On the street, carriages and horses flowed like water, and voices buzzed with noise.

Chen Yi hurried to meet Lin Hao beneath a magnolia tree by the street.

“I’m late.” Because she’d left in such haste, Chen Yi’s forehead was beaded with sweat and her breathing somewhat rapid.

“You were already quite fast. I only just received the news myself.” Lin Hao took Chen Yi’s hand and walked toward a teahouse.

“They’re currently drinking tea in a private room on the second floor. I’ve reserved the room next door.”

“Ahao, I really must thank you…” Chen Yi didn’t know what else to say for a moment.

This was originally her matter, yet she was relying entirely on Lin Hao’s help.

Upon reaching the teahouse entrance, Chen Yi slowed her steps, growing nervous.

“Please come in, young ladies.” The doorman greeted them warmly.

“The ‘Moon’ room upstairs.”

The attendant led the two into the private room, served tea and snacks, and tactfully withdrew.

Lin Hao walked to the open window, pointed next door, and said quietly: “They’re in the ‘Flower’ room.”

Chen Yi carefully peeked out and only saw the tightly closed window next door and the birds lingering outside it.

“Are we going to wait here for them to come out?” Chen Yi withdrew her gaze, somewhat at a loss.

Waiting like a farmer by a tree stump could indeed catch them coming out, but how would that confirm their relationship was special?

Two men drinking tea together was the most ordinary thing.

Lin Hao reached out to close the window properly and said in a low voice: “We can first listen to what they’re saying.”

“Eavesdrop?” Chen Yi looked around, walked close to the wall and pressed her ear against it, then shook her head. “I can’t hear anything.”

This type of private room wouldn’t have poor soundproofing. Unless someone was shouting loudly, one could only hear some commotion.

Lin Hao took something from her sleeve: “Try using this.”

It was a pair of bamboo tubes about the size of a cup’s mouth, connected by a thin string. Lin Hao pressed one bamboo tube against the wall, pulled the string taut, and put her ear close to the opening of the other bamboo tube to listen carefully.

Chen Yi stared wide-eyed.

Just what kind of person was Second Miss Lin!

After listening for a moment, Lin Hao signaled Chen Yi to come over.

Chen Yi came back to her senses and approached. A bamboo tube was pressed into her hand.

“Do as I just did, and you’ll be able to hear.”

Chen Yi was dubious as she brought her ear close to the bamboo tube.

“Hanfang—”

The moment she heard the voice, Chen Yi’s hand trembled and she nearly dropped the bamboo tube to the floor.

She looked at Lin Hao in shock, completely unable to understand why using a small bamboo tube allowed her to hear sounds from next door.

Lin Hao pointed at the wall, reminding Chen Yi to listen carefully.

Chen Yi steadied herself and listened earnestly.

“The heir is getting married by year’s end. I haven’t yet offered my congratulations.”

The man’s voice was gentle. Perhaps it was preconception, but to Chen Yi’s ears, it seemed to carry a trace of resentment.

This made her frown in discomfort, her heartbeat accelerating.

By this point, she already had a premonition.

“Hanfang, are you saying this deliberately to make me uncomfortable? You clearly know that even if the other party were a heavenly immortal descended to earth, I would have no interest. In my heart, there is only you…”

Chen Yi stepped back half a pace, her face deathly pale.

Lin Hao silently took back the bamboo tube and listened for a while longer, then put away the tubes and looked at Chen Yi.

“Ahao…” After a long while, Chen Yi spoke. “I knew it was true, but hearing it with my own ears, I still cannot imagine it’s actually real.”

Her fiancé was actually telling a man that in his heart there was only him…

“Ugh—” Chen Yi quickly covered her mouth and dry-heaved twice.

Lin Hao patted her back and handed her a cup of tea: “Drink some tea.”

Chen Yi took the tea and drank several sips. The nauseating feeling eased considerably.

At this moment, the sound of a door opening came from next door. The conversation between the two men, with the door opened, could be heard clearly without need for any device.

Lin Hao pulled Chen Yi to the doorway and they looked out through the door crack.

The two men walked out side by side. Judging by appearances alone, no one would imagine their relationship.

Chen Yi held onto the door, biting her lip hard.

She had seen Heir Pingjia before. It was him, no mistake.

The sound of footsteps outside the door gradually receded.

Inside the door, Chen Yi rushed to the tea table and gulped down several mouthfuls from a teacup.

“Ahao—” She raised her hand to wipe away tears that fell beyond her control. “Help me…”

“I will.” Lin Hao grasped Chen Yi’s hand. “I will help you.”

Not only to help Chen Yi, but even more for her elder sister, and for evildoers to receive their retribution.

Before returning to the General’s Manor, Lin Hao specifically went to buy two catties of sauced beef to bring home.

“Uncle Liu, the little gadget you made for me works especially well.” Lin Hao smiled as she handed over the sauced beef.

Uncle Liu reached out to receive it, his eyes brightening: “Sauced beef from the Wang Family shop—Second Miss really knows how to buy.”

“There’s also this.”

Uncle Liu was delighted: “I was just thinking it’s a pity to have good meat but no good wine. Second Miss truly understands me.”

When Second Miss asked him if he had anything convenient for eavesdropping, he’d known they had compatible temperaments. Sure enough, he hadn’t misjudged her.

“With wine and meat, no need to wait until evening. Second Miss, would you like to drink a cup together?”

“Alright.”

The two sat in the courtyard, eating and chatting.

“That young lady confirmed it with her own eyes, right?”

“Confirmed.”

Uncle Liu chewed a few bites of beef and swallowed, then took a drink: “That’s good then. Saves us from working hard without being appreciated.”

“Whether I’m appreciated or not, I’m going to deal with Heir Pingjia regardless.”

“That’s true.” Uncle Liu smiled as he sipped his wine. “From here on, leave it to me. I guarantee Second Miss will be satisfied.”

Lin Hao smiled: “When this is finished, I’ll treat Uncle Liu to more sauced beef.”

“Deal!”

After the palace examination ended, on the day of the imperial street parade for new officials, the capital was deserted as everyone went to catch a glimpse of the newly appointed top scholar.

A bookstore called Pinfang Study along the street was cold and quiet, with no customers entering.

The teahouse across from the bookstore also had poor business. Even the attendants serving tea and water had their hearts already flown to Chang’an Street.

The spectacle that occurred once every three years was already anticipated, not to mention that the new top scholar was one rarely seen in decades—someone who had achieved first place in all three levels of examinations, a true literary star descended to earth.

In a private room on the second floor of the teahouse, the window faced directly toward the bookstore’s main entrance.

Lin Hao rested her chin on her hand, staring at the bookstore entrance, feeling somewhat expectant about what was about to happen.

She had just received news from Uncle Liu saying he would act soon, so she’d rushed over in haste, not even having time to notify Chen Yi.

Those shops along the street with their doors wide open all had one or two idle attendants with nothing to do, bored out of their minds.

They either gathered together discussing and imagining the liveliness on the imperial street, or dozed off drowsily.

Suddenly, the crackling sound of firecrackers rang out.

The sharp, brief sound of firecrackers was far more intense and shocking than the faint sound of drums and gongs coming from afar.

What was happening?

Many people stuck their heads out to look.

“It seems to be coming from Pinfang Study!”

Just as someone confirmed the source of the sound, the bookstore’s main door was violently pulled open, and a bare-bottomed man ran out.

Bare-bottomed?

People thought their eyes were playing tricks and were preparing to rub them when another person rushed out right behind.

The person who came out after was slightly better off—at least he remembered to grab a hastily snatched piece of clothing to cover his vital parts.

The two seemed to be scared senseless. Only after rushing into the street and being hit by the cold wind did they come to their senses. They looked at each other and ran back inside.

Behind them arose excited shouting: “Isn’t that the bookstore owner!”