A piece of Japanese incense

Yutuan had been waiting in front of the vermilion door of the upper study, holding a small bag of snacks tightly in her hand.

I unwrapped the oil paper package, and saw a dense layer of sesame seeds tightly attached to the sugar.

I shared the sesame candies with Princess Yan and others who were about to leave the school, and in a blink of an eye, only two pieces of sesame candies were left in the small bag.

"Oh, I should have taken more." Yutuan picked up the sesame seeds with his fingers and put them into his mouth.

"Princess Tingzhu and the Crown Prince haven't come out yet, so leave these two pieces for them and we'll eat them when we get back."

"Okay!" Yu Tuan nodded with a smile, revealing two rows of white teeth.

"Wow~ What delicious food is this?" My uncle, Princess Tingzhu, and the Crown Prince walked out of the study together, their eyes fixed on my hands.

I looked at the two sesame candies left in my hand, smiled awkwardly, and quickly took one of them and cut it in half.

"Princess, would you like to try the new sesame candy developed in my shop? Grandson, please try it too!" I put the candy in their hands respectively.

Seeing that the two of them were just silent and didn't taste it, I handed it to my uncle along with the oil paper: "Sir, this big piece is for you!"

The cousin took the candy, cut it in two, took one and put it into his mouth: "It's too sugary, you'd better eat less to avoid hurting your teeth."

"Thank...thank you very much." The Crown Prince was a little embarrassed. After simply thanking him, he left in a hurry. Princess Tingzhu followed him in a hurry.

Facing Feng Zhiyu's back, I felt a little uneasy.

"I don't know why you go to the study room every day. You always fall asleep and wait for the next lesson when you wake up. Aren't you afraid of your father's assessment?!"

I was stunned for a moment, then came to my senses and replied nonchalantly: "My father doesn't care about me."

My cousin handed the remaining half of the sesame candy back to me. I took it jokingly, pinched his earlobe, and ran away laughing.

"Girl, you know what, that A'ban looks exactly like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If they both stood in front of me, I wouldn't be able to tell who is who." Yu Tuan caught up with me, holding his waist, breathing heavily.

Yutuan’s words were like thunder to my head, waking me up in an instant.

So, I haven't seen Aban for two or three months. Every time I looked for him, he was not there. Yu Nian always said that he might have found a job or was traveling to another place and had not contacted us yet.

I also wondered if his identity had been discovered, but everything remained calm until I met the Crown Prince today...

Although he was dressed in gorgeous clothes, the Crown Prince was always arrogant. He never even looked at me, let alone said thank you.

In the dead of night, I repeatedly pondered this doubt, struggling whether I should unveil this mysterious veil, or wait quietly, hoping that one day he would open his heart to me. This struggle was like a silent storm deep in my heart. I was unwilling to give up this friendship, but I was afraid to face the cruelty of the truth.

The next morning, I got up early for the first time ever and waited for the prince on the road he had to take.

The sound of horse hooves, like war drums, echoed in the ears and between the palace walls.

The body of the carriage is made of fine rosewood, with delicate patterns and auspicious designs of dragons and phoenixes carved on the surface. The roof is covered with golden satin, and the edges are inlaid with pearls and gems. It shines brightly in the sun, like stars in the sky fallen to the earth.

The crown prince sat upright in the carriage, wearing a brocade robe embroidered with cloud and dragon patterns and a jade belt around his waist.

His face was calm and his eyes were firm, revealing a maturity and stability beyond his age.

As the carriage slowly moved forward, he looked at me through the intricately carved window, then quickly looked away.

The accompanying guards were dressed in brocade clothes, holding weapons, and looking solemn, as if they were an indestructible city wall.

I decided to find another opportunity to meet him in private, so I lowered my head silently and waited for them to pass by us.

If it weren't for the screen, I might have taken the opportunity to throw him a note in class. However, now I can only support my chin with my hand and concentrate on thinking about how to contact the prince.

When the bell rang for the end of school, I fell down on purpose and slipped the note into the Crown Prince's hand, agreeing to meet at Wenyuan Pavilion at 3:00 p.m. I hoped my plan would not fail, otherwise, I would be accused of seducing the Crown Prince again.

After a quick meal, I slipped into Wenyuan Pavilion with ease.

Time seems to slow down at this moment, and every second becomes particularly heavy, as if I can hear the sound of it ticking past my heart.

Outside the window, the leaves swayed in the breeze, their shadows cast on the window frames, waving a long melody as time passed.

I sat on the stairs on the second floor, folded my hands, and gently rubbed my fingertips. Every breath I took was extremely careful, for fear of disturbing this quiet wait.

Countless thoughts surge in my mind, rising and falling like the tide, sometimes calm as a mirror, sometimes turbulent.

I tried to find a bit of peace in this ocean of thoughts, but found that the harder I tried, the more turbulent those waves of expectations became.

"You all, wait here. I will look up the classics and come out soon."

It’s really Aban!

Finally, the old door slowly closed with a creaky sound, followed by a series of familiar footsteps. That was the signal I had been waiting for for a long time. My heart jumped with the sound, and all the tension and fear dissipated in an instant, replaced by a feeling of full expectation and warmth.

I quickly ran down the stairs and gave him a big hug.

"How did you become the crown prince, you silly Aban?" I patted his chest hard.

He made a gesture to silence me, pulled me upstairs, found a secluded place, squatted down, and whispered, "Ah He! I was discovered by the Crown Princess again, and she asked me to pretend to be Feng Zhiyu."

I lowered my voice and said, "What?! This is too risky! To them, you are dead, right? Why did they let you pretend to be the crown prince? Where is the real crown prince?"

He just lowered his head and shook it. “After you guys used mulberry bark thread to sew up my back, not long after, a bunch of people broke in and knocked me out. When I woke up again, I was already in the East Palace.”

"Are you okay? Your back hasn't fully recovered yet. Has it gotten worse in the past few months?"

"No, Princess, I asked a doctor to treat me. Now, the scab has formed."

The worries in my heart gradually dissipated. Thinking back to the pain Aban had endured every time Yu Nian used maggots to clean the dead flesh on his back, I couldn't help but feel distressed and hugged him tightly.

"Ah He! You have to help me!" Aban hugged my shoulders with both hands, his voice trembling, and his eyes red.

"you say!"

"Crown Princess, I burned the box that my father left for me..."

I recalled the two wooden boxes with peeling paint that we had opened before. Inside were maps, purses, silverware, and words written in garbled characters...