When the sky was still dark, Li Tong had already risen.

The city gates of the capital opened very early, but don’t say the gentleman travels early—there are always earlier travelers.

Li Tong led his three subordinate soldiers to clean the city gate thoroughly. After checking the time, he ordered the gate to be opened.

Just as the gate was pushed open, a carriage rushed in, seemingly oblivious to the people still in front of it.

Li Tong, standing to the side, hurriedly dodged and staggered, nearly falling over.

“Blind fool, blocking master’s way!”

The person in the carriage threw down these words and drove away.

One of the soldiers here quickly went to help Li Tong up.

“Lord Li, are you alright?” he asked carefully.

Li Tong smiled and patted his hands as he stood up properly.

“I’m fine,” he said.

Everyone quietly looked at his face and indeed saw no resentment or indignation, but rather the same calm demeanor as if nothing had happened.

As daylight brightened and more people entered through the city gate, Li Tong didn’t go into the shelter nearby but dutifully stood at the gate entrance, scrutinizing those coming and going.

When the morning light fell, the shift change personnel also arrived. The gate had seven people in total, with at least four on duty at any time, so Li Tong had to serve as an ordinary soldier on duty.

Yesterday’s four who had been off duty—but only three came.

“Lord Li, Tao Si asked me to request leave for him,” one soldier said casually.

When requesting leave, one should give a reason, but this soldier seemed to have forgotten. After saying this, he had nothing more to add.

People around glanced at him sideways.

The soldier didn’t care at all and slowly walked to the side to stand.

Everyone then looked at Li Tong.

“You all go ahead, eat and rest for a while,” Li Tong said calmly.

“Then sir, I’ll bring you food later. What would you like to eat?” a thin, small soldier asked.

Li Tong smiled.

“No need, someone from my family will bring food,” he said.

Someone tugged at that soldier. The soldier gave Li Tong a somewhat sheepish smile and bowed, then they all hurried away.

Here, three people stood before the city gate, glancing occasionally at the passersby, but looking most often at Li Tong sitting in the shelter.

“I tell you, Deng Liu, you and Tao Si are really bold,” one said in a low voice, looking at the person who had requested leave, “This is the young master from Elder Li’s family.”

The person called Deng Liu curled his lips disdainfully.

“A young master from a branch family’s illegitimate line,” he said.

“But still a young master,” another laughed.

Everyone looked at Li Tong again.

Li Tong sat in the shelter holding a cup of tea, appearing as calm as if he were enjoying the shade on a summer day, despite it being deep winter.

“I heard he was beaten out of the palace,” that person said.

“So you see, do you think the Li family will let him stay here?” Deng Liu said, while looking at the sky. “Look, not even someone to bring food has come until now.”

The low laughter and conversation here reached Li Tong’s ears, but he acted as if he hadn’t heard.

After all, at the foot of the Son of Heaven, the city gate was quite peaceful with no incidents.

It continued until noon when several horses galloped over. The young gentlemen on horseback wore brocade and silk, pulling up sharply before the city gate shelter.

“How convenient,” one of the young men reined in his horse and, looking at Li Tong, lifted his chin and called out, “Keep an eye on the horses here for us. We have some business to attend to nearby.”

Li Tong stood up.

“Jin-ge, horses aren’t allowed to be parked here,” he said quickly.

Several young men standing beside Li Jin laughed at Li Tong.

“So this is your brother who was imperially ordered to guard the city gate.”

“…Indeed a man of talent with unlimited prospects…”

Faced with this mockery, Li Tong’s expression remained calm, as if they were discussing the nice weather or other idle chatter.

Li Jin’s face showed some disappointment, and he snorted angrily.

“You can’t even handle this small matter. What use are you?” he said, flicking his whip.

As they lingered, the horses happened to defecate, immediately spreading a foul smell.

“Quickly clean it up,” Li Jin shouted loudly.

Li Tong responded and quickly called the soldiers over.

“Sir, we can’t leave our posts,” Deng Liu said loudly.

Li Tong said nothing more.

Here, Li Jin and his companions continued their mocking chatter, watching as Li Tong indeed fetched cleaning tools himself to sweep up the horse dung.

Suddenly there was a commotion.

“What’s this? What’s this? Causing congestion at the city gate—what are you trying to do?” a sharp, bright voice called out.

“Which blind fool is talking nonsense in their sleep?” Li Jin, being who he was, naturally wouldn’t back down and turned to curse back.

His cursing stopped as he saw Fan Yilin approaching with a group of people, swaying as they walked.

“Oh my, who is this? Such arrogant talk,” Fan Yilin raised his eyebrows and said loudly, looking at Li Jin.

“Mind your own business. Clay Buddha crossing the river should worry about itself first,” Li Jin snorted.

But this Fan Yilin was after all the legitimate son of the Fan family’s main house, a status Li Jin couldn’t compare to. He said nothing more and spurred his horse to leave.

“Wait,” Fan Yilin called out to stop him, pointing at the horse dung on the ground. “This lord, is this your first time on the street?”

Li Jin was furious.

“Don’t you know the rules set by the Great Ancestor?” Fan Yilin demanded.

With the words “Great Ancestor” spoken, Li Jin quickly suppressed his anger.

“No littering in the streets, livestock must carry dung bags when traveling—don’t you know this, or did you forget?” Fan Yilin snorted. “Should I call someone from the Five Cities Military Commission to explain it to you?”

There was indeed such a regulation originally, but which noble family would actually follow it?

Besides, there were people from the Five Cities Military Commission specifically for street cleaning.

No one would really make a fuss about this point.

This Fan Yilin was deliberately causing trouble!

Damn it, Li Tong had a good relationship with that dog! At this time he still dared to speak up for him!

Li Jin glared angrily.

“Fan Yilin’s father was recently promoted…” someone whispered as a reminder.

Li Jin angrily flicked his whip.

“Still standing there doing nothing? Waiting for this young master to do it personally?” he scolded.

The servant following behind finally reacted and hurried to take the broom and dustpan from Li Tong’s hands.

“I was wrong earlier—turns out you remember quite clearly. Originally, the Great Ancestor didn’t say violators should personally sweep,” Fan Yilin laughed.

Li Jin’s face turned red.

Li Tong shook his head.

“Is Lord Fan busy with official duties?” he spoke up, essentially defusing the situation.

Li Jin had no intention of staying here any longer.

“Good brothers shouldn’t end up guarding city gates together!” He flicked his whip and left with these words.

Watching these people rush away, Fan Yilin snorted.

“Not busy,” he dismounted. “I’m thirsty and want to ask for some tea.”

Seeing him actually dismount, the people behind couldn’t help but cough as a reminder.

Maintaining cleanliness at the city gate was acceptable, but if he sat down to talk with Li Tong, that could be twisted by those with ulterior motives.

Fan Yilin waved his hand dismissively, ignoring them, and walked to the shelter to sit down.

“Why are you joining in the commotion?” Li Tong handed a cup of tea to Fan Yilin and asked with a smile.

Fan Yilin sat in the chair, naturally not drinking the tea.

“Didn’t your grandfather tell you to leave the capital?” he asked.

“His Majesty told me to guard the city gate and wait for someone. I haven’t waited for them yet, so how can I leave?” Li Tong also sat down, looking toward the city gate with a determined expression.

Fan Yilin looked at him and heavily slapped his shoulder.

“Good brother, I wasn’t wrong about you,” he said, then couldn’t help adding, “Don’t worry, Lady Qi has never been wrong in her actions. If she says it’s right, then it’s right. His Majesty is just far away and doesn’t know. Once he sees Lady Qi, everything will definitely be fine.”

Li Tong smiled.

“Whether there’s trouble or not, she’s still Lady Qi,” he laughed.

And she’s still Li Tong’s benefactor.

Fan Yilin heavily slapped his shoulder again, but this time said nothing.

The two men stopped talking and both looked toward the city gate, their eyes filled with firm anticipation.

“Lady, the grass has sprouted!” A’Hao ran toward a carriage, calling out clearly.

The carriage curtain was lifted. Qi Yue smiled as she looked at A’Hao.

“Really?” she asked.

“Look,” A’Hao held up the short, thin grass in her hands for her to see.

A’Ru also leaned down to look.

“It’s true,” she exclaimed, then looked up at the surroundings.

Approaching the capital, the road was wide and clean, with willows planted all around. Looking carefully now, there was indeed a faint misty green.

“We arrived together with spring,” Qi Yue smiled.

Hoofbeats sounded behind them.

“Is there any more fruit wine?” Chang Yuncheng asked.

Qi Yue looked at him with a smile.

“You finished it again?” she asked, while getting down from the carriage.

Chang Yuncheng dismounted and helped her down.

Then he took the small porcelain bottle that A’Ru handed out from the carriage.

Qi Yue took it and quickly walked toward the back. In the prison cart, Zhou Maochun was contentedly picking his teeth with straw.

“I’m telling you, your skills are lacking. This duck needs to be cooked slowly over low heat to taste good,” he said to the factory guards around him, then spat out the straw as if remembering something. “But it’s acceptable. After all, I’m a prisoner and can’t be too demanding.”

The faces of the surrounding factory guards all turned green.

Oh, so you know you’re a prisoner! You know you’re being too demanding!

Look at this prison cart—aside from looking worse than a carriage, what was missing from the bedding, covers, incense, and charcoal stove?

Look at what you eat and use—being a prisoner to this extent, people all over the world would cry and beg to be prisoners!

But everyone said nothing. Seeing Chang Yuncheng approaching, they snorted and stepped back a few paces.

We know your status is high, we’ll settle this later!

Once you see His Majesty, you, General of Military Strategy, will be their guest, and then they’ll properly serve you.

“Father, this is the last bottle. Once you drink it, there’s no more,” Qi Yue said, handing the porcelain bottle in.

Zhou Maochun happily took it.

“Want to come up and sit for a while?” he invited, patting the soft brocade cushion.

“Would you like to come down and walk around? Get some exercise,” Qi Yue said. “We’ve reached the capital…”

Zhou Maochun suddenly sat up.

“We’ve reached the capital?” he asked in surprise, hurriedly looking around. “How so fast?”

A’Hao, who had followed, couldn’t help giggling.

“Old Master, haven’t you had enough of riding in the prison cart?” she asked.

The surrounding factory guards snorted.

Probably not tired of the prison cart, but afraid of the prison cell.

Zhou Maochun ignored her and began fussing with himself frantically, asking them to quickly remove the bedding, charcoal stove, and table.

“Riding in a prison cart should look like riding in a prison cart. I’m a criminal now, very wretched,” he muttered, reaching up to mess up his hair and deliberately scattering straw on his head.

Qi Yue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Father, you’ve gotten plump from eating well. It’s too late to pretend now,” she laughed.

“I have to pretend even if it doesn’t look convincing,” Zhou Maochun glared. “I need to show them how miserable I am, let everyone see the consequences of defying authority.”

Qi Yue laughed.

“You’re overthinking it. Probably no one wants to look,” she said, then turned to look at the faintly visible city gate.

The cold treatment they had received along the way was already too much. If Chang Yuncheng hadn’t been escorting them, they would probably be in terrible shape by now.

The capital was even more foreign to her, Qi Yue, than those prefectural cities on the road.

“I only stayed in the capital for a few days, and no one knows me. Even if someone comes to look, they’d be looking at you, Father,” she laughed.

Zhou Maochun laughed heartily and drank from the small wine bottle.

“Girl, I think those who want to see me aren’t in a hurry to wait a few more days. Whether they see me now or not doesn’t matter,” he said.

When the dust settles, whether it’s guilt or innocence, then those who should look will naturally come to look, and those who shouldn’t won’t come.

Qi Yue fell silent, smiled, and said nothing.

The common people were all too familiar with the factory guards’ attire. As they approached the busy area near the city gate, there were actually fewer people. Seeing this procession approaching from afar, crowds immediately scattered. When they reached the city gate during the bustling afternoon, the area in front of the gate was instead empty of people.

Qi Yue sighed. This incident had indeed caused quite a stir. Otherwise, with Zhou Maochun’s decades of social connections, how could not a single person have come to visit?

The factory guards, seeing the quiet city gate, were very satisfied. Finally, for the first time on this journey, they felt the arrogance they deserved.

See? This is the consequence of being guilty. Never mind ordinary people—even relatives and friends avoid you like the plague.

They couldn’t help but puff out their chests and spur their horses forward, when suddenly they saw two people standing in the city gate looking out expectantly.

“They’re here!”

Seeing them approach, one person shouted loudly, then ran out in a fluster.

“Lady Qi!”

“Lady Qi, you’ve returned!”

Loud voices immediately rang out.

Everyone was stunned.

The factory guards were even more displeased—who were these people? Didn’t they recognize who they were? Actually rushing over to court trouble!

Qi Yue looked at the people running toward them with some disbelief.

“Lady Qi, you’ve had a hard journey,” Li Tong said formally, stopping a few steps away.

“Lady Qi, I missed you so much…” Fan Yilin rushed over with a smile that made his eyes disappear.

Chang Yuncheng reached out and grabbed him.

“Hey, how did you come too?” Fan Yilin asked, staring at him as if just noticing.

Qi Yue looked at them and couldn’t help but smile. She lowered her head and bowed to both men, but didn’t speak.

Then she heard another commotion. A horse came galloping from the city, followed by several panicked attendants.

“Young Master, Young Master, you can’t go, you can’t go,” they urgently called in low voices.

Qi Yue looked at the approaching youth and couldn’t help but feel her nose tingle. Her smile grew brighter.

“Why didn’t you tell me when you came to the capital last time?” Huang Ziqiao reined in his horse a few steps away and asked with a stern face.

Qi Yue hadn’t expected him to ask this and hadn’t thought of how to answer when Huang Ziqiao turned his horse around.

“This young master will clear the way for you,” he said loudly. Regardless of whether these people would follow or not, he spurred his horse forward first.

Where did this little brat come from! He’s stealing our business!

Fan Yilin couldn’t be bothered to argue with Chang Yuncheng and quickly broke free to run toward the city gate.

“Lady Qi, I’ll guide you,” he shouted. “Everything’s prepared on the road—pine branches, fire basins, firecrackers, whatever you need…”

Li Tong naturally wouldn’t compete with them. He respectfully stepped aside.

“Lady Qi, please,” he said.

Qi Yue reached up to rub her nose and straightened her back.

“Good, thank you all for welcoming me!” she said loudly and indeed stepped forward.

What does a person seek in this lifetime!

Damn it, it was worth it!