After Ajin had safely tucked away the money, Li Xuanba glanced around and asked, “Is it… just you and your son at home? Where is Ajin’s father?”

Upon hearing this, the old woman’s smile faded, and she sighed, “His father has gone to the government office. He should be back shortly.”

Li Xuanba frowned, “The government office? Did he commit some crime?”

The old woman shook her head, “No, today is the last day for the court’s military conscription. His father went to the government office to register. He’ll have to leave tomorrow, and we don’t know if he’ll ever return.”

Learning it was about conscription, Li Xuanba didn’t know how to comfort her and could only respond with a sigh before saying, “Please take good care of Feng Li for us. Once I’ve settled the matters at the residence, I’ll come immediately to take him back. Also, please don’t spread word of Feng Li’s identity.”

“We understand, Third Young Master, rest assured.” After Ajin’s agreement, Li Xuanba left their home. When he reached the entrance of the Governor’s residence, he happened to see Li Shimin and Yunyi returning, talking and laughing together. Upon seeing the latter, Li Xuanba’s eyes narrowed slightly, coldness flickering in their depths.

At that moment, Li Shimin also noticed him and walked over, “Xuanba, have you completed all the tasks I assigned you before leaving?”

Li Xuanba concealed the coldness in his eyes, his expression remaining normal as he replied, “I just encountered a friend and chatted for a while. I haven’t had time to go to the Qingyang government office yet.”

Li Shimin frowned slightly, “That matter is quite urgent. You should go there immediately and try to handle it as soon as possible to avoid delays causing problems.”

After waiting a moment and seeing that Li Xuanba still hadn’t agreed, Li Shimin asked puzzledly, “What’s wrong? Is there something else?”

Li Xuanba quickly glanced at Yunyi, then shook his head, “No, I’ll go right away.”

Watching Li Xuanba’s departing figure, Yunyi looked thoughtful. Li Xuanba’s gaze toward her just now had been quite strange. Could it be… he knew something?

“After traveling back and forth all day, you must be tired. Go back and rest,” Li Shimin’s voice interrupted Yunyi’s contemplation. She nodded in agreement, and after parting with Li Shimin, she returned to her room. Jiang Caiping was absent-mindedly embroidering in the room. Upon seeing her enter, she quickly set down her embroidery hoop and hurried over, “Sister, you’re back! How is Uncle Wu? Did you find that household registration book?”

Yunyi smiled, “The Second Young Master has already found that household registration book, confirming that Father is over fifty and doesn’t need to be conscripted. Lu Sheng, Li Feng, and the others have also been imprisoned awaiting punishment.”

After hearing Yunyi recount the events, Jiang Caiping frowned, “I never imagined that Li Feng would be so obstinate, preferring death to revealing the location of the household registration book. Fortunately, the Second Young Master was wise enough to find clues from Madam Li’s words.”

Yunyi nodded, “Indeed, we truly owe the Second Young Master a great debt this time. He even endured the humiliation of being spat upon by Li Feng, which weighs heavily on my conscience.”

“The Second Young Master is broad-minded and surely won’t take this matter to heart. Sister, you needn’t worry too much about it.” After a moment of silence, Jiang Caiping suddenly said, “Speaking of which, ever since Sister entered the residence, the Second Young Master has always treated you exceptionally well, practically fulfilling your every request. If only… he weren’t the Second Young Master of the Governor’s residence and didn’t have a marriage engagement.”

“Why are you bringing this up out of nowhere?” Yunyi looked at Jiang Caiping, who had lowered her head in silence, and tentatively asked, “Are you still unable to let go of the Third Young Master?”

Jiang Caiping said bitterly, “Whether I can let go or not, the result will be the same either way.”

“Caiping…” Before Yunyi could continue, Jiang Caiping had already raised her head with a smile, “Sister, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” As she spoke, she picked up the embroidery hoop from the table, “Sister, look, isn’t my pomegranate embroidery beautiful?”

Knowing she was unwilling to discuss Li Xuanba further, Yunyi went along with her change of subject and carefully examined the embroidery hoop, “You’ve only embroidered this little bit, how can I tell if it’s beautiful or not? But I remember you said earlier that you liked the azalea handkerchief from the Fang family and were clamoring to embroider one just like it. How did you suddenly switch to embroidering pomegranates?”

Jiang Caiping smiled without answering, then picked up a dish of preserved plums from the table, “Sister, try these.”

Yunyi took one as requested and put it in her mouth, “Sweet and sour, very appetizing and delicious. Did Nanny Li give these to you again?”

Jiang Caiping nodded, “When I went to the kitchen to get lunch today, Nanny Li gave me these plums. She said they were personally pickled by her daughter-in-law. She also mentioned that her daughter-in-law is six months pregnant and will give birth in a few more months. Thinking of how Nanny Li has taken such good care of us, I decided to embroider a small pomegranate bellyband to give her, hoping she’ll have many children and grandchildren and a prosperous family.”

Yunyi thought for a moment, “Nanny Li has indeed taken great care of us. Since Father is now safe, I’ll also embroider one to give to Nanny Li.”

Jiang Caiping naturally agreed. After finding embroidery hoops and silk fabric, Yunyi took a thin silk thread and carefully threaded it through the needle’s eye, beginning to embroider meticulously. She was embroidering a tiger, as tigers are the king of beasts and are said to ward off evil and protect infants.

Over the next two days, whenever the two had spare time, they worked on these small bellybands, quickly giving them shape. On this day, after returning from dance practice and embroidering for a while during their break, just as they were about to go to the kitchen for lunch, Zhang Jiu from Jifeng Pavilion approached and said to Yunyi, “Miss Wu, the Third Young Master requests your presence in the back garden.”

“Me?” Yunyi asked in surprise, “Do you know why the Third Young Master wants to see me?”

“I don’t know that. Miss Wu, please come with me.” Faced with Zhang Jiu’s gesture, Yunyi nodded and said to Jiang Caiping, “Go get lunch first. I’ll be right back.”

After Jiang Caiping nodded, Yunyi followed Zhang Jiu. When they reached the back garden, she saw that besides Li Xuanba, Li Shimin was also there. Upon seeing Yunyi, the latter showed a puzzled expression, “Xuanba, why did you call Meixue here?”

Li Xuanba smiled, “Ever since I saw Miss Wu’s ‘Green Waist’ dance last time, I’ve been unable to forget it. Unfortunately, due to the assassin incident, I couldn’t see the complete performance. Taking advantage of today’s free time, I’m asking Miss Wu to dance ‘Green Waist’ again to feast my eyes!”

Li Shimin said with amusement, “Aren’t you only interested in martial arts? When did you start enjoying music and dance?”

“Beautiful things are appreciated by everyone.” Saying this, Li Xuanba turned to Yunyi, “Would Miss Wu be willing to dance for us brothers?”

Yunyi lowered her head with a smile, “To be able to dance for the two Young Masters is Meixue’s honor!”

“Excellent!” Li Xuanba clapped his hands, and immediately several people carrying musical instruments appeared. After they were all seated, the sound of strings and bamboo instruments immediately filled the back garden.

After bowing to the two men, Yunyi stepped back several paces. Following the music, she began to dance gracefully in this garden where grass grew luxuriantly and a hundred flowers bloomed. Like a swimming dragon or a startled swan, her beautiful and light dance movements became the most enchanting sight in the bright spring scenery!