Chief Steward Shang smiled slightly, then replied, "Your Highness, it's about the next Imperial Garden."
"Isn't there still a few days left?"
Ankang Princess asked curiously.
Counting the days, the next Imperial Garden was about to begin again.
She wondered what project Emperor Yongyuan had prepared this time.
"Your Highness, this time, due to some special reasons, there have been minor changes to the time and location of the competition."
Chief Steward Shang said, presenting an exquisitely crafted golden scroll.
Ankang Princess took the scroll and opened it, finding a few lines of text inside.
The content was concise, marking the date, location, and precautions separately.
The date was tomorrow, the location was Ju Han Palace, and the precautions included keeping warm, only bringing one attendant, etc. They were quite detailed, with several points in total.
The final precautions seemed a bit strange. It was already summer, and even the former Ankang Princess had gradually shed her fur coat by now.
"Chief Steward Shang, what's the meaning of these precautions?"
Ankang Princess pointed at the content on the scroll and asked, puzzled.
Chief Steward Shang just smiled mysteriously and did not respond directly.
"Princess will know when the time comes. Anyway, it's always right to prepare a few more thick clothes."
Li Xuan, in Ankang Princess's arms, raised his head and looked at the content on the scroll.
He knew the place Ju Han Palace; it wasn't far from their Jingyang Palace.
However, that place was sealed off year-round with few people, and Li Xuan didn't know what it was used for.
Since it was close to their Jingyang Palace, he feared it wasn't a good place either.
"Then, Chief Steward Shang, can I still bring Li Xuan tomorrow?"
Ankang Princess was afraid that pets would also be counted as attendants.
"Haha, that's fine."
Chief Steward Shang couldn't help but laugh and say.
"Li Xuan doesn't count as an attendant. It's not against the rules for the three of you to go together tomorrow."
Hearing this, Ankang Princess finally relaxed, a sweet smile appearing on her face.
"That's good."
Seeing that the message had been delivered, Chief Steward Shang prepared to take his leave.
"Princess, please keep the scroll safe."
"This old servant still needs to inform the other Highnesses, so I'll take my leave first."
Ankang Princess nodded and put away the seemingly valuable golden scroll.
"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Chief Steward Shang."
Yu'er saw Chief Steward Shang out and, upon returning, saw Ankang Princess instructing Li Xuan to bite the gold on the scroll to check if it was real.
Only after Li Xuan bit a tooth mark onto it did Ankang Princess nod in satisfaction.
"Hehe, so it's the real deal."
"Li Xuan, well done!"
Yu'er smiled helplessly, walked forward, and asked:
"Your Highness, Chief Steward Shang just said to keep this item safe. How did you turn around and let Li Xuan bite it?"
Yu'er took the golden scroll, a hint of heartache flashing in her eyes.
There were now two tooth marks on such a beautifully made scroll. What a mess.
"Hehe, I just wanted to see how pure the gold was."
"Li Xuan didn't have much trouble biting it just now, so it seems the gold is quite pure."
Ankang Princess's health had improved recently, and she also had more of the playfulness and vitality of her age.
Li Xuan, however, pouted. Let alone gold, with his current teeth, he could bite two holes in an iron block.
The two maids at home still had no clear concept of Li Xuan's strength.
"Oh, right, Yu'er."
"Do you know where this Ju Han Palace is?"
"Why does the name sound a bit ominous?"
Ankang Princess became superstitious at this moment.
"It's not a bad place."
Yu'er thought for a moment and explained:
"Actually, Ju Han Palace isn't far from us. It's the West Palace's Ice Cellar. In the winter, I even helped them move ice into storage."
Yu'er used to go out to work and earn money, doing all sorts of hard and tiring jobs.
She never missed moving ice into storage every year.
In the dead of winter, carrying large blocks of cut ice into the Ice Cellar – just thinking about it makes you realize how hard it was.
"Yu'er..."
Hearing this, Ankang Princess looked at Yu'er with heartache.
Yu'er knew she had misspoken and quickly closed her mouth, not mentioning the previous matter.
But seeing Ankang Princess's gaze, she still felt a warmth in her heart.
"Actually, it's nothing."
"And now our lives are better, so we won't have to do those things anymore."
Ankang Princess nodded, lowered her head, and said apologetically, "Yu'er, you really worked hard before."
"Your Highness, this is what I should do, no need to be like this."
Yu'er stroked Ankang Princess's hair and comforted her.
Actually, although life was hard before, Yu'er didn't feel anything about it.
She even somewhat enjoyed her efforts at the time.
Because she could genuinely feel that she was doing something for Ankang Princess.
Yu'er then changed the subject and said, "Chief Steward Shang was right, we really should prepare some thick clothes for going to Ju Han Palace tomorrow."
"Don't look at how nice the weather has been recently, that place is still very cold."
"Counting the time, it should be almost time to use the ice."
"I wonder what we'll be competing in there tomorrow?"
As soon as Yu'er said this, Li Xuan and Ankang Princess also became curious.
This was the first time Emperor Yongyuan had changed the time and location of the competition, and they wondered what he was up to.
...
The next day, the Three Little Ones arrived at Ju Han Palace on time.
By the time they arrived, many Imperial Princes and Princesses had already reached the entrance of Ju Han Palace.
According to the requirements, each person could only bring one attendant.
Therefore, today, Ankang Princess was the one with the biggest entourage.
After all, she had an extra cat with her.
Compared to the previous competitions, today was quite deserted.
None of the Consorts were present, which made Li Xuan feel a bit strange.
The precautions on the scroll mentioned only bringing one attendant, but it didn't say they couldn't bring their mothers.
Those Consorts were so invested in this competition, even if the location changed, none of them should be absent.
"What's going on?"
Something abnormal was definitely fishy.
Li Xuan sensed something was wrong.
However, the other Imperial Princes and Princesses were calm and composed, not at all surprised by the absence of the Consorts.
"Strange, it's so deserted today."
Ankang Princess looked around and said softly.
"Yes, none of the ladies are here."
Yu'er said, distributing the clothes she held to Ankang Princess and Li Xuan.
Ankang Princess was wearing her familiar fur coat, plus a pair of gloves and cotton shoes.
Yu'er was dressed similarly, except she wore a thick cotton coat.
And Li Xuan had quite a bit of gear too, besides a small cotton coat, he also had four small cotton shoes, exquisitely made and adorable, which Yu'er had rushed to make yesterday.
Li Xuan looked even cuter wearing this outfit.
It wasn't that they didn't feel hot, dressing like this before entering Ju Han Palace, but upon arriving at the entrance, they felt the temperature drop by several degrees, and a chilling cold seeped out from inside, making people shiver involuntarily.
The other Imperial Princes and Princesses waiting at the entrance had also changed into winter clothes early.
But compared to the cotton clothes worn by the Three Little Ones from Jingyang Palace, they were wearing various fur products, which looked much more high-end.
Among the Three Little Ones, only Ankang Princess had a fur coat, and it was relatively old.
Of course, if you had to count, for appearance's sake, Li Xuan also barely had one.
Originally, with Li Xuan's current physique, a little cold wouldn't affect him anymore.
But Yu'er had painstakingly made him small clothes and small shoes, so why wouldn't Li Xuan wear them?
Moreover, Li Xuan was now afraid of cold but not heat, so wearing a few more layers didn't make much difference.
The Three Little Ones were just murmuring to themselves when a voice suddenly sounded beside them.
"His Majesty has issued a special decree that no others are allowed to watch this time."
The Three Little Ones were startled. Turning their heads, they saw Zhao Feng had appeared beside them at some point.
"Zhao Feng, you should have said something first."
Ankang Princess was startled and complained softly.
"Your Highness, didn't I just say something?"
Zhao Feng replied seriously.
"..."
Ankang Princess was speechless.
Li Xuan, however, quietly looked at Zhao Feng.
Although Zhao Feng had come over to joke, Li Xuan could feel that he wasn't in high spirits.
Although he maintained a smile on his face, there was no amusement in it.
It seemed that the previous events still had a considerable impact on him.
Li Xuan didn't know how deep the relationship between Zhao Feng and Zhao Bugao was.
But seeing Zhao Feng's unforgettable appearance, he likely valued this adopted son very much.
However, things were unpredictable, and no one could have imagined it would end up like this.
Zhao Feng noticed Li Xuan looking at him, just smiled gently at him, then reached out a finger and brushed the fur on his head.
"Get ready, it's about to start."
Leaving this sentence, Zhao Feng left their side.
He quietly walked to the front of the Ju Han Palace door, closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the start time.
The other Imperial Princes and Princesses couldn't help but quiet down when they saw Zhao Feng arrive.
However, Zhao Feng's action of speaking to Ankang Princess earlier made many people pay attention.
As Ankang Princess won the prizes from the Imperial Garden competition twice in a row, the other Imperial Princes and Princesses could no longer ignore the existence of Jingyang Palace.
Especially those who aspired to the throne, they regarded Ankang Princess as a major enemy.
Once might be luck, but twice in a row couldn't simply be explained by good fortune.
And just as everyone was wary of Ankang Princess, a surprised exclamation suddenly sounded beside her.
"So cute—"
"Ah, I'm dead!"
Hearing this voice, Li Xuan turned his head, feeling a bit uneasy, and saw the little girl from his memory appearing in his sight, as expected.
Her setup was similar to Ankang Princess, with a maid accompanying her and a cat in her arms.
However, the cat in her arms was a Chi Yu.
"Meow~"
White Evening happily greeted Li Xuan.
White Evening's attire was even more exquisite, with a small hat and tail cover, draped in a cloak as pure white as her fur.
White Evening's appearance immediately made Li Xuan look like a country bumpkin among cats.
"So competitive?"
Before Li Xuan could say anything, Yu'er silently took a step forward, covering his eyes, and muttered:
"Li Xuan, we don't compete in food, we don't compete in clothes."
"We only compete..."
"Only compete in competition results."
Yu'er still had a bit of conscience; at least she paused for a moment before continuing her nonsense.
Li Xuan felt a little amused.
He wasn't a child; how could he feel inferior because of these things?
At this moment, Princess Princess Yuan An's voice continued to sound:
"Thirteenth Imperial Sister, I am Princess Yuan An, ranked fourteenth. It's our first meeting, please give me more guidance."
Princess Princess Yuan An was also dressed in white today, looking like a magnified version of White Evening.
However, her words surprised Li Xuan.
"Is this the first time she's met Ankang?"
"Strange, did she never attend the Imperial Garden gatherings before, and didn't participate in the previous two competitions?"
When Li Xuan saw Princess Princess Yuan An before, he felt she looked familiar, thinking he had seen her somewhere before.
But judging by her words, it seemed this was the first time she had met the Three Little Ones from Jingyang Palace.
Ankang Princess was startled by Princess Princess Yuan An's enthusiasm and nodded a bit awkwardly, replying, "Hello, Imperial Sister Princess Yuan An."
Looking at this Imperial Sister ranked just below her, Ankang Princess was also very curious.
This was the first time she had met this sister.
With just one glance, Ankang Princess saw Princess Princess Yuan An's personality.
Princess Princess Yuan An was like a little sun, warm yet dazzling.
That attention-grabbing radiance made Ankang Princess instinctively feel a slight discomfort.
She even had an urge to quickly get away from this little sun.
Because for some reason, Ankang Princess felt a complex emotion of fear, apprehension, and longing intertwined for the first time in front of this Imperial Sister.
Ankang Princess felt as if she had done something wrong in front of this Imperial Sister and unconsciously avoided her eyes.
But Princess Princess Yuan An was persistent, leaning closer and asking:
"Imperial Sister, can I hold the Little Black Cat in your arms?"
Princess Princess Yuan An asked with bright eyes. Although it was a question, the expectation in her tone made it hard to refuse.
Ankang Princess was silent for a moment, hugged Li Xuan tightly in her arms, and said faintly:
"Li Xuan doesn't like being held by people who have other cats."
Princess Princess Yuan An was startled upon hearing this, looked stiffly at the White Evening in her arms, then looked at Li Xuan in Ankang Princess's arms, and was speechless.