Shen Yi had been anxiously waiting in the private room.
He was just about to force his way out when he saw Xiao Yu returning.
The tension on Xiao Yu’s face had noticeably eased compared to before.
Shen Yi finally let out the breath he’d been holding and strode over to meet him.
Xiao Yu recounted everything that had happened during his meeting with the You Pavilion.
After listening, Shen Yi couldn’t help complaining.
“This Pavilion Master Qinglan is unbelievably irritating! It was obviously something that could’ve been answered in a single sentence, yet they insisted on making it mysterious and keeping everyone in suspense.”
He clicked his tongue.
“Your Highness, why do you think they did that? Is it really just because of their rules?”
Xiao Yu frowned deeply, lightly tapping his fingers against the tabletop.
“I don’t think so.”
He paused.
“It felt more like… they were testing something.”
“Or perhaps…”
“…trying to stop something.”
The words from behind the screen resurfaced in his mind.
“I’m afraid some people have long since lost their home… and no longer wish to return.”
For some reason, his heart suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
“Right!”
Shen Yi slapped his folding fan against his palm.
“Wasn’t A-Li the one who told us how to contact the You Pavilion? Let’s ask her. Maybe she’ll know what that Pavilion Master was really getting at.”
The two hurried back to their residence.
But A-Li was nowhere to be found.
After questioning the servants, they learned that she’d rushed out early that morning, saying she wanted to watch Cheng Yi being paraded through the streets in disgrace.
She still hadn’t returned.
Just as the two of them were beginning to grow restless, light footsteps sounded from the front gate.
A-Li skipped inside.
In her left hand was a paper-wrapped package.
In her right, half a lotus pastry.
Her cheeks were puffed full as she happily munched away.
“Your Highness! Your Lordship!”
She smiled brightly.
“You’re back! Want some?”
“A kind auntie gave these to me just now. They’re really delicious!”
She cheerfully held out the paper package, her eyes bright and innocent.
Shen Yi wasn’t in the mood for pastries.
He immediately grabbed her arm and lowered his voice.
“A-Li, perfect timing.”
“We have something we need to ask you.”
Caught off guard, A-Li stumbled a step before hurriedly protecting the lotus pastry in her hand.
She blinked in confusion.
“Huh?”
“You… want to ask me something?”
Xiao Yu gestured for Shen Yi to calm down.
Turning toward A-Li, he deliberately softened his tone.
“A-Li.”
“You mentioned before that you had some connection with the You Pavilion.”
“Mhm.”
She nodded before swallowing the last bite of her pastry.
“So…”
“Did you meet the Pavilion Master?”
“Were you able to ask what you wanted?”
Xiao Yu sighed.
He briefly summarized today’s meeting, intentionally omitting the details.
He only emphasized how deliberately evasive the Pavilion Master had been, ultimately confirming only that the person was still alive while refusing to reveal where she was.
As A-Li listened, the playful smile gradually faded from her face.
She fell into thought.
“I see…”
She frowned slightly.
“Hmm…”
“Considering all of the You Pavilion’s strange rules…”
“…that’s actually not impossible.”
“What do you mean?”
Shen Yi immediately asked.
A-Li carefully organized her thoughts before replying.
“I once heard…”
She hesitated.
“…well…”
“…I heard the Pavilion Master mention something like this before.”
“The You Pavilion may sell information…”
“…but they still hold on to just a tiny bit of…”
She paused, as though amused by her own wording.
“‘Honor,’ I suppose.”
She continued,
“For example, if someone pays to learn another person’s whereabouts…”
“Once the Pavilion accepts the commission…”
“…sometimes they’ll first ask the person being searched for.”
She looked seriously at Xiao Yu and Shen Yi.
“They’ll tell them who is looking for them…”
“…and why.”
“And then they’ll ask…”
“‘Do you want this person to find you?'”
“What?”
Shen Yi’s jaw nearly dropped.
“There’s actually a rule like that?”
“Mhm.”
A-Li nodded.
“If that person agrees…”
“…the You Pavilion might even help arrange a reunion.”
“But if they refuse…”
She shrugged.
“Then the Pavilion will most likely decline the commission altogether.”
“They won’t reveal anything.”
“Today’s meeting…”
“…might’ve been their way of hinting that the other person simply doesn’t want to be found.”
…
Doesn’t want to be found…
The color instantly drained from Xiao Yu’s face.
Li’er…
She doesn’t want to come home?
She doesn’t want me to find her?
That possibility hurt far more than simply not knowing where she was.
Even Shen Yi was stunned.
Then something suddenly occurred to him.
He looked suspiciously at A-Li.
“Wait a second.”
“How do you know the You Pavilion’s internal rules so well?”
“Did the Pavilion Master really tell you all of that?”
A-Li’s heart skipped a beat.
But outwardly she simply smiled with the expression of someone saying Well, there’s a story behind that.
A trace of nostalgia—and sorrow—appeared in her eyes.
“Ah…”
“I suppose it was fate.”
“It all started with the blessings my grandmother accumulated during her lifetime…”
She sighed softly.
Her voice became quieter.
“When my grandmother was alive…”
“…she once rescued a gravely injured man outside the city.”
“She was kindhearted.”
“She hid him in our home and cared for him for several months…”
“…until she pulled him back from death’s door.”
She paused, taking another bite of her lotus pastry.
“When he’d fully recovered…”
“…he left without saying a word.”
“It wasn’t until much later that someone delivered a token.”
“They said it was the You Pavilion’s emblem.”
“Whoever possessed it could request one favor from the Pavilion.”
“They told us that the man my grandmother had saved was someone extremely important within the You Pavilion.”
“This was their way of repaying her kindness.”
“I see…”
Shen Yi nodded in realization.
“Your grandmother’s kindness earned you a great blessing.”
A-Li nodded.
Her gaze drifted away, as though recalling distant memories.
“Later…”
“…our family met with disaster.”
“My grandmother passed away.”
“I was starving.”
“I had absolutely nowhere else to turn.”
“So I decided to try my luck with the You Pavilion.”
She looked at the two of them.
Her eyes gradually filled with warmth and quiet gratitude.
“I asked them…”
“‘Where in Suzhou can I go if I want to survive?'”
“They gave me an address.”
“They told me to wait there…”
“…that perhaps I’d find a chance to live.”
She smiled softly.
“So I went.”
“And…”
“…that’s where I met the two of you.”
Upon hearing that, Xiao Yu and Shen Yi looked at the young girl before them.
Her face was so innocent.
So full of the relief of someone who had survived unimaginable hardship.
Their hearts couldn’t help but soften.
Looking at the lingering disappointment on Xiao Yu’s face, A-Li asked gently,
“Your Highness…”
“The person you’re looking for…”
“Could it be…”
“…that she simply doesn’t want to go back?”
Xiao Yu remained silent for a very long time.
Finally, he let out a slow breath.
His eyes became incomparably resolute.
“No matter what…”
“I will find her.”
“I’ll tell her myself…”
“…that her brother…”
“…and Father and Mother…”
“…have missed her terribly.”
A-Li lowered her gaze.
Her long eyelashes concealed every emotion in her eyes.
She simply continued eating the lotus pastry in silence.
It was sweet.
Almost cloyingly sweet.
Yet somehow…none of that sweetness could reach her heart.