The night fell. Wearing black brocade robe, with his dark hair bunched high, Leng Qingtang was hanging around the faintly lighted street, dressed as an ordinary young man.

The downtown street was busy. There was a grand lantern festival on North Street, and businesses of the other blocks were also unwilling to miss the profit opportunities during annual Girls' Day.

In front of restaurants and inns, lights were hung up to greet visitors. Even those shops that usually closed their doors at sunset, such as rouge, drapery, and pastry shops, were open late tonight.

As he walked, Leng Qingtang would hang some of his red ropes on the trees along the street.

During the one year of Yunxi's disappearance, he wove more than 500 red ropes with his own hands without stopping every day.

Tonight, he came to the street in casual clothes with two purposes. One was to organize a defense to arrest the initiator of the mannequin case. The other was to hang the more than five hundred red ropes all over the main street overnight.

Leng Qingtang thought that his Yunxi might see these red ropes and find her way home smoothly guided by the red filled with trees.

Unwittingly, he went to the east bank of the Silver River. Leng Qingtang looked at the center of the river, and his dark eyes were lit up by the candlelight reflected by the river. At a fleeting glance, something on the bank caught his attention.

It was a red paper boat, and instead of colored wax. There were two strangely shaped things in it.

There were many exquisite river lanterns along the bank, and the simple paper boat made by hand was pushed aside by them. It looked ugly and abrupt in the brilliant firelight.

Young men naturally preferred brightly colored river lanterns. Just as young men were more likely to be attracted by beautiful women.

Leng Qingtang went down the slope to the bank, and saw young men all fishing for the river lanterns with burning wax, only neglecting the seemingly inconspicuous red paper boat.

He bent down curiously and picked up the paper boat from the river. Then he saw what was in the boat. It was two round and frosted red berries.

Sugar hawthorn?

Leng Qingtang was confused. He took one and bit half of it.

All of a sudden, something exploded in his mind.

Time seemed to be still at this moment. His world, however, became a bright and spring day—

This taste...

Leng Qingtang raised his beautiful eyes and looked around. He was searching in the crowd, with turbulent emotions.

It was her. It was Yunxi—

She was in the capital. Just near him at this moment!

The taste was fresh in Leng Qingtang's mind. It was the taste that he had when he tried the sugar hawthorn made by her for the first time.

Tonight, there was an incredible gain!

Gazing at the incessant stream of people on the other bank, he shouted.

"Yunxi—"

His voice spread to the other bank, but there was no response.

Hearing the Master's shout, the secret guards of the Eastern Depot hiding in the crowd came to him at once, thinking that something may have happened.

"Master, what's the matter?" One guard asked.

No sooner had Leng Qingtang answered than he tiptoed and jumped over the river, walking on the water by levitation as if flying, without leaving any trace.

The secret guards followed him behind. In an instant, they had moved to the east bank.

Most of the people on the bank were shocked.

Leng Qingtang looked straight at one point afar. His low voice showed some tremble of joy. He clenched his fist and commanded the guards.

"Yunxi was around. Find her!"

"Yes!"

The secret guards responded. They soon scattered to different places.

Leng Qingtang blended into the crowd on the east bank, walking backwards in the crowded line with difficulty. His bright and anxious eyes swept across every face coming towards him one by one.

Men and women, old and young, fat and thin, beautiful and ugly, and some teenage girls followed the rules to hide their faces with masks.

"Yunxi...Yunxi!"

Leng Qingtang cried excitedly and sought anxiously. Surrounded by a sea of people, the person he was looking for was always like a drop in the ocean, and his many searches were fruitless.

On a sumptuous building on the east bank, a dark shadow in a garment made of bird feather hid at the corner of the handrails on the fourth floor. Hearing the sound of cries from the bank, the figure began to take action.

It was not until the dark figure rushed into his sharp and cold eyes that he snorted. His iron fist fell heavily on the scarlet railing, and he muttered sulkily.

"I know...that wicked girl was unfaithful to me!"

He stood up quickly, his heavy black mask scattering cold metallic luster in the blurred light.

Angrily shaking the cloak, the masked man flew down to the ground with his head lowered, fast and fierce.

Like a bat hunting in the dark.

He had barely slid across the third floor when he felt a nasty wind coming down his side.

The masked man curled up in the air to escape the weapon. Then he raised his left leg high, caught the post next to the door lintel on the second floor, and made a whirl, landing on the ground with ease.

At the same time, four secret guards of the Eastern Depot flew to the ground from the roof of the sumptuous building. Three of them took out broadswords to siege the masked man. One took out the bamboo tube, shot into the air a shining and silver smoke and also joined the battle.

The travel team watching the lantern festival immediately descended into chaos. In bursts of frightened cries, people scattered around to escape the disaster.

The night scenery of Girl's Day was destroyed immediately. The beauty and peace totally vanished.

The signal smoke attracted the first tribe of the Eastern Depot. Ai Qing led dozens of people and rushed over, surrounding the masked man layer by layer.

—

After sending the paper boat on the west bank of the Silver River, Gu Yunxi followed the crowd to watch the lanterns on North Street and then returned to the Palace.

Smoothly entering the Palace through the gate of divine prowess, Gu Yunxi didn't see a single person when walking on the long Palace road except her own prolonged shadow.

The Palace deep at night was dreadfully quiet. In addition, today was Girl's Day, and most palace maids were having a trip outside. So this shortcut to Chuxiu Palace was even quieter.

A strange sound drew the alarm of Gu Yunxi. She stopped at once, squinting to find the source of the sound.

There was a black figure behind the Banyan tree. He seemed to be trembling. When he caught sight of Gu Yunxi's sharp eyes, the black figure moved a little with difficulty. With a dull groan of pain, a cold light burst from behind the eyelet of the mask.

"Your Highness?"

Astounded, she went to him quickly.

A strong smell of blood rushed into her nose, and she crouched and whispered.

"Your Highness, are you injured?"

Just now he was attacked by the guards of the Eastern Depot. A crossbow was fired at him from one side.

He could have escaped, but on the other side, a boy who had been separated from his family was frightened into crying.

To save the boy, the masked man was shot in the right side with a crossbow.

He spun and ran. Thanks to his excellent levitation, he soon put his opponents far behind him.

"You are out of danger now. Why do you come to the Palace?"

Hearing the masked man's simple statement, Gu Yunxi asked him in confusion, looking anxious.

He still had a bolt in his wounded right side, and the wound was still bleeding. It would be a guide for the guards of the Eastern Depot.

"I came here, of course, to find you."

The masked man answered with ease. His eyes wandered at her small facial features at will, unwilling to let go of any change of her facial expression.

He suddenly stretched out his five fingers and pinched her jaw, enjoying the way her delicate lips were squeezed apart by his violent fingers, as if they had been tiny pouty fish.

He sneered playfully.

"Don't dream. It will be hard for you to go back to the Eastern Depot and his side again in your life. Remember that stop doing stupid things and trying to remind him that Gu Yunxi is still alive!"

She opened her eyes wide instantly and stared at him with hatred, her eyes getting red and wet.

The masked man let go of his hand with two wild smiles.

"Soon the guards of the Eastern Depot will come after me. Find a place for me immediately. I need to stop the bleeding and heal my wound."

Despite her reluctance, Gu Yunxi had to do so. She needed him now, and if anything happened to him, who could supply her with Hanfu Cream?

Gu Yunxi came forward to help him unwillingly. He put one hand on her shoulder and the other casually around her tiny waist.

Gu Yunxi felt embarrassed. She bit her lip in silence and could not help thinking in her mind.

What was he doing? Did his wound really hurt or not?

She took him to the Imperial Garden secretly. This was the only safe place she could think of.

Because High Priest Yu Xuanji's Elixir Chamber was located here, Imperial Garden was the only place that wasn't locked at night in the Palace.

She took the masked man to the rockeries where she heard the dialogue between Gu Yunjin and the maids in Yongning Palace after Girl's Meeting several days ago.

All the way along the long, cold and stringy passage, there were only Gu Yunxi and the figure of the masked man. Their shadows, one straight and the other bending, were elongated and leaned close to each other on the brick floor, moving along with them incessantly.

Gu Yunxi chose a high and steep rockery and took the masked man behind it.

Soon they heard a rustling sound.

Gu Yunxi kept still instantly. She was so nervous that she held the breath.

Would it be the guards of the Eastern Depot chasing him?