“Alright.” Long Shiyi turned back, taking the fruit out of his mouth.

He looked at Qiao Mu with tears of gratitude in his eyes and said, “Qiao Mu, I’m entrusting Miss Jiu’er’s safety to you.”

Qiao Mu looked at him and waved a hand. “Go on. As long as she doesn’t bully others, who could possibly bully her?”

Long Shiyi swallowed, his expression turning a little stiff.

But in the end, he said nothing more and took his leave.

Xiao Yingtao paid no attention to any of this. She freed up a small bamboo basket and picked out some fruit to put inside.

“Xiao Yingtao, what are you doing?” Qiao Mu withdrew her gaze and shot Xiao Yingtao a look.

“We won’t be able to finish all this fruit anyway, and splitting it among the brothers won’t be enough either, so I’ll save a little for Xing Zizhou. Just a little will do.”

Feng Jiu’er glanced at Jian Yi, who was still eating, then picked up a box of pastries and opened it.

A wave of floral fragrance wafted out. She closed her eyes and took a deep, contented breath.

“Is this pastry made from roses?” Feng Jiu’er opened her eyes and took out a piece from the box.

“Rose? What kind of flower is that?” Xiao Yingtao set down her now-full basket and moved closer to Feng Jiu’er, taking a piece for herself as well.

She held the pastry up to her nose and sniffed it, then nodded. “So that’s the flower. Isn’t that the one used for bathing? Can you actually eat it?”

Xiao Yingtao glanced around at everyone, but no one responded, so her attention drifted back to the pastry.

“Jiu’er, is this rose pastry good?”

“It’s edible.” Feng Jiu’er took a bite and nodded. “Not bad. Quite fragrant!”

“Roses aren’t just for bathing — they can also be brewed into tea, and the tea smells wonderful. We just never use them that way.”

Feng Jiu’er gazed at the pastry in her hand, a sweet smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Roses also carry a meaning — they represent love, especially the red ones, which symbolize a beautiful romance.”

“In some places, men propose with red roses. It’s quite romantic!”

She wondered whether she would ever get to see the day when Ninth Imperial Uncle would kneel on one knee, holding a red rose and a ring, and propose to her.

Though that wasn’t exactly an ancient custom for proposals, if such a day truly came, surely she’d be overjoyed?

The tall, rich, and handsome Ninth Imperial Uncle, kneeling on one knee in front of her for everyone to see, ninety-nine red roses in one hand and a sparkling diamond ring in the other.

Feng Jiu’er knew full well this wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things, but with the scent of roses in the air and the sweet pastry in her mouth, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander a little further.

Xiao Yingtao kept eating her pastry, her eyes fixed on Feng Jiu’er the whole time.

Qiao Mu, watching Feng Jiu’er smile like a lovesick girl, leaned in as well and took a piece of pastry for herself.

Feng Jiu’er put the pastry in her mouth, then raised her eyebrows slightly, snapping out of her sweet daydream.

When she turned her head, Jian Yi had already finished his meal, set down his bowl and chopsticks, and was watching her.

Feng Jiu’er’s lips curved slightly, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. Was she being too much? Even eating a pastry made her think of her Ninth Imperial Uncle.

“Jian Yi, what would you like to eat?” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and asked.

“Since you like this flavor, I’ll buy you some once we’re on shore.” Jian Yi said softly, looking at Feng Jiu’er.

“This flavor?” Feng Jiu’er glanced down at the pastry in front of her. “Mm, it’s quite nice.”

Jian Yi nodded and stood up. “Jiu’er, eat slowly. I’ll go find Xing Zizhou and see if I can help with anything.”

“Alright.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Once Yu Jingfeng comes back, if there’s still no solution, we’ll leave.”

“Once we’re off this coastline, we’ll find another place to land.”

Jian Yi glanced at Feng Jiu’er once more, said nothing further, and left with the tray.

Xiao Yingtao finished the pastry in her hand and opened another box. “I still prefer red date cake. I’m not quite used to this rose pastry.”

Feng Jiu’er picked up another piece of rose pastry and said nothing more.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival. She wondered how her father was spending today. Now that he was no longer free to do as he pleased, surely he couldn’t be happy.

After midnight, once all the oil lamps on the ships had been extinguished, the fleet set sail one after another, heading away from the coastline.

…

Seven days passed in a blink, and the ships still sailed across the boundless black expanse of water.

These past few days, the ships had skirted along the edge of the Phoenix Clan’s territory without venturing far, so they hadn’t run into any formations.

But the thing they’d been worried about finally arrived.

They’d been mixing their grain with sea fish — four or five days’ worth of food stretched to last seven.

Everyone had already agreed beforehand: if the food ran out, it ran out. Sitting idle on the ship anyway, eating fish and shrimp for three or four days wasn’t a real problem.

Early on the eighth day, the brothers responsible for fishing quickly came up from below deck.

The captain, along with a few of the brothers, came looking for Feng Jiu’er.

“Miss Jiu’er, something’s happened.” The captain’s expression carried a hint of panic.

“What happened?” Feng Jiu’er set down her book and stood up.

“For some reason, we fished for a full hour today and couldn’t catch a single fish or shrimp.” one of the brothers said in a low voice.

“Truly nothing at all?” Feng Jiu’er looked at the brother who’d spoken, frowning slightly.

The brother blinked and shook his head. “Truly nothing. Aside from a few tiny fish and shrimp, there was nothing else.”

“Miss Jiu’er, we used our usual methods. In the past few days we caught plenty of fish and shrimp, but for some reason, today it just didn’t work.”

“It might not be a problem with the fishing method.” another brother said in a deep voice. “I went into the water myself, and I couldn’t see any fish or shrimp either.”

“Miss Jiu’er, do you think someone’s tampered with these waters? That’s why the fish and shrimp won’t come near.”

“Someone’s tampered with the waters?” Xiao Yingtao frowned, her moth-like brows knitting together.

The brother pressed his lips together and sighed faintly. “I’m not certain either. Perhaps you should all go take a look at the situation.”

“The captain just asked the two neighboring ships as well, and their situation is the same — not a single catch.”

“Alright, I’ll go take a look.” Feng Jiu’er nodded and started walking out.

No one said anything further; they all followed her out of the cabin.

To make fishing easier, the brothers had built a wooden step at the stern, and below the step was a long platform.

The platform wasn’t wide, but it was long enough, with plenty of woven grass nets laid out on it.

When Feng Jiu’er arrived, three brothers were still at work.

The three of them looked up when they saw people approaching and called out in unison, “Miss Jiu’er.”

“How’s it going?” Feng Jiu’er asked, walking down the steps.

“Still nothing.” one of the brothers shook his head, lifting up a net he’d just pulled up.

Feng Jiu’er glanced at the net, her moth-brows knitting slightly, her gaze settling on the black water.

“Have all the brothers come up?”

“They’re all up.” the brother behind Feng Jiu’er answered. “It really is strange. How can there not be even a single fish? This isn’t normal!”