The Crown Prince arrived without warning.
No announcement. No parade. No entourage of a hundred soldiers and golden banners. Just a single dark carriage pulling up to the Academy gates on a rainy afternoon, and Mo Tian stepping out like he had just popped by for a casual visit.
He hadn't.
Word spread through the Academy in minutes. The Crown Prince was here. Walking the grounds. Talking to the elders. Looking at people with those intense dark eyes that made lesser men forget how to form sentences.
Lan Yue heard the news while grinding herbs in Tang Xiaoli's workshop.
"The Crown Prince?" She set down the pestle. "Why?"
"Nobody knows." Tang Xiaoli was practically vibrating with excitement. "But the timing is suspicious, right? Qin Wen arrives three weeks ago. Now Mo Tian shows up? Something is happening."
Something was definitely happening. And Lan Yue had a bad feeling about what it was.
---
She found out at dinner.
