Lu Yan lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes covered his gaze, making it a bit hard for Shen Qingfeng to see clearly. But Shen Qingfeng knew he understood. They were both caught in the current of this era. If history were to change, no one in this current could stay out of it.
Shen Qingfeng slowly nestled into Lu Yan's arms and gently closed his eyes.
Early the next morning, exhausted from the previous night, Shen Qingfeng slept until late into the morning. When he woke up, Lu Yan was already gone.
Shen Qingfeng lay in bed for a while before slowly sitting up and calling A Man to help him wash up.
"Has Rong Liu come back?" Shen Qingfeng asked A Man, who was tying up his hair.
A Man shook her head and said, "He didn't come back all night after receiving your instructions yesterday. The eldest young master asked about him when he came back last night, and I told him that Rong Liu had gone to buy firewood."
Shen Qingfeng smiled softly and said, "Remember to buy a cartload of firewood later and put it in the firewood shed first."
A Man nodded and said, "I know, young master."
Shen Qingfeng slowly stood up. Looking at himself in the bronze mirror, he squinted his eyes and said, "A Man, I'm going to the palace today. If father asks, tell him I've gone to find my elder brother."
A Man nodded half - understandingly.
Shen Qingfeng ruffled her hair and walked out on his own. Instead of calling a carriage, he stuffed a warming stove into his pocket, put on a white bamboo hat, and slowly made his way towards the Bian Palace.
The Prince of Cheng was trying to win him over. Everyone knew what his intentions were, especially since Shen Qingfeng had previously been a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince. So Shen Qingfeng deliberately walked very slowly, trying to create an illusion of indecision for the Prince of Cheng. In fact, he just wanted the Prince of Cheng to stand in the snow for a while longer.
When he slowly reached the gate of the Bian Palace, he saw a carriage parked under a leafless plane tree beside the side gate of the palace.
It wasn't snowing today, but the snow on the ground hadn't melted. The tracks left by the carriage had long been trampled on by the passing villagers and were barely visible. It seemed that the carriage had been waiting for some time.
Shen Qingfeng snickered to himself and walked towards the carriage with the warming stove in his arms.
When Cang Hui, the guard of the Prince of Cheng, saw someone approaching the carriage, he whispered something to the person inside through the curtain. Then the curtain of the carriage was lifted a bit, and the Prince of Cheng, Xia Yonglin, slowly stepped out. He gave a soft laugh to Shen Qingfeng, who was standing not far in front of him, and said, "Qingfeng, you've made me wait so long."
Shen Qingfeng didn't respond. Nor did he lift the white veil on his bamboo hat politely. Instead, he said rather urgently, "Are we going into the palace by carriage?"
Xia Yonglin seemed to understand his reluctance to be exposed and nodded, saying, "Naturally."
Shen Qingfeng paused for a moment, then bowed to Xia Yonglin and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng."
Xia Yonglin's eyes were a bit obscure. Instead of making way for Shen Qingfeng, he reached out and grabbed Shen Qingfeng's arm. As a prince, he escorted Shen Qingfeng to the carriage. This action was actually a bit improper, but he didn't seem to care. Wearing the bamboo hat, Shen Qingfeng shook off Xia Yonglin's hand when he was dragged to the carriage and said, "Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng, is being too polite. I'll get in the carriage by myself."
What's wrong with this Prince of Cheng?
A look of disgust flashed across Shen Qingfeng's face hidden behind the white veil. Then he calmly got into the carriage and sat near the door. Xia Yonglin got in after him. Seeing that Xia Yonglin sat next to him, Shen Qingfeng took off his bamboo hat and placed it between them as a divider.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng, if I remember correctly, this carriage can only go as far as the gate of the Bian Palace, right?" Shen Qingfeng said in a nonchalant tone.
Xia Yonglin said, "Don't worry, Qingfeng. Father has given his consent. If I didn't know you were in poor health, I would have actually come to pick you up on horseback."
Shen Qingfeng was shocked.
Riding a horse in front of the emperor?
It seemed that Xia Yonglin was so favored by King Xia Jie! It seemed that King Xia Jie had higher expectations for Xia Yonglin than for Xia Yan and that fool.
Xia Yonglin said this in front of Shen Qingfeng on purpose. He just wanted to show the difference between himself and Xia Chuli. One was highly favored, while the other could only hold the empty title of Crown Prince.
Shen Qingfeng naturally understood his intention and pretended to look very surprised, which pleased Xia Yonglin very much.
"I wonder what position Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng, has arranged for me?" Shen Qingfeng asked.
Xia Yonglin gave a mysterious smile and said, "The position arranged for Qingfeng must be a good one."
Shen Qingfeng looked at him doubtfully.
Xia Yonglin said, "I've asked someone to find you a civil - service position in the Wenzhu Pavilion. Isn't it great?"
Shen Qingfeng was stunned. The Wenzhu Pavilion was under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Office. It was mainly responsible for organizing files and compiling historical records, as well as handling the transfer and promotion of various government offices, prime ministers, prefectures, and counties. Ordinary people couldn't get into the Wenzhu Pavilion at all. After all, it was such a crucial position and had access to a lot of royal secrets. To get in, one had to get King Xia Jie's approval. Even Shen Shiqiu had a hard time arranging for someone to get in.
But what surprised Shen Qingfeng wasn't how difficult it was to get this position. After all, Xia Yonglin was so favored that it wasn't difficult for him to place someone in the Wenzhu Pavilion. But Shen Qingfeng didn't expect that Xia Yonglin had arranged for him to enter the Prime Minister's Office, which was under Shen Shiqiu's management!
Was this an attempt to make him reciprocate the favor? Or was it a blatant attempt to place a pawn of his own in the Prime Minister's Office, an important stronghold of the Crown Prince's faction?
Obviously, the latter was Xia Yonglin's usual tactic of sowing discord.
Shen Qingfeng despised him in his heart but didn't show it on his face. He just said to Xia Yonglin, "Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng, thinks too highly of me. I'm afraid I'm not qualified for this position in the Wenzhu Pavilion..."
"What's the big deal?" Xia Yonglin laughed and said, "The Wenzhu Pavilion is busy at times and idle at other times. Since I've promised you a chance to see my elder brother, I naturally won't go back on my word. There's not much to do in the Wenzhu Pavilion these days. You can go to the Eastern Palace and ask him about that Qi Mengmeng."
Shen Qingfeng gritted his teeth. A bit of anger showed on his face. He bowed deeply and said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Your Highness, the Prince of Cheng."
"You're welcome."
"Are we going directly to the Wenzhu Pavilion?" Shen Qingfeng asked again.
Xia Yonglin said, "Not in a hurry. You know it's not easy to get into the Wenzhu Pavilion. I'll take you to meet someone first."
As soon as Xia Yonglin finished speaking, the carriage stopped. Shen Qingfeng got off the carriage with Xia Yonglin and saw that they had arrived in front of a palace. A maid in a light - yellow velvet dress walked up. Shen Qingfeng sized her up. Although she was wearing a maid's clothes, he could tell that she was wearing an expensive gold and jade hairpin on her head when she got closer. It seemed that her identity was not ordinary.
The woman bowed to them and said crisply, "Xiaolin greets the Second Highness and Young Master Shen. Eunuch Chen has been waiting inside the palace for a long time."