"Treasure Piggy, what are you looking at?"
Tan’er asked her.
The man walked away, disappearing from Bao Shu’s sight.
Bao Shu instantly put on a serious face: "Peeing. Can’t hold it any longer."
"Got it!"
Tan’er carried Bao Shu and used Qinggong to enter the latrine.
Treasure Piggy, who was shaken until she felt like throwing up: So unnecessary.
ng Qianqian ordered a pot of lamb spine stew, a pot of lamb soup, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a bowl of stead egg custard, then asked the shopkeeper for a few flatbreads.
"Lamb soup! Lamb soup!"
Tan’er drooled uncontrollably.
Bai Yuwei scoffed, "Look at you, so hopeless."
Tan’er stuck out her tongue: "N is capable, N can just not eat!"
Bai Yuwei glared at her: "Why wouldn’t I eat?"
"Lamb soup is here!"
The waiter cheerfully placed the lamb soup on the table: "Dear guests, have so soup to warm yourselves first. The dishes will be out shortly!"
"The stead egg custard."
Bao Shu said.
The waiter smiled: "Alright, little one, your egg custard will be the first dish served!"
Bao Shu nodded with satisfaction.
Though a soft, chubby little dumpling, she wore the airs of a little adult, which amused the waiter greatly, who imdiately went to the kitchen to rush out her egg custard.
A delightful surprise was that, though this place was famous for its lamb dishes, the egg custard was unexpectedly delicious too.
Bao Shu focused intently on eating.
The lamb soup was incredibly flavorful, seasoned with white pepper, leaving a slight tingle as it went down the throat.
ng Qianqian fed Bao Shu two bites, but the little one clearly preferred the egg custard mixed with rice.
The lamb spine stew was spicy, so ng Qianqian didn’t let her try it.
Tan’er and Bai Yuwei were eating so voraciously, sweat blanketed their faces, but they just couldn’t stop.
"So spicy, so spicy."
Bai Yuwei cried from the heat, "Why is the lamb spine stew so spicy?"
ng Qianqian hurriedly said, "Stop eating then."
Tan’er laughed at Bai Yuwei: "Coward!"
Bai Yuwei’s brows shot up imdiately: "Don’t think I can’t understand! Who are you calling a coward?"
Tan’er, holding a piece of lamb spine in each hand, theatrically bobbed her head: "Whoever it applies to, that’s who."
Bai Yuwei puffed her cheeks out with anger, grabbed several of the largest lamb spines, and began gnawing at them with Tan’er.
"SUGAR—HAWTHORN CANDY—SUGAR—HAWTHORN CANDY—"
A hawker’s chant echoed through the street outside.
Bao Shu imdiately slid off her chair and climbed toward the windowsill.
Just as she pushed open the window lattice, ng Qianqian promptly scooped her up.
The little one moved so quickly that, if delayed even for a second, she’d have fallen.
ng Qianqian sternly said, "From now on, no climbing windows. You might hurt yourself, understand?"
Bao Shu obediently nodded: "Sugar hawthorn."
ng Qianqian smiled helplessly: "Alright, I’ll take you to buy so."
Bai Yuwei and Tan’er stayed upstairs, continuing to eat lamb spine stew as ng Qianqian carried Bao Shu downstairs.
Bao Shu could walk steadily now, no longer wobbling, but with so many people around, ng Qianqian didn’t feel at ease letting her walk by herself.
At the sight of sugar hawthorns, Bao Shu couldn’t maintain her little adult facade, wiggling excitedly in ng Qianqian’s arms.
The weather was cold, and the hawker’s nose had turned red from the chill.
ng Qianqian noticed he had only seven or eight skewers left, so she told him, "I’ll take them all."
The hawker was startled: "Th-this... can you finish them all?"
ng Qianqian replied, "There are many children at ho."
After buying the sugar hawthorns, ng Qianqian planned to return to the lamb shop.
Just then, a commotion arose not far away.
"Oh no—soone help get justice—I’m a widow, bullied right out in the street—how can I go back to the village now? I might as well die—"
"Big sister, don’t do anything rash. Let’s talk this out!"
"Talk about what? I can’t live anymore!"
Luckily, there were governnt officers patrolling nearby. Hearing the noise, they imdiately went over to inquire.
Upon questioning, they learned it was a village woman selling eggs who had been harassed.
The officer asked, "Who harassed you?"
"Him!"
The woman pointed at a man wearing a bamboo hat in front of her.
All eyes instantly turned to the man.
The man was dressed like a roving martial artist. He didn’t look wealthy, but his deanor suggested refinent, making it hard to believe he’d commit such brazen indecency in broad daylight.
The officer thought it unlikely too, but following standard procedure, asked the man, "Did you harass her?"
"No."
The man’s voice sounded like wind wheezing through an old bellows—hoarse and unpleasant.
The officer hesitated for a mont.
The woman, her eyes red from crying, pointed to her left hand: "You’re lying! Just now... you put your hand on my waist! Do you think I’m blind?"
The officer asked the man, "Did that happen?"
The man said nothing.
"Madam, may I ask you sothing? Did you see his hand touch your waist, or are you certain he did?"
ng Qianqian held Bao Shu’s hand, slowly making her way through the crowd as she spoke.
"I..."
The woman was montarily at a loss.
ng Qianqian was breathtakingly beautiful. The mont she appeared, she drew all eyes to her.
Her voice was like a clear mountain spring—ethereal and serene.
Even the child at her side resembled a cherub from a New Year’s painting, impossibly lovely.
"Of course he touched !"
The woman spoke up forcefully.
ng Qianqian curved her lips slightly and said to the woman, "Then tell us, which hand did he use? Was his hand black or white? Were his fingers short or long? Was he holding anything?"
The woman’s gaze flickered: "I... I didn’t see that clearly! But it was a hand!"
ng Qianqian pointed to the man: "This gentleman is holding a sword in one hand and dicine in the other. Tell , which hand did he use to touch you?"
All eyes turned to the man’s hands.
Sure enough, his left hand held a sword. His right hand, hidden beneath a wide cloak, was unseen by the crowd.
The officer stepped forward and lifted the man’s cloak.
As expected, his right hand was hooked around a bunch of dicine packets.
Both hands were covered by black gloves.
The woman had failed to describe even a single feature.
ng Qianqian said to her, "Filing false accusations is punishable by imprisonnt."
"I-I... I made a mistake; it wasn’t him!"
The woman turned and fled, abandoning her basket of eggs on the ground.
The officer called out, "Hey—don’t go—"
But the woman ran off faster than a hare. The officer shook his head, saying, "These days, you really see all kinds of people."
He turned to ng Qianqian and gave a polite bow, "Thank you, Madam, for your keen eye. By the way, how did you know he had dicine in his hand?"
ng Qianqian replied, "I slled it."
"Ah..."
The officer was dumbfounded.
The man walked away.
The officer was startled: "Hey—she just helped get you out of trouble, at least say thank you! Tsk! Gone, just like that. Is everyone a rabbit these days? Always running off so fast!"
The man passed through the bustling street, entering a quiet and secluded alleyway.
He didn’t want anyone to catch up to him. But as he walked, he suddenly sensed sothing was off.
Looking down, he saw a soft, plump little dumpling hanging adorably onto his leg, raising her little face to look up at him innocently.
The man: "..."
He tried to pull Bao Shu off.
Bao Shu wouldn’t let go.
"Let go."
The man’s damaged voice commanded.
Bao Shu shook her head.
The man warned, "If you don’t let go, I’ll—"
Bao Shu pouted her lips and burst into tears with a loud wail!
Following the sound of crying, ng Qianqian found her way into the alley.
"Zhaozhao!"
Bao Shu imdiately stopped crying. Not a single tear remained.
ng Qianqian relaxed and cradled the little one in her arms, saying, "You little thing."
The man walked away again without a word or a backward glance.
This ti, ng Qianqian wasn’t going to let him leave so easily.
In one leap, she landed in front of him, blocking his path. She turned to face him and stared straight into his eyes: "It was you, wasn’t it? The person who saved twice at the hunting grounds—once when I fell off the cliff, and again when I was ambushed by hidden weapons. You weren’t just passing by. You’ve been following ."
The man didn’t respond.
ng Qianqian continued, "Lin Wan’er—or rather, Xiao Li—was waiting for you, wasn’t she? Even the person we encountered in the secret passage of the Pri Minister’s Mansion recently—it was you. You’ve been leaving us clues, so why won’t you show yourself? Who are you, truly?"
The man still gave no answer.
When ng Qianqian moved to block his path again, he turned and began walking the other way.
ng Qianqian held the drowsy Bao Shu in her arms, her gaze fixed on the jade pendant clutched in Bao Shu’s hand. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she called out, "Shen Hou!"
The man paused in his tracks.
ng Qianqian’s eyes flickered: "Is it really you, Shen Hou?"
If it was Shen Hou, everything made sense.
He uncovered Hai Pig’s betrayal, confronted him, and in response, Hai Pig, fearing exposure, tried to kill him.
Knowing he couldn’t defeat Hai Pig or the Pri Minister on his own, Shen Hou staged his own death.
But Hai Pig always suspected Shen Hou had survived. To confirm his suspicions, he had Xiao Li impersonate Lin Wan’er.
As long as Lin Wan’er was alive, Shen Hou would eventually co for her.
"Hai Pig t with soone in the prison. That must have been you, wasn’t it? Only soone he believed he’d personally killed could make him lose control like that."
"But what I don’t understand is, why haven’t you reached out to us? Do you suspect we’re betrayers too? Surely by now you can see that Chen Long, Si Snake, Ji Li, myself, and even the late Yin Hu—we’re not traitors!"
"Lu Lingxiao said you died in battle—that you sustained grave injuries. What happened? Why do your appearance and voice...?"
ng Qianqian trailed off, then urged, "Co back to the Governor Mansion with . If you don’t want to stay there, Ji Li and Si Snake are living on Feng Shui Alley."
"No need."
The man said no more, striding quickly out of the alley.
By the ti ng Qianqian chased after him, he was long gone.
Instead, a carriage had stopped before her.
Lu Yuan lifted the curtain: "What are you rushing around for?"
ng Qianqian climbed into the carriage with the now-sleeping Bao Shu in her arms. Taking the jade pendant from Bao Shu’s hand, she said, "This is Shen Hou’s pendant. I ran into him—he’s Shen Hou."
Lu Yuan glanced curiously at the pendant.
ng Qianqian insisted, "I’m not wrong."
Lu Yuan toyed with the pendant and raised an eyebrow: "He wants to remain anonymous, yet carries around a pendant that could expose his identity?"
ng Qianqian froze: "What are you implying?"
Lu Yuan slid the pendant back into Bao Shu’s hand: "He’s not Shen Hou."
ng Qianqian was stunned: "Not Shen Hou... then who could he be? Other than Shen Hou, who else rising from the dead could make Hai Pig behave like that?"
Lu Yuan replied, "Let’s set that aside for now. Your second aunt’s child has been found."
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