Wei Yi stood before the window, his gaze still ceaselessly searching through the crowd. Orange-red rippling light fell upon his softly contoured face, making him appear even more youthfully serene, like a young man innocent of worldly affairs.

Below on the street, the flow of people had long since become a tide. Looking out, there were densely packed heads as far as the eye could see.

Finally—

He spotted Ji Yunshu’s figure.

She walked among the crowd in a blue gown. The surrounding firelight illuminated her jade-like complexion, her eyes resembling a pool of clear water. When she lifted her gaze, there was naturally a light and graceful air about her—her demeanor leisurely, her presence like a secluded orchid. She possessed an indescribable gentle charm that captured one’s attention completely.

What person, seeing such a woman, would not be pleased?

The corners of Wei Yi’s lips curved upward slightly, ripples stirring in his heart.

But—

When he saw Jingrong beside Ji Yunshu, a trace of dejection instantly appeared in his eyes.

That pair of talented scholar and beautiful maiden, walking among the crowd, were like a living painting!

It also seemed like a warning to him—that woman did not belong to him.

When entering the wine house, Jingrong ordered several guards to stand watch outside. After going upstairs, he instructed Lang Bo to sit with several guards at a large table by the window, forbidding them to drink alcohol and only allowing tea. Those guards all maintained vigilant expressions, not daring to relax for even a moment. After all, the person currently in the private room was no ordinary person, but the Emperor of Da Lin.

If anything went wrong, their heads would not be spared!

Inside the Tianzi Room.

Wei Yi had long since ordered people to prepare a table of dishes, most of which were Ji Yunshu’s favorites. When Jingrong and Ji Yunshu entered, he dismissed Guard Gao and the others.

“Shu’er, is your health better?” he asked urgently.

“I’m already fine.” Ji Yunshu’s brow furrowed slightly with concern. “With so many people outside the palace today, how did you come out? What if…”

Before she finished speaking, Jingrong took over: “It was my idea. Last time, I promised him I would accompany him out for a walk on Commerce Festival day.”

“…”

Wei Yi: “Actually, I wanted to come out myself, which is why I troubled him. After staying in the palace for half a year, everywhere I go it’s red walls and green tiles, so I wanted to take advantage of today’s liveliness to leave the palace and walk around. I didn’t expect it would be quite this lively today.”

Ji Yunshu was at a loss for words and only said, “Then you must return to the palace early.”

“Alright!” He obediently agreed.

At the dining table, the three got along very harmoniously!

Chatting and laughing merrily!

But—

The matter of Wei Yi keeping Ji Yunshu in the palace last time had become a great weight on Jingrong’s heart, because he understood that in truth, Wei Yi had never given up from beginning to end.

After the meal, they left the wine house. The sky had already darkened.

The entire street was brilliantly lit, extraordinarily lively. Looking out, one couldn’t see the end at all—densely packed with people, with a dazzling array of goods displayed from the street’s beginning to its end, attracting quite a crowd of onlookers.

At this moment, several children holding pinwheels were chasing each other and running over. Running too hastily, they were about to crash straight into Ji Yunshu. Seeing this, Wei Yi was just about to reach out to pull her back, but his hand had barely lifted an inch when Ji Yunshu’s wrist was grasped by Jingrong, who pulled her into his embrace and firmly protected her.

The children ran past happily, completely unaware that they had nearly collided with someone.

Watching Jingrong protect Ji Yunshu, Wei Yi retracted that empty hand into his robe, slowly clenching it into a fist, yet his expression showed not a ripple of disturbance.

Shortly after, the group began strolling along the street.

Because of the unresolved case, Ji Yunshu and Jingrong hadn’t mustered much interest, merely accompanying Wei Yi as he looked here and there.

Each time Wei Yi went out on the street, he always bought many strange and peculiar objects to take back. Today he was also like a child, always picking up odd things to examine. This made Lang Bo afraid to approach him, fearing this fellow would get excited and buy a whole pile again, then stuff it all into his arms. But unlike previous occasions, this time, no matter how much Wei Yi liked something, he only looked at it without buying.

Lang Bo breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dong dong dong…”

Suddenly—

A dragon dance troupe appeared ahead.

From afar, one could see a dragon head, body, and tail made of bamboo strips dancing above the crowd. The entire dragon had over ten segments, each connected and joined by long silk cloth, painted with oil colors to look like a golden dragon. Within each segment, candles burned, and beneath each segment was a wooden handle for people to grip and dance the dragon. Before the dragon’s head, someone held a “treasure pearl” to lead the dance. Around them, people beat gongs and drums, creating an extraordinarily imposing atmosphere. The dragon dance masters worked even harder, making the entire dragon seem alive.

“Truly beautiful!” Wei Yi said.

Ji Yunshu asked him, “Have you never seen this before?”

“No.”

“This is called the dragon lantern dance. People regard it as a divine creature that can bring clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and bestow blessings. So generally, places experiencing great drought will perform dragon lantern dances. On festival days like today, they also perform them.”

Wei Yi nodded in understanding, but suddenly reacted to something and asked her, “But Jinjiang doesn’t have this. Shu’er, how do you know about it?”

This…

For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer. Different places had different customs. Jinjiang indeed didn’t have dragon dances, and she was born in Jinjiang, so logically she shouldn’t know about this thing. But she came from the modern world, and she had often seen this as a child.

So she casually found a reason: “I read about it in books.”

This reason worked no matter when!

Wei Yi believed it too!

Before long, a lion dance troupe followed behind the dragon dance troupe. Amid the sound of gongs and drums, those lions portrayed by people danced vividly and lifelike, displaying myriad forms.

The two troupes, one after the other, instantly ignited the entire street’s atmosphere to its peak.

People’s excitement also began to surge. They retreated to both sides, clapping and cheering, the sound waves rising one after another. Precisely because of this, the entire street began to push forward frantically and uncontrollably.

People squeezing people, people pushing people…

A trampling incident was about to occur!

Seeing this, Jingrong immediately ordered Lang Bo, “Protecting the Emperor is paramount.”

“Yes!”

Over a dozen guards immediately surrounded Wei Yi in the middle.

“Protect the master and leave first.”

The group headed toward another street with fewer people.

Jingrong, pulling Ji Yunshu’s hand, followed behind.

But from somewhere, a group of people rushed over, crashing forcefully between the two and separating them.

“Jingrong!”

“Yunshu!”

Because there were truly too many people, and Jingrong was being squeezed, his martial skills couldn’t be deployed at all.

He watched helplessly as he and Ji Yunshu were forced apart.

After the group that had just rushed through dispersed and the dragon and lion dance troupes had also passed, Ji Yunshu’s figure was nowhere to be seen in the crowd—not even her shadow!

He shouted frantically like a madman, “Yunshu…”

Over and over again!

As for Ji Yunshu, after being separated, her wrist was seized by someone unknown who dragged her beneath a dancing two-person tiger.

“What are you doing? Let me go.” Her struggles were futile.

Those two people wearing colorful costumes dancing the lion didn’t respond. They directly raised their hands and struck the back of her neck.

Ugh? Pain shot through the back of her neck, and she fainted…