The girl was wearing a white shirt and a green skirt, with long hair falling to her waist, bright eyes and red lips, like a crabapple flower covered with morning dew, or like a beautiful dream between half asleep and half awake.

The boy raised his hands and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

Jiang Si was not expecting such a sudden change and was stunned for a moment.

"Are you... a human or a demon?"

Jiang Si ran away quickly, holding up the hem of her skirt.

She would have to be stupid to answer this call from someone she would never see again in her life.

In almost the blink of an eye, the girl in white shirt and green skirt disappeared into the woods.

The young man subconsciously raised his feet to chase after him, and a voice came from behind: "Brother Zhen, where have you been?"

Zhen Heng woke up as if from a dream, and felt confused as he looked at the empty space ahead.

Did he just hallucinate?

The urging voice sounded again, Zhen Heng turned around and was about to leave, when suddenly a shining object on the grass caught his attention.

That is a crabapple hairpin.

He bent down, picked up the jade hairpin, looked at it for a moment, put it in his arms, and then strode back.

Deep in the woods there were several young men, all dressed like scholars. Some were admiring a cluster of orchids not far away, while others were painting.

Seeing Zhen Heng coming back, one of them said with a smile: "Brother Zhen, your urination took quite a long time."

Zhen Heng ignored his classmates' teasing and hurried to a drawing table, spread out paper and ground ink, then picked up the brush and finished the work in one go.

Zhen Heng's paintings were well-known among his classmates. As soon as he stopped painting, some of his classmates would come over to admire his paintings: "I want to admire the orchids that Brother Zhen painted."

Zhen Heng turned the scroll over and said with a smile, "Let me draw a new one. This one is ruined and I can't show it to others."

After hearing what he said, the man gave up.

Zhen Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, put away the painting after the ink had dried, and painted a new picture of Shanjian orchid to deal with the matter.

"Brother Zhen, you are not in good shape today. This orchid painting is not as lively as Brother Li's."

Zhen Heng smiled absentmindedly: "I can't compare to Brother Li's outstanding painting skills."

After appreciating orchids and painting, everyone suggested going to Zhuangyuanlou for a drink, but Zhen Heng used the excuse of a headache to return to the back house of Shuntian Mansion.

"Heng'er, you're back so early today?" The woman's gentle voice came.

"We are leaving early today. Mother, I will go back to the study first."

"Have you eaten yet?" Mrs. Zhen asked, but she saw Zhen Heng had already walked away. She shook her head helplessly, "Why does this kid look like he's lost today? Is he too hot?"

Zhen Heng hurried into the study, immediately closed the door, and took the scroll out of his arms.

As the scroll slowly unfolded, a girl in a white shirt and green skirt appeared before Zhen Heng.

The girl's slightly widened eyes revealed a hint of surprise, as if a little demon in the forest was frightened by a human who inadvertently broke in.

Zhen Heng closed his eyes, and the girl with snow-skin and black hair seemed to be right in front of him.

He took out the crabapple hairpin from his arms and looked at it carefully for a long time. He gradually became convinced: what he saw in the forest was definitely not a dream. Perhaps there really are monsters in this world.

Zhen Shicheng was surprised to find that his son had not been going out recently and had been reading books all day long.

Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard and thought: It's still a long way to go before the autumn examination, and Zhen Heng is already working himself into a rage. This doesn't seem like his son.

Out of curiosity, Zhen Shicheng went to Zhen Heng's study and saw a bookshelf full of strange stories.

Zhen Shicheng was furious: "Zhen Heng, what are you looking at?"

Zhen Heng sighed secretly.

Father usually doesn't come to his study, what happened today? He should have put a book cover on it earlier.

Zhen Shicheng poked at the notebook in Zhen Heng's hand with his finger: "You've been reading this all day?"

This stupid boy, it would have been better to wrap the book in a book cover so that he wouldn't have to see it and wouldn't be bothered, but he actually read it so blatantly, doesn't he even take his father seriously!

"My son is just curious about whether there are goblins or ghosts in this world."

"A Master does not speak of strange things, supernatural powers, or spirits," Zhen Shicheng admonished.

Zhen Heng lowered his eyes and listened, but his thoughts were wandering, and his heart and eyes were filled with the beautiful figure of the girl who fell from the sky that day.

Father, it's easy for you to say this. He has already encountered this, so how can he not be curious?

Seeing his son's unrepentant look, Zhen Shicheng raised his hand and slapped him: "Since you are so free, come with me for a walk."

"Father—"

"What?" Zhen Shicheng glanced at the notebook, his threatening expression evident.

Zhen Heng agreed obediently.

It seems that he can't hide away today. So, he might as well go. It won't hurt him at all. At most, if his father makes some random suggestions, he will just have to refuse them.

Jiang Ancheng was quite surprised when he received Zhen Shicheng's visiting card.

The Bo Mansion had no personal relationship with the Shuntian prefect who had just returned to the capital, so why did Lord Zhen come to visit? It couldn't be that he had come across another case related to the Bo Mansion, right?

No matter how surprised he was, Jiang Ancheng certainly would not offend Zhen Shicheng, and soon received this senior official who visited him for the second time in the flower hall in the front yard.

Zhen Shicheng's visit caused a stir in the entire Bo's Mansion.

In Cixin Hall, Madam Feng asked twice: "Are you sure that the person Mr. Zhen is visiting is the eldest master, not the second master?"

"It's the master." Ah Fu replied again.

Madam Feng turned the sandalwood Buddhist beads on her wrist, pondered for a moment, and told Ah Fu: "Go to the front and find out the purpose of Master Zhen's visit."

Ah Fu took the order and left. Old Madam Feng slowly moved her gaze towards the front yard.

She had always felt that her eldest son was not capable of great use. Could he possibly have established a friendship with a third-rank official? Forget it. She should first find out the purpose of the Shuntian prefect's visit.

Today happened to be a day off for officials, and Mr. Jiang Er was also in the mansion. He was also confused when he heard about this.

The position of Shuntian Prefecture Governor is not an easy one. The fact that Zhen Shicheng was transferred back to the capital from other places to take up this position is enough to prove that he is in the emperor's favor.

When did big brother become friends with Zhen Shicheng?

The more Mr. Jiang Er thought about it, the more unhappy he became. He walked towards the flower hall in the front yard.

Zhen Shicheng exchanged pleasantries with Jiang Ancheng and said with a smile, "To be honest, I came here today to thank your daughter."

Jiang Ancheng was surprised: "What did my daughter do?"

"The case of the Yongchang uncle and his wife was solved thanks to your help."

When Jiang Ancheng mentioned the Earl of Yongchang, he became depressed. He took a few sips of tea and said, "She is just a little girl. She doesn't deserve Master Zhen's thanks."

Zhen Shicheng laughed out loud: "Master, you are wrong. Your daughter is as brave as any man. She deserves it."

Zhen Heng dressed up as a servant, stood quietly with his head down behind Zhen Shicheng, feeling extremely helpless about his father's arrangement.

It would have been fine if the father came to thank a little girl, but he had to drag him along and even asked him to dress up as a servant. If he was found out, he would be too embarrassed to live his life as a human being.

Thinking of this, Zhen Heng lowered his head even more.

Jiang Ancheng was already overwhelmed by Zhen Shicheng's praise for the young lady, so he ordered his servants, "Go and ask the fourth young lady to come over."

Soon after, a gentle voice came from the door: "Father is looking for me?"