The streets were an ocean of people, and the thoroughly wide thoroughfares were packed to the brim with vendors and festive crowds.
Lanterns of every shape, color, and design dazzled the eyes, making it impossible to take everything in, while the sheer variety of delicious snacks seemed endless.
Wen Xuan bought four pieces of deep-fried Osmanthus Wine Cake and distributed them to everyone. “Now, this is a delicacy you can only taste during the Lantern Festival. It’s made with aged osmanthus wine, and the vendor comes from out of town—he only sets up shop here once a year!”
“Is it really as good as you claim?”
“You know how picky my palate is. When have I ever told you something was good and been wrong?”
“In that case… I want to try some too,” Si Nan chimed in.
Chu Ziping reached out, holding back Wen Xuan’s hand before he could share. “Have you forgotten how she drank a single cup last time and passed out completely cold? Do you want to spend this bustling festival carrying her back home instead of enjoying the night?”
“True. Better skip it then.”
“Eh—???” Si Nan’s face fell in disappointment at missing out on the fried cake.
Just then, a stick of Tanghulu (candied hawthorns) was stretched out toward her from the side.
“Have this instead?”
A look of pure delight instantly washed over Si Nan’s face. “When did you buy this?!”
Wen Xuan shook his head and teased, “What a shame, totally wasted on you.”
“That’s the kind of thing only women and children eat,” Chu Ziping added. “We are grown, honorable men; we don’t eat that.”
Si Nan retorted, “If I can’t eat Tanghulu, how can you eat the fried cake?”
“How can you even compare the two? Look around the street—men, women, young, old, and anyone who enjoys a drink has a piece of fried cake in hand. On the other hand, do you see a single man on this entire street eating Tanghulu?”
“That is sheer prejudice! A complete fallacy!”
“Si Nan, you’re acting strange—” Wen Xuan stepped closer, eyes narrowing in scrutiny. Si Nan felt a sudden pang of guilt.
At that moment, a tall, slender figure stepped forward, calmly placing himself between the two.
“Everyone has different tastes. There are plenty of men who enjoy sweet things. For instance, I happen to love Tanghulu.”
Wen Xuan gasped in utter disbelief. “The Prime Minister’s son loves Tanghulu?? That is practically mind-blowing.”
“Hah!!! Look at your faces! You are so hypocritically double-standard!” Si Nan scoffed.
“The Prime Minister’s son is well-versed in the classics of the sages. How can he be compared to profligates like us? If Master Li says men can eat it, then men can eat it,” Chu Ziping conceded immediately.
Li Bo smiled gently. “Calling me the Prime Minister’s son makes us sound like strangers. Just call me Li Bo.” He turned around and spoke to the vendor, “Please wait a moment.”
Li Bo bought another stick of Tanghulu from the vendor and handed it over. “Here.”
“Thank you…” Si Nan was pleasantly surprised. She hadn’t expected someone as stable and grounded as Li Bo to enjoy a street snack like Tanghulu.
Wen Xuan urged them along, “Quick, quick, quick! There’s even more excitement ahead!”
Chu Ziping dashed forward after Wen Xuan. “You two catch up on your own! If we’re late, we’ll miss the magic show!”
Si Nan lifted her foot to run, but Li Bo maintained his characteristically unhurried, leisurely pace. Glancing back at him, she forced herself to stop.
Li Bo gave her a shy smile. “The candied hawthorns—hurry and taste it to see if it’s good.”
As he spoke, Li Bo took a small, gentle bite of his own Tanghulu. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly for a split second before his face smoothed back into a warm smile.
Seeing that Li Bo had eaten his, Si Nan threw caution to the wind and excitedly took a large bite. The sweet and sour flavor instantly burst across her tongue. Her bright, watery eyes lit up instantly. This is the exact taste! Delicious!
The two walked at a peaceful pace, admiring the lively scenery of the streets. Before she knew it, Si Nan had finished her entire stick of Tanghulu.
When she turned to look at Li Bo, however, she noticed that his stick was almost completely intact; he had barely taken one or two bites.
Belatedly, Si Nan realized something. “You don’t actually like Tanghulu, do you?”
Caught in the act, Li Bo gave an embarrassed, bashful smile. “You found me out.”
“You… did that on purpose?”
He had pretended to like it just so she wouldn’t feel awkward, joining her so she could eat her snack without any hesitation…
A wave of warmth and realization hit her. Li Bo truly was a good person. Si Nan felt a sudden pang of guilt for having previously suspected him of being as ruthlessly calculating as his father, the Prime Minister. He was remarkably considerate and incredibly attentive to the feelings of others.
“Thank you.”
“We are friends. I could never bear to see a friend feel out of place~”
“Oh? You actually know how to tease people?”
Li Bo’s cheeks flushed red at her playful remark, and he promptly shut his mouth. Si Nan stopped teasing him and instead struck up a conversation about the various lantern masks and trinkets being sold by the street vendors.
Suddenly, the crowd began to surge unpredictably. The already packed street devolved into a chaotic scramble.
“Careful—”
Someone jostled her from the side, causing her to lose her balance. Just as she stumbled, someone caught her firmly by the sleeve. As soon as she regained her footing, the well-defined, slender hand on her arm immediately released its grip.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden intuition made her look up ahead. Through the chaotic, bustling crowd, her eyes collided with a pair of narrow, piercing eyes that radiated a chilling coldness.
From that icy glare, she inexplicably sensed a trace of resentment… and accusation? Why does he look like he’s staring at a heartbreaker?
Beside her, Li Bo noticed her distraction. Following her gaze, he immediately spotted a man standing out from the crowd—a man with an extraordinary aura, looking as flawless as polished jade, dressed in a moon-white long robe that made him resemble a banished immortal.
Xiahou Jin…
Xiahou Jin shifted his gaze toward Li Bo. The two men locked eyes from across the distance, both discerning the hidden hostility buried deep within each other’s eyes.
Li Bo bowed politely in greeting, then turned to Si Nan. “Master Si, what a coincidence to run into the Third Highness. He is a friend of yours too, right? Should we head over and join him?”
Remembering Xiahou Jin’s recent cold and harsh words, Si Nan lowered her eyes, hesitating.
An uncontrollable smirk tugged at the corner of Li Bo’s lips. “My apologies, I must have misunderstood. Shall we continue our walk elsewhere?”
Si Nan’s feet felt as though they were rooted to the spot. But in the next second, she saw a beautiful young woman appear by Xiahou Jin’s side. The woman stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, creating a picture of a perfectly matched, striking couple.
An unaccountable bitterness flooded her heart, and her previous excitement deflated entirely.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
Li Bo responded gently, “Alright.”
As Si Nan turned to walk away, Li Bo looked back at Xiahou Jin, flashing him a provocative, triumphant smile before quickly following in Si Nan’s footsteps.
“It is my fault. I shouldn’t have suggested joining the Third Highness; I’ve ruined your mood.”
Si Nan kept her eyes down. “It’s nothing.”
“During the imperial banquet, I saw how anxious the Third Highness was over your injury, so I assumed you were close friends. Then again, members of the imperial family hold such noble status; how could they truly be friends with ministers like us…”
“I used to think we were friends, too…”
“I’m sorry, it seems I’ve misspoken again.”
“You didn’t say anything wrong. The truth may sting, but it’s still the truth.”
Though Si Nan was physically walking through the lantern festival, her spirit seemed to have vanished. She remained completely distracted the entire way, her mind thoroughly consumed by the image of the woman standing beside Xiahou Jin.
Xiahou Jin never lets anyone get close to him. For that woman to stand right by his side, she must be the one he loves…
She really had flattered herself. Though she hated to admit it, whenever she had been alone with Xiahou Jin in the past, she had genuinely felt that he treated her differently, with a certain level of favoritism. But today, her delusions had been shattered.
No wonder Xiahou Jin wanted to sever ties and draw a clear line between them. He clearly had a woman he loved and didn’t want her to misunderstand.
The more Si Nan overthought, the more her heart ached with an unbearable sourness, completely draining her of any desire to enjoy the festival.
Li Bo remained quiet, allowing her to be lost in her thoughts while carefully shielding her from the shoving, crowded masses.
Lost in her heavy emotions, Si Nan failed to realize she had drifted away from the main crowd. By the time she snapped out of it, she found herself by a quiet lakeside where only a few scattered people wandered.
“Ah! I’m so sorry! How did I end up all the way out here? We agreed to see the lively parts of the festival!” Si Nan looked at Li Bo apologetically. Why hadn’t he reminded her? This was so discourteous of her.
Li Bo looked completely unbothered. “It doesn’t matter. This place is actually quite nice—quiet, peaceful, and with beautiful scenery.”
“That’s true.”
Li Bo found a large boulder about half a meter high and suggested, “We’ve been walking for so long. Why don’t you sit down and rest a bit?”
She didn’t object and walked toward the stone. Li Bo pulled out a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped the surface of the boulder clean.
Si Nan was surprised. The young master of the Prime Minister’s house is incredibly fastidious and fond of cleanliness.
She sat down, while Li Bo remained standing beside her.
“Aren’t you going to sit?”
The tips of Li Bo’s ears flushed a faint red as he murmured in a low voice, “It would be improper…”
His voice was so quiet that she couldn’t quite catch what he mumbled. Li Bo was a wonderful person, but he just spoke too softly sometimes!
“It’s fine. I’m not tired anyway, you sit,” Si Nan offered.
Inadvertently, Li Bo brought up Xiahou Jin again. “The lady standing beside the Third Highness just now… she must be His Highness’s sweetheart, right?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps.”
“She looked unfamiliar. She doesn’t seem to belong to any of the noble families in the capital.”
“I think it’s my first time seeing her too.”
“I heard my father mention a few days ago that a small foreign state would be visiting soon to foster good relations with the Qi Kingdom. It seems… they intend to form a marital alliance between the two countries.”
“A marital alliance?”
“The lady just now had very deep, striking facial features, unlike the women of our Qi Kingdom. Instead, she looked very much like a foreign lady. My father mentioned that the princess chosen for the alliance is part of the visiting delegation. It is highly likely that the woman we saw earlier is a princess from one of those visiting nations.”
Si Nan froze in place. A marital alliance… a princess… Xiahou Jin?! Was Xiahou Jin going to marry a foreign princess?
Ripples disturbed the smooth surface of the lake, mirroring the tumultuous state of Si Nan’s heart.
With a bitter smile, Si Nan forced herself to speak. “An alliance between two nations is a joyous occasion. We ought to congratulate the Third Highness on winning the hand of such a beauty.”
Li Bo caught the underlying heartache in her voice, and his eyes dimmed slightly. She… has feelings for Xiahou Jin…
“Alright, it’s getting late,” Si Nan said, shaking off the mood. “Let’s go meet up with Wen Xuan and the others. The Lantern Festival only happens once a year; if we don’t enjoy it now, we’ll have to wait until next year.”
They found Wen Xuan and Chu Ziping standing among a crowd of people watching a lantern riddle competition.
Si Nan walked over, feeling a bit curious. “Don’t you two usually skip out on lantern riddles? Who was it that said solving riddles is just a bunch of scholars showing off and completely boring?”
Wen Xuan quickly moved aside to make room for her. “Guess what the grand prize is this year? Qinan Agarwood! An entire solid piece of it!”
“What?!!” Si Nan gasped. “The highest tier of all agarwood, Qinan Agarwood?! They are being incredibly generous this year!”
Then, she shrugged in resignation. “Too bad it has nothing to do with us. The meager amount of ink in our uncultured bellies isn’t nearly enough to solve these.”
Wen Xuan’s eyes lit up as his gaze shifted over to Li Bo. “The few of us can’t do it, but Li Bo definitely can! We’re all brothers here now; if he wins it, it’s practically the same as us winning it.”
Knowing that Li Bo kept a low profile and disliked showing off, Si Nan objected to Wen Xuan’s suggestion. “Let’s not force someone into a difficult position. If it’s not meant to be ours by fate, we shouldn’t force it.”
Li Bo stepped forward, a steady look in his eyes. “Whether it is meant to be by fate is something one can only know after trying.”
Wen Xuan was overjoyed and clapped him on the shoulder. “I knew I didn’t misjudge you, brother! Go get ’em! I believe that with your scholarship, you will absolutely take the top spot!”