The old man selling masks was somewhat surprised to see a young man walking behind him who looked exactly like the young master who had asked him questions.

The capital city is populous, but it is rare to find twins who are born exactly alike, let alone a pair of boys.

Especially the girl behind the two young masters, who was wearing a veil and holding a little girl's hand. Her face was not visible, but her eyes, in all his life, were the most beautiful and breathtaking eyes the old man had ever seen.

And that little girl, she was also fair-skinned and clean-cut, with a cute and clever appearance. She looked so different from the country bumpkins in his family. No wonder she was a young lady from a noble family.

Judging from the voices, the old man vaguely knew that the group were brothers and sisters from the same mother, and that the child was the daughter of the woman who looked too young.

The old man felt a pang of envy. Both sons were exceptionally handsome and had remarkable bearing, the young lady was also radiant, and the granddaughter was incredibly adorable. He wondered which esteemed person was so fortunate to have two sons and a daughter.

The old man's envy of Qingyin and Song Yuebai and the others who were choosing masks were of no concern to him.

While Song Yuebai and the others surrounded her to block others' view, Qingyin took off her veil and put on the fox mask she had chosen, while Song Zhenbao put on her favorite little fox mask.

Song Yuebai and Song Fengqing were wearing different masks. One was wearing a regular human face mask, and the other was wearing a tiger mask.

Standing behind the two, he looked more like a bodyguard.

Qingyin smiled, put on the mask, and led her little fox daughter to the street, feeling a sense of freedom in the air she was breathing.

The small vendors on Chang'an Street sold a dazzling array of goods, and the various foods were extremely tempting. Qingyin even had the illusion of being hungry from the smells, but she had no choice but to suppress her desire to enjoy the food. Instead, she bought a lot of cute little trinkets.

Song Yuebai and her sister followed behind her, paying for her, and then continued shopping with the excited mother and daughter.

As dusk settled, many people lit lanterns along the street, adding a lively and elegant touch to the already bustling street.

The further they went in, the more people there were.

Qingyin and her mother, along with two tall and distinguished young men and a group of guards, walked among the crowd without attracting much attention.

But Shen Du was not included in the crowd.

On the second floor of a restaurant on the east side of Chang'an Street, Shen Du was summoned by the Fifth Prince and a few others with whom he had a good relationship, to enjoy the New Year celebrations together.

As longtime friends, and also due to their blood ties, Shen Du naturally had to give the Fifth Prince face.

Several members of the royal family and nobility sat in a private room at the restaurant, facing an astonishingly large window that offered a view of the lively scene below.

The fifth prince, somewhat excited, sat by the window, looking at the lively scene below, and exclaimed, "Hey, fourth brother, look down there are vendors selling candied hawthorns, lanterns, fried fish, and sugar figurines..."

"Why don't we go downstairs and take a walk?"

The fourth prince glanced at the bustling, crowded scene below, his eyes twitching slightly. "It's always like this. It's not like the palace doesn't have this kind of food."

"If you want to get off, go off by yourself. It's so crowded."

The Fifth Prince curled his lip, "How can the food in this palace compare to that outside? It may not taste good, but it's full of human warmth."

"Hey, I took you guys out, but none of you went downstairs and just squeezed into this private room. There's no festive atmosphere at all."

"Shen Du, isn't the Imperial Aunt's birthday coming up after the New Year? Aren't you going to pick out a gift for her?" The Fifth Prince, seeing that he couldn't persuade his brother, looked at another person in the room.

Shen Du raised his eyebrows and subconsciously glanced downstairs in the direction of the Fifth Prince, who was turning his head to look at him.

A pair of familiar, beautiful eyes came into view. As the girl was about to walk away with her daughter, Shen Du, whose mind was quicker than his, blurted out, "Okay, then I'll go downstairs now and pick out a gift for my mother."

In front of the Fifth Prince, Shen Du flipped out of the window and lightly jumped to the ground. The elegant and handsome young man's graceful descent attracted many admiring glances from the opposite sex.

Fifth Prince: "???"

The Fourth Prince watching the show:

"???"

The Fifth Prince turned to look at his Fourth Brother, his eyes somewhat dazed. "Fourth Brother, when did my words become so effective with Shen Du?"

The building was flipped right after the conversation was finished; that's far too efficient.

Fourth Prince: "..."

This silly younger brother actually thought his words had any effect.

—

Downstairs, Shen Du chased after Qing Yin in the direction she had disappeared.

But when he actually saw Qingyin's figure, he couldn't help but feel timid.

What if Qingqing doesn't like having someone follow her? What if Niannian doesn't like him either, and Qingqing finds out and directly rejects him...?

In my mind, I imagined a tall, handsome young man squatting behind a lantern stall, and my aura grew increasingly cold and aloof as I imagined it.

The lantern vendor was an ordinary young man in a jacket. He looked tremblingly at the nobleman squatting behind his stall, whose demeanor was becoming increasingly gloomy.

His face was filled with despair.

Could it be that his stall offended this young nobleman, which is why the nobleman dislikes lanterns so much? Could it be that the nobleman beat him to death over this stall, and after his death, his wife might not even be able to seek justice for him...?

The more the young boss imagined it, the more tragic it became, and the longer he stayed in Shen Du, the more his calves trembled like brushes.

"Young master, do you want to buy lanterns?" the young man asked with a forced smile, his voice barely audible.

Suddenly asked the question, Shen Du: "..."

"Cough, it's nothing, I was just looking at the lanterns."

Shen Du casually lied to appease the overly timid stall owner.

He stared in the direction Qingyin had left and walked on, leaving the unlucky boss behind, who finally breathed a sigh of relief.

—

As Qingyin walked ahead, she also felt a burning, purposeful gaze.

At first, Qingyin didn't know who it was. But after following him for a while, she realized that Shen Du's brain seemed to go dull whenever he encountered Qingyin, and Qingyin managed to catch a glimpse of the young man's profile several times out of the corner of her eye.

A familiar face and demeanor from my memory.

Shen Du, her target has finally appeared.

Qingyin sighed.

No wonder someone as cunning as him couldn't catch up with the original owner of this body.

Qingyin looked at the figure behind her and stopped at a secluded riverbank where lanterns were placed.

Song Yuebai and Song Fengqing looked at Qingyin, who had stopped, with puzzled expressions: "Sister?"

Qingyin: "It's nothing, but there are some things I need to ask a certain young master who never shows his face."

Song Yuebai/Song Fengqing: "???"

!!

Which scoundrel cheated on them with their sister? Tell them and they promise they won't kill him, haha.

Qingyin could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their expressions. She smiled slightly and placed her bewildered daughter in Song Yuebai's arms.

She gently patted her daughter's head.

"Niannian, let your uncle hold you for a while. Mommy has something to do for now."

After saying that, Qingyin said something in a certain direction in the distance.

"Isn't the young master coming out yet?"