As the night deepened, the moon hanging in the sky gradually disappeared behind the clouds. Jiang Muyu was indeed extremely tired, and fell into a deep sleep as soon as his body touched the bed.

But Liang Qingchen couldn't sleep. He supported his head with one hand and stared at her peaceful sleeping face for a long time.

"You have forgotten everything, but I still remember it."

His thoughts drifted away, and a scene of prosperity emerged in his mind, a picture that remained in his dream. The fragrance of incense, the sound of flutes and drums, the lights in the house, and the sound of music.

…

Eighteen years ago, Xuancang Kingdom, the imperial capital.

The prosperous and bustling streets are bustling with people, and teahouses, taverns, pawnshops and workshops are lined on both sides of the street.

There were many small vendors shouting and hawking in the open spaces on both sides of the street. The streets stretched east, west, south, and north in all directions, and pedestrians kept coming and going: some were carrying loads on their shoulders, some were delivering goods in ox carts, some were pulling donkeys to pull carts, and some were standing by to admire the scenery of the Bian River. With the tall city tower as the center, houses were lined up on both sides.

At this time, a little boy was standing on the city wall. He was wearing a black satin robe with gold thread edges and embroidered with a four-clawed dragon. The wide sleeves had brocade patterns of dark clouds on the cuffs. He had a wide moon-white belt around his waist and his black hair was tied up with a plain mutton-fat jade hairpin.

He stared at the people below the tower for a long time until someone behind him reported: "Your Highness, the man has been caught."

He then slowly turned around and saw a little girl being held captive by guards not far away. She was kneeling on the ground, her face full of dissatisfaction. "Why did you arrest me without any reason? Do you know that what you are doing is against the law?"

He lowered his eyelashes slightly, and his pair of brilliant eyes were full of sharpness. Although he was just a half-grown boy, he gave people a terrible sense of oppression for no reason.

The little girl was not afraid of him at all. She raised her head and glared at him, her big, round almond-shaped eyes filled with anger: "Are you their master?"

He nodded and said slowly, "You are the one who stole my wallet?"

"I already told you I didn't steal it!!"

The guard presented his purse to him. The dark blue cloth bag had no decorations except for a crooked word "尘" embroidered on the bottom.

He weighed the bag and asked, "Where did the silver go?"

The little girl's face turned red with anger. "How should I know? I told you I didn't steal it. I just picked it up by accident!"

"Why do you keep it if you didn't steal it?"

"Who has it? I was just standing there waiting, hoping that the owner would find it, but your men grabbed me without saying a word."

"How do I know if you're lying to me?"

She said helplessly, "Brother, why would I lie to you? If I really stole the wallet, I would have run far away. Otherwise, am I out of my mind? Standing here and waiting for you to catch me?"

He looked at her for a while, raised his hands, and said, "Let her go."

The guards immediately loosened the shackles on the little girl.

The eunuch Maoxian beside him said, "Your Highness, are you just going to let her go?"

"I believe she didn't steal it. Since that little thief was able to steal my wallet quietly, it means she has some skills and brains, instead of being stupid like her and standing in such a conspicuous place for you to catch her."

"You still have some brains..." The little girl rubbed her wrist that was pinched and hurt. Suddenly she came to her senses and said in an unhappy tone, "Who are you calling stupid?"

He looked at her angry look and thought she looked a bit like an animal he had seen before, called pufferfish.

He curled his lips and ordered, "Throw her out."

"Yes." The two guards then held her arms, one on each side, and dragged her out.

Seeing their rough movements, he couldn't help but frown and said, "Be gentle."

Several guards released her again.

She sat down on the ground, grimacing in pain, and quickly got up again, brushed off the dust on her body, and glared at him fiercely: "I can walk by myself!"

He stared at the little girl's gradually receding back until she disappeared around the corner of the escalator.

Then he slowly said: "She doesn't look like a Xuan Cang person."

Maoxian bowed and said, "I will go check it out right away."

"No need, just get the money bag back. The envoys from Dongxu and Tianqian are visiting us recently. It's a special period, so don't make a big fuss about such a small matter."

"yes."

He glanced at the purse in his hand. All the silver was gone. Only a jade pendant carved with a dragon was left. It seemed that this thief was just greedy for money and didn't even dare to touch the jade pendant.

…

He didn't expect that he would meet her again so soon.

Two days later.

He accidentally got separated from his guards and was chased by several masked men in black to a nearby house. He was about to climb up the wall when someone suddenly pulled his clothes.

"Hey, don't go in, there's a dog in here."

Hearing this, he gave up the idea of ​​going in, turned around and looked at her, frowning: "You again?"

She touched her nose awkwardly, "What a coincidence, isn't it?"

He glanced at the restless crowd not far away and thought that those people were chasing them, so he immediately pulled her and ran forward.

"Huh?"

The little girl was almost dragged by him all the way, but she couldn't stand it anymore after a while and kept shouting, "I can't do it anymore, I can't do it anymore, my legs are going to break."

He frowned, stopped, glared at her fiercely, and said coldly: "Are you looking for death by shouting so loudly?"

She felt a little aggrieved, her eyes drooped, and her voice became much softer, "I really can't run anymore."

Her little face was red from running so fast, and she looked breathless, showing that she was really tired.

He looked around, pointed to an alley and said, "You hide in there."

As he said this, he took her over and ran to the alley where there were many sundries. He asked her to squat down, took a bamboo basket and covered her head with it, then turned around and was about to leave.

But she grabbed the corner of his clothes again, and the little girl's soft voice came: "You... don't want to hide?"

"Their target is me. You just need to hide well and not be discovered. Those people are desperate criminals. If they see you and me together, they might think we are in the same group. It would be too unfair if they kill you then."

"I'm hiding, what about you?"

He pursed his lips, "Don't worry about me."

Having said that, he pushed down the bamboo basket on her head, covered her tightly, and ran away quickly.

After he finally reunited with the guards and subdued those people, he remembered to go back to look for her, but found that she was no longer there.

He frowned and looked around. There was no blood or signs of a fight. He thought she must have left on her own.

So he prepared to return to the palace with his guards. As soon as he walked out of the alley, he was met by the Dali Temple Minister and a group of soldiers who had hurried over.

Just as he was puzzled, he saw the little girl huddled at the back. She was wearing plain clothes stained with dirt, and her palm-sized face was covered with dust from somewhere. Her almond-shaped eyes were watery, making her look like a big tabby cat.

When the Dali Temple Minister saw him, he immediately knelt down and saluted, "Your humble servant pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I am sorry that I came late to rescue the carriage, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"Get up, I have already taken those people back. You don't need to interfere in this matter."

"Yes." The Dali Temple Judge stood up, still hunched over, not daring to wipe the dust off his clothes.

He waved his hands and said, "Alright, I'm fine, you can leave first."

"Yes, yes, Your Highness, if you have any further instructions, please feel free to contact me."

"Um."

"I'll take my leave."

As the Dali Temple Minister led his people away, he found that the little girl hiding behind the crowd was still there, so he walked over.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?" he asked.

She took out a jade pendant carved with a dragon and said, "I'll give this back to you."

He was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes dangerously: "When did you steal it?"

"What do you mean by stealing?" She argued, "I was trying to save you. As soon as I saw the jade pendant, I knew you were someone special. Those people wanted your life, but I was safe. So I had to take the jade pendant and report it to the police to save your life."

"Oh." He took the jade pendant back and said, "I'll trust you again for once."

She had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard him ask, "What's your name?"

She hesitated for a moment and said truthfully: "Jiang Muyu."

He stretched out his hand to her, "My name is Xia Qingchen."