Thump thump.

Thump thump thump.

Each strike sounded utterly ordinary. If one had to say what was special about it, perhaps it was just these pearl drum beaters.

And such a valuable pellet drum as a toy for the son of the Grand Commander didn’t seem particularly unusual.

Luo Chen still hadn’t put down the pellet drum, running his fingers from the drum face to the handle, then to the beaters, not even missing the gold-inlaid patterns on the drum body.

Looking at it from every angle, this was just a pellet drum.

Luo Chen rotated the drum handle, and the pleasant thumping sound rang out again.

Fu Song stood to one side, full of wonder.

Why was the young master playing with a pellet drum?

He had served the young master for so long but had never seen him take interest in such small playthings.

When all was said and done, the young master truly cared about what the young miss said.

“Fetch the scissors.” After an unknown amount of time, Luo Chen suddenly spoke.

Fu Song froze, thinking he had misheard.

Luo Chen glanced at him with growing impatience. “Quickly!”

Fu Song snapped back to attention and hurried to fetch the scissors.

Staring at the pellet drum in his hands, Luo Chen said indifferently, “You may go.”

“Young master—” Receiving his master’s cold gaze, Fu Song obediently withdrew.

Luo Chen set down the pellet drum and picked up the scissors hesitantly.

The pellet drum lay quietly on the desk. The perfectly round pearls had dulled in color from the wear of time, reminding him of the pellet drum’s age.

This should have been a plaything he possessed shortly after birth. If he destroyed it, it seemed somewhat regrettable.

Luo Chen hesitated, raising the scissors then lowering them. But those thumping sounds echoed in his ears, making him firm his resolve again.

The scissors thrust fiercely at the drum face.

The drum face was made of sheepskin. With such forceful stabbing by the scissors, a hole appeared in the apricot-yellow drum face.

The hole wasn’t empty inside!

Luo Chen’s eyes contracted. Following the broken area on the drum face, he cut away the sheepskin bit by bit, finally revealing the complete interior of the pellet drum.

Inside was a small object that seemed like gold but wasn’t gold, seemed like copper but wasn’t copper, with its bottom end fixed to the drum body.

Luo Chen curved his lips slightly, revealing a relaxed expression, no longer feeling the slightest regret about destroying the pellet drum.

Unable to see how it was fixed to the drum body, Luo Chen exerted some effort to remove the object and examined it from all angles.

This was a plaque engraved with a vermilion bird—no, only the bird’s head and half its body.

Luo Chen’s heart stirred with a speculation: could this be only half a token?

The young man inch by inch caressed the irregular edge at one end of the token, becoming more and more certain.

The vermilion bird was an auspicious divine beast. If this were a complete token, it couldn’t possibly be only half.

Now he had many questions—for instance, why would this half token be inside a pellet drum, what was the token’s purpose, and how did Luo Sheng know about such a special pellet drum…

Luo Chen took out a handkerchief and wrapped up the destroyed pellet drum, put away the token, closed the box, changed his outer robe, and walked outside.

Fu Song was still waiting outside. Seeing Luo Chen emerge, he quickly asked, “Young master, you’re going out?”

“To Leisurely Cloud Courtyard.” Luo Chen walked out without revealing anything.

Fu Song silently followed.

Luo Sheng had only returned to Leisurely Cloud Courtyard a short while ago when she heard the maid report that the young master had arrived.

She had just gone over there, and Luo Chen was already coming here?

Luo Sheng vaguely sensed that Luo Chen’s visit was not simple.

“Show the young master in.”

The brocade curtain lifted, and a rosy-lipped, white-toothed young man walked in.

The young man’s expression was solemn. After the maid left, he stared into Luo Sheng’s eyes and asked, “Elder sister, when you were at my place just now, why did you bring up the pellet drum?”

“What’s wrong?” Luo Sheng’s thoughts stirred slightly, but her tone remained calm as she asked.

Luo Chen was equally calm. “After elder sister left, I suddenly remembered there was a box for storing old things, so I had Fu Song find it.”

At this point, the young man smiled. “What a coincidence—there really was a pellet drum inside.”

Luo Sheng felt her heartbeat skip a beat, yet her face revealed nothing. “Is that so?”

Seeing her composed appearance, Luo Chen pressed his lips tightly together.

Luo Sheng definitely had something going on. He had said all this, yet she still looked completely unruffled.

When she saw handsome men, he never saw her maintain such composure!

At this thought, Luo Chen couldn’t help but get angry.

If elder sister weren’t so lustful, she wouldn’t make him worry so much either.

“That pellet drum is quite interesting—it uses pearls as drum beaters.” As Luo Chen spoke, he kept watching Luo Sheng’s expression closely.

Luo Sheng’s face still showed no change, yet her heart rippled with waves.

It was that pellet drum indeed!

The day before she left the palace to marry, Father King suddenly pointed at the pellet drum placed on her younger brother’s small bed and told her about the Vermilion Bird Guard.

Father King said the half Vermilion Bird Token possessed by each generation of Prince Zhennan looked different on the outside, and when the object concealing the Vermilion Bird Token changed, this would be secretly communicated to the current Vermilion Bird Guard commander.

After Bao’er was born, he had placed the Vermilion Bird Token inside the pellet drum.

At that time, she didn’t understand why Father King told her about the Vermilion Bird Token. Father King spoke, and she listened.

Thinking back now, Father King had given the Vermilion Bird Token to Bao’er and the gold-inlaid seven-treasure bracelet to her. And because Bao’er was too young, he revealed the Vermilion Bird Token’s secret to her—perhaps he had already made contingency plans.

“Pearls as drum beaters? That’s quite interesting. Let me take a look later.”

Luo Chen looked at her, pressing his lips without speaking.

Noticing the young man’s unusual expression, Luo Sheng asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”

“I brought the pellet drum with me.”

After Luo Chen said this, he took out a handkerchief-wrapped object from his chest and said indifferently, “Elder sister, open it and see.”

Luo Sheng increasingly felt Luo Chen’s reaction was off. She reached out and silently unwrapped the handkerchief.

Inside was a pellet drum with a broken drum face.

Luo Sheng’s expression changed slightly as she looked up at Luo Chen.

Seeing her expression finally change, Luo Chen said with a stern face, “How long does elder sister plan to deceive me?”

No matter where she had heard about the pellet drum, couldn’t she just tell him directly? Always treating him like a child to be coaxed.

The young man grew more annoyed the more he thought about it, secretly resolving that if Luo Sheng asked him for the token later, he wouldn’t give it to her.

Luo Sheng lowered her eyes and stared at the destroyed pellet drum for a moment before asking, “Did you see what was inside?”

Luo Chen coldly hummed in acknowledgment.

Luo Sheng curved her lips in a smile and extended her hand. “Let me see it.”

Luo Chen raised his eyebrows in anger.

Asking for it so righteously!

Seeing the young man make no move, Luo Sheng reached up and rubbed his head. “Let elder sister see it. I’ll make you braised pork afterward.”

Luo Chen: “…”

The young man silently recited “riches and honor cannot corrupt.”

Luo Sheng smiled slightly. “I bought pork belly with seven layers today.”

Luo Chen’s eyelids trembled. He took out the token from his sleeve and stuffed it into Luo Sheng’s hand with a stern face.

Luo Sheng carefully examined the object in her hand, gripping this half of the extraordinarily valuable Vermilion Bird Token tightly.

The Vermilion Bird Token that commanded the Vermilion Bird Guard had finally been found.

“Elder sister.” Luo Chen spoke up.

Luo Sheng suppressed her myriad thoughts and looked at the young man.

Luo Chen pointed at the token in her hand. “Can you explain what this is?”

Luo Sheng hesitated for a moment before saying, “This is a token.”

Luo Chen stared intently at her eyes and asked again, “How did elder sister know I had a pellet drum with a token hidden inside?”