Warm medicine emits fragrance

"Even if he can give up those things, just as you said last night, Second Master, he should not choose Xingzhou. Once war breaks out, Xingzhou will definitely not be peaceful. Now many wealthy merchants in Xingzhou are planning to flee to remote mountainous areas to avoid the war in the future."

After listening, Li Chenbi simply said, "Keep an eye on him."

"Yes."

downstairs.

Fan Liuer and Siqing were figuring out what to wear tomorrow.

It was Fan Liuer's first time visiting a lantern festival, so she wanted to dress up nicely. She took out the red cloak that Li Chenbi had specially made for her, put it on, and asked Siqing.

"How about this one?"

This cloak is thick and made of some kind of animal fur. It's all fluffy inside and out, and it even has a hat with a fluffy white fur collar around the brim.

Fan Liuer has fair skin, and wearing this makes her complexion look even more rosy.

"You look great! Lady Fan, you look best in bright colors."

Fan Liuer was pleased with the compliment and said, "I think it looks good too."

Downstairs was in high spirits, but the atmosphere upstairs wasn't so pleasant.

Li Chenbi lost his appetite and put down his chopsticks to get up. After reporting his business, Li Qiuping tactfully left, not daring to linger in front of Li Chenbi any longer.

Li Chenbi stood in front of the window, his gaze falling downwards.

It's not a taste in my heart.

This Fan Liuer must be so sure he won't refuse her, she didn't even come when she personally invited him.

After standing by the window for a while, he called Li Qiuping over.

"Second Master, is there anything you need?"

"Prepare the horses."

As Li Chenbi came downstairs, he passed by Fan Liuer's bedroom and heard the sounds of playful chatter coming from inside. He paused for a moment before continuing on his way.

She was quite happy.

That night, Li Chenbi did not return home.

Fan Liuer was so excited that she didn't go to sleep until very late, and she didn't hear Li Chenbi return until she was almost asleep.

The next morning, I quietly asked around and learned that he hadn't come back the night before.

She couldn't help but worry, would her plan to use the night lantern be ruined?

This worry persisted until lunchtime, when Li Qiuping came to pick up her medicine and told her that someone would come to pick her up before dinner, which finally put her mind at ease.

Normally, Fan Liuer would take a nap after lunch, but today she was too excited to sleep, so she got ready early and sat in the room waiting.

After waiting for about an hour, the people who were supposed to pick her up arrived.

The large group of people, including more than a dozen guards, surprised her.

"Are you... sure we're going to see the lantern festival?"

Li Qiuping was among them, and he explained to her with a smile, "The lantern festival is a mixed bag, so it's safer to send more people."

Fan Liuer thought to herself, she had thought this was going to be a fight.

Wrapping herself up tightly inside and out, Fan Liuer left the Li residence with Li Qiuping and got into a sedan chair parked in front of the gate.

Xingzhou City was indeed bustling today. The noisy sounds of people on the streets made Fan Liuer's heart itch. She didn't care whether she was cold or not, so she lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and looked out.

It was still early before dark, but many lanterns had already been hung on the streets, and various stalls were set up on both sides of the street, selling lanterns, cosmetics, small toys and trinkets, and all kinds of food.

Fan Liuer rarely had the opportunity to leave the manor, and had never seen such a lively scene before, so she was momentarily dumbfounded.

At this moment, the sedan chair suddenly stopped, causing Fan Liuer to crane her neck to look ahead.

There's a car blocking the way.

A voice suddenly came from behind her, startling Fan Liuer so much that she turned around abruptly, her eyes wide as she looked at the speaker.

Qi Weiming was just out for a stroll when he was drawn to a stall selling beaded flowers.

One of the large red beaded flowers evoked memories for him, prompting him to take out his money and buy it.

Turning around with the wrapped beaded flowers in hand, she noticed a sedan chair parked beside her, with a head peeking out from inside, craning its neck to look ahead.

He kindly reminded them, "There's a car blocking the way ahead."

After he finished speaking, he prepared to leave, but the other person was startled and turned to look at him with wide eyes.

She wore a veil, revealing only her eyes.

Qi Weiming stared at those eyes, his gaze flickering, momentarily stunned.

Fan Liuer only came to her senses after seeing who it was, realizing that the other person meant well in reminding her, and quickly thanked them, "Thank you."

Qi Weiming stared at her, still in a daze, and didn't even hear her thank you.

Seeing that he didn't speak and just stared at her, Fan Liuer felt a little embarrassed and annoyed. She pulled her head back into the sedan chair, lowered the curtain, and stopped looking out.

Qi Weimian suddenly came to his senses, looked at the window with the curtains already drawn, and felt annoyed.

He was so rude just now, staring at people in a daze.

"So that's why you're usually so aloof from women. You were just pretending." Qi blushed as his companion teased him.

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Hey, I'm not kidding? Do you know how you were staring at that person just now, like a hungry wolf? It scared them so much that they immediately hid away."

Qi Weiming immediately looked at him, her face filled with panic, "Really?"

"That's right, it's because she has a good temper. If she had a bad temper, she would have called someone to beat you up already."

Qi Weiming hadn't expected that he had been so rude just now, and he felt a little guilty and disappointed.

It seems she must think of herself as a lecher.

"Hey, don't even think about it. Even if you made a great first impression, you two have no chance. Did you see what kind of plaque was hanging on the sedan chair she was riding in?"

Qi Weiming was completely captivated by those eyes and couldn't spare any attention to anything else.

"What brand?"

"The signboard of the Li residence! The woman is dressed as a married woman, so she must be one of the two wives or concubines of the Li family. However, it is said that Li Chenbi is not interested in women, so she must be someone from Li Chenxin's household."

Qi Weiming felt even more lost.

It turns out she already had a husband.

Seeing his dejected look, his companion teased, "You've always been thinking about your deceased wife, haven't you? Turns out it was just talk. When you see someone you like, you still fall for her."

"No!" Qi Weiming retorted.

"I just thought that the woman's eyes looked a lot like my wife's eyes."

His companion scoffed, "You've never even seen what your wife looks like, you're just relying on your imagination. So, if you see someone you like, you'll think they look like your deceased wife."

"Oh, you don't understand!" Qi Weiming was too lazy to explain to him anymore.

How could outsiders understand his thoughts? Although he had never seen his wife's true face, he had seen her portrait. The woman's eyes just now bore a resemblance to the person in the portrait.

He was initially drawn to that portrait when he decided to marry his wife.

Seeing someone who resembles the portrait now makes me feel a little excited.

If his wife hadn't died, she probably would have looked like this too.

Unfortunately, he never even got to see her before they were separated by death.