Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

An auntie selling flowers happened to be passing by and saw this scene. She was carrying a basket of freshly cut magnolias. She stopped, looked at the two of them with a smile, and turned to the uncle selling wontons next to her, saying:

"Look at that young couple, how loving they are. The husband is feeding his wife a sugar figurine, and then he deliberately takes a bite himself."

The middle-aged man was putting wontons into the pot when he looked up, chuckled, and replied, "Young couples, it's normal. When my wife and I first got married, we even had to share a single fried dough stick."

When those words reached Xi Yueli's ears, she reached out to grab the sugar figurine in Helian Jing's hand, wanting to take it for herself, but he raised his left hand slightly, leaving her with empty air.

He glanced down at her, his voice tinged with amusement softened by the lantern light and the bustling street scene: "Take another bite, and there'll be half an ear left."

Xi Yueli glared at him, feeling embarrassed and annoyed at being fed candy in the street. She lowered her head, bit off the last half of the rabbit ear, chewed it, swallowed it, and then gently patted his elbow. "That's enough."

Helian Jing then took back the bamboo stick that had been bitten down to just a candy stick, and handed her the half-open sugar figurine: "This one is for backup."

Beside a pillar at the noodle shop across the street, Deng Yanzhi had already turned his face away. His profile was clearly defined by the lantern light, his jawline taut, and he forcefully suppressed the lingering bitterness at the corner of his mouth.

He stood there for a moment, then placed the few copper coins from his waist on the tea stall counter, turned and left.

This time, he headed back to the main road at the town entrance, walking faster than before. The hem of his blue robe fluttered in the evening breeze as he blended into the crowd on the street, without looking back.

Helian Jing stood under the lantern, watching the figure in the blue robe disappear around the corner, then he looked down at the person in his arms.

Xi Yueli was biting the half-open sugar flower when he lowered his head. He didn't remind her that Deng Yanzhi had left. He simply pulled her closer into his arms and led her slowly forward along the South City Street, which was lit by warm yellow lights.

The aunt selling magnolia flowers added from behind, "Girl, your husband is really good."

Xi Yueli's ears burned even hotter. She raised her hand, took a big bite of the half-open sugar flower, and held it to her lips.

There is a riverside night market in Tingzifu. The lanterns of the restaurants and teahouses along the riverbanks are reflected on the river surface and are shimmered like gold by the evening breeze.

Xi Yueli walked slowly along the bluestone path by the riverbank. Helian Jing had just been stopped at the street corner by the Tian Shu Division's spies. There was a secret report being delivered urgently. He pressed a warm candy into her palm and let her go ahead and explore.

After crossing the stone bridge, the night market on the other side was even more lively than this side. People came and went on the bridge, and the lanterns dyed the stone bridge railings a warm orange-red color, which was reflected in the river as lines of light.

As Xi Yueli took her first step onto the bridge, a sudden throbbing sensation shot through the back of her head.

The tap wasn't heavy, but it came suddenly, like someone gently tapping the inside of her skull. She stopped, her gaze instinctively turning towards the other side of the bridge. Across half the bridge and the figures of people coming and going, she saw a person.

The person stood by the railing on the other side of the bridge, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, looking magnificent and noble. His face was half-lit and half-shadowed by the lamplight, making it difficult to see clearly.

The vein in the back of Xi Yueli's head that had throbbed before started throbbing again the moment she saw that person, even more intensely than before, like two magnets sensing each other across the air.

She took a step forward, and the other person took a step forward as well. There was no agreement between their steps, but it was as if someone had measured the distance for them, and they were perfectly synchronized.

The flow of people on the bridge passed between the two, but those faces and figures were as if separated by a thin mist, blurry and unreal. In Xi Yueli's vision, there was only that moon-white outline, getting closer and closer, clearer and clearer.

The two met in the middle of the bridge, no more than five steps apart.

The face was clearly illuminated by the lantern light overhead. Her eyebrows and eyes were delicate, her nose was slender and straight, her lips were bright red, and her appearance was flamboyant. She looked a few years older than Xi Yueli, and there was a calmness in her eyes that only someone who had dealt with abacuses and ledgers for many years could possess.

She looked at Xi Yueli, her gaze lingering on Xi Yueli's face for a couple of moments, and then she laughed.

"I'm here," she said.

"Have you been waiting here for a long time?" Xi Yueli asked.

He Qingshuang tilted her head slightly, shifting her gaze from Xi Yueli's face to the river beneath the bridge, where the reflection of the lantern boat shattered into a golden-red shimmer on the water.

"Three years. From the moment I began to remember you, I knew you would come."

Her gaze returned to Xi Yueli's face. "You're a little later than I expected. I thought I gave you enough hints."

The two stood in the middle of the bridge, and the flow of people passed by them. Some people turned around and glanced at them before looking away.

Xi Yueli noticed He Qingshuang's hand hanging by her side. There was a thin, old scar on her hand, which ran diagonally from the base of her left middle finger to the edge of her palm, as if it had been cut open by something sharp and then healed.

She took two steps forward, reducing the distance between them to three steps.

Just then, He Qingshuang's pupils suddenly contracted, and her gaze passed over Xi Yueli's shoulder, landing in a certain direction at the bridgehead.

Xi Yueli turned her head and followed her gaze. Helian Jing was standing under the largest lantern at the bridgehead. His dark blue figure was particularly clear in the warm light. He did not go onto the bridge; he was just standing there waiting.

When she turned around, He Qingshuang took a step forward, raised her hands and placed them on Xi Yueli's shoulders, but the direction of that push was precisely towards the outside of the bridge railing.

Xi Yueli's legs pressed against the bridge railing, and she saw He Qingshuang's eyes so close. There was no malice in those calm eyes, only a resolute determination suppressed by something more urgent.

"Trust me." He Qingshuang's voice came from very close distance. With a flick of her wrist, the force changed from pushing to delivering, precisely timing the moment Xi Yueli's center of gravity shifted.

Xi Yueli fell backward through the gap in the bridge railing, her back scraping against the edge of a broken stone pillar. In that instant of airborne motion, she saw He Qingshuang's face rapidly receding in the lantern light, and then water surged up from all directions and engulfed her.

The river water was as cold as a knife on a winter night. She held her breath the moment she sank, feeling the water carrying her body towards the bottom. The lights above her head shattered into a shimmering golden hue on the water's surface.

Several exclamations came from the bridge. Someone shouted, "Someone has fallen into the water!" There was a flurry of footsteps, and then she heard a splash, even more rapid than her own, as if someone had jumped directly from the bridgehead.

The hand gripped her wrist underwater, the force stronger than the current, pulling her upwards from the bottom. The shards of gold above her head drew closer and brighter until her head broke the surface.

Helian Jing supported her by the back of her neck with one hand, turning her face upwards, while using the other hand to paddle towards the shore. He was soaked to the bone, his dark gray robe clinging to his body and gleaming in the water under the lantern light on the shore.