“Miss Meng, the two Palace Masters have instructed that you are not to leave the inn while they are away,” Ye Han said expressionlessly, blocking the excited Meng Xiaoyu who was eager to go out shopping.
“Why?”
Meng Xiaoyu asked angrily, glaring at Ye Han who was preventing her from going out.
“These are the Palace Masters’ orders,” Ye Han replied with the same stoic expression.
“Why should I listen to them? I’m not their pet! Why can’t I go out? I just want to buy some candied hawthorns. Don’t stop me.”
After shouting at Ye Han, Meng Xiaoyu tried to walk past her.
However, she was stopped again after just three steps.
Ye Han’s emotionless voice reached her ears, “The Palace Masters have ordered that you are not to leave the inn because it’s too dangerous outside. If you want candied hawthorns, someone has already gone to buy them for you.”
As soon as Ye Han finished speaking, a black shadow flashed by, handing two sticks of candied hawthorns to Ye Han before disappearing again.
Ye Han stood there, holding the candied hawthorns, blocking the stunned Meng Xiaoyu.
“What kind of speed is that? One flash, here, another flash, gone. That’s faster than a speeding bullet!”
Meng Xiaoyu exclaimed, her mouth wide open.
She was so amazed by the speed that she didn’t even notice the candied hawthorns Ye Han was holding out to her, lost in her thoughts about the incredible Light Skill of this world.
“Miss Meng, your candied hawthorns,” Ye Han reminded her, holding the sticks in front of her for a long time without any response.
“Oh, thank you!”
Meng Xiaoyu snapped out of her daze, took the candied hawthorns, and dejectedly headed back to her room on the second floor of the inn.
She was extremely frustrated.
Since yesterday afternoon, when Han Rubing and her sister told her they would be busy and couldn’t accompany her, and that Ye Han would protect her during this time, Meng Xiaoyu had been feeling down.
Early this morning, the Han sisters had gone out for business.
When Meng Xiaoyu woke up and didn’t see them, she guessed they had gone out.
To confirm her suspicion, she searched the inn thoroughly but couldn’t find them.
Convinced they were out and wouldn’t be back soon, she happily changed into a white outfit with silver embroidery from the tailor shop, let down her usual ponytail, and tied part of her hair with a white ribbon, leaving the rest to flow down her back.
She adjusted her bangs and transformed from a cute girl into a handsome young man.
Admiring herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but praise, “What a graceful, handsome, unparalleled, world-class, heart-throbbing little prince!”
After her self-admiration, she looked at her empty hands and muttered, “If only I had a folding fan, it would be perfect.”
She remembered a friend’s advice that a folding fan was an essential tool for charming beauties.
Although she couldn’t find any historical figure who said this, she believed her friend and decided to buy a white jade folding fan before finding the location of the “Wu Chun Pavilion.”
She had visited the South Street area with the Han Rubing sisters before but hadn’t found the exact location of the pavilion.
Once she knew where it was, she planned to visit the legendary brothel at night.
Thinking of this, Meng Xiaoyu happily went to a locked wooden box in the corner of the room, found the key in her old clothes, opened the box, and took out her precious small backpack.
She pulled out several hundred-tael silver notes and three thousand-tael notes, stuffing them into her pocket while muttering, “I heard visiting a brothel costs a lot. This should be enough.”
Meng Xiaoyu was a bit contradictory in character.
She had previously raged at the innkeeper for the high lodging fees, making him avoid her ever since.
Yet, she was willing to prepare over three thousand taels for a brothel visit.
Dressed in men’s clothes and carrying silver notes, Meng Xiaoyu happily opened the door, ready to go shopping.
But before she could step out, Ye Han appeared and blocked her.
The entire morning, Meng Xiaoyu tried every trick—cuteness, tantrums, even threats and bribes—but Ye Han remained unmoved.
The earlier scene was just another of Meng Xiaoyu’s many failed attempts to sneak out.
Every time she tried to step out, Ye Han would suddenly appear and block her.
“Annoying face, always blocking me, not letting me out. I curse you to choke on your food, get a stomachache from expired food and tea, and be too weak to stop me.”
Meng Xiaoyu muttered angrily as she ate her candied hawthorns and climbed the stairs, cursing Ye Han in her heart.
She even imagined Ye Han running to the bathroom frequently because of expired food and tea, laughing out loud at the thought, drawing curious glances from the people in the inn’s lobby.
