"Miss, Miss."
Wu Ge’er’s voice pulled ng Qianqian out of her nightmare.
ng Qianqian’s forehead was densely beaded with sweat, and her back was damp with cold perspiration.
Her chest rose and fell slightly, and the pain and hatred lingering in her mind stabbed at her heart like needles.
"Miss, are you alright?"
Wu Ge’er asked softly.
"I’m fine."
ng Qianqian suppressed her emotions and regained her usual composure. "What is it?"
Wu Ge’er said, "I rember when you first entered the capital, you ntioned wanting to see ’Da Tie Hua’ (iron flower performance). It’s been five years. Today’s a rare chance—should we go take a look?"
"Da Tie Hua..."
ng Qianqian murmured blankly. A mont later, she said calmly, "You rembered. Let’s go take a look."
"Alright!"
Wu Ge’er responded enthusiastically.
Da Tie Hua was happening on Zhuque Street, in celebration of a new shop opening. They had invited perforrs from another province. The spectacle attracted many bystanders, and soon, the area was swarming with people, making it difficult for carriages to pass through.
Wu Ge’er found an alley to park the carriage.
Tan’er and Ban Xia were sound asleep. ng Qianqian chose not to wake them and instructed Wu Ge’er to stay there to guard the carriage. She walked alone toward the event.
Passing through the surging crowd, ng Qianqian reached the open space where a makeshift flower pavilion had been set up.
A perforr wearing a gourd-shaped helt and bare-chested held two flower-sticks in his hands. One stick contained molten iron, the other was empty.
He let out a loud shout, swung the lower stick with force, and struck the upper stick fiercely!
Sparks of molten iron flew into the air, bursting into dazzling fireworks that shot up into the night sky like a shower of stars.
One strike followed another. Tens of thousands of fiery blooms illuminated the heavens, their brilliance rivaling the Milky Way itself.
ng Qianqian stood dazed, her mories flooding forth uncontrollably like a deluge.
"Papa! Hurry, hurry! If we’re late, we’ll miss the fireworks!"
A four-year-old girl sat astride a man’s shoulders, swinging her little legs and urging him on incessantly.
"Alright, alright!"
The man held onto her tiny arms, chuckling as he ran forward.
"Fireworks! Fireworks!"
The little girl chanted excitedly all the way there. But by the ti they arrived, the performance was already over.
She burst into tears: "Waaaah—We missed the fireworks—"
The man panicked: "Little Nine, don’t cry. I’ll bring you next ti, and we won’t be late. I promise, okay?"
The little girl turned her face away: "Hmph!"
...
"Why hasn’t Papa co back yet? He said he’d take to see the fireworks!"
"Co on, I’ll take you to watch!"
"No! I want Papa to take !"
...
"Little Nine... Little Nine..."
The man lay dying in a pool of blood, his face too blurred to discern, before being devoured by flas.
ng Qianqian gazed at the fiery blossoms lighting up the entire sky.
Papa, Little Nine has finally seen the fireworks.
The show continued, and the cheers grew louder and louder.
Peaceful tis. A prosperous world.
But this prosperity had nothing to do with her.
Her loneliness reduced her to nothing but a na.
"Waaah!"
A childish cry suddenly rang out above her head.
She looked up to see a tiny dumpling-like Bao Shu falling straight toward her, arms outstretched and babbling nonsensically.
Unfortunately, her angle of descent was a bit off.
ng Qianqian nudged her toes off the ground, launched into the air using Qinggong, caught Bao Shu mid-flight, stepped onto the building’s eaves, spun midair, and landed gracefully through an open window into a private room.
She glared sternly at Lu Yuan, who was sipping tea leisurely: "Are you crazy? What if I couldn’t catch her?"
Lu Yuan paused mid-sip: "Are you scolding this Commander?"
ng Qianqian, ever the pragmatist, imdiately bowed: "Little Nine dares not. Little Nine greets the Grand Commander."
Lu Yuan huffed coldly.
Bao Shu, unfazed by the ordeal, shrieked excitedly in delight.
While the two adults were distracted, she clambered out of the table-side window again.
With a flick of his wrist, Lu Yuan tossed his tea cup aside, and ng Qianqian leapt instantly into action.
Both moved in a blur, landing simultaneously, each grabbing one of Bao Shu’s tiger-ear hood embellishnts.
Bao Shu’s eyes widened as she curled her little legs beneath her, suspended mid-air, completely still.
Passersby stopped dead in their tracks, dumbfounded by the sight.
They had never before seen such an exceptionally handso man, a strikingly valiant woman, and such an adorably clueless little dumpling.
Soone clapped and shouted loudly: "Marvelous!"
Soon, thunderous applause erupted, engulfing the trio.
—People thought they were a rival street juggling troupe competing with the fireworks show.
And thus, another mortifying Chapter was added to the Grand Commander’s chronicles.
Lu Yuan: "Stand still!"
Bao Shu obediently placed her tiny feet on the ground.
Lu Yuan turned and walked away.
Bao Shu: "...!!"
ng Qianqian had no choice but to scoop Bao Shu up and follow.
"Huh—why are they leaving? Are they going to perform sowhere else?"
"Let’s follow and have a look!"
This trio is even more entertaining than the fireworks!
The Grand Commander, with all his power and prestige, was chased through several streets by curious onlookers who mistook him for a street perforr.
In desperation, they fled to the lakeside, hopped onto a small boat, and finally found so peace.
"Grand Commander, do you know how to row a boat?"
ng Qianqian asked.
Lu Yuan reclined in the cramped boat cabin with his arms crossed: "No."
ng Qianqian fell silent.
Lu Yuan cast her a sidelong glance: "Don’t tell you don’t know either."
ng Qianqian patted Bao Shu’s little head: "Actually, I do. But when we boarded, you threw the push pole away."
Lu Yuan: "..."
In his haste to shake off the crowd, Lu Yuan had tossed an ingot at the boatman, who, in turn, used the pole to push the boat off the shore. The boatman later tossed the pole to Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan had chopped it in half with a hand knife, looking incredibly dashing.
Then, he clasped his hands behind his back and stared disdainfully at the boatman, exuding an overpowering aura.
"A re ant dares to shake a tree?"
The boatman looked utterly bewildered.
Lu Yuan frowned and asked seriously: "Was he not trying to attack ?"
He genuinely thought he’d been rciful today by sparing the man’s life.
ng Qianqian said, "He was trying to give you the pole."
"Why didn’t you say so earlier?" Lu Yuan turned away, his tone icy. "This Commander has never boarded such a lowly boat."
ng Qianqian sighed: "Of course, you’ve only been on grand ships and painted junks, with a hundred people rowing for you. How could soone like you possibly recognize a paddle or a push pole?"
Lu Yuan’s gaze turned glacial as he looked at her: "Are you mocking this Commander?"
ng Qianqian instantly behaved herself: "Little Nine wouldn’t dare."
Back at the Governor Mansion.
Qing Shuang instructed Steward Cen to find several guards who could swim to fetch the Grand Commander and his companions.
Steward Cen squinted and chuckled: "Alright, we’ll go in the morning!"
Qing Shuang asked, "What about tonight?"
Steward Cen chuckled mysteriously: "Naturally, tonight will be spent under the moonlit flowers and across the ends of the earth! Who knows? After tonight, Miss ng might just have to change how she addresses the Grand Commander."
Qing Shuang didn’t understand: "What would she call him then?"
On the small boat.
ng Qianqian and Bao Shu had fallen asleep.
The interrupted dream returned with a vengeance. Clutching Lu Yuan’s sleeve, she spent the night calling for her papa.
Under the moonlit flowers and across the ends of the earth, the illustrious Grand Commander was mistaken for a stepfather.
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