Nanyang City in late spring basked in warm breezes. The clusters of flowers visible everywhere added some brightness to this somewhat oppressive city.

Luo Sheng moved through the crowds, calm and silent.

Walking beside her, Sheng Sanlang kept casting puzzled glances her way.

He felt that Cousin Luo had somehow changed, though he couldn’t say exactly how.

Sheng Sanlang rarely dealt with girls and had no idea how to improve this situation. At a loss, he glimpsed a vendor selling candied hawthorn.

String after string of candied hawthorn was stuck on wooden sticks, glistening and sparkling in the sunlight, extremely tempting.

Sheng Sanlang strode over and bought two strings of candied hawthorn, handing one to Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng stopped and looked at him.

The young man wore a bright smile on his face. “Cousin, have some candied hawthorn. It’s sweet and sour—the taste is quite good.”

Luo Sheng was silent for a moment before reaching out to take the candied hawthorn. “Thank you, Cousin.”

The smile on Sheng Sanlang’s face grew even more radiant. “No need to thank me. As long as Cousin likes it.”

He then stuffed the other stick of candied hawthorn into Hong Dou’s hands.

Hong Dou was delighted.

Though she didn’t particularly care for a stick of candied hawthorn, being remembered always brought joy.

Yes, Third Young Master was a good person.

“Can I trouble Cousin to buy some other things?”

Looking at the candied hawthorn gripped in the girl’s hand, Sheng Sanlang nearly thumped his chest. “Whatever Cousin wants, just say it.”

Candy figurines, snacks, or rouge and powder?

“I’d like some spirit money.”

“Spirit, spirit… what?” Sheng Sanlang nearly choked on his own saliva.

Had he heard wrong? Roast goose?

“Paper money for memorial offerings.”

Sheng Sanlang took a moment to recover before speaking with difficulty. “Cousin, what do you need paper money for?”

Luo Sheng lowered her eyes and gave her answer. “To pay respects to my mother. I heard from Grandmother that when Mother married out years ago, she stayed in Nanyang for some time due to ill health. Standing here, thinking that Mother once stood in this same place fills me with grief. I’d like to burn some paper money to show my filial devotion.”

“So that’s it.” Sympathy appeared in Sheng Sanlang’s eyes. He had finally found the reason for Luo Sheng’s poor mood since entering Nanyang City.

Cousin had lost her mother at such a young age—it was truly pitiful.

“Would Cousin be willing to help?”

“Of course, no problem!”

Luo Sheng bent her knees slightly toward Sheng Sanlang. “Then I’ll have to trouble Cousin. I’ll take Hong Dou to browse the rouge and powder shop over there. We’ll meet up at the inn this evening.”

Sheng Sanlang’s mouth opened.

He hadn’t said anything about separating from Cousin Luo. After all, he was responsible for Cousin Luo’s safety, and those guards had all been left at the inn.

Seeing Sheng Sanlang’s silence, Luo Sheng frowned. “Does Cousin want to browse the rouge and powder shop with me?”

Sheng Sanlang shook his head vigorously. “Ahem, that’s not what I meant. Go ahead and browse, Cousin. I’ll go buy those things for you right away.”

Luo Sheng curved her lips in satisfaction. “Then I’ll see you this evening.”

Having sent Sheng Sanlang away, Luo Sheng headed straight to a clothing shop with Hong Dou. Before long, a young man accompanied by a page boy appeared on the street.

The young man had delicate features, but his slightly dark complexion made him appear quite ordinary at first glance.

“Miss, dressed like this, are we going to visit a brothel?” Hong Dou lowered her voice, full of excitement.

Even in the capital, the young lady had never taken her to a pleasure house. Just thinking about it was truly exciting.

Luo Sheng gave Hong Dou a deep look.

Honestly, she felt a bit envious of Miss Luo.

For her maidservant to consider visiting pleasure houses so natural showed just how freely Miss Luo lived.

“Just walking around casually.”

Luo Sheng led Hong Dou from the street head to the alley end, from East Street to West Street, traversing most of Nanyang City. They encountered a white-haired old beggar being beaten by several young beggars.

“If you don’t let go, we’ll beat you to death, old fool!”

The old beggar clutched something to his chest, eyes closed, letting the young beggars punch and kick him.

“Hong Dou, go send those young beggars away.”

Hong Dou rolled up her sleeves, about to go, when Luo Sheng stopped her.

“Don’t worry, Miss. This servant can handle five of these little beggars by herself.”

Luo Sheng shook her head. “I’m telling you to give them each a few copper coins to send them away. Remember, when problems can be solved with money, don’t use fists.”

“This servant understands.”

Seeing the young beggars scatter after receiving copper coins, Luo Sheng walked over.

The old beggar laboriously raised his head, his dry lips mumbling, “Thank you, young master…”

Luo Sheng signaled Hong Dou to help the old beggar up and led him to a nearby tea stall.

The old beggar stuffed his mouth full of tea snacks until his eyes rolled back, choking. He gulped down a jar of tea before recovering.

“They beat you just for this half duck leg?” Luo Sheng asked.

What the old beggar had been protecting was a broken porcelain bowl containing half a duck leg that had turned somewhat black.

The old beggar nodded.

“My father once came to Nanyang City. He told me that every household here lived prosperously, that lost items were never picked up, and beggars were rarely seen. How is it that—”

The old beggar glanced at Luo Sheng and sighed. “Your father must have come many years ago.”

“Yes, over ten years ago.”

The old beggar showed an expression of ‘just as I thought’ and mumbled while stuffing a snack in his mouth, “Today’s Nanyang City isn’t the Nanyang City of over ten years ago.”

“What do you mean?”

The old beggar gulped down some tea and fell silent.

Hong Dou glared. “You old beggar, why are you being mysterious with our young master!”

“I’m not being mysterious—it’s just unspeakable…”

Luo Sheng used her sleeve to shield herself as she pushed over a piece of broken silver, her face impassive. “It happened over ten years ago. Even if it was unspeakable then, it can be spoken of now. Elder, please satisfy my curiosity.”

When Prince Zhennan’s estate suffered its tragic annihilation, as long as Nanyang City’s elderly weren’t all dead, there was probably no one who didn’t know about it.

The old beggar quickly pocketed the broken silver and finally spoke. “Nanyang City used to be under Prince Zhennan’s governance. One day twelve years ago, Prince Zhennan’s estate was surrounded by soldiers. They killed for a full night before stopping. The people of Nanyang City… in any case, after that, the authorities above took a dislike to Nanyang City. Over time, it became what you see today…”

Luo Sheng listened quietly, understanding the meaning in the old beggar’s words.

Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, her ancestors had been Princes Zhennan, generation after generation developing their fiefdom—especially Nanyang City where the prince’s estate was located—into prosperity and wealth. Most of Nanyang City’s common people were loyal to Prince Zhennan’s estate, and this was something the imperial court disliked.

A city that fell out of favor would inevitably decline gradually.

“How could they commit treason when things were fine? What a pity—several hundred people in the entire estate were gone, and even the princess who had married out that very day didn’t survive…”

Luo Sheng’s hands clenched tightly within her sleeves as she said calmly, “When the nest falls, how can the eggs remain intact? Since the prince’s estate committed a grave crime, how could the princess possibly be spared?”

The old beggar shook his head. “That’s not how it works. The law states that crime doesn’t extend to married daughters. That princess had already married into Prince Pingnan’s estate and completed the wedding ceremony. When she heard her family had met with disaster, she rushed back and ended up being killed right at her family’s gate… They say the princess was still wearing her wedding dress at the time. She was truly foolish…”