In Mobei, there wasn’t much formality when it came to names — everyone simply called her Xiaomeng, and those close to her called her Meng’er.

Little did Yu Xiaomeng know that in the Central Plains, forms of address were an entire, elaborate art — nor did she know that this man before her had, in his entire life, only ever spoken one woman’s name with any tenderness: Ziqing.

Xuanyuan Lige didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he offered his farewell. “Miss Yu, for the debt of saving my life… I shall repay it when the chance arises. I take my leave.”

Though his life wasn’t destined to be long, he had never once thought of dying — nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to living either. In the moment he’d collapsed, his mind had gone entirely blank, save for a single thought: he wanted to play the guqin.

He wanted to play that unfinished piece, “Lament of Parting” — a piece already sorrowful by nature, yet made all the more so by remaining incomplete.

Whenever he played “Lament of Parting,” he always skipped over the climactic passage, leaving it blank. In truth, to him, the entire piece was the climax — or perhaps, more accurately, “Lament of Parting” had no climax at all.

In that moment, it was as though he were playing the guqin all the way to the very end of his life, playing through all nine hundred and ninety-nine movements in full — but his demon zither was gone. The zither he’d awakened with his own blood, gone.

He didn’t even know whether the demon zither was now in Yelu Chenyi’s hands, or in Yanzi’s — or perhaps it truly was lost for good.

Hearing Xuanyuan Lige announce his departure, Yu Xiaomeng’s mouth fell open in shock, utterly unable to process it.

But by then, Xuanyuan Lige had already brushed past her and was walking toward the door.

Yu Xiaomeng whipped around. How could this be? She didn’t even know this man’s name — how could she let him just leave?

Having saved him, she’d never intended to let him go!

The thought spurred her into action. She rushed to the doorway, spreading her arms to block Xuanyuan Lige’s path, and blurted out anxiously, “You’re not allowed to leave!”

Xuanyuan Lige blinked in mild surprise — so this good-natured girl had a temper of her own after all.

But almost immediately, Yu Xiaomeng deflated again. “That… you… your body still hasn’t recovered. Where are you even going?”

Where was he going?

In truth, Xuanyuan Lige himself didn’t know where he was going.

“It’s always been like this. Don’t worry about it,” Xuanyuan Lige said, offering a faint smile — he hadn’t expected, at a time like this, to encounter someone who genuinely cared about his condition.

“I do worry!” Yu Xiaomeng blurted out anxiously, before her small face flushed red without her meaning it to.

In Mobei, concern between men and women was perfectly normal. But when there was affection behind that concern, when there was real tenderness — then that “concern” became something else entirely.

Xuanyuan Lige, being as perceptive as he was, understood at once from the girl’s expression exactly what was going on.

He offered a faint smile and simply said, “Farewell,” before brushing past Yu Xiaomeng and continuing on.

Yu Xiaomeng stood frozen, her small fists clenched tight, wanting desperately to rush after him — but even as slow as she could be at times, she could tell this man truly meant to leave.

Just then, Granny Yu happened to return from outside, a basket of medicinal herbs slung over her back. The moment she saw Xuanyuan Lige, she broke into a delighted smile. “Young master, you’re awake!”

Only then did Yu Xiaomeng snap back to herself, hurrying forward to make introductions. “This is my mother. Mother, this is…”

This is…

She didn’t even know his name!

“This one is Xuanyuan… Shang. Thank you for saving my life, madam,” Xuanyuan Lige said flatly, changing his name and concealing his identity.

“Shang?” Yu Xiaomeng wondered inwardly what this character meant — she’d never heard it used quite this way before. She made a mental note to ask the Grand Scholar Elder about it later.

“It’s cold outside, come inside, come inside. Look at all these herbs I climbed the mountain all night to gather for you — very nourishing for the body. You, you’ve clearly been ill for a long time, so weak and frail!”

Granny Yu was warm and kind, with gentle, motherly eyes, pulling Xuanyuan Lige toward the house as she chattered on. “You, this must be some old ailment from childhood, isn’t it? Being sick for so long, and you still haven’t been taking proper care of yourself?”

Xuanyuan Lige had originally meant to leave, yet somehow found himself unable to look away from Granny Yu, following after her without quite realizing it.

After a while, once he’d settled inside and sat down, he suddenly remembered his own Nanny Qin.

Since childhood, Nanny Qin had been the only person who had ever treated him with such warmth.

Nanny Qin had gone to Yaoshun Island, and ever since he’d been abducted by Yanzi and Yelu Chenyi, all contact with her had been severed.

He couldn’t say what had happened to anyone else, but he was certain Nanny Qin must be searching everywhere for him.

“Xiaomeng, hurry and fetch our big cotton coat. Honestly, you’re so thoughtless — look how thin Young Master Xuanyuan’s clothes are, what if he catches a chill!”

“Yes, yes, right away!”

Yu Xiaomeng hurried off and quickly returned with the coat — a worn cotton garment patched over a dozen times, clearly the family’s most treasured possession, judging by its condition.

“Madam, please, you should wear it yourself — you’re older…”

Xuanyuan Lige started to protest, but Granny Yu had already draped it over his shoulders, personally fastening the buttons, chuckling. “You, anyone can tell at a glance you come from a wealthy family. If this coat’s too rough for you, feel free to take it off yourself.”

Xuanyuan Lige froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but smile helplessly — he hadn’t even realized he was capable of smiling anymore. All he noticed was how genuinely warm the coat felt.

“Yu Xiaomeng, aren’t you going to go make dinner yet?” Granny Yu issued another order. Yu Xiaomeng, hopeless as ever, said timidly, “Mother, he… he… he said he wants to leave.”

Granny Yu’s brow furrowed. “Young Master Xuanyuan, whatever the case, shouldn’t you at least recover your strength before you go? We so rarely have guests, and in just a few days it’ll be our Mobei bonfire festival — you simply can’t leave.”

“That’s right, that’s right! How could I have forgotten!” Yu Xiaomeng exclaimed with delight.

Perhaps, faced with Yu Xiaomeng’s enthusiasm alone, Xuanyuan Lige could have remained indifferent. But the warmth of an elder was a different kind of affection altogether — one Xuanyuan Lige found hardest to resist.

Leaving — he didn’t even know where he’d go.

Staying here under a false name, it seemed, might not be such a bad option after all.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you and Miss Yu.” he said flatly.

“No trouble at all, no trouble at all!” Yu Xiaomeng waved her hands quickly, unable to stop herself from grinning foolishly.

“No trouble! Wait here — Xiaomeng and I will go make dinner. You’ll get to try Mobei’s most famous medicinal stew!”

Granny Yu quickly pulled the beaming Yu Xiaomeng out of the room, and the moment they reached the kitchen, her expression turned serious. “What’s going on? Why does he want to leave?”

“He’s not… he’s not from Mobei… of course… he wants to leave,” Yu Xiaomeng said timidly.

“Let me warn you right now — if you want to marry him, you’d better find a way to keep him here. If you dare run off with him instead, I’ll have your hide!” Granny Yu said very seriously. She knew her own daughter’s temperament all too well.

“Well, I… I just like him,” Yu Xiaomeng muttered. Truth be told, she’d genuinely considered, just a moment ago, leaving Mobei and going with Xuanyuan Lige.

“If you like him, then find a way to make him stay! He’s clearly an educated, cultured man — if you can keep him here, get him to teach everyone Central Plains writing, that’ll give you a real edge when you compete for the position of elder someday!” Granny Yu said sternly. She’d worked so hard to raise this daughter of hers — of course she wanted her to make something of herself. There was no way she’d let Yu Xiaomeng run off with an outsider.

“He doesn’t even like me… it’s not like I can just decide he’s staying,” Yu Xiaomeng muttered again, every emotion written plainly across her face, speaking every thought aloud without filter — an utterly guileless girl.

Granny Yu gave her a look of exasperation, glancing at her several times before sighing. “Once the bonfire festival is over, I’ll think of something for you. There are plenty of ways to keep a man around!”