Yuan. Remaining in the palace alone would be dull, and with her intelligence, Lin Miaomiao felt she might be driven mad in such a place.

After paying her respects, Consort Yuan spoke briefly before dismissing them.

Lin Miaomiao noticed a brazier burning warmly in Consort Yuan’s chamber, yet the consort’s face was pale, as if she had suffered a grave illness.

Consort Yuan smiled faintly at Lin Miaomiao and said, "I am leaving soon. After all these years here, I shall finally return home."

"The flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water—they are all illusions. I suspect everything that happened here was unreal, like a dream."

Lin Miaomiao shook her head silently, moved by the consort’s melancholy expression.

She felt an inexplicable heaviness in her heart.

Looking at Li Yanhe, who in turn looked at Consort Yuan, Li Yanhe knelt and bowed twice before her.

Consort Yuan then spoke slowly, "I have been an unfit mother, and this is my first time being one. If I have done anything wrong, please forgive me."

She continued, "When I gave birth to you, I was but a child myself. I did not know how to raise or educate you, nor how to give you a good life."

After a long sigh, she gestured for them to leave.

As Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe departed, she glanced back toward the closing palace gate and saw Consort Yuan sitting quietly.

Her heart felt inexplicably heavy, and after a long breath, she looked to Li Yanhe.

He said softly, "Her health has always been poor. Unfortunately, she cannot die. While I was at the border, Father did not want her to pass."

Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao felt a sudden sympathy for the unfortunate consort.

Spring of the twenty-first year of Yongchang arrived, a season meant for renewal, yet the capital was shrouded in turmoil and clamor.

Ninth Prince Li Yonghe was unwilling to accept being the scapegoat for the Jiangnan incident. During the ancestral rites, he exposed the scandal of Shandong provincial soldiers forcibly taking women from the people.

The revelation sent shockwaves through the court—no one had anticipated such behavior from Shandong’s troops.

The Yongchang Emperor received the memorial with a darkened countenance, but what could he do?

Crown Prince Li Hanwen and Fourth Prince Li Deren stood silently, and after a long pause, the emperor’s voice rang out, cold and severe.