Huh? You were just being polite and actually got into bed?

For a moment, Gu Qingyan felt like his soul had left his body. Turning his head slightly, he could see the clearly defined profile of a face in the moonlight, along with the distinctly audible sound of breathing in the silent night.

He felt a bit confused. Was their relationship really this close?

But soon, Gu Qingyan’s attention was completely pulled back by the system.

[You have checked in with Pei Xuan. Reward: A pair of jade bangles.]

Jade bangles?

Gu Qingyan glanced at them and found the jade quality to be excellent—very valuable.

A mobile check-in point was truly the best. Even the random drops were better than anything in the local jewelry or pawn shops.

Gu Qingyan became even more determined to cling to this golden thigh and decided to put in more effort to build a good relationship.

“Why aren’t you talking?” Pei Xuan spoke up.

Gu Qingyan snapped back to reality.

Clearing his throat lightly, he adopted his warmest and kindest demeanor. “I just didn’t know what to say for a moment.”

“Brother Pei, today’s New Year’s Eve. Don’t you need to be with your family?”

After asking, Gu Qingyan immediately felt like he was being insensitive. For someone to come over on New Year’s Eve probably meant he couldn’t go home—or even if he did, there was no one there to accompany him.

Sure enough, Pei Xuan said calmly, “I was held up by official business and couldn’t return.”

“I see. That’s so unfair—they won’t even let you go home for the New Year.”

Gu Qingyan huffed with indignation and asked again, “It’s snowing heavily outside. Brother Pei, how did you get here? Didn’t you get cold?”

As he spoke, he reached out to pull at the man beside him.

“Don’t move around.”

Pei Xuan’s breath hitched slightly and he pressed down on Gu Qingyan’s wandering hand. “You’ll let in the cold.”

To his surprise, Gu Qingyan grabbed his hand instead and said with a cheeky grin, “Your hand’s actually pretty warm.”

Pei Xuan tried to pull away but couldn’t, so he just let him hold it.

“Martial artists don’t fear the cold,” he explained.

But Gu Qingyan said, “Even martial artists are flesh and blood—how could you not feel cold? It’s fine when you’re young, but when you get older, you’ll suffer for it.”

In the darkness, Pei Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Gu Qingyan countered, “What are you laughing at? I know a bit of medicine—why don’t I take a look at you?”

As he spoke, he had already placed his fingers on Pei Xuan’s pulse.

He wanted to figure out why Pei Xuan’s check-in marker had turned black.

There wasn’t much movement under the covers. Pei Xuan didn’t resist and let him take his pulse.

“How is it?” His voice was clearly indulgent.

Gu Qingyan withdrew his fingers. “As expected of Brother Pei. You’re as strong as a black ox.”

Looks like he was overthinking it. If the black marker meant poisoning, there’s no way Pei Xuan could’ve traveled such a long way to see him.

“You rascal,” Pei Xuan said with a laugh.

He added, “The four-compartment medicine bottles and antidote pills you gave me earlier came in very handy. They saved quite a few lives.”

“As long as they were useful. I’ve heard that Guangzhou Prefecture has a lot of miasma, especially in the summer when heat and toxins are everywhere. You have to be careful, Brother Pei.”

Gu Qingyan expressed his concern.

“There is indeed a lot of miasma, but it’s not as scary as it seems.”

“That’s true. It’s hot, sure, but there’s a lot of delicious food. Fresh lychees must be way better than dried ones. Have you ever tried them, Brother Pei?”

“I’ve tried a few kinds—they’re indeed very delicious.”

Thinking about how tasty lychees were, Gu Qingyan couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. “When I travel all over Da Zhou in the future, I must go to Guangzhou Prefecture and try them myself.”

Travel all over Da Zhou? Such childish words.

Pei Xuan smiled faintly but then frowned slightly as he remembered matters with the Taiping Cult. “Have you run into any trouble recently?”

Gu Qingyan thought the question was a bit strange but still answered, “No. Right now, I’m a little hero in Lingchuan County. Magistrate Hong really looks after me—who would dare make trouble for me?”

“Brother Pei, I charged into a bandit den all by myself. Impressive, right?”

Pei Xuan could vaguely make out the sparkle in his eyes. “Very impressive.”

“If you ever run into trouble, just use my namecard. Don’t worry about troubling me.”

Gu Qingyan nodded, feeling that this older brother took such good care of him it made his own intentions seem petty.

Thinking this, he put aside thoughts of the check-in system and began telling Pei Xuan about his recent experiences.

Pei Xuan listened with full attention.

He had already known from the letters that this kid was good at storytelling. He could make even mundane matters vivid and lively. Hearing him speak in person was even more delightful.

Even small countryside anecdotes could make one laugh.

Gu Qingyan talked nonstop, his mouth going dry, but Pei Xuan was so cooperative—every time Gu Qingyan paused, he’d add something just to keep the conversation going.

“Brother Pei, am I boring you?” After all, it was just everyday stuff.

“Not at all. It’s very interesting,” Pei Xuan replied.

Gu Qingyan gave an awkward smile, thinking that was probably just polite talk — who really wants to listen to someone else ramble on about trivial things during the New Year?

“Brother Pei, did you bring the jade seal with you?”

In the darkness, Pei Xuan’s body stiffened slightly.

The Mandarin duck seal hung inside his clothes, right over his heart.

Gu Qingyan misunderstood, “It doesn’t matter if you didn’t bring it. I just wanted you to see this piece of jade seal.”

The Chi Hu seal was a medicinal jade. Although Gu Qingyan’s pulse diagnosis showed nothing abnormal, he still wanted to be doubly sure.

He pretended to take the Chi Hu seal from under the pillow: “Look, it’s made from the same piece of jade as your double-sided seal. You got one half, I got the other.”

Pei Xuan furrowed his brows, realizing something was off.

He reached out and took the Chi Hu seal, feeling it carefully: “A wanderer.”

His heart suddenly jolted. What a coincidence!

Could it be that Gu Qingyan happened to meet an expert in forgeries and so bought these two matching jade seals?

“Where did you buy these two jade seals?”

Gu Qingyan smiled to cover up: “A jade store in Qingzhou Prefecture. How is it? The quality’s not bad, right? The more you handle it, the better it looks.”

Pei Xuan took the Mandarin duck seal out of his chest and compared the two — though different in shape, they looked perfectly matched, definitely from the same piece of jade.

“So you did bring yours with you.”

Gu Qingyan reached out to take the Mandarin duck seal, and his fingertips were suddenly burned.

The jade seal was still warm.

Holding the jade seal, Gu Qingyan suddenly felt waves of drowsiness, his eyes nearly closing as he drifted off to sleep in a daze.

After a long while, Pei Xuan held the Chi Hu seal tightly, warming the originally cold jade with a trace of body heat.

“Qingyan, why did you give me the Mandarin duck seal?”

The only answer was Gu Qingyan’s even breathing.

Pei Xuan turned to look and almost smiled — Gu Qingyan was fast asleep, his cheeks flushed, showing not a shred of defense toward him.

“Forget it.”

He sighed and reluctantly placed the Chi Hu seal beside the pillow.

Before leaving, he put the Mandarin duck seal back into his chest again.

Gu Qingyan, fast asleep, did not see that the Chi Hu seal was happily absorbing the black thread. The black thread spread, its source continuously moving farther away — Pei Xuan.

Deep in the green mountains, snow covered the ground, and besides the campfire, it was bitterly cold.

Shangguan Ling came out of the temporary tent, glanced around with a slight frown, and walked toward Zhang Menghuai by the fire.

“Lord Zhang, where is Lord Pei?”

Zhang Menghuai was roasting a rabbit and didn’t even look up: “It’s New Year’s Eve and no one gets to rest. Lord Pei went to take a dump. You want to watch him?”

Shangguan Ling’s face darkened.

Looking around, he saw others stifling laughs — obviously teasing him on purpose. He frowned.

Suppressing his anger, Shangguan Ling said, “Lord Zhang, you and I are colleagues working for the sage ruler. It’s my fault that you all are stuck out here on New Year’s Eve, but please believe me, this is not my wish.”

“I know, I don’t blame you,” Zhang Menghuai continued eating the rabbit leg as if talking to himself.

“The Crown Prince has ordered us — even if we’re stuck in the wilderness on New Year’s Eve, or even if we hang ourselves that day, we will bear no resentment.”

Zhang Menghuai said as he viciously gnawed on the rabbit leg, bones crunching loudly.

Shangguan Ling’s expression stiffened, feeling as if his own bones were being chewed.

He rubbed his brow: “Lord Zhang, I’m just worried about Lord Pei’s safety. Although he is strong, if he goes alone and something happens, how am I supposed to explain that to the sage and the Crown Prince?”

“Don’t worry. None of us together can match Lord Pei,” Zhang Menghuai said casually, but every word was precise.

Shangguan Ling couldn’t get any more info from him and left with a stern face.

But his mind was restless — on New Year’s Eve, where would Pei Xuan go? Where could he possibly go?

What was supposed to be a routine official business trip was turning into unexpected trouble, making Shangguan Ling frown deeply.

Outside, Xia Liu looked at her superior, who had started gnawing on a rabbit’s head: “Lord Zhang, do you think this is okay? He must be suspicious now.”

“If I don’t say it, he’ll be suspicious anyway.”

Zhang Menghuai spat out a bone: “The Crown Prince’s trusted man watches Lord Pei like twelve hours a day — he can’t even pee in peace.”

“If you’re so capable, go investigate yourself. What’s the point of asking me?”

Seeing no one around, Xia Liu lowered her voice: “Did Lord Pei go to see the young master?”

“Eat your rabbit head.” Zhang Menghuai threw the rest at her.

Xia Liu immediately got the hint, buried her head in the rabbit and didn’t say more.

Zhang Menghuai looked at the moonlight, his brows twitching as he pondered what Lord Pei was really up to.

On New Year’s Eve, he left a group of brothers galloping fast to Lingchuan.

Those who knew would say he was grateful and concerned for a life-saving benefactor.

Those who didn’t might think he was eloping by night, riding alone thousands of miles to see his beloved.

Zhang Menghuai stroked his chin: “That can’t be it, right?”

He never noticed Lord Pei was into that kind of thing.

No, Lord Pei used to be an unfeeling battle machine, caring not at all about men or women.

The commander was gone, and a group of men could only roast their catch for New Year’s Eve.

Until the early dawn, sunlight spilled in, yet there was still no sign of Pei Xuan’s return.

Shangguan Ling grew anxious, urging again and again: “Zhang Menghuai, where exactly did Lord Pei go? If something happens to him, will you be able to take responsibility?”

“What’s the rush? He’ll be back soon,” Zhang Huaimin wasn’t afraid of him at all.

Shangguan Ling said in a low voice, “Protecting Lord Pei is your duty. Such negligence, when we return to the capital, I will definitely report this to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“My men don’t need lessons from outsiders.”

A cold and sharp voice came.

Pei Xuan appeared in the forest, having stayed awake all night but looking refreshed, showing no sign of fatigue.

Shangguan Ling felt the coldness in his eyes: “Lord Pei, your subordinate…”

“Gather the troops, depart,” Pei Xuan ordered.

“Brothers, move out!” Zhang Huaimin stood up and shouted.

The previously idle group immediately transformed into a well-trained squad, paying no attention to Shangguan Ling’s expression.

The troop marched swiftly toward Qingzhou Prefecture.

Inside Qingzhou Prefecture, the Li family was holding their annual ancestor worship.

Because of his special status, Li Jingting stood in the most prominent spot, holding up three incense sticks.

Several family members behind him exchanged subtle glances, privately feeling this was quite a drama.

“Jingting, you’ll be leaving for the capital after the new year, right?” the clan head asked.

Li Jingting struck a graceful pose: “Yes, Father urged me many times, and Mother has already made all preparations. I will depart after the new year.”

Originally, they should have left for the capital before the new year, but Li Jingting fell ill, delaying their plans.

The clan head nodded, gave a few more instructions, and then left.

Outside, the clan head’s son couldn’t help but say, “Dad, what’s Auntie up to? Back when Qingyan was still around, she always said he was weak and forbade him from entering the ancestral hall to avoid catching a cold.”

“But now this one just came back, and she’s eagerly letting him come worship. Now she’s not worried at all.”

“If the Li family weren’t wealthy, I’d suspect she deliberately swapped the baby back then.”

The clan head’s face darkened. “Silence.”

“The third branch’s matters, let them handle it themselves. Your third uncle is still alive; it’s not your place to meddle.”

The son immediately shut up but kept doubting inside.

Because Madam Xu’s behavior changed so drastically, there was much gossip in the clan.

Li Jingting knew about these rumors but found them laughable.

The Gu family and the Li family were worlds apart; no one would put their own child in a poor place like Meiling Village.

A fallen scholar family can’t compare to the Li family — he had been delayed for fifteen years unjustly.

Back at the Li residence, Li Jingting first went to see his mother.

Madam Xu looked a little haggard but perked up when she saw him and smiled, grabbing his hand: “My son, is everything going well?”

“Very well. Uncle takes great care of me,” Li Jingting replied with a smile.

Madam Xu sighed in relief. “That’s good.”

Before he left, she took out a fragrant sachet: “This is a talisman I got from Qingcheng Taoist temple for protection. You must carry it with you.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Li Jingting thought it silly but still kept it with him.

Seeing that he took it seriously, Madam Xu relaxed and smiled: “Tomorrow we will depart. This time, no more delays.”

“Yes,” Li Jingting looked up, eyes full of ambition.

Once he reached the capital, he would be the son of a respectable Minister of Revenue, his future bright.

Li Jingting returned to his room, enjoyed the service of a personal maid, and casually opened the sachet.

Inside was only a yellow talisman paper. He scoffed, thinking Madam Xu was ignorant.

He didn’t see that the yellow paper curled slightly at one corner in his hand.

---

Meanwhile, Gu Qingyan slept deeper and deeper, growing more drowsy, until he slept past mid-morning.

At first, Aunt Liu was afraid he was tired and didn’t want to wake him, but by lunchtime she realized something was wrong.

“Brother Yan, are you awake? It’s time for lunch. If you keep sleeping this much, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

No movement inside.

Gu Shuyan was puzzled: “Brother never liked sleeping in. Why is he sleeping so late now?”

Since deciding to take the imperial exams, Gu Qingyan hadn’t worked himself to the bone but always got up early and trained in the mornings.

He had never slept this late before.

“Maybe he caught a cold from playing in the snow yesterday?”

Aunt Liu grew more worried, knocking hard on the door: “Brother Yan, Brother Yan, are you okay?”

She even said, “What if he’s fainted? Let’s break down the door.”

When Gu Qingyan was finally woken up by the noise, he was still groggy and felt his head incredibly heavy.

In his dream, it was as if a hand was pulling him deeper into a nightmare, unable to wake up.

He struggled to pry open his eyelids, as if glued shut.

Maybe he really did catch a cold — was he too reckless playing in the snow yesterday?

He groggily thought and called out: “I’m awake, I’m getting up now.”

He touched his forehead — no fever — but his body was weak and limp, bringing back memories of when he was at the Li family’s Qingzhou residence, unable to get energized every day.

Gu Qingyan instinctively checked his pulse — it was weak.

“Could I really be sick?”

“Could it be that what Bai Yu said is true, that I’ve been poisoned?”

Gu Qingyan struggled to get up. As he pushed himself up, his hand happened to press down on the Chi Hu (Horned Tiger) seal.

The cold seal prickled him sharply, making him startle and instantly feel much more awake.

“Where’s Pei Xuan?”

He looked around the room. The man was nowhere to be seen—only the small box under the pillow testified that Pei Xuan had been here last night.

Gu Qingyan put away the Chi Hu seal, shook his head to clear it, and felt much more alert.

He took out the small box Pei Xuan had given him and examined it from all sides, unable to tell exactly what was inside.

Carefully opening it, Gu Qingyan was startled.

Inside the palm-sized box were pearls.

Big pearls, black in color, about a dozen in number, extremely precious—if sold, they would be worth a fortune.

Suddenly more awake, Gu Qingyan thought, “Why would Pei Xuan give me pearls this big? I’m not a girl to wear them as jewelry.”

Since he couldn’t use them right away, Gu Qingyan decided to keep them for now, planning to later find a jewelry shop to have them made into pendants or hairpins for his sister and godmother to wear.

He quickly got out of bed and went out: “Mother, sorry, I overslept.”

Madam Liu was worried but relaxed when she saw him come out. She touched his forehead to check for fever, then smiled: “It’s okay as long as you’re fine. Come, let’s eat.”

“Brother, you sure know how to sleep in, it’s already noon!” Gu Shuyan teased with a smile.

“I stayed up too late last night,” Gu Qingyan explained.

He figured it was because he had stayed up chatting with Pei Xuan half the night, so he was just sleep-deprived.

Glancing at the courtyard, Pei Xuan was nowhere in sight, so Gu Qingyan didn’t mention that Pei Xuan had been there last night.

Still, he felt a bit regretful that he had fallen asleep and forgotten to ask Pei Xuan if he had any talent for martial arts.

Pushing the thought aside, after eating, Gu Qingyan felt much more energetic.

Checking his pulse, it was strong and vigorous again—he had been overthinking it.

Bai Yu’s dying words had left an impression on him, making him worry every few days that he might be poisoned.

He kept telling himself not to think about it, since dwelling on it only made him feel worse—a classic case of psychological shadows projecting onto reality.

Gu Qingyan thought to himself that he must never stay up late again—it was bad for health. He wanted to live to one hundred and needed to take good care of his body.

Although he woke up late, it didn’t stop Gu Qingyan from going out to pay New Year’s visits.

Carrying some things and leading his two younger sisters, he set off.

Madam Liu stayed home by the fire. Whenever someone came to pay New Year’s greetings, she’d hand out handfuls of melon seeds and candies.

Because she was generous with sweets, the village children all ran by at least once, some even twice.

Madam Liu liked children—whoever came, she gave; no matter how many times they came, she still gave, making the doorstep lively.

She hadn’t forgotten Zhang Nian and gave him a whole bag of candy: “You can go play with those kids.”

Zhang Nian shook his head and stayed home to help: “Auntie, why were you so worried earlier? Did Brother Gu used to be unhealthy?”

Madam Liu smiled: “Don’t be fooled by how strong he is now. When he was little, he was prone to illness, especially during the cold and heat fluctuations around New Year. He would always get sick.”

“Several times on New Year’s Eve, he’d get a fever. It was worrying because we couldn’t call a doctor during the holidays.”

Zhang Nian was surprised: “That kind of thing happened?”

“Ah, it’s all in the past now.”

Madam Liu didn’t want to dwell on those memories and smiled: “Fortunately, now he’s grown up and much stronger. He didn’t get sick at all last year.”

She truly believed that it was the Li family’s bad feng shui that clashed with Gu Qingyan, so after leaving, his health improved.

After speaking, she reminded Zhang Nian: “Nian, you have to keep an eye on that boy. He’s a big, clumsy guy who can’t take good care of himself. If he gets sick, it’ll be tough on him.”

Zhang Nian took it to heart and started taking better care of Gu Qingyan.

Gu Qingyan noticed that Zhang Nian treated him like he was a fragile glass man.

Originally, Zhang Nian was supposed to go back after New Year.

But after New Year, Madam Liu was the first to be reluctant to let him go, persuading Gu Qingyan: “Nian is such a good caretaker, honest and sincere. With him around, we feel at ease.”

Zhang Nian even looked pitifully at Gu Qingyan: “Brother Gu, don’t you want me anymore?”

Gu Qingyan had no choice but to keep him around.

Zhang Cheng, however, found out and properly thanked him once.

After New Year, registration for the county exam began.

Gu Qingyan’s advantage of entering the county school became clear: the five children who had pledged together and the sponsored students were assigned by the county school, so he didn’t have to worry.

The five classmates only needed to go to the office together to register.

It was Gu Qingyan’s first time registering for the county exam, and he learned that even registration was selective nowadays.

For example, Gu Qingyan had to first get a certificate of origin from the village chief (his uncle), which had to be verified at the office before he could receive the registration form.

On this day, the five who had pledged together had to come together and verify each other’s identities.

On the registration form, they had to fill in name, place of origin, age, and the three-generation family history. Any mistake in the family history meant the registration would be rejected, and they wouldn’t even qualify to take the exam.

Gu Qingyan was lucky; when he came, the mourning period for Gu Tongsheng’s 27 months was over, otherwise he couldn’t participate in the exam during his parents’ mourning.

While he busily filled out the form, he thought to himself: it was fortunate that Chief Clerk Bai had already been executed—otherwise, with so much information, it would be too easy to tamper with records.

By now, everyone at the government office knew Gu Qingyan, so everything went smoothly.

The clerk in charge of entering the information was very polite: “Young Master Gu, this is all done. Here is your admission ticket — you must take good care of it. If you lose it, it won’t be replaced.”

“Every time you enter the county exam venue, they will verify this ticket. It’s extremely important. Don’t lose it.”

Gu Qingyan looked down at it. On the ticket, besides his identity information, there was an abstract painting, and below it was written: height five feet five inches, fair complexion with no beard, handsome appearance.

This was the ancient version of an exam admission ticket.

Gu Qingyan smiled and thanked him, then carefully put the ticket away.

As he was just stepping outside, Zhang Cheng was waiting there.

“Brother Gu, a few of us are planning to check out the Gongyuan (the exam hall) and get familiar with the place. Are you coming?”

Gu Qingyan was surprised, “Can we still get into the Gongyuan at this time?”

“Of course, we can’t enter inside, but it’s fine to look around the entrance,” Zhang Cheng explained.

Hearing that, Gu Qingyan understood they meant well.

Zhang Cheng and the others, being native Lingchuan County residents, had been to the exam grounds before and naturally knew where the test hall was. They just wanted to make sure Gu Qingyan knew as well, so they specially brought him along.

Gu Qingyan felt grateful and immediately agreed: “Thanks, I’ll go with you.”

Zhang Cheng laughed heartily and was about to call for a carriage when Zhang Nian already arrived driving the ox cart.

“Brother Gu, get on.”

Zhang Cheng teased, “Oh, so now you only have eyes for Brother Gu and not for me, your clan brother?”

Zhang Nian smiled foolishly, “I’m Brother Gu’s personal attendant, so naturally I put him first. You, clan brother, have to come second.”

Since Gu Qingyan agreed to keep him, Zhang Nian had taken up the role of personal attendant and was very eager in his duties.

Gu Qingyan laughed nonstop and patted the seat beside him, “Brother Zhang, I’ve been thinking about you. Come on over.”

Zhang Cheng shook his head: “That kid used to be clumsy with words, but after being with you for just a few months, he’s become quite articulate. Seems you’re good at training people.”

In his heart, Zhang Cheng felt relieved. After following Gu Qingyan for three months, Zhang Nian had grown taller and gained some weight, which showed he was living well at Gu’s house.

It wasn’t for nothing that he had put in a good word and begged Gu Qingyan to take him in.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Nian was smart from the start,” Gu Qingyan smiled.

Amid their teasing, the Gongyuan was quickly reached.

[Discovered Lingchuan County Gongyuan check-in point. Spend 1 point to check in?]

Gu Qingyan thought: What could checking in at the Gongyuan yield — brushes, ink, paper, inkstones? Past exam questions? Three years of county exams and five years of practice exams?

[You have successfully checked in at Lingchuan County Gongyuan and obtained this year’s county exam questions.]

Gu Qingyan stumbled forward and fell right at the entrance to the Gongyuan.