Luo Sheng laughed coldly. “Just because you’re drunk, you think you can touch my hand?”

Wei Han was struck speechless.

That’s right—being drunk didn’t give him the right to touch a young lady’s hand.

What had come over him just now?

The man stood against the wind, his heart bewildered.

This uncontrollable feeling with no clear cause was something he had never experienced before.

When he came back to his senses, that girl with furrowed brows and angry eyes had already left. He could only watch her plain-colored figure gradually recede into the distance.

He watched that silhouette bathed in orange lamplight disappear at the tavern’s entrance.

The doorway seemed to become empty, just like his somewhat hollow mood at this moment.

Wei Han raised his hand and pressed it against his chest.

He felt something had become strange there.

Luo Sheng clutched the ten-thousand-tael banknote and returned to the tavern. As soon as she entered, she slapped the stack of notes down in front of the female proprietor.

The proprietor’s eyes went wide. “M-Mistress, where did this come from?”

Even if she had chased after the Crown Prince to demand payment, it wouldn’t have been ten thousand taels.

“Advance payment for meals from Prince Kaiyang,” Luo Sheng said coldly.

The proprietor cupped her chin, murmuring, “Prince Kaiyang is truly wealthy…”

Coming out to eat and casually carrying ten thousand taels in banknotes?

In her previous circle dealing with rouge and cosmetics, there had been no such generous patrons.

Following the new mistress had definitely been the right choice.

Luo Sheng casually picked a seat and sat down, instructing Hong Dou to bring her a pot of tangerine wine.

The tangerine wine entered her mouth, slightly sweet and sour.

Luo Sheng’s mood was neither sour nor sweet—only an irritation she couldn’t shake off.

Did Prince Kaiyang have feelings for her?

She wasn’t so obtuse as to notice nothing, nor would she pretend innocent naivety when she had clearly noticed something.

But she had no intention of romantic entanglements. And even if she did, that person absolutely could not be surnamed Wei.

She and the Pingnan Prince’s Manor were destined for a fight to the death. Even if Prince Kaiyang could remain coldly indifferent to this, what about the Emperor?

She still wasn’t certain what stance the current Son of Heaven had taken in the massacre that destroyed the Zhennan Prince’s Manor.

Had he been deceived by others, or was he the true mastermind?

Even if it were the former, she still couldn’t possibly marry into the Wei family.

Not every member of the imperial clan was her enemy, but one couldn’t write two “Wei” characters with a single stroke.

When she eventually went underground to meet her father the Prince and her mother the Consort, would she tell them their daughter had married the uncle of the enemies who wiped out their entire family?

If it were the latter—

Luo Sheng raised her cup and drained the wine in one gulp.

If it were the latter, as long as she didn’t die, she would fight Emperor Yong’an to the death.

This Great Zhou empire had been ceded to the Wei clan by her ancestors. Even if she couldn’t take it back, she absolutely would not let these ungrateful wolves benefit from it!

At that time, could Prince Kaiyang, as a member of the imperial clan and Emperor Yong’an’s valued younger brother, still remain coldly indifferent?

Between her and that man who favored crimson robes, perhaps there would come a day when they faced each other with weapons drawn.

Luo Sheng turned her gaze toward the tavern entrance.

Outside the door, red lanterns swayed in the wind, bright and dim by turns.

The orange light was warmer than the summer night’s breeze.

But no one knew better than Luo Sheng that this small tavern filled with laughter and the fragrance of delicious food was nothing more than a dewdrop on a summer morning.

And because of this, how could she allow herself to get any closer to that man who came to the tavern every day?

He was a customer, she was the tavern’s mistress.

This was just right.

When Wei Qiang returned to the palace, he nearly got locked out.

Palace lanterns had already been lit throughout the grounds.

Carrying a jar of pickled radish peels, he thought for a moment, then headed directly to Zhaohua’s quarters.

When the Crown Princess received the news, she flew into another rage.

The Crown Prince had been getting more and more outrageous lately. Not only had he run to Consort Yu’s quarters on the first day of the month, but today he’d been out until dark before returning, and once again went straight to that woman’s place.

And he’d brought food from outside the palace!

Bringing food from outside into the palace was strictly regulated. Even items brought in by the Crown Prince had to be inspected and recorded by designated palace attendants.

The news reported that the Crown Prince had brought in a jar of pickled radish peels.

Radish peels…

The Crown Princess closed her eyes, her face turning green with anger.

As the mistress of the Eastern Palace, how could she not know who loved eating pickled radish peels?

It was that slut Consort Yu!

Even that slut’s tastes were lowly.

The dignified Crown Prince had made a special trip outside the palace to bring back food that a mere Consort enjoyed—where did that leave her, the Crown Princess?

The Crown Prince hadn’t been this excessive before. Could it be that he had truly lost his heart to Consort Yu?

The Crown Princess asked her trusted nanny with a cold expression, “Haven’t the people watching over there sent back any useful information?”

“In reply to Your Highness, not yet.”

The Crown Princess’s eyes turned completely cold. “Tell that Cui Hong—if she doesn’t have the ability, we’ll replace her with someone else.”

“Yes.”

Zhaohua was combing her hair before the mirror.

Since childhood, she had displayed exceptional talent in grooming and makeup application. This was the prerequisite for her becoming one of the Princess’s four chief attendants.

She didn’t want to lose this skill.

She was the maid Zhaohua who attended to the Princess’s grooming, not Consort Yu who had surrendered herself to the Crown Prince.

“Bathing at this hour?” In the grooming mirror appeared the reflection of the man’s handsome face.

Zhaohua rose, turned around, and performed a proper curtsy. “Greetings to Your Highness.”

“Have you eaten?” Wei Qiang grasped Zhaohua’s hand.

That hand was slender and cold.

Wei Qiang’s heart stirred with a hint of unease.

Yu Niang’s constitution was truly too weak, which worried him somewhat.

He didn’t want to lose Yu Niang.

If even Yu Niang were gone, he and Luo’er would have no connection left at all.

There would be no one left to share in missing Luo’er with him.

Wei Qiang lifted the ceramic jar in his hand. “I ate at a tavern outside the palace and had some particularly delicious pickled radish peels. I brought some back for you to try.”

The palace maids serving in the room heard this, their eyes brimming with envy.

But Zhaohua remained unmoved by favor or disgrace. “Thank you for Your Highness’s generous favor.”

Wei Qiang instructed a palace maid to fetch chopsticks and opened the jar’s seal.

“Yu Niang, try some.”

Zhaohua silently accepted the silver chopsticks, picked up a piece of radish peel, and placed it in her mouth.

Then she couldn’t control her moistening eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Wei Qiang was somewhat surprised.

Zhaohua’s lashes trembled. After a quiet moment, she looked up with a smile. “Thinking of how Your Highness specially brought such delicious pickled radish peels from outside the palace for this concubine, I momentarily couldn’t help—”

Wei Qiang laughed. “I thought something was wrong. As long as you enjoy eating it, that’s good.”

“This concubine enjoys it very much. Your Highness, which tavern did you buy these pickled radish peels from?”

Wei Qiang didn’t think much of it and replied, “That tavern is on Qingxing Street. It has quite an interesting name—it’s called You Jian Tavern.”

“You Jian Tavern?” Zhaohua’s hand trembled, and the silver chopsticks fell to the floor.

She could no longer concern herself with her breach of etiquette. Her thoughts flew back to a time long, long ago.

Just how long ago was it? She couldn’t quite remember. Back then she was still small, and the Princess was small too.

The four of them had wolfed down a snack the Princess had just learned to make. Jiang Xue, with snack crumbs at the corner of her mouth, had sighed, “The Princess’s snacks are so delicious. If the Princess weren’t a princess, she could even open a tavern.”

Xiu Yue, who had been helping the Princess the whole time, was simple-natured and had actually asked seriously, “Princess, if we really did open a tavern, what would we call it?”

The Princess had smiled and said, “Let’s call it You Jian Tavern.”

It was You Jian Tavern.