As Lin Chengyou walked toward Teng Yuyi, his thoughts drifted to the pair of step-sway hairpins hidden in his lapel.

Yesterday, on his way to Qingyun Temple, he had reflected on recent events. The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed that Teng Yuyi had sent those sweets. So when passing by the Plucking Stars Tower, he finally followed his heart and went inside.

Upon sitting down, the proprietor eagerly presented their finest jewelry. Only then did Lin Chengyou understand that “Plucking Stars” was no empty boast. The shop’s ornaments were as precious and exquisite as tribute items from all four directions.

At first, he felt overwhelmed, but thinking of how the Jade Truth Taoist Nunnery was busy searching for evidence, he couldn’t go to the underground palace to find step-sway pins. So he focused on selecting hairpins, and after much deliberation, chose a pair adorned with flower branches and fine jade.

“Fine” and “jade” both carried auspicious meanings and together they subtly matched Teng Yuyi’s given name. As he turned the hairpins, he thought how they seemed made especially for her. Imagining how she would look wearing them, he was already eighty percent satisfied. But since this was his first time buying jewelry, worried there might be some impropriety, he called the proprietor over and held the hairpins up to the man’s head to compare.

The proprietor was startled—what was wrong with this young gentleman? In all his years of business, he’d never had a customer use him to test ornaments. But for the sake of making this big sale, he could only smile awkwardly and stay still while Lin Chengyou pinned them in his hair.

Lin Chengyou studied the proprietor for a long while. Despite the man’s pudgy face and large ears, the hairpins still shone brilliantly.

With Teng Yuyi’s cloud-like dark hair, they would look even better.

Now completely satisfied, he had the proprietor calculate the price, bought the hairpins and tucked them into his robes, then strode out with his hands behind his back and head held high.

But what he never expected was that when he compared the boxes at Qingyun Temple, the pear blossom cakes were from the Teng mansion to the Prince’s mansion.

Standing before the table looking at the two boxes, his entire being—no, his entire heart went cold.

From yesterday until tonight, he hadn’t had a moment’s peace. The hairpins that had brought him such joy just thinking about them had become a great irony.

There seemed no point in giving them to her now. If Teng Yuyi had feelings for someone else, she wouldn’t accept them, and even if she did, she wouldn’t cherish them. After witnessing that scene earlier, his sentiment seemed even more superfluous.

But for some reason, just as he truly decided to leave, he changed his mind again.

No matter how much evidence lay before him, the case still lacked the most crucial element: a confession—no, what he meant was, if he was to give up on Teng Yuyi, he needed to hear it clearly from her first.

Before understanding everything clearly, he refused to give up.

He walked directly to Teng Yuyi and spoke: “How did you find your way here?”

Teng Yuyi said, “I came to intercept Juesheng and Qizhi.”

“Intercept them?” Lin Chengyou said, “They’re accompanying Master tonight, how could they come here?”

Of course, that’s what Duan Fu had overheard, Teng Yuyi thought to herself, but she couldn’t tell Lin Chengyou that. Looking closer, she noticed his expression wasn’t right and asked curiously, “Oh? Is Your Highness not feeling well?”

But Lin Chengyou asked, “Were those two bottles of bone-changing wine from you the other day?”

Teng Yuyi nodded, “That’s right.”

“Why suddenly give me that?”

Teng Yuyi smiled sweetly, “Of course to thank Your Highness for teaching me lightness skills that night.”

Lin Chengyou glanced at her sideways: “First teaching you the Peach Blossom sword technique, then teaching you lightness skills—after all that effort, don’t I deserve something else?”

Teng Yuyi was stunned. Lin Chengyou was too strange tonight; his tone seemed deliberately confrontational.

How odd—she hadn’t provoked him recently. She felt slightly annoyed: “Your Highness, that bone-changing wine was my treasure that I’d kept for several years. I didn’t even drink a single sip myself, giving it all to Your Highness. What’s wrong, is such a treasure still not good enough?”

Not good enough! For his royal uncle, she made sweets, but for him, just two bottles of wine would suffice. However, the words reached his lips and he swallowed them, saying instead: “It’s good enough.”

Teng Yuyi didn’t respond.

Lin Chengyou’s indignation deflated somewhat: “Fine, I forgot to thank you.”

That’s better, Teng Yuyi showed a slight smile: “I’m glad Your Highness likes it.”

Lin Chengyou glanced at her smile. If Teng Yuyi truly had feelings for his royal uncle, with her personality, he wouldn’t stand a chance even if he tried to compete. His heart ached—no, he had to clarify this tonight, but he couldn’t ask directly. If he did, she might become angry from embarrassment. No matter how urgent, he had to take it slow.

He casually said, “By the way, I tried some of the sweets you sent to the temple the other day. Next time when you send sweets to Juesheng and Qizhi, could you send me some too?”

Teng Yuyi was surprised.

Lin Chengyou’s reasoning was sound: “They were quite good, but Juesheng and Qizhi are too greedy. By the time I finished my business and went to eat, not even one box remained.”

Oh, so he did like sweets. Ah, she almost forgot—that night when Lin Chengyou came to help drive away ghosts, he ate quite a lot of the sweets prepared for him. He must enjoy them. Teng Yuyi nodded readily: “It was my oversight. Alright, next time when I send sweets to the young priests, I’ll bring an extra portion for Your Highness.”

Lin Chengyou added: “Nothing too sweet.”

Such specific requirements. Teng Yuyi found Lin Chengyou increasingly strange tonight, but despite her puzzlement, she considered: then the golden milk pastries and lotus-stuffed cakes wouldn’t do. She nodded: “Alright.”

“And nothing too soft.”

Oh? Then even the jade dew balls wouldn’t work. Teng Yuyi thought for a moment and said: “Fine.”

“Make something new.”

Teng Yuyi was stunned, asking puzzled: “What do you mean by new?”

Lin Chengyou continued naturally: “When I was investigating a case, I met some silk merchants from Jiangnan. They had various Jiangnan sweets in their bags, very different from northern ones, like fresh flower cakes… and such.”

Teng Yuyi’s eyes brightened slightly—what a coincidence, she could make fresh flower cakes too!

Come to think of it, fresh flower cakes did have a much lighter taste than jade dew balls.

But she hadn’t made them in a long time.

“Well…” Teng Yuyi seemed troubled.

“Not possible?” His tone was bitter.

“I can make them, just not many at once. I’ll make a few boxes to send to the temple later—I hope Your Highness won’t mind the small quantity.”

Lin Chengyou’s heart skipped several beats. If she made sweets for his royal uncle, she would surely make excuses to him, not agree so readily.

He paused for a moment, trying to appear calm: “That’s fine then. No need to make too many, just… one portion each of peony cakes, rose cakes, begonia cakes, and pear blossom cakes would be enough—”

“Wait, wait.” Teng Yuyi interrupted him. “Your Highness, isn’t that wishful thinking? Fresh flower cakes aren’t so easy to make. Our household only knows how to make rose cakes and pear blossom cakes, and we haven’t made such pastries in years. We can’t even find the molds anymore. If we want to make them, we’d need to have new molds made first.”

Lin Chengyou’s mind went blank. If Teng Yuyi had made pear blossom cakes before, she wouldn’t hide it from him. If the molds couldn’t be found, that meant… that meant she hadn’t made such pastries recently, and the box of pear blossom cakes at the Prince’s mansion wasn’t from her at all.

A whirlwind swept through his heart—so such coincidences did exist in the world.

As his mood lightened, his mind finally started working again. He knew it! She cared deeply about his matters; as soon as he asked, she agreed to make fresh flower cakes for him. He hadn’t guessed wrong—there were mutual feelings between him and Teng Yuyi.

He thought of the hairpins in his lapel, which had grown almost hot from being hidden so long. Now he had no more reservations—her heart wasn’t with his royal uncle, it was with him. From now on, he could give her whatever he wanted to give.

No, not just these hairpins—from now on, if she wanted stars, he would pluck stars for her. If she wanted the moon, he would fetch the moon for her.

The best things in the world should belong to the best young lady in the world.

He smiled and reached into his lapel, about to take out the hairpins.

Suddenly Teng Yuyi said: “Oh my, I forgot about the main thing!”

“I prepared a birthday gift for Your Highness.” Teng Yuyi walked eagerly to Duan Fu. “With so many guests tonight and so many gifts, I worried my gift might be sent straight to the mansion’s storehouse without Your Highness seeing it, so I wanted to ask Juesheng and Qizhi to pass it to you. Duan Fu said they would come to Zhixu Pavilion, so I came here early to wait for them.”

She smiled and lifted the embroidered brocade covering the precious saddle, turning to look at Lin Chengyou: “I wonder if this item will meet Your Highness’s approval.”

Lin Chengyou was stunned. It was a precious saddle, crafted from a single piece of purple jade and leather. The purple jade was translucent throughout, with a subtle, otherworldly radiance.

Despite having seen many fine horses and saddles, he had never seen such an extraordinary purple jade saddle. This was not something that could be found in the market districts, nor something that could be made in a short time.

He stared at it for a long while, then turned with effort to look at Teng Yuyi, who stood in the moonlight with her hands behind her back, her eyes sparkling.

“This is your birthday gift to me?”

Teng Yuyi smiled and said: “Made of purple jade. Your Highness has saved my life multiple times, and I’ve regretted not being able to repay you. Hearing it was Your Highness’s birthday, I wanted to take this opportunity to formally express my gratitude. Fearing ordinary items wouldn’t be worthy of Your Highness, I remembered the whole piece of purple jade His Majesty had awarded my father, which had been kept in storage. I thought making it into a precious saddle might please Your Highness, so I had the household steward arrange it in advance. How is it? Does Your Highness like it?”