Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

It was Xiahou Jin.

Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly.

She knew Xiahou Jin was good-looking from that fleeting glimpse in the lake that day.

He stood dozens of meters away, his features exceptionally handsome, his figure tall and slender, making him even more pleasing to the eye.

Yan Zhen threw the flowers in her hand into the fish pond and stood up to bow.

But before she could bend her knees, Xiahou Jin took a few quick steps to her and grabbed her wrist.

She looked up, and the moment their eyes met, Xiahou Jin blurted out, "It wasn't me!"

Yan Zhen's gaze fell on his hand that was gripping her wrist. Unlike the way the Consort gently lifted her up when she stopped her from bowing, his gesture was more intimate.

It seems the original owner's relationship with him was indeed quite good—

“I didn’t have someone push you into the water, Ah Heng, you have to believe me…”

"I know," Yan Zhen said softly. "I believe you."

Upon receiving her reply, Xiahou Jin seemed relieved and explained, "Don't worry, Mother Consort is already investigating the mastermind behind this, and I believe she will soon find out the truth."

"Ah."

Xiahou Jin thought for a moment and then explained, "I've been staying with my father these past few days and haven't been able to come see you."

Yan Zhen nodded again: "The imperial physician comes to check my pulse every day. I am fine now, so you don't need to worry about me."

Xiahou Jin hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Yan Zhen took the initiative to ask, "What would Your Highness like to ask?"

Xiahou Jin hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help asking, "Why did you push me away that day in the lake?"

"Didn't you say it was a trap?"

“But that’s a matter of life and death. Besides, between you and me…” Xiahou Jin said, releasing her hand in a fit of pique, “You’re willing to risk your life just to avoid suspicion.”

Yan Zhen said seriously, "Avoiding suspicion is not useless. If Your Highness had carried me ashore that day, you would probably have had to stay with the Emperor for quite some time."

Xiahou Jin was taken aback, then realized that her avoidance of suspicion was not only for her own sake, but also for his.

“I have already explained everything to my father.” His expression softened, and he gently took her hand: “Ah Heng, please wait for me a little longer, and I… I will definitely marry you.”

-

During the day, Yan Zhen fed the fish in the back hall for an hour and was exposed to the wind. In the evening, he felt drowsy and developed a low-grade fever.

The imperial physician was summoned to Yihua Palace overnight. He prescribed medicine and performed acupuncture, and after half the night, she finally recovered from her fever by the time dawn broke and she was covered in sweat.

This illness served as a wake-up call for Yan Zhen. She needed to take good care of the original owner's body, which was like Lin Daiyu's, lest she achieve great things in the future but die young and not have the chance to enjoy them. What would be the point of her efforts then?

She spent over a month in bed, feeling unwell, but her energy and spirits gradually recovered.

During this time, the Imperial Concubine would come to visit from time to time, and the ladies of the palace would also send people to visit. Even Xiahou Chuan secretly came twice.

Xiahou Jin, on the other hand, was very busy and rarely appeared, but he often had people send him all sorts of small gifts.

Sometimes it was a pot of rare peonies, sometimes it was a strange little trinkets presented as tribute from foreign vassals. Knowing that she loved reading stories from outside the palace, he had many collected, changed the covers, and sent them to Yihua Palace for her entertainment.

There was a gossipy little maid named Lüzhu in Yihua Palace. Even without deliberately inquiring, Yan Zhen knew what Xiahou Jin had been busy with lately.

The day before yesterday, a fire broke out in an alley in the capital filled with poor people, burning hundreds to death. Yesterday, the barbarians beyond the Great Wall were stirring and showed signs of invading the border. Today, there is a locust plague in Xuzhou, resulting in a significant reduction in grain production and causing widespread panic among the people...

As the eldest son whom the emperor relies on most, Xiahou Jin has to put in a lot of effort and time to handle these matters, keeping him extremely busy every day.

"His Majesty has sent His Highness to Xuzhou to inspect the disaster situation and comfort the victims. Xuzhou is a long way away, and it is unknown when he will be able to return."

Yan Zhen leaned against the chaise longue reading a storybook, while Green Pearl knelt on the footstool, massaging his legs and muttering softly.

Yan Zhen turned a page of the storybook without even blinking: "What does it matter to you when His Highness returns?"

“But… in twenty-eight days it will be your sixteenth birthday,” Green Pearl said. “In previous years His Highness would have celebrated with you, but he might not be able to make it back this year.”

"It's no big deal." Yan Zhen said dismissively, "As long as the gift is delivered, it doesn't matter whether the person comes or not."

Green Pearl: "..."

Yan Zhen doesn't care about birthdays; she's been focusing her energy on exercising lately.

She would practice the Eight Pieces of Brocade twice every morning, reduce her afternoon nap, and take a stroll around Yihua Palace twice after dinner in the evening—given the precedent of falling into the water last time, she would absolutely not leave Yihua Palace if she could avoid being ambushed again.

After exercising for more than half a month, she clearly felt that her physical fitness had improved, and at least she was no longer drowsy and listless all day.

September arrived in the blink of an eye.

News came from Xuzhou that Xiahou Jin and many agricultural officials, after repeated experiments, used burning herbs with a pungent odor to drive away locusts, achieving remarkable results and bringing the locust plague under control.

Every day, Green Pearl would peer out from the palace gate, muttering to herself.

"The locust plague is under control, so His Highness should be back soon."

When will His Highness return?

"He should be able to get back by the end of the month, right?"

Yan Zhen passed by, rolled up the storybook in his hand into a tube, and tapped her on the forehead: "I've been looking forward to His Highness's return every day. When His Highness comes back, will he increase your monthly salary or reward you with gold coins?"

Green Pearl covered her head and said, "This servant doesn't want an extra monthly allowance or gold coins. As long as Your Highness comes back to celebrate Miss's birthday, Miss will be happy, and this servant will be happy too."

Yan Zhen paused, then tentatively asked, "How did Your Highness celebrate my birthday in previous years?"

Green Pearl paused for a moment, then asked, "Miss, have you forgotten everything?"

"I didn't forget," Yan Zhen said immediately. "I was just testing you. You don't even know how he celebrated my birthday with me, so how would you know if I was happy?"

Green Pearl pouted: "Every year on your birthday, His Highness would take you to the Star-Picking Tower to release sky lanterns. After releasing the sky lanterns, you would be in a good mood for several days in a row."

Yan Zhen thoughtfully stroked the storybook in his hand. It seemed that Xiahou Jin's kindness towards Xiao Lingyi wasn't entirely feigned.

Xiao Lingyi doesn't seem to be completely unmoved by Xiahou Jin.

Time flew by, and it was Xiao Lingyi's birthday.

Green Pearl had been hoping for news of Xiahou Jin's return to the palace since morning, but at noon, Xiahou Jin sent someone to deliver gifts.

Looking at the brocade box on the table, Green Pearl's face crumpled up, and she said disappointedly, "His Highness won't be back today."

Yan Zhen opened the brocade box, expecting it to contain gold, silver, jewelry, jade, or other precious items, but to his surprise, it contained a string of wheat ears.

She picked up the bunch of wheat ears; the golden, plump grains weighed down the stalks, bending them into a heavy arc, trembling as they bent over in her hand.

Through this ear of wheat, Yan Zhen understood Xiahou Jin's desire to share his success in controlling the locust plague.