Late at night, Zhiqiu, who had blown out the gauze lamp, tiptoed lightly to keep watch in the outer room.

The half-draped gauze curtain let in a little moonlight. The night was quiet, but the dream was worrisome.

In the early morning, the sound of horse hooves lightly tapped on the stone-paved road.

Meng Jun, leaning against the carriage wall, was still a little drowsy. He rubbed his eyes and reached out to lift the carriage curtain to look outside. “Weidan.” He called out to the maidservant riding alongside the horse in a low voice, asking a question he already knew the answer to, “Where is she?”

“Is the Young Master asking about my lady, Shinu?” Weidan paused for a moment. Seeing Meng Jun nod, she continued, “This morning, Shinu went to the palace gate early to wait for the young gentlemen.”

The unexpected answer made those tired brows and eyes suddenly brighten. The young gentleman raised a smile, thought for a moment, and then became serious again. “As for Young Master Qi…”

“Young Master, rest assured. All the young gentlemen are under the protection of our subordinates. We will definitely not let Shinu down.” Weidan’s words carried a deeper meaning.

Meng Jun’s heart instantly felt much lighter. When he arrived at the palace gate, the young gentleman, relying on Zhiqiu’s arm, had just emerged from the carriage. Those beautiful phoenix eyes directly looked towards Li Ruantang, who was standing at the palace gate. She was wearing a sky-blue dress today and was talking to the guard at the gate with a serious expression.

That cold gaze swept over the eight carriages that arrived almost simultaneously, but when she saw the young gentleman staring at her, she quickly glanced away.

Huh?

Meng Jun, who had just raised the corners of his lips to smile at her, frowned. He took a step forward and walked towards the palace gate. Before he could approach Li Ruantang’s side, Qi Yun, who had stepped forward first, had already surrounded Li Ruantang. He still had a bright smile on his face. “Ruantang, I waited for you for a long time this morning. Why didn’t you come to the manor? The days are getting longer, but the morning wind is still cold. I heard that your injuries haven’t fully healed yet. Standing in the wind like this, your body might not be able to handle it.”

“Thank you for your concern, Young Master Qi.”

“Ruantang, have you not eaten breakfast yet?” Qi Yun didn’t mind Li Ruantang’s deliberate aloofness. He reached out to take the food box prepared by the servant. “I had the cook at the manor make what you love to eat. Here, give it a try.”

“Young Master Qi.” Li Ruantang took half a step back, avoiding Qi Yun’s approaching body. “The appointed time for the palace is almost here. It’s best for the Young Master to enter the palace as soon as possible. As for this food box, I’ll accept it for now. Weidan and the others left early and indeed haven’t eaten yet. I’ll thank Young Master Qi on their behalf for his kind intentions.”

“But…”

Qi Yun wanted to say more, but just then, an eunuch sent from the palace to receive them arrived and bowed. He had no choice but to stop awkwardly.

The eight gentlemen formed a line and walked forward one by one.

The young gentleman slowly walked at the very end. He glanced at Li Ruantang, who did not enter the palace with them, out of the corner of his eye. His heart was instantly filled with mixed emotions.

Just now, Li Ruantang was clearly avoiding him. She would rather say a few more words to Qi Yun than spare him an extra glance.

Could it be that she was annoyed by his behavior last night, and that’s why she disliked him so much?

Meng Jun’s heart was filled with worries, and his entire being was listless.

Sang Shen, who was walking in front of him, also had a furrowed brow. When the young gentleman sighed again, he hurriedly slowed down a few steps, looked around to the left and right, and then lowered his voice, “Jiulang, are you alright?”

His question was simple, but Meng Jun didn’t know where to begin. The two fell into silence for a moment.

The vermilion palace walls seemed to stretch endlessly.

Sang Shen pondered for a moment and forced himself to break the deadlock by asking again, “By the way, I heard that you returned with Li Shinu. Do you know the gentleman named Hu Youning who currently resides at Qingshan Academy?”

“Aning?” The young gentleman was stunned for a moment and nodded. “Earlier, when we were in trouble, we stayed at his house.”

Sang Shen breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He asked somewhat embarrassedly, “Since you’ve interacted with him, do you… know if he has a sweetheart?”

Meng Jun was slightly stunned. He glanced back at the familiar figure and reluctantly nodded.

“Really? That puts my mind at ease.” Sang Shen was visibly happy. He started talking about other matters. “Oh, by the way, in today’s dance arrangement, you and I are just for show.”

He secretly pulled the downcast young gentleman and gestured for him to look ahead. “The limelight is naturally reserved for Young Master Qi and Young Master Lin.”

“You just returned to the capital, so you probably haven’t met this Young Master Lin yet, right?”

Sang Shen enthusiastically gossiped with him, “This person is the cousin of Consort Wei. Now that Consort Wei is enjoying boundless favor in the palace, his status has also become noble. The two of them, one is the beloved nephew of the Empress without favor, and the other is the favored cousin of the consort. They might start a commotion later.”

Among the eight members of the Ruihuang Constellation, although there were eight people dancing together, in reality, only the person in the middle stood out. In the past, the arrangement was based on the star they represented, but this year, Consort Wei, who was in favor, also inserted someone, and the atmosphere gradually became a bit subtle.

Meng Jun looked up with little interest. In any case, he was only the Mu Star at the very end. Whether Qi Yun and Lin He fought for the central position had nothing to do with him.

In the empty hall, the arguments among the gentlemen continued.

The young gentleman secretly slipped out and found a quiet spot outside the hall. He glumly plucked the small grass beside his feet.

Last night, he had many dreams. When he woke up this morning, Zhidong came to report that people from the Suqing King’s Manor were already waiting at the door. By the time Meng Jun hurriedly got ready, there wasn’t much time left before entering the palace.

Therefore, from the moment he woke up until now, he had not yet eaten any food.

Originally, he had also instructed Zhiqiu to bring a food box, intending to find an opportunity to eat together with Li Ruantang. However, she had just obviously avoided him, and Qi Yun was in front.

The young gentleman got angry and forgot to take his pouch filled with small snacks. Now his stomach was empty, and he could vaguely hear rumbling sounds.

There were still two hours before noon, and he didn’t know if he could hold out until lunch.

Meng Jun sighed softly and was about to get up. Suddenly, an oil paper package wrapped tightly fell from the sky, landing squarely in his arms without deviation.

The young gentleman was stunned. He quickly looked up, but within these palace walls, let alone people, not even a bird appeared.

He held up the oil paper package with some puzzlement. As he got closer, his nostrils were filled with a faint aroma of food. Sniffing carefully, it seemed to be the meat buns he loved to eat the most!

The hungry Meng Jun couldn’t help swallowing his saliva, but he didn’t open it directly.

He remembered his mother saying that the palace was most wary of things with unknown origins, especially since this oil paper package had arrived so coincidentally. It might very well be some kind of plot.

Thinking of the stories he had read in the storybooks about the previous dynasty, the young gentleman’s expression stiffened. His scalp instantly went numb, and he was about to throw away the oil paper package. Those beautiful phoenix eyes suddenly froze, staring blankly at the knot on the oil paper package.

Perhaps for fear that the buns inside would scatter, the rope tied around the oil paper package, which was wrapped in several layers, had been carefully tied with a dead knot. In the end, whether the knot was a dead knot or a slip knot didn’t matter much, as the sealing paper would tear once pulled.

However—

Meng Jun frowned and held up the oil paper package, examining it carefully for a long time. Why did this knot look a bit familiar? It seemed like he had seen it somewhere before.