When Ming Lingyi noticed Li Yan’s gaze fall on the small bird in her hand, she smiled and asked, "Do you like it? Have you never seen one before?"

Li Yan nodded honestly, then said, "When a thing reaches one’s senses, likes and dislikes are formed. If these are not moderated from within and one is seduced by external things, one cannot reflect upon oneself, and heavenly principle is extinguished."

This was a passage from the Ritual and Music Records, which meant that people are easily tempted by external objects, and if they don’t exercise restraint, they will lose their true nature.

Ming Lingyi was left a little speechless. ’It’s just a little bird woven from grass, isn’t it?’ How could this be considered sapping one’s will by indulging in trivial things? She was secretly annoyed, wondering just how Li Yun was educating a child who was only five years old.

A child his age should be at their most innocent and carefree, but this Little Bun before her was becoming no different from one of those old pedants in the Hanlin Academy.

Ming Lingyi paid no mind to Li Yan’s expression. She generously stuffed the grass-woven bird from her hand into his and said magnanimously, "It’s yours!"

From her tone, anyone listening would have thought she was giving away something incredibly magnificent.

But her words brought a faint, almost imperceptible hint of a smile to the corners of Li Yan’s eyes.

"Here are ten pieces of Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake." Ming Lingyi then handed Li Yan the pastries she had already packed.

Li Yan took it carefully. It was wrapped in oil paper and tied with a thin paper string.

Just as Ming Lingyi was wondering how to give him the sachet she had made over the past two days, she suddenly heard Li Yan speak to her.

"I won’t be coming to the Imperial College for lessons tomorrow," he said.

The implication was that he also wouldn’t be able to visit Ming Lingyi’s pastry stall.

Even though Ming Lingyi never said anything, Li Yan could sense that she treated him differently. Things that others couldn’t reserve, for him, it seemed that rule didn’t apply.

He really should have been more vigilant.

No one is kind to you for no reason. Li Yan had been taught that long ago.

But perhaps it was because the woman’s eyes, her features, and her very presence always reminded him of his mother, the Empress, that he couldn’t help but want to be near Ming Lingyi, to feel close to her.

He ignored the anomalies that should have aroused his suspicion and even took the initiative to move closer to her.

Ming Lingyi raised an eyebrow slightly. "What a coincidence," she said with a smile. "We’re also taking tomorrow off. Today is our last day running the stall here."

Li Yan blinked. "Will you come back after that?"

’I still want to see Ming Lingyi.’

"No, I won’t be," Ming Lingyi said.

The unhappiness on Li Yan’s face grew at a visible rate.

"Why?"

"I’m very busy."

Li Yan puffed out his cheeks. "What are you so busy with?"

The high-born ladies and noblewomen he knew didn’t seem to have much to be busy with, aside from accepting invitations for flower-viewing from one family or attending banquets hosted by another.

Ming Lingyi replied, "I’ve opened a restaurant, and I have to open for business every day. So I’m very busy and won’t have time to sell pastries outside the Imperial College anymore."

Li Yan pressed his lips together, looking a little displeased.

For some reason, he just didn’t want to see Ming Lingyi working so hard. A stuffy feeling welled up in his chest.

Ming Lingyi didn’t know what Li Yan was thinking. She took out the sachet she had prepared earlier and held it out to him. "Look, do you like it?" she asked with a grin.

Li Yan let out a small "Huh?" surprised that Ming Lingyi had actually prepared a gift for him.

The sachet in his hand was a bit dorkily cute. The fabric wasn’t the finest, but the chubby doll embroidered on it was charmingly naive, and its expression was quite lifelike.

"For me?" Li Yan asked in surprise.

Ming Lingyi nodded. "You’re my best customer. Thank you for your patronage all this time, Young Master."

Li Yan nodded and accepted the gift. He thought for a moment, then asked, "You said you opened a restaurant. Where is it?"

’If I have time, I’ll definitely go see it one day.’

Ming Lingyi replied, "Huaide Fang."

Hearing this, Li Yan committed it to memory.

Only he knew that he hadn’t just been saying it casually.

When Ming Lingyi felt Li Yan’s gaze on her and noticed he showed no intention of leaving, she raised her eyebrows. "Is there something else?"

A rare look of unease and conflict appeared on Li Yan’s face. He still hadn’t decided whether to speak.

Ming Lingyi prompted, "Hm? What is it?"

Finally, as if he had made up his mind, Li Yan steeled himself, met Ming Lingyi’s gentle eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Can... can you give me a hug?"

He knew his request might sound unreasonable, but ever since he was old enough to understand, his birthday wish every year had been to be hugged by his mother, the Empress, to see her, even if only in a dream.

But his mother, the Empress, had never once appeared in his dreams.

The image of her, which was like a scroll painting that had nearly faded in his memory, seemed to grow a little clearer because of Ming Lingyi’s appearance.

’I haven’t forgotten my mother,’ Li Yan chanted silently to himself.

Li Yan knew his words were absurd and abrupt, but his gaze didn’t waver from Ming Lingyi’s, the stubbornness on his little face so clear.

Ming Lingyi was indeed taken aback for a moment.

Of course, she didn’t find the request abrupt at all; she only felt a pang of sorrow.

Ming Lingyi didn’t keep Li Yan waiting long, nor did she let his hope be in vain. She reached out and pulled the Little Bun before her into an embrace.

She stroked the Little Bun’s head. "May the new year bring celebration, and may every day bring joy."

’Little Huachao.’

The last two words, Ming Lingyi said only to herself, in her heart.

Li Yan left, completely satisfied.

He didn’t even mind that Ming Lingyi had just stroked his head.

If anyone else dared to touch his head, they would have been dragged away long ago.

But when Ming Lingyi had stroked his head earlier, Li Yan had only felt a sense of comfort, as if he were being soothed.

When Li Yan returned to the Eastern Palace, Yu Yi noticed that the Crown Prince was carrying an extra paper-wrapped package in his hands today.

"Aunt Yu Yi." Li Yan stood on his tiptoes to sit on a stool and gestured for Yu Yi to come over. "This is Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake. I bought it on the way. Take some to share with Aunt Yanxia. I’d like to keep the rest for myself."

If he were outside, Li Yan would have just eaten them himself. But now that he was back in the Eastern Palace, if any item of unknown origin appeared, it would surely be taken away and thrown out by Yu Yi and Yanxia, who would then investigate its source.

Li Yan didn’t want anyone else to know about Ming Lingyi’s existence, worried it would bring her unnecessary trouble.

And perhaps there was another, more selfish little thought: this was a small secret between him and Ming Lingyi, and no one else should know about it.

Not even Aunt Yu Yi and Aunt Yanxia, who had cared for him since he was a baby, could be allowed to peek into his little secret.