A piece of Japanese incense

While I was thinking, "It's a bit old-fashioned. I don't know how heavy it is or how much it is worth..."

Holding the principle that I cannot go against money, I took the earring box, picked up the pair of earrings lightly, and gently rotated them on my fingertips to feel their weight.

(Well, it’s quite heavy, so it should be worth a lot of silver…)

"Take it with you tomorrow and accompany Daddy to the audience with His Majesty. Heer, behave well. The emperor's mind is unpredictable. Who knows? If you please His Majesty, he may bless Heer with more precious things!"

I asked eagerly, "Oh? Then can you shorten the time you go home? For example... go home once every five days?"

Dog Dad's eyes were always smiling. He pinched my cheek with his index and middle fingers and said, "Your cousin is now teaching poetry and books in the upper study room. He has many duties and is very tiring. You and I must abide by the rules and don't add trouble to your cousin."

I hurriedly explained: "I didn't do that! What did I do!?"

Dog Dad didn't respond to my question, and continued slowly: "You have to follow the rules, just like Siqi, and address him respectfully as Mr."

"That's quite polite," I muttered quietly.

"Besides, we have not made our relationship public, so it is not appropriate to tell others about this matter."

"I don't know how many people I've called him 'uncle' in front of. You're just saying it now..."

"You are still young. If someone asks you about it, just say it's just a childhood joke. In the future, you must never touch on this topic again."

"So mysterious..." I muttered.

"Ok?"

"It's okay, it's okay! He'er knows!"

"Well, you only have two personal maids, Yuyi and Yutuan, by your side, and your residence is extremely simple..."

I interrupted him hastily, "Don't worry! I think the current situation is perfect! The three of us are so comfortable, you don't have to worry! Although the courtyard is simple, we like it very much. We even enclosed a piece of fertile land and planted many fruit and vegetable seeds!"

Dog Dad didn't say any more. After a lot of nagging and various instructions, he finally allowed me to leave Luo Mengtang.

Before leaving Changle Palace, I ran into my uncle who seemed to be planning to leave the palace as well:

"Hello, sir." I deliberately prolonged the pronunciation of each word, leaning forward slightly, with a hint of teasing in my tone.

"No need to be so polite, niece!" He held up my wrist with a folding fan in his hand.

I lowered my eyes and stared at the folding fan. It was made of inky black jade and exuded a faint woody fragrance.

"This fan looks very expensive. No wonder my uncle still holds it in his hand even in autumn."

"If my niece loves this fan, why don't you ask your father to make one for you?!"

"My father gave it to me?" I snatched the fan. The fan was covered with soft and breathable silk, painted with lifelike landscapes, flowers and birds. The corners of the folding fan were inlaid with honeysuckle patterns woven with gold and silver threads.

"Honeysuckle pattern..." I stroked the smooth and delicate fan ribs, thinking silently in my heart.

My cousin took back the folding fan, tapped me on the head, and walked carelessly on the palace road with lazy and casual steps.

I looked at his swollen ear hole and walked a few steps to his side. "Does your ear still hurt? It hurts when I talk."

My uncle replied calmly, "It's nothing serious. I just turned over at night. I can still sleep on one side. You should pay attention to it! If you press on it, it will be so painful that I will wake up~"

I pinched my earlobes carefully with both hands, snorted softly, and shrugged as if I wasn't interested.

When Yuyi and I returned to our residence, Yutuan came up to me and hugged me excitedly: "Girl! Do you know? Xiaoke is now the head of the upper study room!"

Yu Yi said excitedly: "Oh? So powerful? What about his master? What's his name... Li..."

I interrupted and said, "Wang De."

"Yes! It's Wang De!" Yutuan put one hand on Yuyi's shoulder and the other around my waist, leading us into the house.

On the table, boxes and packages of various sizes were neatly stacked.

"Didn't I say we didn't need any help? Why is someone still moving in?" I casually flipped through the items on the table.

"No, no, no! No! These are all gifts from everyone to the young lady when she returns to the palace! Most of them have been persecuted by Fang Juexia or the Marquis' Mansion. They all know that the young lady led the people to beat the drum to report the incident and successfully brought down the Marquis of Wanning, so they came here specially to thank the young lady!"

I glanced at it briefly and interrupted Yu Tuan who was talking excitedly: "Then do you know who gave the gift and what it was?"

"Remember! I have memorized it all. This handkerchief was embroidered by Xi Que in Ye Shiyuan's courtyard; this Xia Yuanzi is from the imperial kitchen..."

I took the only book, Xiang Cheng, and asked, "Huh? Who gave you this book?"

"Oh! Yes, yes, yes! His Highness Zhixu came to see you! He waited for you for a long time but you didn't come back, so he left this book and left."

I flipped through the book and didn't expect that after so long, he still remembered to find books on perfume studies for me.

Yuyi couldn't wait to ask, "Hey! Yutuan! You haven't mentioned Xiaoke yet! How come he is in charge of the study room so soon?"

"Oh, yes, yes! It is said that the Crown Prince accidentally tripped over a corpse in the garden at the back door of the Upper Study and was greatly frightened. Later, under the strict investigation of the Crown Princess, multiple corpses were found. Wang De was found guilty of many crimes because of this incident. After his master passed away, Xiao Ke naturally took over the position of the head of the Upper Study."

After hearing Yu Tuan's words, I was filled with questions. It seemed too coincidental that Xiao Ke became the chief steward. Why did the corpse appear in front of the crown prince for no reason and trip him up? With Wang De's power, why didn't he just find someone to take the blame? Xiao Ke's qualifications were still young, so who recommended him to be the head of the upper study?

Although I was full of questions, I thought that this matter had little to do with me, so I just listened to it as a piece of gossip.

When I saw the Crown Prince again, it was the second month after I entered the palace. As usual, I was still the last person to enter the classroom.

There was a person sitting on the originally empty seat. He was wearing a rosewood-colored satin gown with silver-thread cloud patterns delicately embroidered on the lapels. The patterns rose and fell slightly with his every breath, like clouds rolling and unrolling.

Feng Zhiyu had his hair tied up in a bun, secured with an intricately carved white jade hairpin. Although winter had not yet arrived, he had a fox fur coat around his neck that was as white as the first snow.

I greeted Princess Tingzhu: "Princess, has your brother recovered from his illness? Why is he still wearing a scarf in the house?"

Princess Tingzhu looked away and picked up a book to read: "Hurry up and sit down, the teacher is here soon."