On the Qinhuai River, there are boats and ships lined up like a flowing stream.

The Spring Examination was approaching, and students from all over the country were rushing to Jinling. The Empress Dowager's birthday also fell in the first month of the year, so officials from all over the country also gathered there.

There are countless pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River, and with many people talking, it is actually the most suitable place to discuss things.

Xiao Fu's ship merged into the crowd and was inconspicuous.

Xie Laosan remembered that Empress Dowager Xiao had asked him to bring a letter. He was about to call Xiao Fu, but he saw the two of them leaning against the stern of the boat side by side. Lin Zikui was watching the courtesan playing the pipa on the boat not far away, and suddenly said, "Xiao Lang, is my pipa on the boat?"

He changed his words smoothly. He was worried that if he didn't say it smoothly, he would be exposed when he got to the shore, so he simply started to change it now.

When Xiao Fu heard this, his heart melted, as soft as a pool of water that only Lin Zikui could stir. As for Zikui, Xiao Fu found it incredible when he heard the reason why he changed his name to "Young Master".

"The zither is on the boat. Are you planning to play the zither with that courtesan?"

Lin Zikui shook his head: "I just thought you like listening to music, so I wanted to play it for you."

His uncovered left eye looked at Xiao Fu, his dark eyes were extremely clear: "I can play some, but not as well as those pianists. If you don't like to listen, I will only play a short section."

"It doesn't matter. I like to listen to whatever Zikui plays." Xiao Fu looked up and called, "Jinzun, go get the zither."

"Qin." Jinzun quickly brought the Qin. He usually didn't like to smile, so he brought the Qin with a stern face. He was small in stature, and Mo Liu tried several times to talk to this short man who shared the same suffering with him, but failed at all.

The young master was tuning his zither outside, while Mo Liu was sitting inside eating fruits with his head buried.

The decoration on the boat was exquisite and gorgeous. It was fine that the young master couldn't see clearly, but Mo Liu knew at a glance that this Miss Xiao Zhaoling might not be from an official family, but her family background was rich and definitely not inferior to that of Lord Xiao's family.

He casually picked up a blue-and-white flower vase. The glaze on the vase was oily, thick, moist, and pleasing to the eye. The bottom is clearly engraved with the words "Xuan Zheng Yuzhi".

"Xuan Zheng? Imperially made... Then, then it must be a gift from Emperor Xuan Zheng?!" Mo Liu widened his eyes in disbelief.

What kind of family could have received something bestowed by the late emperor?

Just as he was about to look again, the dwarf carrying two maces beside Xiao Zhaoling came in.

He immediately put the things down, fearing that he would be impolite and bring shame to the young master.

"Would you like to eat some too?" Mo Liu scratched his head and asked, "This pear is very sweet."

"No." Jinzun sat down quietly, his eyes looking out the window, scanning the passing ships, his eyes like a cheetah ready to pounce.

Jinling is full of dangers, and he must protect the safety of the Marquis and Master Lin.

At the stern, Lin Zikui finished tuning the piano and asked him, "What does Xiao Lang like to listen to?"

"I'm fine with anything." The things Xiao Fu liked to hear were not acceptable to the public. It would be disastrous if he knew about it.

Lin Zikui thought for a moment and said, "How about "Plum Blossom Introduction"?"

"Very good."

Lin Zikui hummed, placed his hands on the strings, and plucked them downwards with his fingertips seemingly gently, producing a solemn and deep melody.

Red plum blossoms are blooming on both sides of the river bank, withered willow branches are reflected on the river surface, and scattered red plum blossoms are floating downstream.

The grass and trees withered, only the plum blossoms stood firm against the cold. The sound of the piano was calm and gentle, floating in the wind. Xiao Fu's gaze slowly moved from his fingers to his slightly lowered and calm profile.

The plum blossom is the purest of flowers, the zither is the purest of sounds, and people are the purest of things in the world.

The sound of the piano drifted away. On a boat not far away, Lord Xu was sitting in a secret room on the boat. Incense was burning and flowers were placed in the room, but the atmosphere was tense.

The clean and pure sound of the piano made him look sideways.

"Plum Blossom Introduction, the person who plays the piano must be as noble and pure as plum blossoms."

This made the burly man opposite him extremely unhappy, and he slammed the table hard.

"Xu Hui! My son has been missing for almost a month, and you haven't found him in this month! And now you bring me to this pretentious place! You! What use do I have for you!"

"Your Highness Prince Zhao," Xu Hui turned his head and stared at him, "I believe that the young prince is blessed by heaven. He is most likely in Xiao Fu's hands, and Xiao Fu will never touch him. But my son is still being tortured in the prison. When the young prince was impulsive, he brought the insect powder from the Western Regions to the capital. I believe that Your Highness had already made arrangements to divert the trouble to the east and pin the evidence on the Marquis of Dingbei. The prince is young, and Your Highness is in his prime. There are still many old ministers in the court who support you and will support you to ascend the throne. It is inevitable."

As a result, three hundred assassins were gone, the young prince was also captured, and Xiao Fu didn't know where to go to have fun.

"Lord Xu, His Majesty is already suspicious of you. Your son is detained in the Heavenly Prison, and Minister Luo committed suicide by jumping into the river, but His Majesty still couldn't release him. The emperor's mind is hard to predict. How could you not know what my ninth brother wants to do?" The King of Zhao took out a worm jar and pushed it to him, his face stern, "Why not, just do it once and for all."

"This... is the queen insect of the poisonous insect?" Elder Xu's expression changed.

"Yes, I got this strange Gu from an expert. The expert said to bring it to the emperor, and then take the mother insect..." Prince Zhao waved his hand and whispered to Lord Xu, "Tomorrow night at the palace banquet, the emperor will fall down in front of everyone. There will be no murderer, and no one will know."

Emperor Wentai was still a young man, and not only did he not have a queen, he also did not have a crown prince. If there was no will, with the prestige of Prince Zhao in the court, he would lead his troops to surround Jinling, enter the palace to express condolences, and change the dynasty.

On the boat, Lin Zikui was changing clothes in the room, while Xiao Fu was standing at the bow, unfolding the letter that Xie Laosan brought him.

"The Queen Mother told me that if I have time, I can go to the palace for a banquet in the next few days. She said that the emperor can cure the poison and I have made great contributions." Xiao Fu pointed at the letter and Xie Lao San said, "This is to let you and the emperor make peace with each other."

"Yeah." Xiao Fu smiled. He had just drunk a few glasses of wine and his face was a little red.

Xie Lao San shook his head: "Your eldest sister, the Queen Mother, is not a bad person, but she can't control her son. Who told Yuwen Duo to be the emperor? If he died, the peace in the world would be in turmoil."

Xiao Fu said calmly, "If he doesn't die, there will still be unrest. The King of Zhao's troops are approaching the city, and my grandfather is also on his way with his troops. At the earliest, they will arrive outside Jinling City tomorrow night."

How could the soldiers of King Zhao be compared with the brave and warlike soldiers of King Yunnan?

In the room, Mo Liu saw through the screen that the young master had changed his clothes, and he was hesitant to speak.

The young master put on a fur coat and walked out. Mo Liu approached him and said, "Young master, did Miss Xiao tell you his identity?"

"What's wrong? He is from Yunnan, has several high-ranking relatives in Jinling, and some of his family members are officials in Yunnan."

Lin Zikui didn't want people to think he was trying to curry favor with her, so he didn't ask any more questions. It was enough to know that Xiao Zhaoling had a clean family background and his parents were still alive. Lin Zikui had also thought about how high the threshold was, but he did not delve into it.

What he liked was Xiao Zhaoling as a person, not his family background.

"Oh..." Mo Liu scratched his head, thinking about the vase given by the late emperor. He just placed it on the ground casually. Wasn't he afraid that it would be kicked over? I couldn't help but mutter, "Miss Xiao, is it just that someone in her family is an official? It can't be that simple..."

Lin Zikui lowered his head and looked at him with amusement: "Mo Liu, what are you mumbling about?"

...It's nothing. Sir, please wear more clothes. It's cold outside. You and Miss Xiao can go ashore for a walk. I'll wait for you on the boat. "Mo Liu is afraid of the cold, and this is also his first time to cruise the Qinhuai River on the night of the Lantern Festival.

“Okay.” Lin Zikui lowered his head and put the veil on his head. The white veil vaguely covered his face, and only a few of his handsome outlines could be seen.

When he went out, Xiao Fu was surprised to see him dressed like this: "Zikui, why are you covering your face?"

"One of my eyes is exposed, and the other is covered," he said, looking in the mirror and thinking it didn't look good. "During the Lantern Festival, there are many children on the street, and I'm worried about scaring them."

"Why do you think so?" Xiao Fu lifted the veil and saw his handsome face clearly. He couldn't help but curl his lips. He lifted the veil behind his ears and pinned it. He said softly, "There are so many ugly children. I'm worried that they will run around and scare you."

"Zhao Ling." Lin Zikui smiled helplessly, "Children are all cute, how can they be ugly? I have offended someone in Jinling, so it is better to cover my face."

Xiao Fu: "Xu Zhuojun has been arrested and imprisoned, what are you afraid of?"

Lin Zikui was surprised when he heard this: "Xu Zhuojun was arrested and put in prison? When did it happen?"

Xiao Fu: "Yes, I just heard about it too. He murdered officials of the imperial court and had no regard for the law. He has been incarcerated for many days."

Lin Zikui lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking, and sighed: "The ice is a thousand miles long, but it is not formed in a day. It will take more than a day to wipe out Xu's party. Xu Zhuojun will be released sooner or later after being imprisoned in the prison..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Fu simply said, "Don't worry, he can't get out."

Xiao Fu has already sent people into the Heavenly Prison to dig out his eyes, pull out his tongue, and cut off his ears tomorrow.

Only when Lord Xu was furious would he lose his plans and reason.

"I hope so..." The boat docked, and Lin Zikui put down the veil. "The Xu family has many followers, and I don't want to attract attention. Xiao Lang, let's get off the boat."

Lin Zikui covered his face and was inconspicuous, but Xiao Fu was good-looking.

Men, women, young and old, all turned their heads to look at him, especially the unmarried girls, who whispered to each other, "This young man is so handsome, who is his family? How come I have never seen him before?"

Lin Zikui also vaguely heard some of it along the way, and thought to himself, "They have never seen Zhao Ling in women's clothes, which is really pretty."

"No wonder Zhao Ling likes to dress like a man. If he were dressed like a woman, the streets would be jammed for him."

There was only Jin Zun following behind the two men. Lin Zikui knew he was following them, and thinking of him as a child, after landing, he went to buy a candy man to coax him. It was a cute-looking mouse. He handed it to him and said, "This year is the Year of the Rat. If you eat this candy man, your wish will come true."

Jinzun got the sugar man and had a dazed expression on his face.

Xiao Fu's face darkened and he glared at him unkindly.

Jinzun glanced at the Marquis, then turned and left with the candy man.

Xiao Fu glanced at his back, retracted his gaze, bent down slightly, and spoke through the veil on Lin Zikui's head: "You bought it for him, but not for me?"

Lin Zikui said, "If you want to buy it, it's already in the works. Wait a little longer."

Xiao Fu: “Oh.”

Lanterns were lit up and sugar was melting in the pot.

Lin Zikui only had one eye to use, so he couldn't see very clearly. He lifted up the gauze a little to watch the old man making sugar figures. He used both hands to make two at the same time. Lin Zikui bought a flower basket-shaped one for Xiao Fu and a small round cake for himself.

Xiao Fu took the basket of candy flowers and licked it. It was sticky and tasteless.

He glanced at Lin Zikui's hand and asked, "Why don't you have any patterns on it?"

"I like to eat a whole piece." Lin Zikui was used to being frugal. He would occasionally eat candy figures, but he would eat very little. He would buy two of the cheapest sugar cakes without any patterns for himself and Mo Liu. The two together only cost one penny.

Lin Zikui couldn't see the road clearly, so he grabbed Xiao Fu's sleeve with his right hand and held the sugar cake with his left hand, licking it slowly. He ate slowly, and the sweetness lingered in his mouth for a long time.

Xiao Fu really couldn't taste anything. The candy man kept popping and crackling in his mouth and soon disappeared.

There are lanterns everywhere and people are busy on the streets.

Lin Zikui stopped from time to time and saw that Xiao Fu’s sugar figure was gone. He had specially bought the biggest one for him.

"Why do you eat so fast? Do you want more? I'll buy more."

Xiao Fu saw that there was still more than half of his, and thought: "Zikui, is yours better than mine?"

"No? They are all the same. Mine is just thicker. Here, there are others." Lin Zikui looked carefully, but couldn't see clearly what was delicious. He thought of one and said, "Do you want some fruit? I'll buy you some fruit."

Xiao Fu shook his head: "Actually, I don't like to eat..." Although he often said this, he had never told Lin Zikui that he had no sense of taste.

Lin Zikui knew that he didn't like to eat, but he always thought it was because he was picky.

Who doesn't like delicious food? Everyone has their own preferences.

For example, Xiao Fu, Lin Zikui knew that he loved drinking.

He's already had a few drinks.

Xiao Fu asked: "Is the fruit delicious?"

"Yeah, delicious." Lin Zikui responded. Jinling fruit is expensive, and he usually doesn't want to buy it, but now he said, "I'll buy some more for you to try."

Xiao Fu: "I still think your sugar cake tastes better."

Lin Zikui pulled him: "Then I'll take you to buy sugar cakes?"

"Let's not waste that penny." Mi Li's veil swayed in the wind, which was an eyesore. From time to time, a little bit of Lin Zikui's cheek was revealed, and it was illuminated by the light and turned white with a hint of red. Xiao Fu turned his head and looked at him intently.

Lin Zikui met his gaze through the veil and shook her head: "Don't waste it. I have a lot of money. I can buy whatever you want to eat."

"I don't want to eat that anymore." Xiao Fu raised his hand and slowly lifted up the white gauze.

"You... still want to eat this of mine?" Lin Zikui half raised his hand, the sugar biscuit sparkling. He was embarrassed and looked at Xiao Fu, "But I've eaten it." He was drooling.

Lin Zikui stopped and said, "I'll buy you a new one."

"It's okay." Xiao Fu grabbed his wrist with one hand, lowered his head, and took a small lick of the sugar cake.

It's tasteless as always, but also seems to have a little bit of flavor.

Lin Zikui: "I told you, it's the same..."

"Almost, but it has to taste better." Xiao Fu stood up slightly and stared at his lips, which were as moist in color as a sugar cake, crystal clear, and extremely delicious.

The crowd was bustling about, and when Xiao Fu got closer, he slowly let down the veil.

The white veil isolated everything in the world, and all the noise faded and retreated.

In an instant, Lin Zikui seemed to know what he was going to do, and his heart began to beat: "Miss Zhao Ling..."

Xiao Fu said in a low and soft voice: "Call me Xiao Lang."

Lin Zikui raised her eyes and saw his face getting closer and closer. She couldn't look away: "Xiao Lang..."

Xiao Fu responded with a soft "ah", lowered his head and pursed his lips lightly. Lin Zikui couldn't help but close his eyes, his cheeks flushed.

"In the street," he said tremblingly.

Xiao Fu: "I know, it was on the street." Xiao Fu licked his lips, as if he tasted something, and then another one, slow and clear. The warm tip of the tongue was too soft. Lin Zikui didn't know what to do. He pursed his lips, opened his eyes, and quickly closed them again, his whole body uncontrollably hot. The white gauze was blown up by the wind, and Lin Zikui hurriedly pulled it down to cover it.

Xiao Fu was still talking. Lin Zikui pursed his lips, a little afraid of being seen. He continued, without saying anything, and grabbed his shoulder with one hand: "Zikui, there is sugar on your mouth, right?"

"Well... it's candy, the same as the flower basket you ate... so... I'll give you the candy cookie."

Xiao Fu watched him closely, his eyelashes trembling, his eyes bright: "Then I think I know what sugar tastes like."