“Get off me!”

“No, no, no!” Hua Chun clung to him desperately. “Falling from this height would cause injury, and if I land headfirst it could kill me! Second Brother, think this through — personally, I believe I’m quite beneficial to the nation’s economic development, please don’t act rashly!”

What kind of nonsense was this? Yuwen Jie gritted his teeth. Two grown men embracing like this in broad daylight — didn’t that bother her at all?

Turning to the stunned He Chang’an behind them, the Emperor said, “Are you just going to stand there? Come help. Get him off me!”

“Ahem.” Coming back to his senses, He Chang’an quickly walked over to help pull Hua Chun off, coaxing her as he pulled. “I won’t throw you out, come down now, if you keep clinging to Second Brother, he really will get angry.”

Since she was fine, everything had turned out alright. Though this prank had given them quite a scare, given the situation earlier, that she could stay level-headed enough to turn danger into safety was actually commendable. Yuwen Jie wasn’t truly angry — just putting on an act.

Hearing He Chang’an’s words, Hua Chun finally calmed down and, laughing awkwardly, released the Emperor and stepped aside.

Yuwen Jie’s robe had been rumpled by her, and his face had wrinkled up too, his gaze at her cold and dark.

Hua Chun lowered her head, consoling herself — this Emperor normally showed no expression at all; getting such an obvious look of disgust from him was practically an achievement! Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, he was at least her sworn Eldest Brother now — even if he wanted to strangle her, he couldn’t act on it.

For a moment, Hua Chun thought He Chang’an was truly wise, having easily secured Hua Jinghua’s life through this sworn brotherhood — from now on, whatever she wanted to say, she could say it directly, without fear of offending the Emperor, since she couldn’t be killed anyway.

She’d guessed correctly — part of the reason He Chang’an had proposed becoming sworn brothers with her was to protect the life of this rare, once-in-a-century good prime minister. The Emperor’s earlier court punishment had changed Hua Jinghua’s personality into what it was now, and He Chang’an genuinely worried that if the Emperor lost his temper again in the future, Great Liang could directly lose a valuable minister.

So, brother He Chang’an’s efforts here were truly for the good of the nation and its people, done with great care.

The assassins had all been taken to the imperial prison. Yuwen Jie originally intended to head straight back to the palace, but He Chang’an said, “It’s rare we get to come out — now that the mission is complete, we should properly enjoy ourselves too.”

Hua Chun looked at him with great interest. “How should we play?”

He Chang’an raised his eyebrows at the Emperor, who seemed to understand and gave a slight nod, leaving her standing there alone like a fool, looking left and right in complete confusion.

The three of them left the restaurant and continued forward. As Hua Chun walked, she kept glancing back — the street was crowded with people, and she kept feeling like someone was watching them.

“Second Brother.” Hua Chun tried to get friendly, calling out to He Chang’an. “Don’t you feel like someone’s following us?”

He Chang’an nodded. “Those are hidden guards.”

Then he looked at her in surprise. “You can’t fight, yet you noticed we were being followed?”

Nonsense, wasn’t a woman’s sixth sense a joke? Hua Chun smiled. “Maybe I have a natural talent for martial arts, just held back by my parents, never allowed to train.”

Since there were hidden guards, why hadn’t they appeared at the start? Did the Emperor really need to personally join the fight? Was this some kind of joke?

She kept guessing at the Emperor’s purpose for this outing, and could only guess so far that the Emperor might be trying to draw someone out. Whether the goal had been achieved, she had no idea, but was quite curious.

However, as she followed the two of them, twisting and turning through the streets, until they arrived before a magnificent, grand courtyard, and saw the characters on the plaque above, she felt certain the Emperor’s goal must have been achieved.

Why? Because if it hadn’t been, there was no way he’d have the leisure to come to a place like this!

Heavenly! Fragrance! Hall!

Yes, judging by the name alone, it was clear what kind of place this was — the classic time-travel tourist destination since ancient times: a brothel.

Here, various female protagonists could put on grand performances, winning the title of top courtesan, or perhaps run into an incognito emperor or prince and get whisked away into a noble household. Or perhaps be recommended by everyone, becoming the most popular top girl, with her status skyrocketing. There were even plenty of cross-dressing female protagonists coming here to compete with men for women, only to end up falling for a man themselves.

As a member of the broader community of cross-dressing individuals, Hua Chun felt quite conflicted. She was a traditional girl, not particularly interested in watching explicit performances or seeing women’s flesh exposed, but the two beside her clearly seemed excited.

“You could even find a place like this?”

“Someone recommended it, don’t make it sound like I’ve been hanging around the flower district since returning to the capital!”

Yuwen Jie’s face still showed no particular expression, but from his eyes, it was clear this guy was quite interested in beauties too. As for He Chang’an, no need to even mention it — since he’d led the way, he was clearly quite familiar with it, pulling them both inside.

Hua Chun was dragged in reluctantly. She’d seen brothel scenes in TV dramas plenty of times, feeling bored of them, and couldn’t muster much curiosity now.

However, this Heavenly Fragrance Hall, despite its vulgar-sounding name, turned out to be different from what she’d seen before. First, there wasn’t a fat madam shouting loudly at the entrance; second, walking in, there were no exotic dances or working girls in sight. This courtyard was large and quite grand. At the entrance, two young attendants, seeing them about to enter, handed over three bamboo tokens.

“What does this mean?” Holding the bamboo token, Hua Chun was puzzled.

“Little brother has never been to a place like this before?” He Chang’an raised an eyebrow, teasing her. “When you spot a girl you like later, just stick this into her hair bun.”

Hua Chun: “…”

People in ancient times really knew how to have fun — so did the top girls here not need hairpins at all, just a head full of bamboo tokens?

Just as she was thinking this, they rounded the corridor and saw three girls, each with hands clasped, chins raised, taking small dainty steps, their heads stuck with bamboo tokens like practice targets, walking past them with particularly proud expressions.

Hua Chun couldn’t help it, clutching the pillar beside her and bursting into laughter.

He Chang’an and Yuwen Jie both paused, turning to look at her, utterly baffled.

“It’s nothing, I just forgot to take my medicine today.” Hua Chun laughed until tears streamed down her face, explaining between laughs.

Ancient people couldn’t possibly understand this kind of joke — He Chang’an genuinely thought she was having some kind of fit, and came over with concern. “What should we do then? Should we get someone to find you medicine right now? What illness is this?”

Hua Chun covered her face, quickly composing herself, tears still lingering at the corners of her eyes. “It’s fine, it’s fine, Second Brother, no need to worry.”

She could hardly say she had some kind of mental disorder!

Yuwen Jie, walking ahead, genuinely gave her a look like she was mentally ill, then continued walking. Hua Chun shrank her neck, smiled at He Chang’an, and stepped forward to follow the Emperor into the courtyard ahead.

This Heavenly Fragrance establishment didn’t look like an ordinary brothel at all — extremely upscale, and the girls here seemed a bit unusual too.

Once seated in a room, maids immediately came to attend to them. After He Chang’an presented some token, over thirty girls entered the room at once, dressed elaborately yet not too revealingly, quite properly behaved.

Hua Chun immediately felt somewhat favorable toward the place and began earnestly picking one out.

Yuwen Jie chose the most beautiful one there. He Chang’an picked one who was elegant and gentle. Hua Chun looked left and right, her gaze finally landing on a girl in the back row who had been staring at her the whole time.

The young girl looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. At first glance, she seemed quite ordinary, but the more one looked, the more captivating she became, with a pair of clear, watery eyes that seemed to recognize her, gazing at her with longing.

This reminded her of a close friend from the modern world who used to recommend TV dramas to her, Qin Niao — though they didn’t look alike, that gaze was so similar.

So she chose that young girl.

He Chang’an also studied the girl for a moment, then nodded with a smile. “Little brother has good taste.”

“I called dibs, Second Brother, don’t you dare steal her,” Hua Chun said nervously.

Yuwen Jie glanced at them, and seeing He Chang’an still interested in women, felt somewhat reassured. But still… a man like Hua Jinghua, even sitting next to a woman, did nothing to highlight any sense of masculinity.

What kind of wife would a man like this end up marrying? The Emperor actually found himself pondering this pointless question, even analyzing it seriously.

In the end, he concluded she’d probably have to marry a general’s daughter — ideally the kind who could beat him up every day.

Unaware of the Emperor’s thoughts, Hua Chun looked at the girl beside her, stroked her chin, and put on a rather roguish act. “What’s your name?”

The girl before her smiled, not the least bit intimidated. “Qing Niao.”

“…What?” Hua Chun was startled, staring at her in shock. “Did you… also travel through time?”

“What is young master saying?” Qing Niao looked at her innocently, then reached over to pour her some wine. “This servant is new to Heavenly Fragrance Hall — if there’s any breach of etiquette, please forgive me, young master.”

Qin Niao, Qing Niao, and such similar eyes — could they really not be the same person? Hua Chun stared at her in a daze, her emotions quite complicated.

Back in the modern world, she’d gone through plenty of frustrating situations, and every time, Qin Niao had been there cheering her on. Some friends might steal boyfriends and cause trouble, but someone like Qin Niao, who only helped with whitening and blemish removal in photos together, could truly be called a good friend by Chinese standards.

At this moment, seeing Qing Niao, Hua Chun realized she actually missed Qin Niao quite a bit, wondering how she was doing back in the modern world, whether she’d noticed Hua Chun had been missing for so long.

“Little brother seems to really like this girl?” He Chang’an studied Hua Jinghua, smiling. “She seems to still be untouched — if you truly like her, I’ll redeem her for you, consider it a gift for our sworn brotherhood too.”

That generous? Hua Chun came back to her senses, glanced at him, then at Qing Niao, and hesitantly asked, “Is it expensive?”

Qing Niao paused slightly, then bowed her head. “This servant’s price is two taels of silver.”

Only two taels? That sounded quite cheap. Hua Chun lowered her head, then glanced down at herself.

Having changed clothes in the palace, there was no way the Emperor would have given her any pocket money, so she was currently completely penniless.

“Then thank you, Second Brother!” She quickly smiled at He Chang’an. “I’ll prepare something and repay you properly once we’re back.”

“Since you like her, that’s enough, no need to repay anything.” He Chang’an generously handed the silver to the young attendant nearby.

At this moment, Hua Chun felt He Chang’an was simply the ancient version of a wealthy, handsome young man — even the gesture of handing over silver resembled a modern rich young master handing a black card to a cashier.

If this drama ended with Hua Jinghua turning back into a woman, He Chang’an would definitely be the male lead! She was certain of it, no matter what anyone said!