This was Wei Yinqiu's first time entering the Jin residence.

The mansion wasn't large, but it was elegant. Jin Heng's parents had passed away, and he had no wife or children, so everything in the mansion was decorated according to his own preferences.

When Wei Yinqiu saw him, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, the brocade quilt covering his waist, holding a book in his hands and flipping through it.

Hearing the noise, he turned around and looked over. The two looked at each other and were both stunned.

"Why has the princess come?"

Wei Yinqiu noticed his rosy complexion and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you sick?"

"Who told you I was sick?" Jin Heng put down his book.

She touched her nose and said, "I just... heard about it."

"It's just a minor cold. Drinking two bowls of ginger soup will make you feel much better. It's nothing serious."

"But they say you haven't gone to court these past two days."

Jin Heng smiled, his tone tinged with helplessness, "I go to court every day, and I finally managed to steal a couple of days off under the pretext of being sick, only to be caught red-handed by the princess."

Wei Yinqiu then realized that she had made a small blunder.

Feeling a little guilty and embarrassed, she scratched her head and said awkwardly, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."

He raised an eyebrow. "What? The princess seems quite anxious. Are you... worried about me?"

"I...I..." She clutched the hem of her clothes, somewhat at a loss.

"It is alright if the princess does not wish to answer. I am now in good health and will attend court on time tomorrow. Please rest assured, princess."

Seeing his sincere expression, Wei Yinqiu held her breath, not knowing where to vent, so she could only tell him to take care of himself before slinking away.

She clearly came to offer her concern, but how did it end up being interpreted as her urging him to attend court?

What a misunderstanding! What a huge misunderstanding!!

...

With the Lantern Festival just around the corner, Wei Yinqiu began to get restless again.

"Grand Tutor, please say yes!" she said, tugging at Jin Heng's arm and pleading.

Jin Heng sat behind the desk, propping his head up with one hand, letting her swing her other arm.

"Does the princess really want to go?"

"I want to see it so badly! I've never been outside the palace to see the lanterns before."

"As for the Empress Dowager..."

"Grandmother said that as long as my brother, the Crown Prince, comes with me, it's fine. But I really can't persuade him. He always listens to you, so only you can help me." She pouted, her voice soft and sweet. "Please, Grand Tutor..."

Jin Heng was so worn down by her nagging that he had no choice but to nod.

...

Indeed, as she said, Wei Huaixu agreed to his request after only a moment's hesitation, but on one condition: he had to come along as well.

So on the day of the Lantern Festival, the three of them appeared together at the night market.

Except for some special holidays, the Eastern Kingdom only holds night markets on the first and fifteenth of each month. On these days, the capital city becomes exceptionally prosperous, with lights shining everywhere and crowds of people thronging the streets.

Wei Yinqiu immediately took a liking to a rabbit lantern, but this lantern could not be bought with silver. She had to guess the riddle on the lantern to get it, but she had to pay one coin for each riddle she guessed.

"This lamp looks like it's been hanging there for quite a while. I wonder how much the stall owner has made," Wei Yinqiu muttered to herself.

Riddle: Phoenix head and tiger tail (Guess a Chinese character).

Wei Huaixu glanced at the riddle and quickly came up with the answer. Just as he was about to speak, Jin Heng's voice came from beside him: "Ji."

Those around who hadn't guessed it immediately realized what was going on.

The stall owner's face froze for a moment, then he quickly said, "You haven't paid yet, how can you make wild guesses?"

Wei Yinqiu immediately had a maid bring out a coin, handed it over, and said, "Now I'll give it to you, can I have the lantern now?"

The stall owner took the copper coin, then took down the riddle from the lantern and hung up a new one, saying, "The previous one doesn't count. You have to pay first before you can guess it."

Wei Yinqiu was displeased: "Didn't you just say that we could get a lantern if we guessed the riddle correctly? Why didn't you give it to us even though we guessed it correctly?"

"I already said you have to pay to guess. If you guess correctly without paying, it doesn't count. That's the rule."

Seeing the stall owner's shameless expression, Wei Yinqiu was furious and rushed over, wishing she could tear his stall down.

But she had only taken two steps forward when Jin Heng grabbed her waist and pulled her to the side.

She was furious and turned to glare at him, "Why are you stopping me?"

"Don't act impulsively; use your wisdom to prevail." Jin Heng gave her a reassuring smile.

She immediately became obedient, completely lacking any self-control.

Wei Huaixu stepped forward, smiling at the stall owner, and said, "It costs one coin to guess once, and if you guess correctly, you can get a lantern, right?"

The stall owner nodded. "That's right."

He beckoned with his finger, summoning his personal eunuch, who was disguised and following him, and said, "Count how many lanterns he has on this stall."

"yes."

After a short while, the eunuch replied, "Young master, there are a total of twenty-eight riddles."

“Okay, twenty-eight it is.” Then he held out his hand.

The eunuch immediately understood and counted out twenty-eight copper coins to hand over to him.

Wei Huaixu slammed the copper coin down on the stall, sneered, and said, "Look carefully, it's twenty-eight coins, not a single coin less."

The stall owner understood what he meant and quickly said, "No, no, each person can only guess the riddle on one lantern."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, then raised his voice and said to those around him, "Come on, everyone, let's guess the riddles. I'll pay for it."

Soon a crowd gathered around.

He then told them the answers to the riddles on the lanterns one by one, and the people went over one by one to tell them the answers.

The stall owner's face turned black then white, then white then red.

Surrounded by people, with eyes fixed on him, he couldn't find a reason to renege on his debt, so he had no choice but to give away all the lanterns and then push his empty stall cart away.

Having obtained the rabbit lantern she wanted, Wei Yinqiu felt relieved and beamed with joy, praising without reservation: "Brother Crown Prince is indeed incredibly intelligent and wise!"

Wei Huaixu glanced at her sideways and clicked his tongue, saying, "It's probably hard to find another person in the entire capital who is better at talking than you."

"What? Doesn't Crown Prince like being praised? If you don't like it, I won't say it anymore." She pouted.

Wei Huaixu reached out and pinched her cheek, saying, "If you like it, then praise me more."

"Hehe~ I knew that my Crown Prince liked me the most."

After she finished speaking, a cough suddenly came from the side.

Jin Heng covered his lips with his fist, coughed, and said, "There's a stall selling osmanthus sweet cakes up ahead. Would the princess like to buy some to take home?"

"It's rare to find a tutor with such thoughtfulness; he actually remembered that I like osmanthus sugar cake."

Wei Huaixu said, "What's so rare about it? The Grand Tutor of Jin was so meticulous that his mind was as fine as the eye of a needle."

"Your Highness," Jin Heng looked at him, "Does Your Highness intend to write several more policy essays tomorrow?"

Wei Huaixu immediately shut his mouth.

They walked up to a stall selling osmanthus sugar cakes.

Wei Yinqiu asked, "How much is this?"

The stall owner replied, "Three coins a piece."

"Then give me one tael of silver."

The stall owner clicked his tongue, "Girl, we don't have that many."

How many do you have?

"Approximately... two hundred coins."

"Then I'll take them all."

The stall owner beamed, "Please wait a moment, young lady, I'll wrap it up for you."

While waiting, Wei Yinqiu picked up a piece of food with her handkerchief and tasted it. She thought it tasted good, so she took another piece and offered it to Jin Heng.

Jin Heng subconsciously shrank back, and both of them were taken aback.

"Would you... like to try some?" she suddenly remembered to ask.

The sweet cake was already placed to his lips, and the sweet scent of osmanthus filled his nostrils, a little cloying.

He hesitated for a moment, but still opened his mouth and ate it.