Jiang Yanyi suddenly realized that perhaps the elderly woman didn’t have teeth anymore and couldn’t chew the seeds, so she was watching Jiang Yanyi eat them so eagerly.

Thinking of this, she blushed a little, putting the half-shelled sunflower seeds back onto the tray.

Meanwhile, Feng Shuo barely touched his food at the banquet, drinking only a cup of wine that General Han offered before leaving.

Though the other military officials were boisterous, none dared to encourage him to drink.

Only after he left did the banquet start to feel lively again.

After a while, Feng Shuo glanced at the time and noticed that Jiang Yanyi hadn’t returned.

Deciding to check on her, he made his way over.

The soldiers knew who Feng Shuo was, but the servants of the Han residence and a few other guests didn’t recognize him.

Some with sharp eyes noticed his attire and guessed his identity, while others mistook him for an honored guest and treated him respectfully.

As he walked toward the reception area, Feng Shuo spotted Jiang Yanyi sitting in a corner.

An elderly woman next to her seemed to be saying something, and Jiang Yanyi was listening intently, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she occasionally replied with a few words.

The wall behind her was decorated with festive red paper cuttings and red silk ribbons, adding a touch of warmth to her serene expression.

Feng Shuo couldn’t help but feel a sense of peaceful contentment as he watched her.

He stood there lost in thought until Jiang Yanyi noticed his gaze and glanced in his direction.

Only then did he walk over slowly, his eyes half-lidded, with his eyelashes casting a gentle arc over his eyelids. “Did you deliver it?”

His voice was unusually soft, perhaps infused with a bit of the liveliness around him.

Jiang Yanyi shook her head, not even asking why Feng Shuo was there. “Head Zhao is busy at the moment.”

Though they were standing and sitting, respectively, both were so strikingly attractive that even those who didn’t know Feng Shuo’s identity couldn’t help but glance at them.

“He’s busy, and you’re just sitting here waiting?” Feng Shuo’s voice was carried by the late-autumn wind, dispersing in the air. “Give it to me. I’ll pass it along for you.”

“No, you’ll scare him,” Jiang Yanyi replied with a shake of her head.

Her true identity was still a secret to people like Head Zhao.

If they knew she was close to Feng Shuo, they’d probably faint from the shock.

Luckily, Feng Shuo was rather reasonable this time and didn’t press the matter.

Seeing her familiarity with Feng Shuo, the elderly woman beside Jiang Yanyi smiled and handed her a red envelope.

Receiving a red envelope from the “Full-Blessing Granny” at someone else’s wedding was a sign of good fortune, especially in matters of love.

Another woman nearby, thinking Jiang Yanyi was unfamiliar with the custom, smiled and explained, “Go on, young lady, take it. This is the last full-blessing red envelope. Old Lady An is blessed with a big, happy family. Taking this red envelope means your own good news isn’t far off.”

Standing next to her, Feng Shuo heard this and suddenly felt a little hot under the collar.

She wasn’t thinking that far ahead just yet.

Before she could respond, Feng Shuo, with his long arms, took the red envelope from the elderly woman before Jiang Yanyi could, casting her a glance. “You don’t have anywhere to keep it, so I’ll hold it for you.”

Jiang Yanyi was left speechless.

She had just witnessed someone boldly stretching the truth right in front of her.

When Head Zhao finally finished, Jiang Yanyi handed him the medicine and asked a few questions about Chef Li’s health before bidding him farewell.

As she left, Feng Shuo followed closely behind.

Head Zhao, who had been too busy to notice them earlier, now caught a glimpse of the scene and felt a jolt.

He’d seen many things in his lifetime, but the thought crossing his mind now was a bit overwhelming.

On the return trip, Jiang Yanyi rode in Feng Shu’s carriage, catching a ride on the breeze of convenience.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao, who had no invitation, had been waiting outside the Han residence for quite some time.

When Jiang Yanyi finally emerged from the Han family mansion and Feng Shu offered her a ride, the two of them assumed it was simply because of his ties to Chu Changping, and didn’t think much of it.

Once they were inside the carriage, Feng Shu asked Jiang Yanyi, “What were you talking about with that auspicious granny earlier?”

He was curious because he had noticed Jiang Yanyi’s conflicted and hesitant expression during the conversation, which made him wonder about the details.

At his question, Jiang Yanyi’s brows twitched. “The old lady had such a thick accent that I couldn’t understand what she was saying. And since she’s hard of hearing, she couldn’t understand me either.”

A subtle smile tugged at the corners of Feng Shu’s lips.

So, they had essentially been talking past each other the whole time, and yet the atmosphere had been strangely harmonious.

The distance from the Han family mansion to the Protectorate Street was quite long.

Feng Shu closed his eyes to rest, while Jiang Yanyi, hearing the bustling sounds of the marketplace, carefully lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to peek outside.

They were passing through a food market.

As steam rose from the large baskets of freshly steamed pork buns, the sight of red candied hawthorn on skewers stuck in straw bundles, the plump women chopping roasted chicken on cutting boards, and the skillful hands of sugar artisans creating delicate sugar figurines all unfolded like a vibrant painting before her eyes.

As the carriage moved slowly through the food market, the scenes played out like a scroll being unrolled.

Jiang Yanyi gazed at it all in awe, her eyes bright with joy.

She loved cooking, and she loved the warmth and liveliness that food brought to the world.

When they finally passed the food market, Jiang Yanyi reluctantly let go of the curtain.

As she turned back, she noticed that Feng Shu had opened his eyes at some point and was now staring at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.

Quickly, she adjusted the curtain and asked, “Is there a draft coming in?”

Feng Shu shook his head, then closed his eyes again.

She was captivated by the lively atmosphere of the food market, while he, unbeknownst to her, found his warmth in her presence alone.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t understand why Feng Shu had been watching her for so long but hadn’t said a word.

Seeing that he had gone back to resting, she didn’t speak further and began idly fiddling with the tassels at the bottom of the carriage curtain.

Suddenly, the carriage jolted, and Jiang Yanyi, caught off guard, nearly flew out of her seat due to the force of inertia.

Fortunately, Feng Shu managed to pull her back just in time.

Her nose collided with his firm chest—there was nothing romantic about the moment.

Instead, Jiang Yanyi felt a sharp pain and saw stars.

She quickly reached up to check her nose, relieved to find that she wasn’t bleeding.

“Whoosh!”

An arrow shot through the carriage window.

Feng Shu immediately grabbed Jiang Yanyi and rolled to the side, landing near the carriage window.

A volley of arrows pierced through the spot where they had been sitting just moments before.

Jiang Yanyi noticed that one of the arrows had blood on it.

In her panic, she ignored the awkward position of being half-pinned beneath Feng Shu and craned her neck to check.

Sure enough, there was a bloody wound on Feng Shu’s right arm.

Her face went pale with worry.

She turned to him and exclaimed, “You’re hurt!”

In her effort to see his injury, she was already very close to Feng Shu.

When she turned her head abruptly, her lips accidentally brushed against his face.

The warmth of the accidental touch left Jiang Yanyi completely frozen.

Feng Shu was also taken aback.

Their eyes met, the awkwardness of their current position only deepening the tension between them.

Jiang Yanyi was the first to react.

She quickly pushed Feng Shu away and scrambled to her feet, covering her lips with her fingers as she stammered, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

But her hurried push seemed to have aggravated Feng Shu’s wound.

He groaned softly in pain, but said, “It’s nothing.”

Jiang Yanyi, now even more flustered, didn’t know how serious his injury was, but seeing the large red stain spreading across his sleeve, she feared he had injured an artery.

She knew they needed to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.

“You’re bleeding a lot. We need to treat the wound right away.”

Jiang Yanyi tried to tear a strip of fabric from her dress, like she had seen heroines do in TV shows and novels, but no matter how hard she pulled, the fabric wouldn’t tear.

Whether it was because of her lack of strength or the high quality of the dress, it remained intact despite her best efforts.