The children by the roadside weren't playing; instead, they were all practicing opera.

Even street vendors communicate through traditional opera.

The singing, with its incoherent slurs, gave Tang Nian goosebumps.

This situation struck Tang Nian as extremely strange.

She knew that the people of Jingning City loved opera, but in her mind, no matter how much they loved opera, no one would truly integrate opera into their lives.

This situation made Tang Nian feel very uncomfortable.

This is completely robbing children of their innocence.

The soldier was completely unaware that Lou Mu and Tang Nian were acting strangely. After seeing the invitations they were holding, he led them directly to the entrance of the inn opposite the theater and bowed respectfully.

"Esteemed guests, this inn is the best in Jingning City. Many distinguished guests stay here when they come to our city. You may also stay here."

Upon hearing this, Tang Nian nodded as she looked at the grand inn in front of her.

This inn looks like a nice place.

She looked at the soldiers bowing and scraping to the two men, took out a silver ingot from her purse, and threw it at one of them.

The soldier weighed the silver in his hand, his eyes brightening even more. He quickly thanked them with a beaming smile and then left.

After the soldier left, Lou Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about what had happened earlier, and coughed twice before awkwardly saying, "How about this time... we pretend to be husband and wife again?"

Tang Nian was taken aback upon hearing this.

Thinking of the scene of the contract between the two of them, and recalling how she was pressured to get married in Lancheng, she shuddered and quickly shook her head.

"Let's forget about that. This time... how about we pretend to be siblings this time? What do you think?"

Tang Nian had ulterior motives; she still wanted to take advantage of Lou Mu.

Although Lou Mu was somewhat disappointed, after hearing what Tang Nian said, Lou Mu couldn't push her too hard.

Therefore, the two decided to pretend to be a brother and sister.

As for the young prince, we'll have to adapt to the situation.

As the three of them entered the inn, a particularly clever-looking waiter hurriedly ran out.

His gaze swept over the three of them.

They immediately realized that these three people must be important figures.

Therefore, the smile on his face became even more pronounced.

"Are the three of you here to stay at the inn?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Nian nodded: "That's right, we need two superior rooms."

The waiter nodded: "Are the three of you a family? You may not know this, but our owner has a rule that guests who come to stay at our place must have an invitation from Fuyao Opera House. Do you three have invitations?"

"No, no, no, I'm the younger brother, she's my older sister, and this is my older brother." Hearing the waiter's words, the young prince couldn't sit still any longer and explained in a serious tone.

Tang Nian nodded and took out the invitation.

The waiter accepted the invitation.

Seeing that there was only one, he looked at the three people with some difficulty.

Seeing his expression, Tang Nian was a little puzzled and asked, "Young man, is there something wrong between us?"

The waiter quickly shook his head, afraid of being misunderstood, and hurriedly explained, "Gentlemen, our owner has a rule that one invitation can only book one room. You three only have one invitation, so I'm afraid you can't book two rooms. Moreover, the invitation says two people, but you have three. Our inn only allows Tang Tianshi and Lord Lou, whose names are on the invitation, to stay."

Hearing him say that, Tang Nian frowned.

It was within her expectations that the young prince would move out, but the fact that she was to share a room with Lou Mu was...

"Can't you make an exception? He's still so young, and my brother and I are different genders, so it's really inconvenient for us to share a room."

The waiter smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

"The rules were set by the owner, and I can't make decisions for the three of you. Besides, the invitations for each performance at Fuyao Theater are based on the number of rooms in our inn. Since you're siblings, why don't you squeeze in together?"

Tang Nian's brows furrowed unconsciously.

Her instinct was to refuse. She could investigate secretly if the young prince moved out, since he wasn't among the people invited by the theater.

But they couldn't stay at separate inns.

Since the theater specifically requested them, something might happen, and having the two of them together would provide some support.

Lou Mu even offered money to the waiter to make an exception, but the waiter ultimately refused.

The two had no choice but to agree to book a room together.

Tang Nian looked at the room number handed to her by the waiter and felt somewhat helpless.

She was a little tired from the journey, so she didn't think too much about it and booked a room for the young prince at a nearby inn with Lou Mu.

Then he and Lou Mu went back to the inn and went upstairs.

Upon entering, the inn is quite spacious.

The bed also looked exceptionally soft.

Tang Nian was really tired, so she went straight to the bed and naturally lay down on it.

Tang Nian felt alive again as her body touched the soft bed, and she stretched comfortably.

Lou Mu entered the room and felt a little awkward looking at the only bed.

Tang Nian glanced in his direction, then said lazily, "I'm too tired. Just find somewhere to sit down and let me rest for a while."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and ignored Lou Mu.

Lou Mu looked at her like this and smiled helplessly.

But just then, two voices suddenly came from the next room.

Tang Nian originally didn't take the sudden sound to heart.

She had no interest in eavesdropping on other people's conversations.

But the voice sounded somewhat familiar to her, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

But upon closer reflection, I can't quite recall some of them.

She and Lou Mu exchanged a glance, and it was clear that Lou Mu also seemed to have noticed that the voice was somewhat familiar.

Tang Nian's drowsiness vanished instantly. She scrambled out of bed and winked at Lou Mu, signaling to go out and take a look.

Lou Mu nodded in agreement.

The two smiled at each other and then went out the door.

After arriving next door, Tang Nian knocked on the door.

Footsteps soon came from inside.

I thought it would be a man who opened the door, but to my surprise, there were two women inside.

Tang Nian stared at the two people in front of her for a moment, somewhat surprised.

The two girls inside were also a little confused when they saw Tang Nian.

One of the girls spoke up, asking, "Who are you? Why are you knocking so suddenly? Is there something you need?"

Hearing her ask that, Tang Nian's eyes darted around, and then she came up with an idea.

She feigned regret and said to the two young ladies, "Greetings, ladies. We came here to watch a play, but I'm not feeling well today. My brother wants to go out for a stroll, but he's unfamiliar with the area, so he'd like to find someone to go with him. Do you two have time to go out for a stroll with my brother?"