Wei Han felt that the minced meat noodles Miss Luo made herself tasted far better than those made by Xiu Gu—he practically had to support himself against the wall as he left the tavern entrance.

Outside, a spirited white horse was tethered to the jujube tree. Seeing its master arrive, it whinnied enthusiastically.

Wei Han turned back toward Luo Sheng: “Miss Luo, I’m leaving now.”

“May Your Highness have a smooth journey.”

“I will.” The man gazed deeply at the young woman standing not far away.

She still wore plain-colored clothing, seemingly unchanged from this time last year.

But Wei Han knew clearly in his heart that he had changed greatly.

A young woman now occupied his heart.

Gazing at the girl’s calm features, words escaped his lips: “Leaving today, I’m afraid it will be quite a long time before I can see Miss Luo again.”

Luo Sheng was startled.

These words sounded familiar—Prince Kaiyang seemed to have just said something similar.

No, wait—just now he said he was afraid it would be quite a long time before he could eat the tavern’s food and wine.

In the moment of her distraction, a large hand descended, gently tousling the top of her head.

“I’ll return as soon as possible.” The man’s deep voice sounded beside her ear.

Luo Sheng looked up in bewilderment.

Had Prince Kaiyang just… patted her head?

After the brief impulse, Wei Han came to his senses.

Oh no, he seemed to have been unable to resist tousling Miss Luo’s hair just now.

“Miss Luo, farewell.” Wei Han walked quickly to the jujube tree, untied the reins, mounted the horse with a flip, and soon both man and horse had vanished without a trace.

Luo Sheng: “…”

Prince Kaiyang patted her head, then ran away at lightning speed?

In that moment, Luo Sheng didn’t know whether to be angry or amused.

If asked whether this man felt somewhat differently toward her, she thought that even if she were being presumptuous, the answer should still be yes.

But Prince Kaiyang’s special treatment of her might have nothing at all to do with romantic feelings between men and women—perhaps it was simply… dining companionship?

“I saw that.” The youth’s somewhat cold voice rang out.

Luo Sheng turned her gaze to see Luo Chen standing not far away.

“Why are you here at this time? Did you skip class?” Luo Sheng frowned.

At Luo Chen’s age, naturally he should still be studying diligently.

Grand Marshal Luo had specifically set aside a courtyard in the residence to serve as a school, inviting several well-reputed teachers to instruct Luo Chen.

Luo Sheng had once considered sending Xiao Qi there as well, but considering that Xiao Qi hadn’t even finished learning all his characters yet, she quietly abandoned the idea.

If he were sent and immediately drove the teachers away, that would also be troublesome.

“I didn’t skip class. Today is a rest day anyway.” Luo Chen kept a straight face, very dissatisfied that Luo Sheng was changing the subject. “Prince Kaiyang just patted your head.”

No wonder the youth spoke in an accusatory tone.

In the past, Luo Sheng, relying on her position as older sister, had patted his head plenty of times. Yet here she was, obediently letting Prince Kaiyang pat her head!

The more Luo Chen thought about it, the darker his expression became.

Luo Sheng calmly raised her hand and tousled the youth’s hair: “Since it’s a rest day, hurry inside and eat some minced meat noodles.”

Minced meat noodles?

By the time Luo Chen reacted, he found himself already standing in the main hall.

He turned back, glaring angrily at the tavern entrance.

Luo Sheng had lured the tiger away from the mountain!

Then the youth caught the fragrance of minced meat noodles…

Luo Sheng was still outside the tavern.

Although Prince Kaiyang’s actions before leaving had left her stunned for a while, she wasn’t so affected by his behavior that she’d still be standing outside foolishly.

The reason she delayed going in was purely because she didn’t want to discuss with her currently rebellious younger brother the topic of someone patting her head.

Speaking of which, if he was supposed to be studying properly, why were there even rest days?

And as for Prince Kaiyang—today he’d repeatedly taken liberties. It seemed that when he returned, she’d need to consider canceling the complimentary dishes.

Luo Sheng casually plucked a leaf from the jujube tree and tossed it into the wind, then strode toward the tavern entrance.

In the wind, the jujube tree that had lost quite a few leaves to the white horse’s nibbling swayed slightly, somehow appearing rather pitiful.

On the galloping horse’s back, Wei Han’s heart rose and fell, full of conflict.

His actions when bidding farewell to Miss Luo had been somewhat improper—he wondered if Miss Luo would be angry.

But… he felt somewhat happy about it…

Well, at worst when he returned he’d bring gifts to apologize to Miss Luo. If Miss Luo still wasn’t appeased, he’d accept having the complimentary dishes canceled.

Thinking this, Wei Han couldn’t help but look back.

This was the first time he’d begun missing home before even traveling far.

Thinking of the word “home,” Wei Han suddenly realized that what came to mind wasn’t Prince Kaiyang’s manor, but rather Youjian Tavern.

Youjian Tavern didn’t just have the food and wine he was addicted to—it also had the person he thought about.

A place where one has attachments is home.

Wei Han’s journey seemed to bring no changes to Youjian Tavern except that the table by a certain window would remain empty from then on.

Cherries ripened, plantain leaves greened, time passed swiftly, and soon the palace examination that captured the entire nation’s attention arrived.

Compared to the metropolitan examination’s nine consecutive days of being locked in examination cells so cramped one couldn’t even stand straight—that kind of comprehensive devastation from body to soul—the palace examination was undoubtedly much more relaxed.

The candidates all had a clear sense of their own caliber; at most their rankings would fluctuate somewhat from expectations.

The palace examination had one good point: there were no more failures or eliminations.

Of course, there was a world of difference between the top three and the other advanced scholars, but did those who placed last in the metropolitan examination still fantasize about becoming top scholar in the palace examination?

Tsk, better splash some cold water on their faces and wake up.

The hot favorite for top scholar was undoubtedly the first place finisher of the metropolitan examination, Metropolitan Honoree Su Yao.

And Su Yao lived up to expectations—when the roll was called in the Golden Hall, he was indeed this examination’s top scholar.

Grand Marshal Luo was overjoyed.

Of course, it wasn’t because of Su Yao—what did the top scholar have to do with him?

Grand Marshal Luo was happy because of Eldest Young Master Sheng and Second Young Master Sheng.

Both brothers were listed in the second class, granted the status of advanced scholars.

Of these, the luckiest was Second Young Master Sheng, who barely scraped onto the tail end of the second class. Any worse and he would have dropped to the third class, becoming a successful candidate.

One must know that the term corresponding to “successful candidate” was “secondary consort.”

Just thinking about the humbleness of a secondary consort, one could understand the frustration of being a successful candidate.

And the common people of the capital were even happier.

You know what they’d been looking forward to all this time? Of course it was to watch the top scholar ride through the streets on horseback!

That was a grand event that only happened once every three years.

For this reason, on this day the entire capital emptied out, celebratory firecrackers thundered, and the route the top scholar’s procession must pass was packed with surging crowds.

Looking at the direction of that surging tide of people, Hong Dou could hardly contain herself: “Miss, won’t you go watch the top scholar’s parade?”

Kou’er was puzzled: “Hong Dou, don’t you find that Young Master Su very annoying? Why would you specifically go watch him?”

Hong Dou rolled her eyes: “What do you understand? Am I watching Su Yao? I’m watching the excitement of the parade!”

Luo Sheng interrupted the two maids’ bickering: “Enough, you two go enjoy yourselves. The tavern won’t open until evening anyway.”

“Miss, you’re not going?” Hong Dou couldn’t hide her disappointment.

In the past, Miss would definitely have gone—she might have even snatched someone back!

Someone like Su Yao naturally wouldn’t be wanted even if given for free, but weren’t there still the second and third place scholars?

“You two go ahead.”

Just after sending the two maids off, Luo Chen and Xiao Qi walked over.

“Elder Sister, Xiao Qi and I would like to go see the excitement.” Luo Chen spoke blandly.

He actually wasn’t interested himself—he just couldn’t stand seeing Xiao Qi eager to try but not daring to ask Luo Sheng, looking so foolish.

“Go ahead.” Luo Sheng naturally had no reason to object.

Loving excitement was the natural disposition of youth.

Xu Xi, who at some point had been standing at the doorway leading to the back courtyard, tentatively asked: “May I go?”