Geese fly in formation, gradually soaring and returning. It is the most beautiful time, with the splendor of Jiangnan and beauties like spring.

Everyone in Yangzhou Prefecture knows that the current Emperor does not favor women. The beauties presented to him have all been sent back, and the Salt Tax official was even reprimanded for this, with a strong implication of blame.

The entire prefecture was silent, not daring to speak. The Qianwan Emperor left alone, his sleeves fluttering as he returned to the inner courtyard. From afar, he saw Mingde sitting alone on a long bench in the corridor, looking frail and lonely.

The Qianwan Emperor walked a few steps closer. Suddenly, Mingde looked up, immediately stood up, and threw himself into the Emperor's arms like a little bird returning to its nest, his face full of anticipation and joy. The Qianwan Emperor was almost stunned by this unexpected reception. Coming back to his senses, he smiled and ruffled Mingde's fine hair on his forehead, "Did you miss me?"

Mingde raised his face, urging in a low voice full of anticipation, "Go out and play... night market..."

Zhang Kuo smiled apologetically behind them, looking quite troubled, "It's all this servant's fault. Earlier, when the young master said he was bored, this old servant mentioned the lantern festival at the night market tonight. The young master has been pestering to wait for Your Majesty to take him there..."

The Qianwan Emperor originally had plans for the evening, but seeing Mingde's trusting and expectant look, his heart softened again, "Never mind, take him there."

"But Your Majesty..."

"After all, we came south for his sake. How can we bear to disappoint him? Go and quietly prepare two sets of clothes, just like that night at the Lantern Festival years ago."

That year at the Lantern Festival night market, the Qianwan Emperor had also taken Mingde out in disguise. At that time, there was still a bit of warmth between them. Although they both knew in their hearts that such warmth was false and would soon be revealed, at least they had been happy once.

They ate together, made clothes, visited the lantern festival, and guessed riddles.

At that time, Mingde was still lucid. After leaving the silk shop, he asked with a smile, "Your Majesty, how am I sharp-tongued and mean?"

Li Ji had retorted, "A calculating appearance with a pointed mouth and sunken cheeks, how are you not sharp-tongued and mean?"

"No, no," Mingde covered his mouth and laughed, "Every one of the three thousand six hundred and fifty pores on my body exudes an air of righteousness, making people feel reverent at first sight..."

"Now you are truly naive and upright," the Qianwan Emperor couldn't help but lower his head to pinch Mingde's face, "You don't understand anything, you don't know anything, and you need others to worry about everything for you..."

Mingde just stared at him blankly. Feeling his face being pinched, he let out a dissatisfied hum but didn't turn away.

The Qianwan Emperor laughed, "Everyone says you are too dull and dumb to accompany me, but I think you look the best... Let me worry about those things, it's best if you don't know anything..."

He lowered his head to gently kiss Mingde, his hot lips and tongue tenderly entangled from the corner of his forehead, as if they were a pair of infatuated lovers.

Similar lantern festival night markets, similar glorious years, as if time had overlapped at both ends, and all the torment and past in between had disappeared, never to be seen again.

"I want to eat meatballs!" Mingde excitedly pulled the Qianwan Emperor along the street, almost breaking into a jog, "Over there, over there! Oh, you guys aren't walking fast enough!"

The Qianwan Emperor obediently and indulgently followed him, squeezing through the bustling crowd. Zhang Kuo could only manage a little jog, panting as he ran, "Oh, young... young master, this servant really can't walk anymore... Master, please slow down, this old servant still wants to keep his life to serve you..."

Mingde glanced at him and actually replied with a grin, "I don't want you to serve me, you're stupid."

It was like a bolt of lightning striking through his mind. The clarity of thought and articulation in that sentence was not at all like that of a person who had been muddled for a long time. Zhang Kuo was stunned for a moment before asking with a smile, "Young master, how is this servant stupid?"

Mingde thought for a while, sucking on his fingertips, and mumbled, "I want to give you thirty court beatings... hmm... thirty court beatings..."

The Qianwan Emperor almost pounced on him right there, wanting to grab him and shake him desperately: Do you still remember something? Do you still remember the thirty court beatings, the suburban imperial villa, the bits and pieces of the past? Do you still remember the old me? Do you still remember that I was the Li Ji you once hated?

Sometimes he wasn't sure if he wanted Mingde to regain his senses or not. He was content to accompany a muddled Mingde through the rest of his life, but he was also determined to find out if Mingde's dependence and trust was in someone who could feed him and play with him, or in the one who had hurt and been hated by him in the past, but could now be forgiven.

He really wanted to shake Mingde awake and ask for an answer, but he was also afraid that the answer would become a knife, tearing apart the last bit of warmth between them, never to be restored.

The Qianwan Emperor's hand was holding Mingde's, probably with too much force. Mingde turned his head and looked at him questioningly amidst the lanterns and crowd.

The Qianwan Emperor forced himself to smile and patted him, "...It's nothing, it's good that you remember some things."

Mingde then turned back happily and sat down at a table he found in a snack shop, waiting lively for the waiter to serve tea. The table had just been vacated by customers and wasn't very clean. As Zhang Kuo was about to take out a handkerchief to wipe it, the Qianwan Emperor sat down without a care, holding Mingde's hand tightly across the table, as if afraid he would run off and disappear.

Zhuo Yu walked along the main street of the night market, looking at the endless stream of pedestrians and various fresh snacks being hawked, but couldn't muster any interest.

In the past, with his temperament, even if he didn't show it on his face, he would have felt very light-hearted and happy inside; but in this situation, it was like punching cotton, unable to exert any strength, and instead suffocating himself to the point of vomiting blood.

Everything was just because of the huge shadow following him like a ghost.

Lu Jiuchen.

Wherever he went, Lu Jiuchen followed; when his old injury relapsed, Lu Jiuchen calmly sat beside him with medicine; when he wanted to return to Xiwan, Lu Jiuchen blocked his way on horseback; when he visited brothels and courtesans, Lu Jiuchen followed closely without batting an eye; when he became hysterical, Lu Jiuchen remained perfectly calm as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Back when Zhuo Yu was still in his sect, he was the most aloof among the three disciples. After leaving the mountain, he traveled alone, and although he had confidants and subordinates by his side, there was not a single person he was close enough to that he couldn't shake off. He had no friends, no family, no wife or children, and he might not even be able to find someone to drink with.

He was used to it all, doing everything freely, with no attachments except for power and status. Who would have thought that one day, when he finally abandoned his power and martial arts to truly wander the world, he discovered that someone was following him closely, reminding him from time to time in a flat, unperturbed voice:

"Time to take your medicine."

"You need to treat your wounds."

"Don't eat that."

"Drink less alcohol."

"You're not allowed to return to Xiwan."

"Go to bed early at night..."

Zhuo Yu had gone crazy and struggled, but now that he had no martial arts at all, Lu Jiuchen easily subdued him; he had also tried to drive away this unpaid nanny with sarcastic and acerbic words, but what kind of person was Lu Jiuchen? He had already cultivated to the point where he was unmoved by the seven emotions and six desires. Let alone a few sarcastic remarks, even if he were stabbed with a knife repeatedly, he probably wouldn't show any emotion at all.

Zhuo Yu glanced at Lu Jiuchen again from the corner of his eye, coughed, and staggered towards the brothel. He was so handsome that the old procuress's eyes went straight, and she came up to him with a smile, pulling him in. "Please come this way, sir! Oh, the girls in our house, they've missed you so much, seeing you now, they'll just melt on you..."

"This is his first time here," Lu Jiuchen interjected steadily beside him. "How could your girls miss him to death?"

"Could it be that they miss you?" Although Zhuo Yu was also somewhat thunderstruck by the scene of the gathering of courtesans, he still harbored more resentment towards Lu Jiuchen and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Maybe someone does miss me." Lu Jiuchen raised his eyebrows and said extremely calmly.

Zhuo Yu froze in place, feeling a chill running down his spine, and almost all his pores were oozing with cold air. Lu Jiuchen looked at him and stretched out his hand inexplicably, "What, even if you were right, there's no need to look like the sky is about to fall, right?"

Zhuo Yu took a deep breath, barely suppressing the urge to curse, and forced himself to be pulled into the hall by the enthusiastic old procuress. Now he would rather stay with a group of women with green eyes than even touch the corner of Lu Jiuchen's clothes.

Others saw General Lu as a paragon of virtue and a model of righteousness, but that was all bullshit! Who understood the dangerous nature of Lu Jiuchen better than him?!

"Sir--" The top courtesan Xiao Kouniang led a group of ladies, delicately twisting up to him, her slender jade fingers picking up the wine cup, almost leaning on him, "--Sir, have a drink, as soon as this servant saw you, she felt like her soul had flown away..."

Zhuo Yu whispered in her ear, "Did you see that big guy?"

Xiao Kouniang quickly turned her head to look at Lu Jiuchen.

"Get him into your bed," Zhuo Yu's fingers moved, and a hard piece of silver appeared in Xiao Kouniang's palm. "The silver is yours."

Xiao Kouniang covered her heart, her watery eyes brimming with tears, "This servant really wants to serve you, sir..."

Another heavy object appeared in her palm. "--Will you do it or not?"

Xiao Kouniang gave Zhuo Yu a resentful look, then got up gracefully and coquettishly, full of affection, and threw herself at Lu Jiuchen. "--This sir looks so familiar! ...Could it be that we had a predestined relationship from five hundred years ago when you were a Buddhist monk, and we finally meet in this life?"

What a joke, while it was certainly important for a client to be handsome, silver was the hard truth of making a living!

"It's not tasty, not tasty at all," Mingde took a bite of each pastry and then complained in a mumble. The Qianwan Emperor wanted to pat his head, but Mingde avoided him and complained with resentment, "It's not tasty at all! It's too sweet, not as good as the ones in the palace!"

Just then, the waiter passed by and laughed, "Young master, if everything tasted as good as the palace, our chef would go straight to the imperial kitchen!"

The Qianwan Emperor laughed, "That's true. But it's okay, my family's child is just trying something new."

"Actually, our shop may not be the first in Yangzhou Prefecture, but it's definitely the second. Sirs may not know, but our chefs are all trained in imperial skills, and the father of the head chef even served in the palace. It's just that you gentlemen seem to have come from the north, so it's understandable that you're not used to the taste. Not everyone is lucky enough to taste the craftsmanship of Xiao Kouniang in the Divine Immortal Tower!"

The Qianwan Emperor didn't hear clearly for a moment and asked, "Whose craftsmanship?"

"Xiao Kouniang! The top courtesan!" The waiter became excited and laughed with animation, "Xiao Kouniang of the Divine Immortal Tower, her skills in making Jiangnan pastries are out of this world, even fairies would praise them after eating! Back in the day, even the emperor summoned her to the palace, but she refused! If you gentlemen really want to treat yourselves, why not go and see if you have the luck to taste the top courtesan's craftsmanship!"

Zhang Kuo understood immediately, and Mingde, biting his fingertips, also understood, so they both turned to look at the Qianwan Emperor. The Qianwan Emperor coughed and explained, "The previous emperor, the previous emperor."

Zhang Kuo reminded him in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the previous emperor passed away nineteen years ago..."

"Then it was the Prince Dongyang, the Prince Dongyang."

Please don't push all the responsibility onto the Prince Dongyang... The Qianwan Emperor clearly saw the same meaning in both pairs of eyes, so he started to be lazy and directly changed the subject: "Since we're already out, let's go to the Divine Immortal Tower! Everyone says immortals are good, so I... I want to see what immortals taste like today!"

Mingde was still struggling, biting his fingertips: "Top courtesan... Emperor..."

The Qianwan Emperor quickly coaxed in a low voice: "Be good, do you want to eat delicious pastries?"

Mingde nodded pitifully.

"Then let's go!"

Mingde then happily stood up and followed.

Zhang Kuo sighed with infinite sadness and closely followed: "Little noble consort, don't let the emperor so easily divert the focus of the issue, ah ah ah..."

In fact, Lu Jiuchen had a good alcohol tolerance, but he couldn't resist Zhuo Yu's ill-intentioned persuasion. They competed glass for glass until later on, when Zhuo Yu simply changed the liquid in his own glass to water when Lu Jiuchen wasn't paying attention. So Lu Jiuchen was finally knocked down in front of the beauty, and Xiao Kouniang alone couldn't support him. Zhuo Yu even went to lend a hand.

"Is there enough time to gallop out of the city to Xiwan in one night?" Zhuo Yu was tangled, then turned to Xiao Kouniang, "Can you keep him in bed for at least... um... three days and three nights?"

The tone was as solemn and righteous as commanding troops on the battlefield that day.

Xiao Kouniang blushed: "Young master, how can you talk like that~"

Before she finished speaking, a silver note was already stuffed into her palm.

Xiao Kouniang immediately changed her words: "Young master, don't doubt my professional cultivation. I make a living by this trade after all..."

Zhuo Yu then smiled with infinite gentleness.

Lu Jiuchen was drunk and didn't make a sound, allowing them to do as they pleased. He was staggeringly carried to the guest room on the second floor. When the door of Xiao Kouniang's fragrant and soft love chamber opened, there was a small screen of colored glaze in front, and a faint fragrance came from inside, making people feel intoxicated.

Xiao Kouniang giggled and reached out her hand. Before she could make a move, she saw Lu Jiuchen staggering a few steps, leaning on the edge of the bed and rubbing his brow. Then he suddenly fell and sat on the bed.

Zhuo Yu came to support him, but as a result, he was pulled and fell onto the bed with a thud. Before he could get up, Lu Jiuchen pressed him down and kissed him roughly on the face without distinguishing between right and wrong.

Zhuo Yu punched him hard with his free hand.

Lu Jiuchen was in pain. As soon as he retreated, Zhuo Yu flipped him over, and their positions were reversed. Unfortunately, Xiao Kouniang saw the excitement and had already retreated to the side with a plate of melon seeds to watch the show, and didn't come over in time to take over.

So in the end, Zhuo Yu was pressed down again by Lu Jiuchen, who could subdue the top expert in the world, and his wrists were tied up in a few moves.

"Lu Jiuchen!" Zhuo Yu didn't know whether he was angry or annoyed, "What are you doing?!"

"Doing you." Lu Jiuchen panted, the alcohol smell was not light, and it made his eyes burn red.