As soon as Aya stepped out of the Third Prince's residence, the fake smile on his face vanished instantly.

It seems that not only did he have ulterior motives, but the Third Prince also became suspicious of him; otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically summoned him to test him today. If he hadn't denied killing Baozhu, the Third Prince would probably have taken action against him.

Aye gave a slight sneer and took the gold bestowed upon him by the Third Prince to a money exchange, where he exchanged the hundred taels of gold for easily portable silver notes.

After putting away the silver notes, he pondered where he should go and finally decided to go to the Great Wei.

Shen Mingjiang didn't come looking for him again. After all, the general of Great Wei couldn't stay in Tibetan territory for long, and should have already returned to Great Wei by now. According to the information given by Shunfeng'er, the Shen family all lived in Tokyo. He also remembered that the information mentioned Shen Mingjiang's daughter, and he really wanted to go and see her.

He first went to someone he knew to get a set of customs clearance documents and identity certificates.

After obtaining these items, he did not set off immediately. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to make one last trip to the inn.

The commotion on the main street today was extremely dangerous. Although the woman was protected by her husband and was not injured, someone with a weaker sense of courage would have been quite frightened. Moreover, she was pregnant and therefore even more vulnerable.

He wanted to check if the woman had been frightened today. If everything was alright, he could go to Dawei to see the Shen family with peace of mind. Maybe Shen Mingjiang really wasn't lying to him, and he really was their son?

—That's what he convinced himself.

Without hesitation, Aye packed his things and went to the inn. He didn't go through the main gate, but instead climbed over the side wall and nimbly scaled the railing diagonally opposite the courtyard, hiding there where he could see the whole courtyard.

Aya first went to look at the grasshoppers hanging from the treetops. When he found that all the little trinkets hanging from the treetops were gone, his eyes lit up and he felt a strange joy and satisfaction.

For some reason, he was convinced that the woman had taken those little things.

It's as if I delivered myself into her hands.

As Aya was lost in thought, she saw the woman being helped out of the house by two maids. She looked around anxiously, as if searching for something.

Aya frowned, but because they were too far apart, he couldn't hear their conversation.

She only saw the woman wander around aimlessly a few times before walking to the branch where he had hung grasshoppers.

Shen Youying took out grasshoppers woven from straw from her purse and hung them one by one on the tree branch. Compared to the grasshoppers woven by her older brother, the ones she had hastily made looked crooked and unremarkable.

But after much thought, Shen Youying couldn't find a better way to contact her elder brother. Xue Shen had already sent out most of his men to search for her brother's whereabouts.

The main street and inn where the trouble occurred were searched thoroughly, but no clues were found.

She could only resort to the most foolish method: waiting patiently for her brother to come, hoping he would come once, and perhaps a second time.

Whenever he came, he would see grasshoppers woven from straw hanging on tree branches, and letters hanging on the grasshoppers.

"Madam, let me hang it." The tree branch was quite high, and Fu Cui saw that she was having some difficulty hanging it up, so she couldn't help but speak up.

Shen Youying shook her head, her expression resolute: "I'll do it myself."

Fu Cui had no choice but to watch as she hung it up herself.

Shen Youying wove more than twenty grasshoppers in total, and hung the crooked grasshoppers all over the branches. Only then did Shen Youying breathe a sigh of relief. She then stuffed the letters she had written into the small bamboo tubes and hung them one by one under the grasshoppers.

Fearing that the grasshoppers would be blown away by the wind or snatched away by wild cats and birds, Shen Youying prepared not only a letter, but also a small bamboo tube hanging under each grasshopper, containing what she wanted to say to her older brother.

Watching the small bamboo tube sway gently in the wind, Shen Youying stood there for a while before saying to Fu Cui and Liu Yun, "Alright, let's go back."

The three went back inside, unaware that the subject of their discussion was secretly observing them.

Aya looked thoughtfully at the row of grasshoppers woven from straw hanging on the tree branch, and the small bamboo tubes hanging from the grasshoppers.

He was now certain that the grasshoppers he had hung up had indeed been taken by the woman. However, he couldn't understand why she had hung up so many grasshoppers. Those small bamboo tubes looked very similar to the bamboo tubes used for carrier pigeons, and they mostly contained letters.

Is it a letter for him? Aya hesitated, thinking.

But what could she possibly say to a stranger?

Aye couldn't understand it; there were still many things he couldn't figure out.

He stared intently at the grasshoppers hanging on the branches, swaying slightly in the wind. After hesitating for a while, he nimbly leaped down from the railing and silently slipped past.

He wanted to see what was written in the letter inside the bamboo tube.

The courtyard's security seemed less tight than before. Judging from the woman's husband's absence from the inn, he must have taken the guards out.

Aye looked more relaxed. He leaned against the wall and took a grasshopper out of his hand to examine it.

The grasshopper the woman made was really not very pretty; the craftsmanship was quite rough, and it was crooked and twisted. If you didn't know better, you might not even recognize that it was a grasshopper.

Aya smiled and softly said, "Really ugly."

He unscrewed the bamboo tube and found a paper roll inside. He took it out and slowly unfolded it. On it, written in delicate, tiny characters, was the following: "Brother, your skills in weaving grass and grasshoppers are still as good as when you were a child. I tried to weave a few, but I just couldn't get them to look right. Brother, you mustn't think my weaving is ugly."

Aya's smile froze, as if something had lightly but firmly struck her chest, a sour feeling spreading like ripples.

He then unwrapped the remaining bamboo tubes. The words inside were not in any particular order or structure; they were probably just whatever came to mind.

The second bamboo tube reads: "I have received the birthday gift my brother prepared for me. I really like the hairpin."

The third bamboo tube reads: "Last time in Xizhou I saw someone who looked a lot like my brother, but when I went to look for him, I couldn't find him. At the time, Yuan Jin said I had mistaken him for someone else, but I felt that it was my brother."

A-Ye stared blankly at the three words "Xi-Zhou City." The other person said in the letter that they saw someone who looked just like their brother, but when they went to look for them, they couldn't find them. It was clearly a description of the first time they saw the other person.

But she said he was her brother.

Aya's thoughts were in turmoil. She pursed her lips and continued to disassemble the fourth bamboo tube.

“Brother probably doesn’t know who Yuan Jin is yet. He is my husband. After your accident, our family also suffered misfortune. The Lu family broke off the engagement, and I was betrothed to the Prince of Qin by imperial decree. I thought I was falling into a fire pit, but by a twist of fate, we had a good marriage. There are many things that cannot be written down on a letter. I will tell you when you return.”

It turns out that her husband's name was Yuan Jin, and he was the Prince of Qin of the Great Wei.