Gentle moonlight illuminated the familiar handwriting, making Yuanxi feel both surprised and delighted, waves of emotion rippling through her heart.

At this moment, Xiao Zhixuan had already leaned over beside her, grinning as she said: “I never expected big brother to play this trick.”

Yuanxi turned her head and deliberately glared at her: “Stop pretending. You came here today specifically to bring me here on your big brother’s orders, didn’t you?”

Xiao Zhixuan stuck out her tongue and smiled noncommittally, then asked: “But what does this compass mean?”

Yuanxi’s eyes turned as she thought: “If I’m not mistaken, this compass should be used together with those magnetic iron fish, taking different scales and orientations so the needle can point to fixed directions.”

But what should be used as the orientation reference? She lowered her head in thought for a moment, murmuring to herself: “This year is the Dragon-Goat year, so let’s try using this as the direction first.” She then borrowed the magnetic iron fish from the stall owner, using the fish’s tail as a pointer, and following the compass’s indicated direction, came to a small stall across the way. The stall owner smiled as he watched Yuanxi approach, taking down a flower lantern and handing it to her while saying: “Congratulations on Madam’s birthday.”

Yuanxi dubiously accepted the flower lantern, finding it somewhat heavy to lift, with no candle lit inside. After thinking, she removed the lampshade and discovered a small, adorable silver lock inside, with a piece of paper beside it reading: “A birthday gift for a one-year-old child – only the silver locks from Gold Treasure Pavilion are the finest.”

Yuanxi found this strange – why would Xiao Du give her a silver lock for a one-year-old child? She then continued solving based on this silver lock. According to the hexagram, the Geng-Wu direction belonged to metal, so she positioned herself toward Geng-Wu and indeed came to another small stall. That stall owner also smiled as he handed her a flower lantern, saying: “Congratulations on Madam’s birthday.”

Yuanxi opened the lampshade again and found inside a lifelike clay figurine, with the accompanying note reading: “A two-year-old child is at the age of curiosity and playfulness – specially sought clay figurines made by Clay Figure Zhang to suit their preferences best.”

By now Yuanxi had begun to understand, and following each clue, she searched one by one, finding drums for a three-year-old… sachets for a five-year-old… rouge for a twelve-year-old, flower ornaments for a thirteen-year-old… At this point, Yuanxi was surrounded by onlookers, and each time she found a new gift, cheers would rise from behind her, and they would join the stall owner in wishing her happy birthday again.

Yuanxi had never received so many gifts surrounded by so many people before. She felt somewhat embarrassed but also rarely excited, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and couldn’t help wanting to quickly find out what the next gift would be.

Finally she found the gift for sixteen years old – inside was a pair of white jade earrings inlaid with pearls, with the note reading: “White jade without flaw, bright pearls hard to find – congratulations on your coming of age.” Yuanxi held those earrings tightly in her palm, feeling their warm, smooth texture like spring breeze caressing her heart. She knew he had put extreme care into each gift, feeling both moved and sweet in her heart, yet growing more curious about what gift he had prepared for her this year.

Following the compass’s indicated direction, she walked straight to the edge of Jade Spring Lake, where the shimmering waters were filled with wish lanterns floating like fallen stars with colorful ribbons swaying. At this moment, a gorgeously decorated painted boat slowly approached the shore. Standing at the bow was a figure in flowing red robes with a jade crown binding his hair, moving slowly against the backdrop of brilliant lanterns along the shore, like a jade-faced gentleman stepping out of the heavenly palace.

Yuanxi’s eyes heated up, and she was about to walk toward him when Xiao Du smiled and shook his head, placing his fingertip to his lips to signal her not to speak yet. Yuanxi blinked, feeling as if all the surrounding noise had disappeared, leaving only the two of them gazing at each other across the rippling waters. Just then, Yuanxi heard booming sounds, and then fireworks began blooming magnificently behind Xiao Du, like fire trees and silver flowers, startling stars scattering their colors, instantly illuminating the sky. Xiao Du’s face was reflected in this constantly changing splendor, yet the light sparkling in his eyes was enough to rival the fireworks behind him.

Yuanxi was somewhat mesmerized by the scene before her. At this moment, the painted boat finally reached the shore, and Xiao Du smiled as he extended his hand to her: “Though these fireworks aren’t as beautiful as those in the imperial palace, I’ve put all my effort into them. Are you satisfied, my wife?”

Yuanxi’s eyes shimmered with tears as she placed her hand in his palm, but her lips curved in a smile: “These are the most beautiful fireworks I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Xiao Du’s expression softened slightly as he gently helped her onto the boat. Noticing Yuanxi still carrying a large pile of gifts, he smiled: “Are you satisfied with my arrangements?”

Yuanxi looked up: “Why did you give me so many gifts for no reason?”

Xiao Du said: “You always said your childhood birthdays were very lonely, and you never received any gifts. Today I’m helping you celebrate each birthday again, giving you all seventeen gifts at once. I took great pains to select each of these gifts – do you like them?”

At this moment Yuanxi could no longer control the tears in her eyes, lowering her head and saying softly: “I like them, I like every single one!” Feeling her appearance was somewhat disheveled, she extended her hand coquettishly: “Then what about this year’s gift?”

Xiao Du smiled mysteriously and suddenly covered her eyes with both hands, leading her into the boat’s inner cabin. Yuanxi wanted to ask what trick he was playing now, but Xiao Du had already released his hands and whispered in her ear: “This is it.”

Yuanxi opened her eyes and immediately couldn’t believe what she saw. The entire boat cabin before her had been transformed into a study, with bookshelves installed on all four walls. The shelves were not only filled with books but also organized by category with labels. She felt as if she was seeing a treasure trove and hurriedly went forward excitedly to look through them, discovering there were even some rare editions she had only heard of but never seen. She turned back in delighted surprise: “Where did you find all these books?”

Xiao Du smiled with great satisfaction: “Naturally it took much effort. Some of these books aren’t even collected in the imperial palace’s Wenyuan Pavilion.”

He slowly walked to Yuanxi’s side, resting his head on her shoulder, and continued: “Unfortunately, time was too rushed, and I only managed to find these books for you. If you find the pages lack annotations, I’ll slowly mark them all up for you page by page in the future.” His voice was low and gentle, mingling with the melodious silk and bamboo music from outside the window, seeping bit by bit into Yuanxi’s heart, making her feel that all the night scenery on the street couldn’t compare to the splendor she possessed at this moment. So she turned around and hugged his waist tightly, finding herself unable to speak any words, only burying her head against his chest and murmuring: “A’Du, thank you.”

Xiao Du chuckled softly and took her hand, leading her to look inside the room. He first pointed to a round-backed chair by the window: “From now on you’ll sit here to read, and when you look up you can see the lake surface and the bustling street scenes.” Then he pointed to a small round table beside it: “I’ll brew tea for you here and keep you company while you read.” Then he pointed toward another desk: “In the future we can also teach our children to write here and tell them stories from books.”

Yuanxi gazed fascinatedly at the places his finger indicated, imagining the scenes he described. When she heard about children, she suddenly remembered something, her face blushing slightly, but she still stood on tiptoe and whispered something in Xiao Du’s ear. Xiao Du looked down in surprise: “So that’s the position to use.”

Yuanxi’s face turned even redder, and she quickly moved to cover his mouth: “How can you say such things out loud!”

But Xiao Du gave a wicked smile, grasping her hand and drawing her into his embrace, biting her earlobe and whispering: “You’ll have to try more in the future. You wouldn’t be unwilling, would you? How about we try all the positions in those picture books – there’s bound to be one that works.”

Yuanxi was thoroughly embarrassed by him and reached up to cover her face, but couldn’t resist Xiao Du’s persistent teasing. He wrapped his arm around her waist and sealed her lips, their passionate kiss growing increasingly intense. The lake waters rippled, silk and bamboo music played softly, and the two couldn’t help but sink deeper and deeper into this kiss. Only when the room filled with the sound of heavy breathing did Xiao Du lift her up horizontally, his voice hoarse: “No time like the present – shall we hurry and try today?”

Yuanxi was about to voice her protest when he silenced her with his mouth again. Knowing she could never win against him, she resignedly let him carry her to the inner chamber. Outside the window, the two round moons in the sky and lake reflected each other, like lovers with hearts connected, rising and setting together, never to be separated again.