Yan Liang held a skewer of candied hawthorns in his hand and stared at the girl in front of him—no, she was a cross-dressing man. The other woman had delicate features and was staring at him stubbornly for some reason.
"Why are you looking at me like that, young lady?" Yan Liang smiled kindly. "Are you lost?"
The girl's eyes were full of inquiry, but she didn't answer.
Yan Liang thought for a moment, assuming that the person was lost, and said, "I am new here and not very familiar with this place. If you want to ask for directions, it would be better to ask someone else."
He didn't miss the scrutiny and confusion in the other person's eyes, guessing that the other person might know the original owner, and chose to remain silent.
Yan Liang was wearing a mask at the moment, and the woman recognized him by his clothes and figure. After hearing Yan Liang's words, she hesitated for a moment and said, "I am not lost... Did you see the Qiqiao Dance just now, young master?"
Yan Liang nodded: "I've seen it."
He roughly guessed that this cross-dressing man was one of the girls who had danced on stage earlier.
There were many girls on stage at that time, and Yan Liang didn't really notice that there was a cross-dressing man among them.
"I saw you on stage just now, sir. You look quite like an old friend of mine. I wonder if you know someone named Feng Lai?"
Yan Liang thought of the character "风" (wind) on the brocade pouch, but his expression remained unchanged: "I don't recognize it."
"May I ask your name, young master?"
“Alright,” Yan Liang said with a smile. “I am Yan Liang. Since you asked for my name, I suppose you can also tell me your own name.”
"...My name is Yunyou."
He hesitated for a moment, but still tentatively said the name.
Although this name is not his real name.
"Wind and clouds, young lady and your friend both have auspicious names." Yan Liang smiled, becoming increasingly certain that this person was related to the original owner of the body.
The boy spoke with a smile, and his voice reached the ears of the man who called himself a wanderer. He couldn't help but be slightly taken aback, becoming even more uncertain about the identity of the person in front of him.
Feng Lai is already dead; Xiao Mimi told him this herself.
Xiao Mimi doesn't lie, nor will she spare Feng Lai's life.
The two stood frozen in the corner, facing each other. The woman who had just bumped into Jiang Qin in the crowd saw them from afar, felt strange, and called out, "Yunyou."
Yunyou turned to look at her, his right hand clenching almost imperceptibly. When he looked at Yan Liang again, a hint of panic flashed in his eyes, but he regained his composure before the woman in green arrived.
Yan Liang saw it all. The woman in green approached from afar, glanced at Yun You casually, and gave Yan Liang a smile. She was extremely beautiful, and her smile was very charming.
Yan Liang smiled back from behind his mask, not caring whether the girl knew he had smiled. He nodded to Yun You and turned to leave.
Xiao Mimi's face stiffened as Yan Liang's reaction triggered unpleasant memories.
Yunyou stepped forward, blocking Yan Liang's back, and said gently, "Let's go back."
He was extremely docile in front of Xiao Mimi, abandoning the indifference he showed in front of Yan Liang, like a tamed cat.
Xiao Mimi regained her composure, looked at the person in front of her, and smiled with satisfaction: "Okay."
Her "okay" was full of doting affection.
Yan Liang listened to their conversation through the monitor and thought to himself that their way of getting along was neither like friends nor like master and servant... more like master and pet.
He pondered the identities of the two men in his mind, then wandered around the bustling crowd again, spending the whole night there before returning home satisfied with his purchases.
It was unclear how long the temple fair would last. When Yan Liang returned to the inn, the streets were still bustling. He tiptoed into the inn and found candles burning in Jiang Qin's room.
Yan Liang stood outside his door for a moment, then knocked on his door.
"Young Master Yan?"
Jiang Qin opened the door and, by the dim candlelight, recognized the man wearing the fox mask as Yan Liang.
Yan Liang smiled at him from behind the mask, reached out and handed him a bag of snacks, and said casually, "When did you get back? I bought some snacks after watching the dance, and I bought some for you too."
Jiang Qin reached out and took it, saying, "I've been back for half an hour. Thank you for thinking of me, Young Master Yan."
Yan Liang looked at him lazily for a while, then suddenly laughed and said, "Why don't you just call me by my name? Calling me 'Young Master' is too formal."
Jiang Qin was taken aback, and stammered, "Young Master Yan is a friend of my master, how dare I address you by your name?"
"I'm his friend, so why can't I be your friend?"
Although Jiang Qin couldn't see the boy's face, she could hear the laughter in his tone.
“I’ve been waiting for you to call my name, but you always call me Young Master Yan—” Yan Liang sighed, “Why don’t you try calling me by my name directly?”
Jiang Qin hesitated for a long time, unable to speak. He was incredulous and completely confused. Just as he was pondering the deeper meaning of Yan Liang's words, he heard the other party drawl out his words and say lightly, "It's getting late, I'll go and rest now. I hope you can call me by my name tomorrow."
Jiang Qin watched the boy turn and enter the room next door. Puzzled, she closed the door and went back inside. She placed the pastries in her hand on the table, stared at them for a moment, and finally had no clue. She raised the corner of her mouth and smiled sarcastically.
He was even willing to reveal the news about Jiang Feng, who had adopted him, so how could he be moved by someone he had only known for less than a month?
*
The next morning, Yan Liang went out and met Jiang Qin, who still called him Young Master Yan as always.
Yan Liang understood, and with a look of regret, he didn't mention it. After discussing it for a while, the two decided to set off after breakfast.
They were still some distance from Qingzhou. Yan Liang calculated that it would take three days to reach Qingzhou if they sped up, and another four days to reach Anyi Town.
The two sat down at the breakfast stall and ordered steamed buns and porridge. While waiting, Jiang Qin's mind wandered for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she saw Yan Liang take out the fox mask he had bought the night before and put it on.
Jiang Qin: "..."
He stared silently at the breakfast being served, paused for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask, "Why is Young Master Yan wearing a mask? Breakfast is already on the table."
Yan Liang moved aside and smiled at him: "I just did some quick calculations and I know someone is coming. I can't let her see my face."
Jiang Qin tried her best to suppress the urge to pout, and instead gave a puzzled, fake smile.
Before Yan Liang could respond, two new customers arrived at the breakfast stall. A man and a woman, the man was handsome and the woman was pretty. Jiang Qin stared at the woman in green, slightly lost in thought—that girl was the one he had met at the temple fair yesterday.
Yan Liang held his mask in one hand while holding a steamed bun in the other. Jiang Qin snapped out of her daze, saw that he had already started eating, paused for a moment, and then started eating with him.
Yunyou and Xiao Mimi naturally noticed Jiang Qin's gaze, but neither of them paid it any mind, and they sat down at a table intimately. Xiao Mimi acted coquettishly towards Yunyou, who, being very aware of his role as a male concubine, gently and softly comforted her.
Jiang Qin twitched her ears, resisting the urge to look up in that direction. Instead, she glanced at Yan Liang, who was engrossed in eating at the opposite table. Yan Liang remained expressionless, one hand still supporting his mask, the side he was blocking was the direction of the couple.
Jiang Qin: ...Could it be that you actually figured it out?
He was skeptical of Yan Liang's fortune-telling and face-reading, even though Yan Liang had never made a mistake. But he was still a little annoyed if he believed him.
—If this person really can tell fortunes, why didn't he point out that it was he who leaked Jiang Feng's information to others?
In fact, Yan Liang had indeed figured it out, but he didn't intend to point it out before arriving at the Yihua Palace.
The two finished their meal quickly, got up and left in a hurry. When Yunyou was serving food to Xiao Mimi, he caught a glimpse of the familiar departing figure. His heart tightened, and he subtly blocked Xiao Mimi's view.
Xiao Mimi smiled radiantly, seemingly unaware of anything amiss.
*
"Is that young lady someone Young Master Yan knows?" Jiang Qin couldn't help but ask him.
"Probably," Yan Liang replied, "but I don't know her."
Jiang Qin was stunned and didn't understand what he meant.
Yan Liang glanced at him, straightened his crooked mask, and his handsome face was now hidden behind a smiling fox mask. Jiang Qin looked at the mask and felt disgusted, subconsciously averting her gaze.
“She recognizes me, but I don’t recognize her,” Yan Liang explained. “My disfigurement was probably related to her.”
Jiang Qin was unaware that Yan Liang had lost his memory; Yan Liang had only told the steward and the old embroiderer. Hearing Yan Liang's words, he was puzzled: "Why did you say 'approximately'?"
Who wouldn't be sure about someone who has disfigured their own face?
Yan Liang paused, then feigned sudden realization: "Ah, you don't know, I was also seriously injured when I met your young master, and I can't remember anything from before."
Jiang Qin nodded and said, "I see... that's how it is."
He paused for a moment, because he suddenly realized that if this person couldn't remember the past, how would he know that the woman in green was the one who disfigured his face?
Yan Liang didn't explain to her this time, leaving Jiang Qin puzzled. The two walked back to the inn, packed their things, and decided to set off.
This time it was Yan Liang's turn to drive. He sat outside the carriage, holding the reins, and lazily called out "Giddy up!" The carriage moved in response. A gentle breeze brushed his face. Yan Liang wanted to remove his mask, but thinking of the couple on the way out of town, he restrained his restless hand.
Since the guy named Yunyou doesn't want Xiao Mimi to see his face, let's just go along with his wishes for now.
There was only one road from the inn to the town entrance, and there was no way to avoid it. Yan Liang drove along that road and happened to run into Yunyou and Xiao Mimi, who were digesting their food after dinner.
When Yunyou saw the young man wearing a fox mask driving up, his eyes flickered. He glanced at him and then looked away. When he looked at Xiao Mimi beside him, he found that she was staring straight at the young man holding the reins, a smile on her lips. Yunyou was very familiar with this expression. Xiao Mimi would show this expression when she saw a man she liked.
Yunyou's heart sank.
As the fox mask passed by them, Yunyou lowered his head and felt the person glance at him for some reason.
The carriage drove out of the town, and Xiao Mimi watched it until it was completely gone before turning her gaze away.
She watched as the man focused his gaze on Yunyou, but didn't spare a single glance for her.
They treated her as if she didn't exist.
Xiao Mimi giggled and said to Yunyou, "That person only looked at you and not at me... Do you recognize him?"
“I don’t recognize him.” Yunyou said anxiously, “I was disguised as a woman yesterday, so he probably doesn’t recognize me either.”
Xiao Mimi smiled meaningfully and remained silent.
Author's Note: I'm here, good evening everyone—
Derivative works can't completely follow the original plot, so occasionally we have to come up with some original characters.
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