With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

The door to the West Warm Pavilion was pushed open from the outside.

Shen Nian moved very quickly, stuffing the wooden box back into the cabinet and inserting the key into the lock.

The moment the latch clicked shut, Xiao Yunli had already pulled her behind the screen.

The two of them pressed themselves tightly against the wall, barely daring to breathe.

Through the thin screen, one could clearly see the old woman enter the warm chamber. "Strange, the key was clearly here, how did it fall to the ground?"

The old woman muttered something under her breath, then bent down and picked up the key from beside the Buddhist scriptures.

Shen Nian then realized that she had been in too much of a hurry and had pushed the key further away instead of putting it back in its original place.

The old woman held the key and stood still. She seemed to sense something, and slowly raised her head to look in the direction of the screen.

Xiao Yunli's body tensed instantly.

From a young age, he was afraid of the people around the Empress Dowager. They would never hit him in front of the Empress Dowager, but would prick him with needles in places covered by his clothes when no one was watching, or make him kneel on the cold floor tiles for several hours at a time.

If this old woman discovers that he has been secretly looking through the imperial edict...

Xiao Yunli's breathing became more and more rapid.

Shen Nian noticed his fear, quietly took his hand, and gently covered his mouth with her other hand to prevent him from making any sound.

The wound on her palm from the splinter hadn't stopped bleeding yet, and the warm blood smeared on Xiao Yunli's face, but he slowly calmed down.

The two were very close. Shen Nian could feel his heartbeat and hear the approaching footsteps outside the screen.

step.

Two steps.

Just as she was about to go around, someone outside the door suddenly called out, "Granny Zhang, the Empress Dowager wants that box."

The old woman stopped in her tracks. "I understand."

She turned around and responded, but ultimately did not continue to look behind the screen.

The cabinet door was quickly opened. The wooden box was taken out.

Through the gap in the screen, Shen Nian saw the old woman inspecting the imperial edict in the box.

Only after confirming that nothing was missing did she close the box lid again.

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Only after the door to the warm pavilion closed again did Xiao Yunli collapse to the ground, as if all his strength had been drained.

Shen Nian wasn't much better off than him.

She appeared calm, but her palms were already covered in cold sweat, and even her legs felt weak.

The two sat behind the screen in silence for a long time.

"Your hand is still bleeding." Xiao Yunli was the first to come to his senses. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and hurriedly tried to bandage Shen Nian's wound. However, he had never bandaged anyone before, and the handkerchief was loosely wrapped around her palm after several wraps, and it couldn't stop the bleeding at all.

Shen Nian glanced at it, then tied the handkerchief back up tightly. "It's just a small cut, it doesn't hurt."

"You're bleeding, how can it not hurt?" Xiao Yunli's voice was low, but his eyes were terribly red. "If they had found out just now, they would have definitely punished you."

"You'll be punished too." Shen Nian didn't take all the blame upon herself. "We read the imperial edict together. If you're unwilling to open the box, I won't be able to see it on my own."

Xiao Yunli lowered his head, the contents of the imperial edict appearing in his mind again and again.

The crown prince plotted a rebellion.

Prince Zhao committed an offense against his superiors.

The sixth prince ascended the throne.

Every word had been written, as if everything that was about to happen in the palace was just a play in the hands of the Empress Dowager.

The characters in the play will die.

The Crown Prince will die, and Xiao Yunzhao will also be branded a traitor.

He will put on that bright yellow robe he just wore, step on everyone's blood, and sit on the throne.

"I don't want to be emperor." Xiao Yunli's tears suddenly fell.

He was afraid he would cry out, so he could only bite his lip hard.

"I never thought about becoming emperor."

"I just want to wait for my fourth brother to come back so he can take me away from Cining Palace."

"But the imperial edict said that Fourth Brother would commit treason. Does Grandmother want him and Crown Prince to die?"

Shen Nian's eyes were also a little red; she still remembered the words on that imperial edict.

Before Xiao Yunzhao even entered the palace, the charges of treason had already been prepared for him.

This wasn't just about getting the sixth prince to the throne. It was more like someone had been waiting for the brother-in-law to walk through the palace gates, then pinning all the bloodshed and sin on him.

"My brother-in-law won't die," Shen Nian said earnestly. "My sister won't let him die either."

"But that's an imperial edict."

Xiao Yunli raised his head. "They'll say that Fourth Brother killed someone. Even if Fourth Brother didn't do it, people outside won't believe it."

Shen Nian touched the jade pendant around her neck. As long as she gave it away, her sister would know that something big had happened in Cining Palace.

But now is not the time.

The old woman had just taken the wooden box, and there were still palace maids guarding outside the warm pavilion. If they left immediately, it would only make them more suspicious.

Shen Nian thought for a moment, then pulled Xiao Yunli up from the ground. "Let's go back first."

"Go back where?"

"Copy Buddhist scriptures before returning to the case."

Shen Nian wiped away his tears and covered her injured hand with her cloak. "If they come back and see that we're not here, they'll know that someone has rummaged through the closet."

Two children emerged from behind the screen.

Xiao Yunli sat down at his desk again, his fingers still trembling slightly as he held the pen.

Shen Nian sat down next to him. She had knocked over the inkstone, leaving only a small spot on the table that hadn't been stained with ink.

Write it down.

She ground some ink for him again, "Write whatever you like."

Xiao Yunli stared at the Xuan paper in front of him for a long time before he finally made his first stroke.

However, what he wrote was not a Buddhist scripture.

It is the character "念" from Shen Nian's name.

Shen Nian saw it and paused for a moment, "Why did you write my name?"

"I……"

"If they really put me on the throne, will you go back to the Shen family and never enter the palace again?"

Shen Nian did not answer immediately.

Of course she wanted to go back to the Shen family.

Her sister, uncle, aunt, and brother were there; it was her true home. She never considered staying in the palace.

Seeing her silence, the light in Xiao Yunli's eyes gradually dimmed.

"Can't an emperor have friends?"

He didn't know what would happen after he took that position.

"Who says an emperor can't have friends?"

Shen Nian reached out and wrote a small "礼" next to the character "念" on the paper.

The two words are next to each other.

One was written crookedly, the other was written more neatly.

"Sixth Prince, if you truly become emperor, I will still acknowledge you."

Xiao Yunli stared at her blankly. "You don't hate me?"

"You haven't harmed anyone." Shen Nian held the pen and thought seriously for a while. "But if you become a bad person in the future, beat people at will, and leave the people without food, then I will no longer recognize you."

"I don't know," Xiao Yunli replied quickly.

"Then it's alright." Shen Nian raised her face and smiled at him. "I recognize Xiao Yunli, not that chair. If you become a prince, I'll recognize you. If you become the emperor, as long as you're still the same person you are now, I'll still recognize you."

The tears in Xiao Yunli's eyes had not yet faded, but the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.

He looked at the two words next to each other on the paper, then suddenly folded the paper and hid it in his sleeve. "This can't be left here."

Why?

"This is the first time you've written my name." Xiao Yunli pressed his sleeves tighter, his expression very serious. "I want to keep it."

Shen Nian found him somewhat strange.

It's just a name; she can write it many more times in the future.

It was clear that he was unusually happy, so she didn't ask for the paper back.

Just as the two finished tidying up the table, the palace maid who had left earlier returned.

The palace maid glanced at the messy Buddhist scriptures copied onto the Xuan paper, then looked at Shen Nian's changed clothes. "Has Miss Shen's dress been taken care of?"

"The palace maid said the ink stains are too heavy and need to be washed for a few days." Shen Nian lowered her head in embarrassment. "I'm the one who dirtied the Sixth Prince's inkstone."

Her expression showed no sign of anything amiss.

The palace maid had no suspicions, and only urged Xiao Yunli to finish copying the remaining Buddhist scriptures.

They were not allowed to leave the West Warm Pavilion until it got dark.

As Shen Nian stepped out of the warm pavilion, she noticed that Cining Palace was somewhat different from usual.