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Watching her somewhat desolate and lonely silhouette, Lin Yuan felt an inexplicable surge of sympathy and quietly shook her head.

The first rule of survival in the palace was to be discreet and cautious in one’s words and actions; Aunt Qi and Dong Mei clearly understood this, and no one mentioned Princess Cuiwei again.

After Princess Cuiwei left, Zhao Hongyan clicked his teeth with a sense of relief and hurried to take Little Eunuch back to the Imperial Study Room. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to instruct Aunt Qi to relay a message to Xia Zheng, telling him to wait for him at Consort Shu’s Ronghua Palace.

Aunt Qi smiled and nodded in agreement, ensuring that the message would certainly be passed on. As for whether Little Tyrant would wait, she could not guarantee.

Princess Cuiwei, accompanied by her palace maid, bypassed the Imperial Garden and came to the flower hall near the Imperial Study Room.

No sooner had she sat down than she sent the palace maid to wait outside the Imperial Study Room.

The palace maid, holding the paper bag, felt a mix of pity and hesitation, "Princess, these are after all a token of Young Master Su’s affection. Isn’t it a bit... if you return them just like this?"

Princess Cuiwei’s eyelids drooped slightly, and her lips also seemed to sag. If it weren’t for wanting to put an end to things with Su Tianyou today, she probably wouldn’t have gone out at all.

"I’ve never had any feelings for my cousin; why should I keep this tiresome charade going? It’s better to end it sooner rather than later."

The little palace maid bit her lip, clenching the paper bag tightly in her hand. Inside were the chestnuts that Su Tianyou had peeled himself, each round and perfect. Although they had lost their warmth, the aroma was bursting and very tempting.

Even though the little palace maid had never left the palace, she knew that those were the kind of chestnuts sold at the shop Princess Cuiwei favored the most. When Young Master Cao was alive, those were the Princess’s favorite chestnuts from that shop.

"Princess, not to overstep, but Young Master Cao has been gone for so many years now; it’s time for you to let go. If Young Master Cao knew you were pining for him daily to the point of illness, he surely wouldn’t be at peace."

The mention of the words "Young Master Cao" brought a slight change to Princess Cuiwei’s countenance, but it was only a fleeting moment before she regained composure. She bitterly smiled and curved her lips, closing her eyes in near despair and murmured, "Him? If he truly couldn’t rest easy, he shouldn’t have left me behind alone.

In a few days, it will be the anniversary of our first meeting.

Tell me, if I keep thinking of him, do you think he might think of me, too, and secretly come back to see me? "

Dead people cannot come back to meet the living.

The little palace maid sighed sympathetically and then, with a clever glint in her eye, persuaded, "Princess, Young Master Su grew up together with Young Master Cao and is also your cousin.

I believe, before Young Master Cao passed away, his final requests were meaningful. Perhaps the Princess could consider..."

"Speak no more of this." Hearing the little palace maid bring up the dying request, a flash of impatience crossed Princess Cuiwei’s brow.

She lifted her arm, shifted her posture, and turned her body away in the flower hall, waving her hand dismissively to the little palace maid, "Go and return the item quickly, and don’t forget to convey once more not to let my cousin send things to the palace again. "

Seeing Princess Cuiwei in such a state, the little palace maid felt helpless but nodded and curtsied before taking the paper bag and leaving the flower hall.

Inside the Imperial Study Room, thanks to Xia Zheng and Ma Junying’s persistence, the enviable task of movable type printing naturally landed back in the hands of Third Prince Zhao Hongde.

Not only Xia Zheng, but even Su Zhe subtly sided with the Third Prince, since Su Qiuyu’s heart favored Xia Zheng, and he himself valued the Third Prince’s steady and kind nature, believing him to be more suitable for the position of Crown Prince than the Second Prince.

After suffering a defeat in political affairs, Zhao Hongsheng felt frustrated and glared fiercely at those officials who had submitted to him.

With his glare, those officials shrank their necks even further, not daring to lift their heads, their pitiful state only serving to further infuriate Zhao Hongsheng.

His sinister eyes swept over the triumphant Third Prince and Xia Zheng, and he deeply felt that it was necessary to woo several influential people of high rank in the imperial court.

Leaving the Imperial Study Room, Xia Zheng’s mind was entirely on Lin Yuan, and without even wanting to wait for Zhao Hongde, he thought of hurrying to Ronghua Palace to find the object of his affection.

Before he could set off, he was stopped by Ma Junying.

Ma Junying laughed jealously, "Second Young Master Xia, I really didn’t expect that you would turn out to be the Second Young Master of the General Mansion. I was truly disrespectful before."

With a slight lift of his lips, Xia Zheng lazily raised his eyelids, "Young Master Ma should have known this already, but it doesn’t matter. Even if I weren’t the Second Young Master of the General Mansion, but merely the Young Master of Fuman Building, what should be mine would still be mine."

Of course, he was referring to Lin Yuan.

Ma Junying’s eyebrows quivered slightly as he thought of how, back in the Imperial Study Room, Lin Yuan hadn’t even bestowed a glance upon him, making him particularly uncomfortable.

He had thought that scoring the top spot in the imperial examination would make her look at him differently.

Now, it seemed he would never achieve this.

Moreover, the task of book printing was no longer exclusively his.

Thinking this, anger involuntarily rose in Ma Junying’s heart, "Young Master Xia, you had clearly agreed with our Ma family Manor that only our family would manage the movable type printing. Yet today, you handed it over to someone else. Ought you not give me an explanation?"

Hah! Xia Zheng sneered and turned to look at him, his eyes carrying a mocking tone, "Young Master Ma, I think you’ve misunderstood.

I did indeed agree to cooperate with you, but now things have changed, and even I can’t control this matter.

How can you expect me to cooperate with you?

Tsk tsk, if you were dissatisfied, you could have simply refused in front of His Majesty just now.

Why come to me with trouble after the fact? "

Pausing for a moment, Xia Zheng glanced at the Imperial Decree in Ma Junying’s hand, and said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, "Besides, hasn’t the Ma Family already received a reward? What more are you discontented with?"

Gripping the Imperial Decree tightly, Ma Junying’s handsome brows furrowed, and his voice squeezed out from his throat as he stepped closer to Xia Zheng, asking, "Young Master Xia, I dare not defy the Emperor’s decision.

But, if it weren’t for your loosening your grip, given the Emperor’s doting on you, how could the book printing be taken from you?

I know you dislike my closeness to Yuanyuan, but isn’t this way of doing things a bit too despicable? "

Now that it had come to this, Xia Zheng no longer cared about telling the truth.

He raised his eyebrows lightly and nodded with a smile, "Indeed, Young Master Ma has guessed correctly. The matter of printing is indeed something I suggested to the Emperor to take back under imperial control, and as you said, I simply do not like you being too close to my woman. Although you are talented, I would not sacrifice my own woman just for Little White Rabbit’s future.

That’s not something I, Xia Zheng, could do.

Also, only I can call her Yuanyuan, so please refer to her as Miss Lin, thank you! "

Giving Ma Junying a look signifying farewell, Xia Zheng swaggered off towards the Imperial Garden, leaving a fuming and helpless Ma Junying clenching the Imperial Decree in his hand.