In the evening, Xiao Baozi pestered Qin Chang Ge to go out, saying they hadn’t visited the night market on West Prefecture Street for a long time, especially never having gone together. This was against common sense – considering how hard Young Master Xiao worked daily, following his mother through water and fire, attending to her every need, as a mother she should by all rights take a turn accompanying him.

Qin Chang Ge glanced at her son and saw him speak phrases like “attending to every need, through water and fire” without the slightest blush, couldn’t help but feel some admiration. She regretted that Baozi hadn’t been born in the twenty-first century – otherwise, where would Master Li Zongwu get his turn to establish the school of “Thick Black Theory”? The founder would definitely be none other than her family’s Xiao Rong.

After giving Qi Fan instructions, Qin Chang Ge took her son to stroll the streets. Thinking that few people in Xiliang knew her, and it was evening, she didn’t disguise herself and walked all the way there. West Prefecture Street was indeed bustling with activity – crowds of people jostling shoulder to shoulder, the air filled with mixed aromas of cooking oil, fruits, snacks, and cosmetics, creating a strange scent of indistinguishable fragrance and foulness that made Qin Chang Ge furrow her brow. But Baozi was like a fish in water, familiar with every route, weaving through gaps between people, smiling as he frequently greeted roadside vendors: “Hello Uncle Wang! Are today’s chestnuts delicious? Give me a pound!”

“Today’s chestnuts are good! Soft and sweet! Famous products from the northern lands! Young Master hasn’t been here for a long time… Here you go, so many – can you eat them all?”

“My mother wants to eat them!”

“Uncle Sun, one pound of candied olives, the sweet ones!”

“Oh, it’s Young Master Qi! Buying so much today – having guests?”

“My mother wants to eat them!”

“Aunt Tian, you’ve been looking really well lately… I want beef jerky candy, Dragon Tour candy, tangerine cakes, hawthorn cakes, pine nut candy, and Wenguan fruit – one package each!” Baozi counted on his fingers, speaking rapidly.

The old woman from the Tian family smiled like a chrysanthemum, deftly grabbing sweets and packing them: “Oh my, Young Master has quite an appetite today, coming to support my business again.”

“My mother wants to eat them!”

…

Holding a large bundle of snacks and fruits, Qin Chang Ge began considering distributing all these items to the beggars scratching lice in front of the neighboring Earth God temple. After all, since “my mother wants to eat them,” mother had the right to dispose of them – it had nothing to do with Baozi.

Just as she was about to put this into action, suddenly the light dimmed before her eyes. Someone squeezed past sideways – a large figure moving with the wind, bumping right into her!

With a clatter, the snack packages that were already precariously piled up to Qin Chang Ge’s nose were immediately scattered all over the ground. The person couldn’t stop his momentum and also bumped into an elderly man beside Qin Chang Ge, knocking him backward.

The person hurriedly tried to help, but wasn’t as quick as Qin Chang Ge. Disregarding the scattered snacks, Qin Chang Ge reached out to support the old man, saying without turning her head: “This gentleman, are you born in the year of the crab?”

Hearing no response from behind, Qin Chang Ge turned around in surprise and looked directly into a pair of deep, dark eyes.

Those eyes sparkled brilliantly, carrying some fervent urgency and deep expectation, but the moment she turned around, they suddenly dimmed. Then in an instant they brightened again, having recognized who she was, immediately turning to deep confusion.

…

Xiao Jue stared blankly at the woman before him, indescribable emotions surging in his gaze.

Just now, she had said: “Are you born in the year of the crab?”

Something approached stealthily from the depths of distant memory, quietly stepping into his mind. The noisy marketplace and crowds instantly faded away, and around him was vaguely the slightly cool wind and faint grassy scent of years past. In that wind, a young girl’s clear, beautiful voice scattered like dewdrops, bright with laughter: “You bumped into me again… silly, are you born in the year of the crab?”

Such… coincidence…

Earlier, in the sea of people, the walking posture of that young woman in the distance had made him, who was traveling incognito to observe the people’s conditions, stand stunned in place as if struck by lightning. After being awakened by those beside him, he had squeezed through regardless of everything. When he knocked over her snacks and that old man, her words without turning back nearly made him cry out: “Chang Ge!”

But… was this ultimately just an illusion too real?

Xiao Jue pressed his lips together, motionlessly gazing at the woman before him, afraid that in his loss of mental control, he might truly call out that name that pierced his heart.

Chang Ge… tell me, is there anyone in this world who can resemble you so closely?

In this instant, the dramatic changes in his expression couldn’t help but startle Qin Chang Ge. Just now, what had she unconsciously said?

Silently cursing herself, she struggled to pull out a humble smile, “…Your Majest…”

“Beauty, it truly is ‘where in life do we not meet again’… This is our master, Young Master Xiao. His surname isn’t Bi, so don’t remember it wrong.” Suddenly a smiling face leaned over, beautiful as a flower under the colorful lights of the night market, with soul-stirring glances that carried misty, enchanting ripples.

This demon was here too… Qin Chang Ge silently cursed herself – how could she have forgotten that Prince Jing’an’s mansion was on the inner street of West Prefecture Street? She had run right to someone’s doorstep – it would be strange not to encounter them.

Glancing over to see the emperor in plain clothes standing coldly to the side with his hands behind his back, Qin Chang Ge smiled awkwardly, “Look at my memory… Young Master Yu, long time no see. You look well – where have you been making your fortune lately?”

Yu Zixi smiled with vivid charm, magnificent and dazzling like a flowing, swaying piece of exquisitely embroidered brocade. He reached out to touch Qin Chang Ge’s face: “Beauty, let’s not talk about such vulgar topics. Do I look well? Of course – seeing you makes me radiant with spirit, happier than buying ten estates with one tael of silver. Why would I need to make more fortune?”

A sleeve of ink brocade embroidered with silver thread and green bamboo suddenly reached over, blocking Yu Zixi’s wandering hand in mid-air. Xiao Jue’s expression was displeased as he said in a low voice: “Zixi, what are you doing? What kind of place is this? Do you want to cause… cause me trouble?”

Sticking out his tongue and withdrawing his hand, Yu Zixi showed not a trace of shame, tucking his hand into his sleeve and smiling at Qin Chang Ge.

Xiao Jue stared at Qin Chang Ge, about to speak, when suddenly a small cannonball flew at them from behind, accompanied by an indignant shout: “Give me back my snacks!”