The violent shaking of his hand finally woke him up. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Qingxia’s slightly pale face. He stretched his somewhat whitened lips into a gentle, cloud-light smile and said softly, “You’re awake.”

It was nearly noon, with the sun hanging large in the sky. The further south they went, the warmer the weather became. The sunlight was gentle, streaming into the room and making everything feel warm. Yet Qin Zhiyan was covered with two thick layers of blankets, his complexion still somewhat bluish. He had never been one to oversleep—in fact, he often suffered from insomnia for days and nights on end. But now, every time he lay down, he felt overwhelming fatigue rise like mountains and seas, his eyelids heavy as a thousand pounds, almost unable to open.

Qingxia forcibly suppressed the panic in her heart, smiling as if nothing was wrong and saying, “I just woke up too. I made porridge—would you like some?”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and nodded, sitting up.

Qingxia had prepared some light and delicious side dishes. From some unknown point in time, she had gradually become familiar with these things she once disdained, handling them with increasing ease and even feeling a somewhat laughable small sense of accomplishment.

They had settled down in Pengyang City, buying a refined residence in a scenic area south of the city. The house wasn’t large, but behind it lay a famous local attraction called Mingyang Lake—really just a green lake, but Qingxia loved the name and insisted on staying there.

The reasons behind this were something both understood without speaking aloud, yet those heavy things pressed upon their hearts, and no matter how they tried to maintain a peaceful facade, they couldn’t disguise them.

It had been five days since their reunion at Cloud-Like Tower. Over these five days, Qingxia had witnessed Qin Zhiyan’s body weakening bit by bit. She often dared not sleep through entire nights, waking from nightmares every little while, only able to calm down by listening to his heartbeat. They had tacitly agreed not to mention anything about Xianyang City. Living in this peaceful small town, all those tumultuous past events seemed to gradually drift away from them. Compared to the days they had left together, those things already seemed so insignificant.

Qingxia ladled a bowl of clear porridge and placed it before Qin Zhiyan. Lowering her head to sniff it gently, she smiled like a blooming flower and said, “So fragrant.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled warmly and, copying her actions, brought his nose close to smell it, nodding and saying, “Really fragrant indeed.”

“Then eat more. We have important things to do today.”

Qin Zhiyan raised an eyebrow slightly, asking, “What things?”

“You forgot,” Qingxia moved behind him, combing his long hair, then gently massaging his temples with her fingers. “Today is Pengyang City’s Wine God Festival. We’re going to the streets to watch the festivities, and then we’ll go to Cloud-Like Tower to hear the storyteller’s tales. I haven’t finished listening to yesterday’s story about the wolf hunt beyond the frontier.”

Qin Zhiyan laughed, drinking his porridge while saying, “Silly, I already told you it’s all made up. If you want to hear stories, I can tell them to you.”

“No!” Qingxia pouted, saying, “Your stories aren’t good at all. I just like hearing about one person fighting ten thousand people.”

Qin Zhiyan shook his head with a bitter smile, quickly finishing the bowl of porridge. Qingxia happily called Bi’er in, and the nimble little maid quickly cleared the table. Qingxia draped an outer robe over Qin Zhiyan’s shoulders, standing on tiptoes before him to adjust his collar. Smelling that familiar fragrant scent of fritillaria again, her heart gradually calmed. Suddenly remembering something, she lifted her head and said clearly, “Qin Zhiyan, have I told you today that I like you?”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and shook his head, saying, “I didn’t hear it.”

“Oh,” Qingxia suddenly embraced his neck, stood on tiptoes to gently kiss his soft lips, then smiled like a blooming flower and said, “Qin Zhiyan, I really like you. Just stay with me and don’t leave, all right?”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and nodded, “All right.”

“Yay! You agreed!” Qingxia called out happily, her eyes curved like crescents.

After dressing properly, Qingxia looked Qin Zhiyan up and down, crossing her arms with a very critical expression, saying, “Better add another cloak to cover your face. When I went out with you yesterday, those women kept staring at you. I was at such a disadvantage.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled, knowing she was worried about him catching cold and was saying this deliberately. Not exposing her concern, he let her rummage through the clothing chest, taking out a blue satin cloak. Then the two held hands and walked out of the courtyard gate.

“Lian Zhou, we’re going to join the festivities. You three lock the door in a while and go enjoy yourselves too. Remember to invite Miss Cheng.” Qingxia called to the other three. Seeing Lian Zhou’s face turn bright red as he stood resentfully in the courtyard, she laughed and hurriedly ran out with Qin Zhiyan.

“Lian Zhou has a bad temper. I’m no longer a prince now, so if you keep teasing him, be careful he doesn’t beat you up,” Qin Zhiyan whispered close to her ear.

Qingxia covered her mouth and laughed, saying, “I’m helping to make a good match. Miss Cheng is interested in Lian Zhou—even a fool can see that. Besides, I’m not afraid of him. In an open fight, he might not necessarily be my match.”

Before evening fell, the streets were already crowded with people. Qin Zhiyan had rarely had such opportunities to walk the streets before, so everything seemed fresh to him. Under Qingxia’s influence these past few days, he finally appeared less unworldly. The two were dazzled all along the way, seeing vendors selling everything imaginable. This truly deserved to be a prosperous border city, with merchants from north and south, selling all manner of goods, including many blue-eyed, yellow-haired Westerners.

After arriving here, Qingxia had systematically learned about the political situations and cultural geography of various countries. Though history had changed due to the Second Emperor of Qin’s differences, the history of Western nations remained largely unchanged. If following historical trajectory, this should be during the reign of Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty. Then the ruling power in the western Czarist Russia would be Empress Sophia, Portugal and Spain were just beginning maritime trade—this was the moment when the great Chinese nation was closing itself off and gradually declining, while Western countries were gradually rising. The foreigners on the street were mostly missionaries sent by Western countries to spread their faith.

From Qingxia’s understanding of world history, the first batch of missionaries weren’t like the later bandits—they were basically true believers who had traveled thousands of miles across oceans for God’s gospel.

At this time, foreign navigation technology was already quite advanced. Due to historical changes, the Chinese mainland had been fragmented for hundreds of years with various kingdoms standing separately, making technological development very backward. Zheng He, who should have appeared and completed the great maritime voyages long ago, had disappeared somewhere in history. Thus, in terms of navigation, they lagged far behind Western nations.

But these matters had nothing to do with Qingxia. Whether China was prosperous or declining, it all followed specific natural developmental patterns. She was just an ordinary woman with no lofty and great thoughts of helping her nation prosper. Seeing the streets full of various dazzling goods, Qingxia immediately became interested. Watching everyone bargaining and arguing lively, she cheerfully joined their ranks.

Qin Zhiyan was extremely clever—he could grasp the essence of anything with just a glance. Working in harmony with Qingxia, they dominated the scene, bargaining with great pleasure. Before the sky darkened, they had bought countless items of all sorts. From small things like needles, thread, bowls, and chopsticks, to large items like ivory flowers, various brocades and silks, clothing and ornaments, beautiful wood carvings, various rope knots and colored satin, they even bought a red lacquered chamber pot carved with a lifelike figure of the God of Longevity.

They hired a cart to follow behind them, buying whatever they saw, completely ignoring the nouveau riche looks from passersby, thoroughly enjoying their shopping spree.

“Yima’er, buying things is so interesting,” After all this activity, Qin Zhiyan’s cheeks became rosy too. Perhaps due to his mood, his eyes sparkled with life, no longer cold and peaceful, and his whole spirit lifted.

Qingxia smiled and looked up, saying, “Of course! People like you have piles of money but never know how to spend it.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled, when suddenly they heard a gurgling sound. He looked questioningly at Qingxia. Qingxia smiled embarrassedly, saying, “I’m starving. Let’s go eat at Miss Cheng’s place.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and said, “Good idea. I’m hungry too.”

Qingxia instructed the cart driver to deliver their purchases to their residence, then walked hand-in-hand with Qin Zhiyan toward Cloud-Like Tower.

Evening brought the Wine God Festival, making all of Pengyang City exceptionally lively. Cloud-Like Tower was packed to capacity—they stood at the entrance for quite a while before squeezing in. Fortunately, Cheng Xiao knew they were coming and had prepared a room in advance.

Just as the dishes were served, they saw the two little maids Qing’er and Bi’er at the entrance, dragging a reluctant Lian Zhou inside. Cheng Xiao, being very straightforward, enthusiastically welcomed them. Lian Zhou’s face turned almost liver-colored, his expression unreadable as either angry or shy.

Qingxia was about to go greet them when Qin Zhiyan stopped her, saying, “If you go greet them now, Lian Zhou will really want to crawl into a crack in the ground.”

Qingxia covered her mouth and laughed, picking up a piece of spare rib and putting it in Qin Zhiyan’s bowl, saying, “Eat more. Gaining weight will make you very handsome.”

“Very handsome?” Qin Zhiyan was puzzled, asking, “What does that mean?”

Qingxia paused, thinking for a long time before realizing this advanced term might not exist yet, saying, “It means praising you as refined and elegant, exceptionally handsome.”

Qin Zhiyan chuckled, saying smugly, “I think I’m pretty good already.”

Qingxia nearly sprayed out her tea, laughing heartily, “What a vain man.”

At this moment, the private room door suddenly opened. Cheng Xiao walked in with a smile, setting down her tray and saying, “Not drinking wine during the Wine God Festival is disrespectful to the Wine God. This is fruit wine, very light and sweet—it’s from my private collection. Today I’m giving it to you to taste for free.”