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Moreover, he had secluded himself for some time, and he had made a significant breakthrough in the study of palmistry.

Now that he saw Xiao Jinyan, he naturally wanted to test it out.

He was more curious about Xiao Jinyan’s marriage fate.

No, he had always been curious but had no opportunity.

This was already the third time Xiao Jinyan heard Lu Zhaoyan wanting to predict his marital fate, and he found it odd. How could a dignified Director of the Imperial Observatory be so obsessed with predicting marital fate?

"Aren’t you supposed to predict fortunes? Why do you include marital fate too?"

"Your Highness, predicting fortunes does not exclude marital fate. However, marital fate is somewhat intertwined with fortune. When I studied with my master on Mount Qilong, I took the opportunity to learn about it due to my interest," Lu Zhaoyan said.

"..." Xiao Jinyan, "I’m not interested."

Undeterred, Lu Zhaoyan continued, "Your Highness, my predictions are quite accurate. Are you sure you don’t want to know?"

At this moment, Lu Zhaoyan closely resembled a street fortuneteller, waiting to start his business.

Seeing Lu Zhaoyan so eagerly promote his ability to predict marital fate, Xiao Jinyan raised an eyebrow, "What if it’s inaccurate?"

"Your Highness, nothing in this world is one hundred percent accurate, but I can assure you that the accuracy of my predictions is above ninety percent," Lu Zhaoyan declared with utmost certainty.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Jinyan looked up at Lu Zhaoyan and, seeing his confidence, said, "Then take a look for me."

Finally getting the chance to read the palm of the aloof Your Highness, Lu Zhaoyan was somewhat excited, "I will read Your Highness’s palm right away."

Lu Zhaoyan stepped forward to approach Xiao Jinyan.

With a few seconds of hesitation, Xiao Jinyan extended his right hand, palm facing upward.

Lu Zhaoyan lifted the beautiful hand in front of him, immaculately clean and untouched by dust.

Xiao Jinyan, born into the Royal Family, had a Dragon Vein in the palm of his hand that was not very prominent before he was made the Crown Prince.

Now that the Dragon Vein had appeared, the more prominent it became, the greater his chances of ascending to the throne.

Right next to the Dragon Vein was the marriage line, which was even more pronounced and longer.

"Your Highness, according to the palmistry, your soulmate has already appeared," Lu Zhaoyan said.

Xiao Jinyan inquired, "Who is it?"

"Your Highness’s soulmate is a person of great wealth and nobility, with the fate of a phoenix king, and matches Your Highness very well. You have known this person for a long time..." Lu Zhaoyan paused, focusing on the marriage line for another look.

Xiao Jinyan asked, "Are you suggesting that my soulmate will be a future Empress?"

Lu Zhaoyan nodded, "According to palmistry, indeed she will be the future Empress."

Xiao Jinyan snorted, "Isn’t that obvious? Since she is to be my soulmate, I naturally have the power to make her the Empress. Is there a need to predict that?"

Lu Zhaoyan kindly reminded, "Your Highness, you might want to consider the precedent of the Emperor’s selection of consorts."

Upon hearing those words, Xiao Jinyan was taken aback. The Emperor held a selection every three years, and the chosen ladies were almost always legitimate or illegitimate daughters of court ministers, with ranks that matched that of the ministers.

Besides the selected ladies, there were also princesses contributed by other countries, designated for marriage alliances, and so on.

Even the reason his mother was made the Empress was due to her family’s powerful backing.

The Shen Family Clan produced three generations of key ministers, and her maternal uncle was the current Grand Marshal of the military.

Xiao Jinyan had been battling for imperial power because power meant everything.

Now it seemed, even if he won the power struggle, many things could not be done solely according to his wishes.

The saying "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" was true. The higher one stood, the more one had to consider.

The women in the East Palace with whom he had a long acquaintance were limited to Lady Liang.

Lady Liang, his maternal cousin, was his mother’s niece and frequented the palace since childhood to accompany the Empress.

"Are you saying I have known her for a long time? On this point, your prediction is incorrect. Although I have known Lady Liang for a long time, I have no affection for her whatsoever."

Lu Zhaoyan was taken aback for a moment; although the marriage prediction was accurate, it could not reveal the name of the person.

"Your Highness, I think there might be another person, not Lady Liang," Lu Zhaoyan said.

Xiao Jinyan responded, "The number of women I have known for a long time and are suitable for marriage is very few. Who do you think it might be?"

Lu Zhaoyan replied, "I can only tell that Your Highness’s soulmate is someone you met in your youth. As for whether she is Lady Liang, I would only know if I saw her palm and whether she has the fate of an Empress."

Xiao Jinyan knew for certain that his soulmate could not be Lady Liang; he could barely stand her, how could he harbor any romantic feelings for her?

The business of fortune-telling was not something Xiao Jinyan took to heart.

Lu Zhaoyan felt he needed to work harder; otherwise, with only these insights, he would never know who exactly would be Xiao Jinyan’s soulmate.

*

Since the population inside Xiyun Pavilion increased, Shen Chuwei rarely visited the vegetable garden anymore.

Today, with the weather being nice, Shen Chuwei decided to stroll in the vegetable garden.

Seeing which vegetables were nearly consumed, she quickly asked Gui Xiang to plant more, and for those that were aging, she instructed Little Guizi to pluck them promptly to feed the chickens, so as not to occupy space unnecessarily.

After giving the instructions, Shen Chuwei thought of the vast vegetable garden at Baima Temple and then looked at her own small garden, realizing it was too small in comparison.

There was simply not enough room in Xiyun Pavilion for expansion.

Unless...

Shen Chuwei looked up at the wall opposite her, about ten meters away, beyond which lay the long-abandoned Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

She called out to a nearby rabbit, "Bring a ladder over here."

The rabbit moved quickly and soon brought over a ladder. Under Shen Chuwei’s direction, it was placed against the wall.

About to climb the ladder, Shen Chuwei had her skirts gathered up but was promptly stopped by the rabbit.

"Miss, whatever you wish to do, inform me, and I’ll do it for you," the servant said.

"I’m just going to take a look and will come right back down," Shen Chuwei replied, continuing to climb.

The rabbit was terrified and gripped the ladder tightly, "Miss, please be careful."

"It’s fine. Just relax," Shen Chuwei said confidently as she climbed to the top of the wall, which revealed a desolate view; the ground was covered with overgrown weeds that, although withered, stood about as tall as a person.

She sighed, "What a waste."

"Miss, what a waste of what?" The rabbit looked up anxiously at Shen Chuwei, worried she would fall.

Shen Chuwei said, "What a waste of such a large plot of land – it could grow so many vegetables."

When spring came and flowers blossomed, it would be the perfect time for planting. She had many seeds and wanted to plant more chili peppers to make chili sauce.

She also wanted to grow corn.

Thinking of corn, she remembered popcorn and felt a craving...

The rabbit exclaimed, "Miss, never mind that for now, please come down quickly!"

"Coming down, coming down," Shen Chuwei said, though her eyes were still fixed on the barren land, ideal for cultivation and rich in soil.

If she asked Xiao Jinyan for this piece of land, she wondered whether he would grant it.

When Xiao Jinyan arrived, he saw Shen Chuwei perched on the wall and his expression changed, "Lady Shen, come down quickly."

With that, he strode towards her.

Shen Chuwei turned and saw Xiao Jinyan approaching, which startled her. Why was Xiao Jinyan here?

She hurriedly held onto the ladder to descend.

However, her long skirts proved troublesome; she had been so absorbed in examining the land earlier that she forgot to gather up the fabric, causing her to step on it, lose her balance, and tumble from the ladder.

Xiao Jinyan’s expression tightened, and he quickly used his light-footed skills to rush forward, extending his arms to catch her.