They all ran shops on the same street, so who didn't know whom? Once someone with a sharp eye shouted it out, many others immediately chimed in.
"It really is the owner of the bookstore!"
And the other one?
Unfortunately, he had turned around too quickly, leaving the crowd with nothing but the sight of his dazzling bare buttocks.
Just as the crowd was feeling regretful, a loud *bang* echoed as the bookstore doors slammed shut.
They shut!
People’s eyes lit up.
What a considerate door that was.
But for the Heir of Marquis Pingjia, the suddenly closed door was nothing short of despair.
He pounded on the doors with all his might, and seeing they didn't budge, he raised his foot to kick them, forgetting entirely that he wasn't wearing shoes.
With a miserable shriek, the Heir of Marquis Pingjia clutched his foot and collapsed to the ground.
Several curious faces leaned in from above him.
"This is—"
"Good heavens, it's the Heir of Marquis Pingjia!"
The heads hovering above the Heir of Marquis Pingjia vanished in an instant.
The onlookers tacitly stepped back a distance to avoid getting into trouble.
Of course, they still intended to watch the spectacle; watching a scene wasn't against the law, after all.
The patrolling officers arrived fashionably late.
"Who’s causing a disturbance? Don't you know today is the grand day of the Imperial Street Procession—" The lead officer’s reprimand came to an abrupt halt when he saw the two bare-bottomed grown men.
He looked up at the sky first to confirm he wasn't dreaming in broad daylight, then flew into a rage: "Indecent and scandalous! Take them away!"
What had he just seen?
Two men with bare buttocks!
His eyes were going to go blind!
Several officers immediately stepped forward to make the arrests, but seeing that the two men didn't even have a scrap of cloth on them, they were momentarily at a loss for how to handle them and couldn't help but look to their leader.
"Why are you looking at me? Arrest them!" The lead officer subconsciously glanced at the Heir of Marquis Pingjia and his companion, then quickly looked away, waving his hand in disgust. "Find an outer robe to cover them up."
People hiding nearby to watch the fun whispered to one another.
"Shouldn't we remind the officer that that's the Heir of Marquis Pingjia?"
"Better not. What if we misidentified him?"
"That's true. Even if we didn't, what if the person who reminds him ends up holding a grudge with the Heir?"
Just as they were debating, a person dressed as a servant rushed over and blocked the path of the officers.
"You can't take our Heir away!"
The Heir?
The lead officer finally took a closer look at the Heir of Marquis Pingjia.
The Heir’s face was a kaleidoscope of colors; he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
At this moment, he didn't even have the strength to roar at his servant; he was left only with a sense of shame that could drive a person mad.
The lead officer recognized all the dignitaries who frequented the streets, and upon closer inspection, it really was the Heir of Marquis Pingjia.
"So it is—"
Before he could finish, he saw the Heir of Marquis Pingjia roll his eyes back and faint.
The lead officer paused.
Why was he resorting to escaping reality?
"What are you standing there for? Send the Heir back to the Marquis Pingjia estate."
An officer asked, "Boss, what about this one?"
The lead officer glanced at the pale-faced bookstore owner and frowned in disgust. "Send him to the Marquis Pingjia estate as well."
If it were ordinary commoners, he could have thrown them into jail for public indecency and ruining the festive atmosphere of the top scholar's procession. But since he couldn't arrest the Heir of Marquis Pingjia, he naturally couldn't arrest the fellow who had been fooling around with him either.
Send them all to the Marquis Pingjia estate and let the estate deal with the headache.
In the blink of an eye, the officers had taken everyone away, leaving only the crowd of onlookers huddled together in excited discussion.
"I really didn't expect it; the Heir of Marquis Pingjia actually likes men."
"No wonder the Heir was always running to the bookstore. And here I was, actually believing the rumor that he liked to read."
Someone chuckled, "If the Heir of Marquis Pingjia really liked reading, would he be at the bookstore today? He should have been among the top scholars parading on the Imperial Street."
This reminded many people.
"Old Wang next door went to watch the top scholar's procession and was even bragging to me about it. Heh, let's see how he shows off now."
"Exactly. Is the top scholar's procession really more interesting than two grown men running down the street with their bare butts exposed?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
For the sake of face, they had to make sure those who went to watch the procession knew what had just happened!
Lin Hao mingled in the crowd, listening to these discussions, feeling quite pleased.
Uncle Liu really knew how to get things done.
"Second Miss," someone whispered.
Lin Hao saw Uncle Liu beckoning and walked over.
"Is Second Miss satisfied?" Uncle Liu asked with a chuckle.
Lin Hao nodded with a smile. "Uncle Liu is truly resourceful. When I saw them run straight out of the bookstore's front door, I knew it was a success."
This kind of layout, with a shop in front and a courtyard in the back, usually had a back door. If these two had run out the back into an alley, it wouldn't have had this effect.
"It was also a matter of time and place. They thought everyone had gone to watch the top scholar's procession, so they dared to mess around in the bookstore. When they were startled by the sound of firecrackers, they naturally rushed toward whichever door was closest—" Uncle Liu explained proudly, then, as if remembering something, his expression turned subtle. "Did Second Miss see them run out with your own eyes?"
"I did," Lin Hao said, her expression unchanging. "Didn't Uncle Liu notify me to come watch?"
Uncle Liu: "..." If the Old Madam found out, she would definitely break his legs.
"Second Miss, we must keep this a secret."
"Of course. Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Liu. I'll bring you some braised beef tonight."
"Does Second Miss have other business?"
"I'm going to go tell Eldest Miss Chen."
After parting with Uncle Liu, Lin Hao turned around and saw a familiar figure.
Lin Hao was startled and subconsciously sized up Qi Shuo.
It had been a few days, and the Heir of Prince Jing looked a bit paler, but he was doing much better than she had expected.
Wasn't it said that the Heir of Prince Jing was seriously ill—
"Second Miss Lin, what a coincidence," the young man greeted with a smile.
"Heir... are you recovered?"
"Cough, cough." Qi Shuo turned his head and coughed twice, suddenly looking as if he were frail enough to be blown over by the wind. "It was just a cold."
"That's good." Lin Hao revealed a genuine smile, feeling a great weight lifted off her chest.
Every time she thought of the Heir of Prince Jing these past few days, she had a headache.
She had been torn over whether to visit, but her reason told her she had no standing to do so.
She couldn't exactly run to the Prince Jing estate and tell the Princess Consort: Your son might be sick because of me, so I've come to check on him.
If she hadn't overheard the servant named Changning talking to himself, she would have scolded herself for being overly sentimental.
Now that she saw the Heir of Prince Jing alive and kicking before her, she was finally at ease.
As Lin Hao thought this, her peripheral vision caught the servant following behind Qi Shuo.
The servant's hesitant expression stirred up the confusion she had felt over the past few days: Did the Heir of Prince Jing jump into the lake to save her?
Being different from others since childhood made Lin Hao surprisingly simple in some respects.
She couldn't figure it out, so she asked.
"The day the Heir jumped into the lake... who was he trying to save?"
Changning couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Second Miss Lin actually asked the Heir directly!
Qi Shuo was clearly a bit surprised as well.
He seemed to want to curl his lips, but suppressed it, and finally asked calmly, "Why would Second Miss Lin ask this question? I mean... a question that seems obvious to many people."
Lin Hao glanced at Changning.
She also thought the answer was obvious, if not for what she had heard from this servant.
Of course, she wouldn't mention what happened that day, or it would be equivalent to admitting she had climbed the wall again and eavesdropped.
"My view on a person often belongs to that minority, so I still have curiosity about 'obvious' questions."
The young man curled his lips into a smile. "Coincidentally, I also belong to that minority."