At first, I heard the sound of a mountain temple in the quiet forest. When I heard it again, it was the fragrance of incense offered before Buddha. This thick and lingering fragrance is the sandalwood incense given by the Hundred Flowers Gentleman to him as a gift when they met in the fourth year of Daxing in Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is only available in Mos residence in Northern Wei.

  His dark pupils contracted slightly, Jiang Xuanjin furrowed his brow and took out another letter given by Sun Cheng to lightly sniff.

  No, its just a letter that was brought in recently and normally wouldnt be permeated with the fragrance of the room so thoroughly.

  Unless the letter was left in this room all along.

  His fingers slowly stiffened on the letter, Jiang Xuanjin lowered his eyes and carefully and slowly sized up the two letters in front of him. A thought flashed through his mind, but he firmly denied it.

  Its impossible, Danyang is already dead, this is her handwriting, it must have been written before she was alive.

  If someone deliberately imitates him, he can see it at a glance.

  How can this fragrance be explained?

  His usually clear mind was now somewhat dazed, he shook his head and pinched the middle of his eyebrows hard.

  Outside the door sounded cheerful footsteps.

  Jiang Xuanjin suddenly came back to his senses, stuffed the two letters into his sleeve and turned around, raising his eyes.

  "Huh, where are you running off to?" She came in, smiling brightly as she pulled him over, then furrowed her brow, "Why is your hand so cold?"

  Soft fingers slipped into his, holding him tightly. The person in front of him was in a good mood, with thumbs rubbing against him, and curved eyebrows saying: "After your treasure is mounted, I want to hang it in this house, and see which familys xiǎojiě dares to come to the door again!"

  He said, still pulling his hand towards the beam near the partition: "Its hanging right here!"

  Jiang Xuanjin slowly clenched his hand, holding her in a reverse grip, without responding.

  "Whats wrong?" Having sensed something was off, Huai Yu blinked at him, "You wouldnt actually be angry, would you?"

  "No."

  "Whats wrong? You look a bit pale too." Without reassurance, she probed his forehead and whispered, "Dont get sick again, youve just recovered from your injuries. Our Ink Dwelling is almost turning into a pharmacy."

  After a moment of silence with his eyes closed, Jiang Xuanjin regained his composure and said in a low voice, "Will you give me a calligraphy?"

  "Ah?" Huai Yu was stunned for a moment, then struggled, "Didnt I say I couldnt write?"

  "Ill teach you." Stubbornly pulling her towards the desk, Jiang Xuanjin said, "Just write a few simple ones."

  Apart from "one", no other word can be considered simple.

  Li Huaiyu shook her head repeatedly, half leaning on him and coquettishly said: "Your handwriting is good-looking, its fine to write a couplet for me, but I dont know how to write, even if I wrote one, it would be laughable. Besides, theres only room for one hanging scroll here, what would you do with another one?"

  Jiang Xuanjin furrowed his brow: "You dont want to?"

  "Its not that I dont want to, its just... Ah!" The corner of his mouth twitched, and Huai Yu grabbed his hand and started acting spoiled, "Im so sleepy, look at what time it is already."

  The moon is already high in the sky, its been a long time since I should have gone to bed.

  The person in front of him slightly pursed his lips, looking somewhat displeased.

  "Huai Yu softly coaxed him in a gentle voice, Dont be angry, although you look cute when youre angry, but its even more handsome when you smile. Are you going to sleep well? Lets talk about everything tomorrow."

  Her arms were wrapped around his neck, her face close to his, and with just a slight tilt of his head, he could see her apricot eyes filled with adoration.

  Jiang Xuanjin lowered his eyes, stretched out his hand to support her waist, and remained silent for a long time before saying in a low voice: "Sleep."

  "Ill help you take off your clothes!" With a secret sigh of relief, Huaiyu smiled slyly and reached out with her demonic claws towards his collar.

  The next morning.

  Jiang Xuanjin went to court, and Huaiyu was idle with nothing to do, so he let Qing Si find a piece of white cloth and embroidered words on it in a crooked and twisted way.

  "Ahh!"

  Qing Si stood beside him, listening to this voice that had already become accustomed to it, and calmly spat out a number: "Five."

  For the fifth time it got stuck in her hand, Huai Yu was furious and threw the cloth to the ground: "This thing is indeed not suitable for me!"

  When she was a young palace maid, any auntie who dared to teach her embroidery would be chased out of the palace by her with a needle! Who dares to make her hold this stupid embroidery needle?

  She thought of Jiang Xuanjins unhappy expression last night, she gritted her teeth and bent down to pick up the handkerchief again.

  Qīngsīs eyes were extremely complex: "You can give something else as a farewell gift."

  Others are embroidering flowers, but this young master is actually piercing flesh.

  "Doesnt he want words?" Huaiyu hummed, "I cant write, I can only embroider."

  It may be ugly, but she has embroidered two more layers, so you can always see the strokes of the characters clearly, right?

  With a few random pokes, Huaiyu picked up the handkerchief to take a look and nodded in satisfaction before continuing to embroider.

  "The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is just around the corner." Qing Si said in a low voice, "This year you can still appreciate the moon in the palace."

  Thinking of this, Huai Yus eyes sparkled: "Just right, the things in Ming Shan Palace should be destroyed too. If theyre left there for a long time, who knows when something will go wrong."

  "Are you going to get it?" Qing Si frowned, her expression showing clear disapproval.

  "Only I can enter the palace with Prince Zi Yang, who else can do this?" Hua Yu smiled lightly, "Without the Eldest Princess, Lu Jing Xing cannot enter the palace, and Han Xiao and his group dont even know the way to Ming Shan Palace."

  The "Long Princess Party" that used to fill a whole table is now scattered and in disarray. Things she can do herself, shouldnt bother them anymore, right?

  Taking a glance at the expression of the person beside her, Huai Yu comforted: "You dont have to be too nervous, Ming Shan Palace is a deserted palace, normally nobody goes there, even if I go and dig through the ground, nobody will notice."

  She said so, Qing Si didnt persuade her anymore, she just lowered her eyes and stood quietly on one side.

  There were two letters as evidence, and also Sun Qings confession. Jiang Xuanjin went directly to the Prime Ministers mansion with Liu Yunlie, wanting to confront Qi Han face-to-face.

  However, the steward of the prime ministers mansion said: "Unfortunately, the master received an imperial edict a couple of days ago and went to inspect Dong Prefecture. He wont be back for several more days."

  When did he leave? Liu Yun was bewildered, and Jiang Xuanjin also furrowed his brow. Neither of them had received any news, and they hadnt seen anyone in the imperial court for the past two days. They thought Qi Han was just on vacation, but it turned out he had left the capital!

  "What should we do?" asked Liu Yunlie.

  What else can be done? Jiang Xuanjin turned around and left.

  Cant interrogate, can only wait for Qi Huans return to Beijing. The evidence is all ready, and its not afraid to wait a little longer.

  On the way back to Tingweis mansion, they passed by several newly opened shops. Firecrackers were going off all along the street, and there was a large crowd of onlookers.

  Jiang Xuanjin took a glance and was slightly curious: "All three families opened at the same time?"

  Liu Yunlie saw nothing unusual: "Lu Jis shops have always been like this, boosting each others momentum, and the common people are happy to watch the excitement."

  Lu Ji? Jiang Xuanjin narrowed his eyes: "Lu Jinghang?"

  "Who else besides him?" Liu Yunlie shook his head with his hands behind his back, "His business is getting bigger and bigger. I thought that without the support of Princess Chang, we could suppress him a bit, but who knew this person was so cunning, he avoided the official harassment by closing several shops, and reopened them here."

  Let him operate for another two years and this half of Kyoto will probably fall into his hands.

  Fireworks lit up the street, Jiang Xuanjin watched coldly as Lu Jingxian emerged from the store wearing a soft silver silk robe with a red ribbon tied around his head, shaking a fan and saying something to the people outside the door, who cheered and rushed into the store.

  "Do you want to see more?" Liu Yunlie withdrew his gaze, "Hurry back to the Tingwei Mansion, there are still things that havent been done."

  "You go back first."

  Liu Yunlie was taken aback and hadnt even had time to ask why when the person in front of him had already walked past Lu Jing.

  His eyes flickered, Liu Yunlie didnt turn around and leave, watching him exchange a couple of words with Lu Jinghang before entering the store, thinking for a moment, he also followed.

  Today is the opening day of the new store, Lu Jinghang is in a good mood. Before meeting this person, he had a serious face and narrowed his phoenix eyes to smile: "What? Where did I offend you again?"

  In the quiet teahouse, with no one else around, Jiang Xuanjin took out the two letters and placed them directly in front of him.

  The same "Chancellors Personal Letter" on the envelope made Lu Jinghangs smile pause for a moment.

  He heard a faint noise in the dark alley, he opened his fan to block his eyes and slightly furrowed his brow.

  "Do you want to explain?" Jiang Xuanjin asked.

  "Theres nothing much to explain, Your Highness had written two letters just in case." he said.

  Picking up the newer one, Jiang Xuanjin sneered: "On March 27th, your Highness had already passed away. When did she write this letter?"

  "Is this important?" Lu Jinghang put down his fan and looked at him with a puzzled expression, "What is it that you are concerned about? The letter is real, not fake. Even if there were two identical letters, you can take either one..."

  "This letter has been in Moguri for some time." Interrupting him, Jiang Xuanjin said, "And for a relatively long period of time."

  Listening to his affirmative tone, Lu Jinghangs body tensed up, and his mind quickly turned around.

  "Whats so strange about that?" He made up his mind and spoke out, "This letter was brought out from the palace by Qing Si, isnt she now in Mo Ju?"

  Qing silk? It was placed in Moju early on, but it was handed over to him by Lu Jinghangs hand after a detour. What is this?

  Gazing at Lu Jinghang with a gloomy expression, Jiang Xuanjin lightly tapped the table: "I hate being calculated by others."

  These two letters are as suspicious as a conspiracy.

  "Whos taking advantage of you?" Lu Jinghang said irritably, "Im not trying to help you out? You want to overturn the case for Danyang, and I also want to see the case overturned. Its mutually beneficial, what are you talking about taking advantage of?"

  "Are you really just trying to help?" Jiang Xuanjin didnt believe it. "Danyang is already dead, and youre a businessman whos used to taking advantage of situations and avoiding trouble. It doesnt seem worth the effort to stir up trouble just for a reversal of fortune."

  Lu Jinghangs face sank at these words.

  "Jiang Xuanjin." He said coldly, "How much do you know about what happened between me and Danyang?"

  "Not many." Jiang Xuanjin said, "I often see you in the palace, I know you often get along with her."

  With a chuckle, Lu Jinghang closed his fan and placed it on the table, looking up at him and saying: "In the third year of Daxing, I was schemed against by my fellow sect members and lost half of the Lu familys territory. When I was feeling troubled, I went traveling and met the Princess Chang."

  At that time, Pingling Jun was still there, Li Huaiyus days were not easy to pass, the worry and bitterness on his face were no less than his, the two of them had a big fight over the last jar of wine in the tavern, and finally they sat together in an alleyway, each taking a mouthful.

  "Im a businessman," he said at the time.

  "Oh." She nodded and took a sip of wine before handing the jug over to him. "Im a princess."

  He was still feeling annoyed and frustrated, but upon hearing this he couldnt help but laugh: "Youre a princess, Im the emperor."

  "The emperor is only ten years old, youre a bit older." she said.

  Lu Jingxing stopped smiling, staring blankly at her, and found that this girl was indeed noble-looking. She wore ordinary clothes, but the embroidery was a pattern of peony from the Jade Pool, with a golden flower between her eyebrows, and lips as red as blood.

  She noticed his gaze and kicked him with one foot, scolding: "What are you looking at!"

  This kick was extremely powerful, and he almost didnt stand firm. Lu Jinghang grunted, his expression complex as he muttered: "What a farce, which princesss family is as rude as you."

  "Theres an even coarser one, want to give it a try?" She picked up the wine jug and raised it above his head.

  Lu Jinghang turned around and was about to run.

  "Hey." Li Huaiyu called out to him, half-drunk and half-asleep, "Whats your name? Tell me so I can know, maybe I can even help you out a bit."

  He stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at her with a pair of eyes, but didnt really think this person could help him. He still said, "Lu Li, Zhi Jing Xing."

  "The mountain is high and the emperor is far away?" She raised an eyebrow, bursting into loud laughter, "You dont look like a serious person at all, yet youre talking about the mountain is high?"

  Lu Jinghangs face turned black as he said, "Has anyone ever taught you that its not right to mock someones name in their presence?"

  "No!" she replied with a straight face, scratched her ear and walked over with a swing, smiling and handing him the wine jug, "You drink!"

  "I dont... ah?" He was about to say he wouldnt drink anymore, but the person in front of him suddenly fell over. He hastily threw down the wine jug and caught her, the jug shattering on the ground with a crisp sound, the pungent aroma of strong liquor instantly filling the entire alleyway.

  Lu Jinghang actually wanted to throw her directly onto the pile of miscellaneous items and leave, but looking at her like this, if she were really placed here, who knows, she might be taken advantage of. His kind heart moved, and he simply took her back home.

  It wasnt until later that he found out that Qing Si had been secretly following him the whole time, and if he had made one wrong move, there wouldnt be a future Lu Da Zhuang.

  Fortunately, he was well-behaved at that time, took care of her for a night, and sent her to the horse-drawn carriage the next day.

  "Well meet again!" She smiled and waved goodbye.

  Lu Jinghang also waved his hand, but in his heart he thought: Its better to have no chance of meeting again!

  The households enemy, the shopkeeper, was ruthless and had connections in the imperial court. He bullied Lu Ji into making concession after concession, even setting a trap for him and throwing him into prison. Lu Jingxing had always been honest in his business dealings and at that time didnt know how to "play the game". In prison, he thought he would have to stay there for several years.

  However, he was released the next day. The officer removed his handcuffs and gestured for him to leave.

  Lu Jingxing was confused and walked out of the Tianlao Gate in a daze, only to see Li Huaiyu standing outside with her hands on her hips. As soon as she saw him come out, she scolded: "With this brain, you still dare to do business? Youd better go home and farm or raise pigs!"

  He stared at her in a daze, not understanding. But she came forward, pulling him out: "Can even the Prefect of Beijing bully you like this? Come on! Ill back you up!"

  Looking at the long procession behind her, Lu Jinghang finally realized that this person was not lying, she seemed to be a real princess.

  Its just a bit too rude.

  With the support of this rough princess, Lu Ji launched a counterattack and in just two months, not only did he recover his lost shops and goods, but also forced Qi Ji to close several stores.

  "Isnt it?" Li Huaiyu pulled him to crouch together at the closed door of Qiuji, handed him a chicken leg, "Ill teach you whats called real manhood!"

  He helped him a great deal, but didnt ask for anything in return. He just casually said these words while drinking with him and gnawing on chicken legs.

  "My annoyance is gone." He looked at her deeply and asked, "What about yours?"

  "Dont worry." Li Huaiyu waved his hand casually, "I can handle it myself."

  It was said that later on, she and Pingling Jun fought each other to the death several times, almost losing her life.

  He is just a businessman and cant help at all.

  He poured half a cup of tea for Jiang Xuanjin in front of him and asked, "Do you know what it feels like to be powerless?"

  Jiang Xuanjin lowered his eyes: "Ive never had it before."

  "Haha, the all-powerful Zi Yang Jun has never tasted that flavor, but Im very clear about it." He put down the teapot and said, "You see this person every day, she smiles at you, drinks with you, and plays pranks on you. You know her situation is difficult, but theres nothing you can do, you can only stare blankly like a fool."

  "Now I finally have a chance to help her, why are you coming to ask me about the pros and cons?"

  "I am a merchant, but does being a merchant mean Im no longer human?"

  He said that in the end, slightly excited, Jiang Xuanjin was silent. He had indeed only regarded these two people as wine and meat friends before, never thinking there would be such a past.

  "Never mind," he said, "I was overthinking."

  Although these two letters are strange, they indeed came to help him. If Qing Si really hid the letter in the main house and calculated the date, its not surprising that there is incense on the letter.

  The furrowed brow finally relaxed, and Jiang Xuanjin stood up and was about to leave.

  "Hey." Lu Jinghang shouted at him, "How has Zhu Qi been lately?"

  Turning back with discontent, Jiang Xuanjin said: "Your Excellency has a deep relationship with the Princess, so why are you so concerned about others?"

  Nonsense, these two are the same, of course they have to be concerned about each other. Lu Jinghang curled his lips and saw that he didnt want to say anything, so he waved his hand and said, "Pretend I didnt ask."

  Jiang Xuanjin coldly laughed and left with a flick of his sleeve, not going to the Tingwei Fu but instead returning directly to the Ink Residence.

  Thinking that he had suspected the wrong person, for the next two days, Jiang Xuanjin stayed in the Ink Dwelling to accompany Bai Zhuxi, letting her tease and play with him, his attitude very tolerant.

  Hua Yu suddenly felt that it was raining red rain in the sky, and she stretched her head out of the window to take a look, muttering softly: "Its also too rare, right?"

  He reached out and pulled her back, Jiang Xuanjin said: "Go and change your clothes properly."

  Tonight, there is a banquet in the palace. The old master had several sets of ceremonial robes sent over early this morning for them to choose from. Huai Yu turned around and saw that Jiang Xuanjin was already dressed in a silver brocade robe with dark embroidery of cranes, his figure tall and straight, majestic as a spring pine.

  She was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly thought, if such an extraordinary person were to have a child, what would it look like?

  Seeing her standing still, Jiang Xuanjin gently shook his head and walked over to tie the straps on her waist.

  "In the palace banquet with many people, follow me closely, dont get lost."

  "Hmm." She responded absent-mindedly, her hand touching the embroidery on his chest.

  Why does someone elses embroidery look so good? She is so serious about it, just four short words, and she still hasnt finished embroidering them.

  Gently patting her hand, Jiang Xuanjin frowned: "Once inside the palace, be more disciplined."

  "Got it!" She came back to herself and smiled, then hugged his arm and followed him out.

  "Master." Qing Si called out softly to her.

  Hua Yu turned her head and saw her making a reassuring gesture towards her.

  Is everything arranged? Huai Yu nodded slightly and continued to look ahead as if nothing was wrong.

  The Xile Palace is very large, its a place where the royal family holds banquets. Its not far from Mingyuan Palace. As soon as the Jiang family arrived, it became even more lively inside, with many people coming up to greet them, pulling one person this way and another that way, in no time at all they had pulled the Jiang family members into all directions.

  Huai Yu has always followed Jiang Xuanjin. He is in charge of talking to people, while she is responsible for eating the food on the table in front of her. The division of labor is clear and their cooperation is pleasant.

  Before long, these courtiers took advantage of the festive atmosphere and began to persuade him to drink.

  I vaguely remember that Jiang Xuanjins capacity for wine was not good. Looking at the wine brought by Xu Xianjing in front of him, Huaiyu said with a hint of caution: "Cloud Master Han is still seated, how can General let you drink first?"

  Xu Xian raised an eyebrow: "Doesnt your wife even let you drink?"

  "Its not that you cant drink, but there should be some rules." Dealing with this group of people, Li Huaiyu was simply very skilled. "Lord Yun has just been promoted, so shouldnt you first have a drink with him?"

  That makes sense! Xu Xian immediately looked at Yunlan Qing, who gave the noblewoman a complex look and drained her cup in one gulp.

  "Good!" Han Xiao applauded and cheered foolishly by her side.

  Yunlan Qing looked at him with a huff: "Whats so good? Shouldnt you be drinking too?"

  "Why?" Han Xiao was puzzled.

  She put down the wine cup in front of him and said, "Ive always been worried about you every day, let you have a drink and you still ask why?"

  This is also okay? Han Xiao nodded and then bluntly downed a cup.

  They all came to toast him with wine, but now theyre actually killing each other. Jiang Xuanjin found it amusing and thought that this group of people was quite interesting.

  However, even with Huaiyu to help him decline the wine, there were too many people at the banquet and he had to drink a few cups. After drinking two cups, Jiang Xuanyan fell silent and didnt speak, pulling her towards a quiet place on the edge of Xile Palace.

  Holding onto him with one hand and supporting herself against a jade pillar, she asked: "Drunk?"

  "No." he replied stiffly.

  He chuckled and Li Huaiyu found a rock by the fake mountain for him to sit on, saying softly: "Ill go get you a cup of tea, will you wait here for me?"

  The full moon is high in the sky, the palace lanterns are shining brightly, and the distant sound of laughter and music from the banquet can be heard. Jiang Xuanjin looked at the person in front of him with a drunken gaze, nodding obediently: "Good."

  Smiling, she reached out and touched his head, and then couldnt help but kiss him hard on the mouth before picking up her skirt and leaving.

  If he wasnt drunk, Jiang Xuanjin could still sense that she didnt take the path back to the banquet, but he was drunk and only remembered her telling him to wait here.

  Then he just waited.

  Sitting up straight, with both hands on her knees, Jiang Xiaos eyes were fixed on the empty road ahead, thinking that when she returns, she must be praised a few words.

  However, this time he waited for a long time, and there was no one coming back on the empty palace road in front of him.