"A new compiler in the Hanlin Academy, so you were among the top scholars last year?" Zhao Yanxiang looked at the slender figure that was not as tall as him.
"Your Highness's guess is remarkably accurate." Lin Yan gave Wang Linlang a look, signaling her to leave quickly.
Upon receiving the signal, Wang Linlang immediately headed towards her carriage.
Zhao Yanxiang felt he had teased Wang Linlang enough for the day and did not stop her. However, he had no intention of letting this audacious Hanlin Academy compiler off so easily.
He needed to make this person understand that not everyone could play the hero and save the damsel.
"You must be the second-place scholar, so your essays should be quite good."
"Your Highness exaggerates." Lin Yan was very humble.
"Is that so? To have placed second is a testament to your talent. Are you lacking confidence, believing the examiners and my father's judgment were unfair?"
"This subordinate would not dare." Lin Yan quickly bowed.
"I think Compiler-daren is quite bold!" Zhao Yanxiang patted Lin Yan's shoulder.
Although he wouldn't do anything to this compiler on the street today, he would make this person understand the consequences of offending him.
"Return to the manor." He walked past Lin Yan and headed towards his own carriage.
"Your Highness, safe travels."
Lin Yan felt that today's incident was merely a minor interruption and didn't give it much thought.
However, when she arrived at the Yingchuan Prince's manor, at the estate outside the city, Zhao Hao's expression was somewhat mournful.
"What's wrong?" Lin Yan inquired.
"I heard Yan-ge and Your Highness clashed?" Zhao Hao's tone was laced with sarcasm.
"You know about it?" Lin Yan asked with amusement.
"Yan-ge doesn't have time to accompany me, yet he has time to play the hero and save the damsel. I wonder how beautiful that Miss Wang is?"
Lin Yan felt as if she could smell the scent of jealousy.
Zhao Hao's complaints grew more and more wronged, and he couldn't help but think that his Yan-ge was indeed of an age to consider marriage.
The mere thought of another woman appearing in Yan-ge's life, and that woman becoming his closest confidante, filled him with envy.
"What a strong scent of jealousy!" Lin Yan fanned her nose.
"Yan-ge has a beautiful bride, so naturally, he doesn't need me, his friend anymore."
"Alright, it was just seeing injustice on the road. Don't overthink it."
"But Yan-ge will have to marry and have children eventually," he mumbled softly.
"I will not marry."
"Yan-ge?" Zhao Hao looked up at Lin Yan with confusion.
"Truly, I will not marry." Lin Yan made a very serious promise.
Although he knew his thoughts were improper, hearing Lin Yan's words filled his heart with joy.
Lin Yan found it quite amusing. He was still so young, yet he was already displaying possessiveness. Was it possessiveness towards a friend, or towards a beloved?
"Then I won't marry either. I'll live with Yan-ge then." Zhao Hao said happily.
"Don't you dare say that in front of your father."
After all, Zhao Hao was Yingchuan Prince's only blood descendant. How could he be allowed to not marry?
"Father can't control me!"
Afterward, Lin Yan continued to teach him the content from his books, and Zhao Hao listened even more attentively.
Wang Linlang had wanted to thank Lin Yan very much since she was rescued last time. However, she knew she had no interactions with Lin Yan, and if she went to find her rashly, it might even cause her trouble.
But she also had no way to ask her cousin to help deliver something. Men and women should maintain distance. Although she didn't care much about her reputation, she was already being hounded by one man. If she were to get involved with another man,
then her reputation would be even worse. Moreover, she was living with her maternal relatives, and there were some younger sisters at home. She couldn't implicate them.
Therefore, although she had prepared a gift of gratitude, she had not yet sent it.
Lin Yan had forgotten about her entanglement with the male and female protagonists. It wasn't until she was targeted by colleagues again, and even deliberately made things difficult for her at work, that she remembered she seemed to have offended the male protagonist.
The male protagonist was truly petty, Lin Yan thought. This male protagonist was too idle. She should find something for him to do.
Just as Lin Yan was preparing to find something for the male protagonist to do, a major event occurred in the imperial harem.
The Emperor's youngest son, the Ninth Prince, accidentally fell into a pond. Although he was rescued quickly, the weather had just begun to warm up, and the Ninth Prince contracted a severe cold after being pulled out of the water.
He lay on his sickbed for a long time, his body growing weaker and weaker. The Emperor consequently punished many imperial physicians, but the Ninth Prince's illness showed no signs of improvement.
The Emperor looked at his normally lively and adorable son becoming so frail, and his heart ached immeasurably. However, he had consulted all the imperial physicians, and none could improve the Ninth Prince's condition.
He had even gone to seek her out, but if he wanted her help, he would have to abandon Fu An.
This was his dilemma. She had given him this choice, but he could only painlessly give up his beloved son.
Out of guilt, he sought out more doctors to treat the Ninth Prince. He even posted a notice, offering a reward for anyone who could cure the Ninth Prince.
However, the Ninth Prince's health continued to decline day by day. Despite the Emperor's vast riches, he was still unable to cure his son.
Later, the Emperor felt increasingly guilty and could no longer bear to see his previously doted-upon son in such a state.
The Ninth Prince died in early autumn. After half a year on his sickbed, he had become extremely emaciated, lying on the bed like a bundle of bones.
The Emperor did not even come to see him, merely instructing the Ministry of Rites to properly bury the Ninth Prince.
His mausoleum had begun construction three months prior, after he was declared incurable.
Lin Yan was also among the funeral procession. The Emperor granted him posthumous honors and, to express his sorrow, suspended court for three days.
Perhaps it was because having many children made them less precious. Lin Yan heard that another concubine in the harem was pregnant, and the Emperor, overjoyed, bestowed lavish rewards, likely having forgotten his former beloved son, the Ninth Prince.
The funeral procession was quite long. Although such a death of an unmarried child would not be a grand affair among the common folk, he was, after all, a prince.
Lin Yan knew why the Ninth Prince had never recovered, but she felt that Yingchuan Prince's method of making the Emperor grieve was not very effective.
At least it didn't strike at his weakness. For someone with so many concubines and children, losing one wouldn't matter to him much.
What he truly cared about was himself. However, as the Emperor, the security around him was too tight. Otherwise, striking at him would be the best choice.
From the moment he chose to abandon the Ninth Prince, Lin Yan knew that in the Emperor's heart, no one could compare to his own status.
As she followed the crowd forward, Lin Yan lowered her head slightly, concealing herself within the throng.