Chapter 029

Chapter 29: The Heir Apparent Studies Spring Palace Secrets and Gets Caught

At the same time, in the study of the Heir Apparent Manor, the Heir Apparent Lin De Fang was hunched over his desk like a sneak, poring over the book his second brother Lin De Shang had “contributed,” the Spring Palace Secret Illustrations.

He clicked his tongue in wonder, his old face faintly red, his eyes shining: “Tsk tsk, this brushwork… perfect. Truly perfect.”

He pointed at one page, a “Beauty After the Bath” scene. Every detail was clear. Even the pair of jade-like feet in her arms looked soft and round, lifelike, with pale pink nails visible at a glance.

“This… this is far more interesting than military manuals.”

The more he looked, the less he wanted to part with it. A small scheme bloomed in his mind: [This one-of-a-kind copy… maybe I should keep a few of the best pages for myself. If I hand it to Qingxuan, he might not even understand it. Or… before giving it to him, I could copy a set to keep?]

He was deep in the problem of [how to reasonably keep an art treasure] when a boy outside announced: “Heir Apparent, the Heir Consort is here!”

Lin De Fang nearly jumped out of his skin. Flustered, he tried to close the album and hide it, but the silk pages were slippery, and the more he rushed, the worse it got. Just as he grabbed it, the Heir Consort Madam Wang pushed the door open.

“De Fang, you…”

Madam Wang had barely started speaking when she saw her husband spring up like a cat with its tail stepped on, a very… suggestive album in his hands. She had not read the title on the cover, but the explicit page lying open on the desk hit like a slap.

Madam Wang’s face froze, running from puzzled, to shocked, to disbelief, and then hardening into iron-blue fury and thick disdain. She pointed at Lin De Fang, her finger trembling as her voice went sharp: “You… you shameless old thing!”

“In broad daylight! In the study! Looking at… this filthy trash?!”

“Lin De Fang! Do you have no shame at all?!”

Caught red handed, Lin De Fang’s old face burned crimson. He fumbled the album shut and tried to hide it behind him, stammering: “Wife… Madam, hear me out… this is not mine… it is… it is for Qingxuan… a textbook! Yes, a textbook!”

“Textbook?!”

Madam Wang almost choked, her voice leaping eight notes higher: “You use that to teach your son? Lin De Fang, you are addled! Filthy! Vile! Completely unreasonable!”

Her chest heaved with anger. She could not bear to look at either Lin De Fang or the “dirty” album another second. With a fierce snap of her sleeve, she ordered: “Tonight you will sleep in the study. Reflect on yourself. Without my say so, do not set one foot in the main rooms.”

With that, she did not spare him another glance. Carrying her fury and disdain, she turned and left, slamming the study door so hard it boomed.

Left alone, Lin De Fang hugged the troublesome Spring Palace Secret Illustrations amid the scent of ink and thick awkwardness, stunned like grass in the wind. He looked down at the costly “unique copy,” then at the shut door, ready to cry.

[It is over… this textbook will not be delivered. My private silver… gone.]