Shi Ting was momentarily stunned, then smiled helplessly. “Are you sure?”

“Mm, sure.” Her soft, boneless arms wrapped around his neck. Her rosy cheeks radiated a faint warmth, and her innocent wide eyes were clear as water. “I want you to help me wash up. I want it, I want it, I want it.”

She was throwing a little tantrum in his arms.

“Alright, alright, alright.” Shi Ting carried her into the washroom. “Be good, don’t move. I’ll go get a towel.”

But Yan Qing refused to let go, still clinging tightly to him. Her hands boldly cupped his face and she blew on his nose. “Little brother, how are you so good-looking? Whose little brother are you? What’s your name?”

Shi Ting: “…”

Little brother? She didn’t recognize him?

When she was drunk, did she act like this toward every handsome man she encountered?

“Qing Qing, stop moving around. Time to bathe.”

“No, I won’t let you bathe me.” Yan Qing gave a little hum. “I have a husband. I don’t know you. You can’t bathe me.”

Shi Ting was on the verge of tears again. As he helped this little troublemaker through her bath, he swore to himself that he would never let her touch alcohol again — not a single drop.

After finally carrying Yan Qing out of the washroom — leaving him soaked himself in the process — Shi Ting tucked her into bed and pulled the thin blanket over her. “Qing Qing, I’m going to change my clothes. Wait for me.”

She turned over and presented her back to him.

Shi Ting quickly changed into a clean set of clothes and returned to the bedroom, only to find that Yan Qing had vanished.

“Qing Qing.” Shi Ting panicked.

The room was not large, and he found her quickly. She was curled up beside Er Dan’s sleeping basket, arms wrapped around Er Dan’s neck. Poor Er Dan stared up with wide eyes, all four legs flailing in the air, his heart crying out: what is going on?

“Shi Ting, stop moving. Go to sleep. Behave yourself!” Yan Qing huffed in dissatisfaction and closed her eyes to continue sleeping.

Shi Ting: “…”

Er Dan: “…”

Shi Ting rubbed his forehead, stepped forward, picked Yan Qing up, and rescued the nearly-strangled Er Dan, returning the dog to his basket.

“Qing Qing, come on. Back to bed to sleep.”

“Mm.” Yan Qing wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and gave a gentle nuzzle. “Shi Ting…”

“I’m here.” His voice was soft and magnetic, laced with tenderness.

“Ting!” she murmured again.

“I’m here.” He answered her without complaint.

“I’m not the Yan Qing you see before you right now. Do you know that?”

Shi Ting’s steps faltered. He looked at her in surprise. She was curled up in his arms like a little cat, one hand clutching tightly at his lapel.

Then which Yan Qing are you?

He wanted to ask. He felt that if he asked, she would surely tell him. But in the end, he only parted his lips, and pressed a kiss to her forehead instead.

“No matter which Yan Qing you are, you are my wife — my one and only wife.”

That would never change, no matter who she was, no matter where she came from.

Shi Ting asked nothing more. Yan Qing said nothing more. Once he placed her back in bed, she pulled his pillow over and fell into a deep sleep.

Shi Ting sat beside her, gently stroking her cheek, his eyes soft with a quiet smile.

Director Shi could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, yet his wife was knocked flat by a single one. There truly is a limit to every talent.

That long night, Yan Qing dreamed from dusk until dawn.

It had been a very long time since she had dreamed of things from before. This time, though she did not dream of Shen Liang, she dreamed of Second Uncle and Second Aunt — she had no idea how they were getting on now.

The two of them had no children. She had intended to care for them in their old age. If she was no longer there, what would become of them?

Yan Qing opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the smooth ceiling above the bed. She turned her gaze, found the space beside her empty, and checked the time — it was nearly noon.

“This late?” Yan Qing sat up quickly.

The movement inside the room startled Jing Zhi, who was outside. She hurried in through the door. “Miss, you’re awake.”

“How did I sleep so long?” Yan Qing sat on the edge of the bed, one hand rubbing her temple. Her head felt heavy and dizzy. “When did Shi Ting leave?”

“The young master left early this morning.” Jing Zhi brought over a face towel that had been soaked in water. “He specifically instructed us not to wake you before he left.”

Murong came in then as well, carrying a cup of thick honey water in her hands. “Miss, drink this first — it’ll settle your stomach.”

Yan Qing stared blankly at the two of them, then asked tentatively, “Last night… did something happen?”

Jing Zhi and Murong exchanged a glance. Jing Zhi burst out laughing. “Miss, you really don’t remember?”

Yan Qing looked completely baffled, her head spinning even more. “I don’t remember. Weren’t we having a barbecue in the courtyard? And then?”

“This is my fault.” Murong was filled with remorse. “I was the one who told Miss that rice wine tasted good and wasn’t easy to get drunk on. I never imagined Miss’s tolerance for alcohol would be…ahem.”

“I got drunk last night?” Yan Qing looked shocked. “I… I didn’t do anything, did I?”

The things Yan Qing had done inside the room, the two maids didn’t know about. All they knew was that when Yan Qing was drunk, she laughed — she smiled at everyone she saw.

“You didn’t do anything.” Jing Zhi said. “The young master saw that Miss had had too much to drink and carried her inside.”

As for the events of last night, Yan Qing truly could not remember a single thing. In that other era, she had never been able to drink. When colleagues went out to play, she always held a cup of juice. Once, goaded by everyone, she drank a glass of beer, and then… then she heard numerous versions of what had supposedly happened, from the mouths of her colleagues. What a memory she would rather forget.

She never imagined this body would be just as useless. She had only taken a few sips of rice wine before blacking out completely. Jing Zhi and Murong didn’t know what had happened when she got back to her room — but Shi Ting did.

Thinking of all those strange and peculiar stories her colleagues had told about her drunk self, Yan Qing’s head spun even more.

Why on earth had she drunk that wine? She was deeply, thoroughly regretting it.

That evening when Shi Ting returned, he found Yan Qing acting strangely. Every time he was about to say something, she would find some task to interrupt him with.

After this happened several times in a row, he was left both amused and exasperated. “Qing Qing, what’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Yan Qing laughed dryly.

She was genuinely afraid he might bring up the events of last night. If they were anything like the stories her colleagues used to tell, she had probably made an even bigger spectacle of herself in front of Shi Ting. The thought of having lost face so completely in front of him made her want to cry but couldn’t.

“You slept very soundly last night. I heard from Jing Zhi that you didn’t wake up until ten.” Shi Ting said this casually.

Yan Qing paused, then asked in disbelief, “I just slept last night?”

“If you weren’t sleeping, what else would you have been doing? I actually wanted to keep you awake.” Shi Ting narrowed his eyes, his tone carrying a suggestive undercurrent.

Yan Qing quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and her whole body seemed to relax.

She couldn’t deny it — if she had behaved badly in front of Shi Ting, she would have been terribly embarrassed. And when she was drunk, had she rambled and accidentally let something slip about that other world?

“All right, why are you acting so strange.” Shi Ting ruffled her hair. “I have something else to tell you.”

“What is it?” Yan Qing stared into his eyes for a good ten seconds or so, and only once she detected nothing out of the ordinary did she settle her nerves and lean obediently against Shi Ting.

Shi Ting said, “The eagle was released today.”

The eagle’s wing had recovered well enough, and Yan Qing had handed it over to Shi Ting. Shi Ting had arranged for certain modifications to be made to it in order to track where it would land.

But when they followed the trail to that location, all they found was a deserted courtyard. The people inside had already gone, leaving behind nothing but a jumble of miscellaneous objects — most of them useless.

However, among these items, the Military Police Division had found three decomposed human heads. Upon examination, they were confirmed to belong to the three female dancers.

The three dancers had been murdered and their bodies left incomplete. Now that their heads had been found, they could at last be put to proper rest.

“The people fled?”

“When Qin Pei Pei and the others met with trouble, they likely caught wind of it and naturally couldn’t remain any longer.” Yan Qing felt it was a pity — they had lost the chance to net them all at once. “Finding these people again will be difficult now.”

“Not necessarily.” A glint of light crossed Shi Ting’s eyes. “The things left behind may seem useless on the surface, but if you dig into them, there will always be traces to follow.”

He lightly patted her arm. “By the way, there’s one more thing.”

“You seem to have a lot of things to deal with today.” What he said made Yan Qing’s heart tighten again.

Shi Ting smiled. “The Commander has arranged a posting for Meng Xiangyang.”

“What posting?”

“Bandit suppression.”

Yan Qing was startled for a moment, then caught on immediately. “Surely not suppressing the bandits at Dagu Mountain?”

Di Huai had made a trip to Lugou County and witnessed firsthand how terrifying those bandits were.

“Precisely.”

Shi Ting had not expected her to guess so quickly; his eyes held a trace of admiration. “The bandit troubles in the Dagu Mountain area have plagued the region for a long time and have now grown into an organized force. The Commander has previously sent men to clear them out several times, but each time they were slaughtered without a single survivor.”

“The bandits there are really that formidable?”

“Dagu Mountain’s terrain is treacherous — easy to defend, hard to attack.” Shi Ting continued. “On top of that, they are tightly organized and well-equipped — no different from a proper military unit.”

“Throwing this hot potato into Meng Xiangyang’s hands — it would seem the Commander is punishing the Meng family.” Yan Qing furrowed her brow in thought. “What does Meng Xiangyang plan to do about it?”

“The Commander issued the order, so he has no choice but to comply. According to intelligence I’ve received, Meng Xiangyang has dispatched Military Commander Liu Qingnian — garrisoned at Baihe County — to lead the suppression effort. Liu Qingnian’s wife had just given him a chubby son, and he hadn’t had much time to savor the joy of it before he was sent out on this assignment. He must be very unwilling. And it’s well known how fearsome the Dagu Mountain bandits are — going to suppress them is tantamount to walking to your own death. But military orders cannot be defied, and this trip is one Liu Qingnian must make.”

Yan Qing looked at him with some concern. “And you — what are you planning?”

She had a vague feeling that Shi Ting was about to make his move using this situation.