Yan's Sixth Prince had led troops against the rebels in Shenbeizhou at the age of sixteen, driven back Nan Jing's invasion, held the northwestern border, and brought back Yan Manfeng, the Agricultural School Saint, who had been gravely wounded and left to wander outside the country.
But people only knew that His Sixth Highness had brought back the Sage Yan Manfeng. They did not know he had brought back someone else, too.
Donglan Li followed his elder sister and brother into the palace. After the morning court had dispersed, he saw everyone surrounding the Sixth Prince, who was clad in golden armor, and congratulating him.
Every face in the crowd wore a smile. Some, however, smiled so falsely it was sickening.
"Sixth Highness!" Princess Wangshu called out brightly, rescuing the Sixth Prince from the crowd.
The youth turned around amid the throng of court officials. Though he was only sixteen, he was much taller and broader than others his age. After being tempered on the battlefield, his skin had darkened under the sun. He had deep-set eyes, a high nose, and peerless good looks. His appearance was striking, yet his sharp phoenix eyes easily crinkled into crescents when he smiled, making him seem casual and amiable, with a touch of honest simplicity.
"Susu!" Sixth Prince Yan Xuan called Princess Wangshu by her pet name. He gave the people beside him a polite nod, then turned without hesitation and walked toward Princess Wangshu and her group.
Donglan Li looked toward the young man in the Crown Prince's red robes beneath the distant corridor. After the Sixth Prince left, the people who had surrounded him shifted into a clever formation, gradually dividing into two rows.
One group represented Crown Prince Yan; the other represented the Sixth Prince's maternal Zhao Clan.
Princess Wangshu