That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

"Or should we let her go?"

Jiang Jingming quickly turned around and pointed at Xie Yunqi.

The young lady was squatting to one side, intently breaking off apricot blossom pastries and feeding them to the little golden fish.

Judging from the way she feeds pigs, the fish will probably die from overeating in less than half an incense stick's time.

"..."

Fang Zhiyi remained silent for a while, and just as she was about to speak, Jiang Jingming pointed to another young woman on the boat.

Ah Qing was sitting quietly at the stern of the boat, rolling up her sleeves to wipe her knife.

A few strands of hair that weren't tied up fell softly down, highlighting the sharp, silvery gleam of the blade.

"..."

Fang Zhiyi had no choice but to turn her gaze away, looking at Jiang Jingming with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Jiang Jingming looked back at her with a sincere expression, without saying a word.

In the end, Fang Zhiyi gave in, curving her lips into a smile and speaking in a tone as if coaxing a child.

"Okay, okay, you really want me to go? Fine, I'll go then."

Thank you!

Jiang Jingming's eyes lit up, and he turned around to exchange a glance with Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, since no matter what, the parties involved definitely needed to agree.

Fang Zhiyi, though seemingly gentle and easy to talk to, was always more difficult to deal with than the young lady and A Qing combined.

I didn't expect them to agree so easily, that's really strange.

Lu Zhao scratched his head, thinking that Jing Ming was really something else; how could he handle all kinds of women?!

......

"Once the boats ahead start entering, the two of you can take advantage of the chaos to go ashore and leave first."

Jiang Jingming leaned against the window and observed for a while before giving Zhang Huahua and Kong Ming their final instructions.

"The people in the city are all focused on the Festival of Rain, so you have plenty of time to do whatever you want, wherever you like."

"Hey! What do you mean by 'want to do something'?!"

Xie Yunqi blushed and glared at him for speaking recklessly.

"Of course, we should go shopping and enjoy the breeze, what else?"

Jiang Jingming raised an eyebrow and asked back.

"...That's exactly what I was saying!"

Xie Yunqi turned his face away and, feigning a serious expression, gave them his instructions:

"But when the festival is over, Huahua, you must remember to come to the ferry to take the boat back. I've already told the boatman, he won't say anything."

As Jiang Jingming listened to her speak, he thought to himself that she had indeed given instructions, which had frightened the boatman so much that he was dreaming of someone pointing a sword at him all night.

"Thank you all for your great kindness and generosity. I, Kong Ming, will never forget it in my lifetime!"

Kong Ming took a deep breath and knelt down with a thud.

Just as Zhang Huahua was about to kneel down, someone next to her grabbed her and helped her up.

"It's alright."

Fang Zhiyi smiled faintly.

"Ultimately, it was because Miss Zhang took us on board that we had the opportunity to help her."

"Exactly."

Jiang Jingming nodded, and Lu Zhao had already pulled Kong Ming up as well.

"I will be setting off for the capital tomorrow to take the imperial examination. Being able to see Miss Zhang again today and express our feelings for each other makes Kong Ming feel that he has no regrets in this life."

Kong Ming's expression was resolute, displaying the integrity of a scholar.

"If I am fortunate enough to pass the imperial examinations, I, Kong Ming, will repay your great kindness today with all my might!"

"Thank you in advance."

Jiang Jingming agreed to his request and then seized the opportunity to push him and Zhang Huahua ashore.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time. What's that saying again?"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Zhao interrupted him, saying:

"A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"

"A lecherous rogue."

Jiang Jingming smiled faintly.

The two who had reached the shore blushed and dared not look at each other.

Although they had liked each other for some time, they hadn't even held hands yet.

What I want to say is...

The boat beneath his feet swayed slightly. Jiang Jingming steadied himself and looked into the distance. The moored boats were gradually starting to move, and the Joyful Rain Festival was about to officially begin.

He paused, then softly recited the line.

"If love between two people is meant to last, why should they be together every day and night?"

......

Why don't we just go ashore and slip away here too?

Xie Yunqi peered out the window, then couldn't help but turn back to ask Jiang Jingming.

“Your family’s Divine Capital Guard is on the shore.”

Jiang Jingming gestured with his lips, indicating that she should take a closer look.

Sure enough, outside the crowd of onlookers, many squads of Divine Guards were assembling and forming ranks.

This task used to belong to the Fengling City government, but now that the Divine Capital Guard has taken over Fengling City, they naturally have to do it too.

"It really is true!"

Xie Yunqi quickly drew the curtain, pouting in annoyance, feeling that he couldn't even get a peaceful view of the commotion.

"If only the Divine Capital Guard had something like a tiger tally! With a tiger tally, the entire army would obey orders! Would I still have to put up with this?"

“Miss, you know what, Commander Xie actually seems to have such a thing.”

Lu Zhao lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously.

"It is said that it is a token to mobilize the Imperial Guards of the capital. Seeing this token is like the emperor himself! However, I don't know if this is true or not. It's just something my colleagues in the city have been spreading."

Jiang Jingming listened quietly, thinking that if such a thing really existed, it meant that the emperor truly regarded Xie Jichuan as his most important confidant.

After all, the reason why the Imperial Guard was established was because they were only under the command of the emperor and were his closest and most important trump card.

But the emperor revealed his trump card to someone else.

"Nonsense! I've never seen it before!"

Xie Yunqi pursed his lips, not believing it.

"If you got that token, what would be the first thing you would do?"

Jiang Jingming admired the young lady's beautiful yet domineering profile and casually asked a question.

"Let me think..."

Xie Yunqi frowned and thought for a long time, but it didn't seem to make much sense.

She had seen the Imperial Guards before; they were all clad in heavy armor, so she couldn't even see what they looked like, but the spears they carried were quite imposing.

The Imperial Guards would patrol the palace in formation late at night, their heavy footsteps sounding like horses' hooves. Xie Yunqi was sometimes invited to stay overnight by the Empress, and he was often woken up by such footsteps.

"I don't know either. Maybe I'll lie to them and say there's an assassin or something."

Xie Yunqi shrugged.

"..."

Lu Zhao almost choked to death.

Jiang Jingming smiled faintly, lifted the teapot lid, and took a sip from the spout.

"Now you know why you've never seen this token before."

Because if she finds out, she'll definitely use it to cause trouble, making a huge commotion and preventing any peace.

Lu Zhao suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the once-powerful Commander Xie.

Commander Xie must have had too smooth a life, which is why Heaven sent down such a divine punishment upon him.

However, stealing the token and teasing the Imperial Guards would be a capital offense for anyone.

But when it comes to Ming Zhaojun, Lu Zhao always felt that at most she would be arrested and confined to her quarters for ten days or half a month.

After all, Ming Zhaojun had done many similar things, such as—

Ignoring all warnings, she led a group of eunuchs to play Cuju (an ancient Chinese football game) in the palace. As a result, they hit the imperial concubine, causing the once beautiful concubine's face to swell up like a pig's head.

"...Didn't the Imperial Concubine cause you any trouble?"

Jiang Jingming couldn't help but ask.

"But I really didn't mean to that time!!! I was kicking perfectly fine, she clearly just ran into me!"

Xie Yunqi waved her arms to defend herself, she was truly wronged.

Lu Zhao whispered to Jiang Jingming:

"Afterwards, the emperor simply laughed it off and did not punish Ming Zhaojun. He only rewarded the Consort with a box of face cream. Later, it was also said that the Empress was overjoyed by this and laughed heartily in the palace for more than two hours before stopping!"

It turned out to be the case.

Jiang Jingming thought to himself, "This is clearly a palace intrigue drama!"

Xie Yunqi was playful and mischievous, but this incident inadvertently brought great misfortune to the Imperial Concubine, which made the Empress very happy.

That's why they say young ladies are born to enjoy life, right? It's as if someone will always cover for the trouble they cause.

"Is there anything else?"

"On another occasion, at a palace banquet, she disguised herself as a famous actress from an opera troupe, painted her face with a big mask, and went on stage! She sang and danced wildly and strangely, and all the officials could hear were looking at each other in disbelief, not daring to breathe, thinking that the emperor had recently changed his tastes."

Lu Zhaoguang felt a chill run down his spine whenever he talked about these things, as if he were walking a tightrope on a cliff, trembling with fear.

"The emperor was furious when he saw this, thinking that these actors probably didn't want to live, daring to be so presumptuous at the palace banquet. After he caught the young lady and washed her face, the emperor recognized her and his anger instantly subsided. He just laughed at her for being so audacious at such a young age."

Why is that?

Jiang Jingming turned to look at Xie Yunqi, and thinking of that ridiculous scene, he couldn't help but laugh.

“I was very young back then! I thought, if other people can sing, then I can sing too, so what?”

Xie Yunqi pouted, frowned, and cursed angrily:

"I think you people in the capital are incredibly boring! You remember things that happened when people were kids for so long? You don't do anything productive all day, all you do is gossip!"

"You should at least consider what you're gossiping about."

Lu Zhao shrugged. Who could blame her? Any one of her past stories was a legendary tale, destined to be sung for eternity.

Even if dynasties change and times shift in the future, the story of Ming Zhaojun will likely be passed down for longer than any great achievement.

Jiang Jingming tugged at the young lady's braid and chuckled with a sigh:

"In this vast world, only Miss Xie Yunqi is capable of doing such a thing."

Future generations may compile a book about her, and the name... could be "The Old Stories of Mingzhao".

"Don't pull it!"

Xie Yunqi snatched the braid back from his hand, tilted his head and thought about it for a moment, then suddenly realized that what he said was not wrong, so he showed a very smug smile.

"Of course! In this vast world, there is only one Xie Yunqi, remember that?"