Luo Sheng nodded. “That’s right. On the night when the prince’s mansion was surrounded by heavy troops, a child appearing on the street who was about the same age as Bao’er couldn’t have been randomly picked up from the street. Moreover, with so many soldiers watching, it would have been impossible to pass off a randomly obtained infant as Bao’er and have him killed. That child must have been brought out of the prince’s mansion by someone, only to unfortunately fall into the hands of those soldiers.”

Xiu Yue listened silently, her expression constantly shifting.

Luo Sheng’s tone remained calm. “What you saw at that time was probably just the tip of the iceberg. Yang Zhun was likely not the only one ordered to take an infant and break out.”

Xiu Yue vaguely understood. “Then Xiao Qi—”

“At that time, they likely disguised all the infants of appropriate age in the prince’s mansion as Bao’er and had people escort them out. Xiao Qi, that infant, and even the real Bao’er were all among those infants.”

With the large number of people in the prince’s mansion, finding several infants of similar age to Bao’er wouldn’t have been difficult.

One of the guards carrying an infant was intercepted by the soldiers, and that infant was killed in public, becoming the established conclusion that the young prince of Prince Zhennan’s mansion had died that night.

Meanwhile, Yang Zhun successfully escaped with Xiao Qi. As for the real Bao’er—Luo Sheng thought of Grand Commander Luo, her thoughts churning.

The real Bao’er, for some unknown reason, had been secretly brought back to the Luo residence by Grand Commander Luo. It just so happened that Madam Luo gave birth a few days later, so he became one of the twins—Luo Chen.

As for why Grand Commander Luo did this, that was something she needed to investigate later.

Luo Sheng looked deeply at Xiu Yue and sighed softly. “That night, it may not have been that you happened to see Yang Zhun leaving with the infant, but rather that Yang Zhun deliberately came to see you one last time…”

Xiu Yue’s eyes suddenly reddened.

Everything from that night was still vivid in her mind. That look Yang Zhun gave her had appeared in her dreams countless times.

So it was him deliberately coming to bid her farewell?

Xiu Yue wanted to cry, but her eyes were completely dry. She could only awkwardly rub her reddened eye corners.

“Go attend to your work. The tavern is about to open, and we can’t do without you as head chef.” Luo Sheng said gently.

Xiu Yue nodded vigorously. “Mm.”

The county princess was right. They still had many things to attend to, and wallowing in the past was completely useless.

She had already wallowed in that pain for twelve years. Now, by extraordinary fortune, she had found the county princess and needed to look forward.

Xiu Yue quietly left, leaving only Luo Sheng sitting alone in the room.

The autumn evenings darkened early. It was time to light the lamps, yet the room remained completely dark.

Luo Sheng sat in prolonged silence.

First she had confirmed that Xiao Qi was Bao’er, but now she discovered that Luo Chen was actually Bao’er. To say this had no impact on her at all would be impossible.

There was also Grand Commander Luo. He had clearly been the one leading troops to surround and attack Prince Zhennan’s mansion, so why did he save Luo Chen?

Did Grand Commander Luo and her father the prince share some connection she didn’t know about?

Luo Sheng stood up and walked outside.

The great hall was already brightly lit, with Sheng Sanlang and the others, dressed as shop attendants, moving through the hall.

“Master, what would you like to eat?” Shi Yan stood at his usual position, asking Wei Han.

Wei Han withdrew his gaze from the counter area and asked, “Where is Miss Luo?”

Shi Yan wanted to roll his eyes.

The master asked quite directly. Since you’re being so direct, why don’t you hurry up and marry Miss Luo already? Coming here every day just to eat—isn’t that frustrating?

“Miss Luo is in the back.”

Even as Shi Yan was speaking, Wei Han had already looked toward the doorway connecting the great hall to the rear courtyard.

Luo Sheng walked in, her expression as calm as always.

Wei Han watched as she walked to the counter, her gaze settling on a large-bellied, long-necked celadon vase placed on the tall table.

At this moment, Wei Han inexplicably felt a trace of nervousness.

He didn’t know whether today’s gift, compared to the kitchen knife and cookbook he’d sent before, would be more to Miss Luo’s liking.

Of course, he wasn’t very nervous beyond that.

This wasn’t the first time giving Miss Luo a gift. If she didn’t like this one, he could just try something else.

Still, he hoped she would like it.

Girls should all like it, right?

Luo Sheng stared at the hibiscus flowers in the celadon vase for a moment, then instinctively looked toward the window-side table.

With hibiscus flowers appearing out of nowhere, apart from Prince Kaiyang who occasionally brought small gifts, she couldn’t think of anyone else it would be.

Sure enough, there was a familiar crimson figure there.

The person gave her a slight smile.

Luo Sheng quickly withdrew her gaze, lowering her eyes to stare at the richly beautiful hibiscus flowers.

Hibiscus flowers, also called frost-resisting flowers, were also known as love flowers.

She looked toward Wei Han again.

What did Prince Kaiyang mean by this?

Luo Sheng walked over and asked directly, “Did Your Highness bring the flowers?”

Wei Han openly acknowledged it. “A gift for Miss Luo.”

“Please take the flowers back, Your Highness. I don’t like them.” Luo Sheng’s tone wasn’t cold—it was even somewhat gentle—yet it conveyed firm resolve.

After he learned so many of her secrets, on that night of bitter wind and rain, beside Zhaohua’s cold corpse, the embrace he gave her had been too warm, making it difficult for her to continue treating him as an adversary.

But it could only go that far.

These hibiscus flowers with their poignant love legend—she couldn’t accept them.

“Miss Luo doesn’t like them?” Wei Han carefully examined the cluster of hibiscus flowers.

Deep red and pale white, gorgeous as sunset clouds.

They were clearly quite beautiful.

However, since Miss Luo didn’t like them, so be it. Tomorrow he would bring different flowers.

Unfortunately, in this season, apart from the hibiscus flowers blooming at their peak, only a few varieties of chrysanthemums were decent.

“Then I’ll take the flowers away after I finish eating.”

“Please enjoy your meal, Your Highness.” Luo Sheng turned and returned to the counter.

Wine patrons gradually increased, both familiar and unfamiliar faces.

After greeting customers, Hong Dou pulled Kou’er aside to whisper.

“Kou’er, look at those two at that table. Are they preparing to secretly wrap up the food and stuff it in their clothes to take away again?”

Did they think she was blind? When they came in, their stomachs were flat, but when they left they looked five months pregnant. How many plates of braised beef would it take to make their stomachs look like that?

She had discovered people doing this the very first time!

She had originally wanted to go throw them out, but the young miss stopped her. She hadn’t expected these people to do it again and again, with no intention of stopping.

Kou’er pursed her lips dismissively. “If the young miss doesn’t interfere, she must have her reasons. Stop worrying about it needlessly.”

Just as they were talking, they saw Luo Sheng walk over to that table.

Sitting at that table were two ordinary-looking young men. The moment they saw Luo Sheng approach, their hearts leapt to their throats.

How could they not be nervous? Their chests and sleeves were giving off fragrant aromas.

The main problem was that today’s braised pork knuckle was too fragrant—easy to expose.

“Excuse me for interrupting you two gentlemen. I have something to ask.”

The two men grinned in unison. “Please ask.”

“Is it hot?”

The two were momentarily stunned. Following where Luo Sheng’s finger pointed, they looked down at their slightly bulging stomachs, then their expressions changed drastically as they stood up to run.

“Stop right there.”

Though it was just a light remark, the two young men who were about to flee immediately froze in place.

The Grand Commander’s precious pearl—they didn’t dare disobey.

“You… have other business?” one young man asked, steeling himself.

Can’t panic. If they panicked any more, the braised pork knuckle hidden in their chests would fall out.

Luo Sheng placed the food box she was carrying on the table and said calmly, “Winter is approaching. From now on, the tavern will sell hot dishes, so you’d better use food boxes to carry them.”