Mood Hits Rock Bottom

Alexander Hayes left to continue his work. Seeing Lily Evans looking pale, he poured her a cup of tea.

Lily clutched the teacup and drank in big gulps, then looked up at Alexander: "Your Highness, do you remember the invitation I received two days ago for the Teacher Appreciation Banquet...?"

"Yes, I remember," Alexander nodded. "You were so happy when you got the invitation, you told me about it as soon as you returned to the manor."

"Then, Your Highness, do you know when the Teacher Appreciation Banquet was set, and who suggested it?" Lily leaned on the table, looking utterly drained.

Alexander looked at Lily, puzzled. "Honestly, I never paid much attention to that."

Lily's clear black-and-white eyes locked onto Alexander, and she spoke slowly and deliberately: "Three days ago, at the Golden Throne Hall, after the Emperor announced the rankings for this round of exams, he asked Top Scholar Henry Thompson to lead the Teacher Appreciation Banquet to honor Professor Su Yu. The Emperor even granted special permission for the banquet to be held in the palace..."

"Your Highness, the Emperor only mentioned the banquet three days ago, but Old Hu started arranging for fake students four days ago. What does that tell you!? How could Old Hu have predicted that the Emperor would order a Teacher Appreciation Banquet after the exams? And how could he have known that Louis Lee would expose my true identity at the banquet, so he could have a group of hired idlers posing as students waiting at the palace gate to cause trouble for me?" Lily gripped Alexander's hand, her eyes tinged with red. "Your Highness, what does this mean!?"

Alexander saw the red in Lily's eyes, and his own gaze darkened. He slumped down beside her, feeling utterly exhausted and chilled to the bone...

"Your Highness, I already know who's behind all this..." Lily said weakly.

Alexander nodded, "I know too..."

Lily set the teacup down between them, dipped her finger in the tea, and said to Alexander, "Let's each write down the name of the person we suspect, then show it to each other."

Alexander nodded, dipped his finger in the tea, and together they wrote on the table with one hand while shielding their words with the other.

They finished at the same time. Lily and Alexander exchanged a glance, and in perfect sync, moved their hands away...

"So, you think it's him too..."

"Your Highness, you guessed the same as I did..."

Both of their faces grew complicated as they stared at the name written by the other. The tea-written words evaporated quickly, vanishing without a trace, as if they'd never existed. But their moods sank to rock bottom, perfectly in sync...

Just as Lily was feeling utterly miserable, the steward arrived with news: Leonard Yuan from the Old Yuan Family had come.

"Ah-Li!" Outside the door, a young man burst in like the wind, grabbing Lily's sleeve and looking her up and down with worry: "Ah-Li, I'm back! When I was in Jiangnan, I heard you nearly had complications during childbirth—I was so worried!"

"Leonard, slow down, look how anxious you are!" Mrs. Chen from the Fourth Branch entered, laughing gently as she watched the boy with warmth in her eyes.

"Ling'er, Fourth Aunt, you’ve just come back from Jiangnan! Hurry, sit down and rest!" Lily saw the two and the gloom in her heart lifted a little. She quickly invited them to sit.

Leonard acted like a mischievous little monkey, circling Lily in excitement: "Ah-Li, I passed the county-level exam! Aren't you proud of me?"