Chapter 118 Holding Hands

Shen Yuan had no interest in looking at the lanterns all over the street. He turned around and saw Zhou Zhongan still standing there with a melancholy look on his face.

Xie Hui's words just now also made her understand Zhou Zhongan's meaning, but she was still surprised. This was not the first time Zhou Zhongan had met her elder sister...

Xie Hui saw Shen Yuan looking back frequently, knowing that she was still thinking about what happened just now, "He's fine, he should be fine in a while."

Xie Hui said that although Zhou Zhongan had never said that he liked any girl before, he was a completely optimistic person and he had never been seen sad for more than a quarter of an hour because of anything.

Sure enough, after a while he caught up with them from behind and talked to them with a smile again, without any trace of his previous expression.

"Zhou Zhongan, come here quickly!"

Princess Zhaoyang turned around and saw Zhou Zhongan inserted himself between Xie Hui and Shen Yuan again. She was so anxious that she rushed over and pulled Zhou Zhongan away.

Even after walking a distance, I could still hear her complaining to Zhou Zhongan, "I told you not to bother them!"

Her actions made Xie Hui laugh and cry. He swears to God, this was not his order. When he came, he even said that he wanted Princess Zhaoyang to spend more time talking to Shen Yuan.

Xie Hui was just thinking about whether he should explain that it was not him who treated Princess Zhaoyang so well, when he heard Shen Yuan asking him to wait.

"Auntie, how much are these two masks?"

"Ten cents a piece, girl."

Just as Shen Yuan was about to take out the silver, he saw a slender hand reaching out from the side and handing over the silver.

Shen Yuan was not polite and thanked him generously.

"Thank you, Brother Youqi."

The stall owner took the money and handed two cat-shaped masks to Xie Hui. Xie Hui held the masks and asked Shen Yuan, "Which one do you want?"

"I want the yellow one, you wear the black one."

Two cents of silver was the smallest silver ingot Xie could get back, but even so, he still got back a large amount of copper plates.

Xie Hui was holding a handful of copper plates, not knowing what to do. Shen Yuan grabbed a handful from his hand and ran to the next stall.

After a while she brought back a purse. She opened the purse and motioned Xie Hui to put all the copper coins in it.

"That's good. Take it. It's not great, but it works. Just use it for now."

The fabric used for this purse is not fine, and the bamboo pattern embroidered on it is also very rough.

After Xie Hui took it, he tied the purse around his waist and said, "It's good."

After putting away the copper plates, Shen Yuan asked Xie Hui to put on the mask, "Let's put on the mask, so no one will recognize us!"

Looking around, there are indeed quite a few young men and women wearing masks for fun. Some are very exquisite, but most of them are like Shen Yuan and Xie Hui, who bought their masks at stalls.

Shen Yuan put on the mask in a few seconds, raised his head and asked Xie Hui, "How is it? Does it look good?"

The dancing light shadows fell into the girl's smiling eyes, sparkling brightly.

It also fell into Xie Hui's heart and lasted for years.

"nice."

Xie Hui also raised his hand and put on the mask.

“You look good too!”

The two of them lingered at the mask stall for a long time. When they walked forward, they found that the people in front of them had disappeared.

Xie Hui was worried that Shen Yuan would be worried because she couldn't see her elder sister, so he comforted her, "It's okay. There are many imperial guards in disguise on both sides. Nothing will happen."

"Well, let's keep going. Maybe we'll catch up with them soon."

Maybe it was because they were wearing masks, but in the crowded street, I didn't know whose hand touched the other's first, and by the time they reacted, they were already holding each other tightly.

Now, neither of them had the heart to look at the lanterns anymore. They just kept walking forward along the flow of people. The street was prosperous and bustling, but in this corner, they leaned tightly against each other.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Shen Yuan saw a few people sitting on a street stall.

"They are there."

Shen Yuan didn't have time to think about it, and directly pulled Xie Hui over. After standing there for a while, he realized that Princess Zhaoyang, Shen Xi, Zhou Zhongan, and even the six-year-old Princess Jinghe were all staring at their holding hands.

Shen Yuan reacted first, quickly loosened his hand, sat down next to Shen Xi, and reached out to take off the mask on his head.

"Sister, you guys walked really fast. I looked for you for a long time but couldn't find you."

Zhou Zhongan joked: "I don't think it's us who are walking fast, it's some people who are walking too slowly."

Xie Hui also sat down next to Zhou Zhongan, took off his mask and put it on the table. Zhou Zhongan wanted to pick up the mask and put it on, but as soon as he stretched out his hand, Xie Hui slapped it back.

Princess Zhaoyang smiled but said nothing, secretly planning to go back and explain to her aunt what she had just seen!

Shen Xi raised her hand and tidied up Shen Yuan's hair that was messed up because he took off his mask. "I saw that you guys didn't catch up, so I thought of finding a place to sit and wait for you for a while."

Shen Xi's faint smile was like a solitary orchid in a valley. Zhou Zhongan stared at her profile in a daze, and only came to his senses when he was suddenly kicked by Xie Hui.

Then he became sad again because the girl was already engaged and it had nothing to do with him.

"What is this shop selling? I'm hungry..." Shen Yuan touched his stomach.

Shen Xi looked at what the people around him were eating, "It looks like soup cakes."

When they were in Jinling, the two sisters often ate food from street stalls, so they didn't mind.

"Shopkeeper! What kind of soup and cakes do you have here?"

"There are beef soup, mutton soup, big bone soup and fish bone soup. What do you want?"

Shen Yuan asked a few people, "Do you want to eat?"

Princess Zhaoyang shook her head. Her mother did not allow her to eat anything from outside.

"I want a bowl of bone soup."

As soon as Shen Xi finished speaking, Zhou Zhongan immediately said, "I'm the same as the third lady."

Xie Hui stood up and said, "Manman, what do you want? I'll go order it."

"I want fish bone soup."

"The soup dumplings are here! Be careful, customers, they may get hot. There is mashed garlic, chili and coriander on the table. You can add them if you like."

The fish bone soup was thick and even though Shen Yuan liked spicy food, he didn't even bother to put chili in it. Instead, he drank a few sips of the original soup first.

The soup has a light peppery taste. In this weather, two sips of it warm up my whole body.

Princess Zhaoyang originally didn't intend to eat, but seeing how happily they were eating, she couldn't help herself and asked her maid to get her a bowl of fish bone soup.

Princess Jinghe was also craving it, but she was young and in poor health, so Princess Zhaoyang didn't dare let her eat it. Fortunately, the nanny came out with some snacks, which managed to coax the child.

"Thank you for your hard work today, brothers! I'll treat everyone to soup and cakes."

Shen Yuan heard a familiar voice, looked up and saw Fan Lutong walking towards her with a big smile on his face.

"Hello, Miss Shen!"

Fan Lutong straightened up, and was surprised again when he saw Zhou Zhongan and Xie Hui, and quickly saluted.

"My dear young master, Mr. Shao Yin, and everyone else, hello."

Zhou Zhongan was from Jingzhao Prefecture and often dealt with the Street Office. He was no stranger to Fan Lutong.

Fan Lutong didn't know the two princesses and Shen Xi, but when he saw them together, he knew it was always right to praise someone as noble.

"You're still patrolling on New Year's Day. Thank you for your hard work, Lord Fan."

"It's not hard work, it's not hard work."

After Fan Lutong finished his ceremony, he went to sit at another table not far away. He came here because he saw Shen Yuan eating there first. In his mind, the food at the stall where Miss Shen eats must be clean and delicious!