The princess's residence, West Residence.
Wisps of mist rose from a portable little pill furnace inside the room. Dressed in white, Lin Zisu weighed various medicinal ingredients beside the table, her exquisitely sculpted face filled with the gratification of seeing lovers finally united:
"Xie Lang does like the Empress Dowager, after all. Otherwise, why would he fly into a towering rage for a beauty and help Her Majesty block the rebels? Aunt, why aren't you saying anything? Are you jealous?"
"What nonsense are you talking? I'm worried Xie Jinhuan got hurt again. He didn't come back all last night."
"Xie Lang must be keeping the Empress Dowager company now."
"He didn't come back last night, either-"
"Then he spent last night in the palace."
"?"
Standing at the window, Lin Wanyi frowned at that, turned around, and gave the mischievous girl's developing bottom a few smacks. Only then did she resume looking toward the rooftops outside, secretly wondering whether Xie Jinhuan really had entered the palace and received imperial favor.
She had waited only a moment when, instead of Xie Jinhuan appearing, Coal Ball, who had likewise vanished all night, raised his head above the roof ridge, then bobbed it to indicate the bedroom in the neighboring courtyard.
?
Thinking Xie Jinhuan had returned, Lin Wanyi's eyes lit up. She hurried out toward the bedroom without drawing attention, but halfway there, her steps slowed a little, and her gaze turned somewhat peculiar.
If he's back, he's back. Why hide in the bedroom without saying hello, and call me over, too? Could he be so pent up after two days without fooling around that he wants to misbehave in broad daylight? That Big Pig Trotter. What if Linghu Qingmo comes looking for me later-
The more Lin Wanyi thought about it,