"Let's go in. Stop staring at other people's inns. If it gets dark later, I won't go shopping with you."
Xin Zizhao walked up to Wei Shuxuan and gently reminded her. Wei Shuxuan immediately quickened her pace to follow Xin Zizhao. Pouting, she complained discontentedly, "Xin Zizhao, how could you be like this! I'm going in right now!"
Wei Shuxuan caught up with Xin Zizhao in a hurry and immediately grabbed his arm. Xin Zizhao, whose arm was grabbed, smiled slightly and then went into the inn with Wei Shuxuan. Wei Wei and Xin Shang, who had entered the inn earlier, had already completed the check - in procedures.
"Is everything settled, Xin Shang?" Xin Zizhao looked at Xin Shang, who was holding the room numbers in his hand.
"The procedures are done, my lord. Which floor would you and Miss Xuan like to stay on?"
"Xuan'er, which floor do you want to stay on?" Xin Zizhao would surely ask for Wei Shuxuan's opinion. Wei Shuxuan thought for a moment and asked, "Are we staying separately? Won't we be on the same floor?"
"We can choose either the third or the fifth floor. I haven't decided yet."
"Let's choose the third floor then. We've stayed on such high floors before. This time I don't want to stay so high. Then I won't have to climb so many stairs."
"You're just being lazy," Xin Zizhao looked at Xin Shang. "Then we'll stay on the third floor, Xin Shang."
"Okay, my lord, Miss Xuan."
On the main street of Baolan Town, almost all the shops sold jade products. Even the street stalls had these items. Wei Shuxuan dragged Xin Zizhao around to look at them. She was so dazzled that she didn't know what to buy.
"Let's go into that shop over there, Xin Zizhao!" Wei Shuxuan pointed at a well - decorated shop not far ahead and looked at the man beside her cheerfully.
"Let's go then."
Wei Wei and Xin Shang waited outside the shop. Xin Zizhao and Wei Shuxuan were inside, selecting the small ornaments they liked. "Do you think this is nice, Xin Zizhao?"
Xin Zizhao glanced at the purple jade bracelet in Wei Shuxuan's hand. The bracelet looked quite good. "It's not bad. If you like it, I can buy it for you."
Unexpectedly, Xin Zizhao was so generous and straightforward. Wei Shuxuan picked up a dark green jade bracelet and showed it to Xin Zizhao. "What do you think of this one?"
However, Xin Zizhao just took a glance and then turned his face away. "This jade bracelet doesn't suit you. I won't buy it for you."
"Why? I think it's quite nice!" Wei Shuxuan looked at Xin Zizhao with a puzzled expression. In her opinion, as long as it looked nice, just buy it.
Before Xin Zizhao could explain to Wei Shuxuan, the shopkeeper smiled and explained to her, "Madam has good taste. Both this old - pit jade bracelet and the purple jade bracelet are top - grade items in our shop. However, the purple jade bracelet suits you very well, madam. Your fair skin will make the purple jade bracelet even more dazzling. But this old - pit jade bracelet is only suitable for elderly ladies. It's not suitable for a young lady like you."
"I see..." Wei Shuxuan didn't expect there to be so much knowledge about jade. Anyway, she always did things casually. She would buy whatever she liked without caring whether it was suitable or not.
While they were chatting lively inside the shop, Wei Wei and Xin Shang were standing outside, carefully observing the surrounding environment. Suddenly, Wei Wei caught sight of a familiar figure. Just as he was about to chase after it, he was stopped by Xin Shang. "Wei Wei, what's wrong?"
"..... It's nothing."
When Wei Wei looked at that position again, the familiar figure had disappeared. He was sure he had seen the little beggar they met in Lepu Town just now. Was he just seeing things?
"You still say you're okay? You look very solemn."
Xin Shang's voice sounded again. Wei Wei looked at him. "No, I just saw a familiar person, but I might have been mistaken."
"We've finished shopping. Let's go back, Wei Wei, Xin Shang!" Wei Shuxuan walked out of the shop cheerfully, holding several items in her hand.
"Miss, let this subordinate carry them for you."
Wei Wei stepped forward and took the things from Wei Shuxuan's hands. Wei Shuxuan wasn't polite to him at all. "Thank you then, Wei Wei."
"You're welcome, miss."
It was almost evening when Wei Shuxuan and the others returned to the inn. Ge Zian and Ge Long'an were resting in their rooms respectively. Since Sima Yongheng was a bit restless, he went out for a stroll by himself but had already come back before dinner.
"Zian, let's go to see the county magistrate of Baolan Town tomorrow."
"Okay."
"I'll go with you too."
Sima Yongheng, who was sitting silently on one side, bit his chopsticks, then looked at Wei Shuxuan. "Sister Xuan, can I ask Brother Wei to go out with me tomorrow?"
"Sure," Wei Shuxuan smiled and picked up a piece of fried fish for Sima Yongheng. "Wei Wei, you'll go out with Yongheng tomorrow. I'll have Xin Shang, Xin Zizhao, and Zian with me. I'll be fine. You can go with Yongheng without worry."
"..... I understand, miss."
"Thank you, Sister Xuan!"
The night sky was extremely dark tonight. There was not a trace of moonlight or starlight. The thick clouds covered the clear sky tightly.
Wei Shuxuan was sitting in the room. She opened the window and looked out. It was completely dark outside, as if it were a terrifying abyss opening its big mouth, trying to swallow anyone who looked at it.
"Okay, it's time to go to bed. Don't keep the window open. It'll get cold at night."
Xin Zizhao walked up to Wei Shuxuan, reached out his hand, closed the window, and put his arm around Wei Shuxuan's shoulder. Wei Shuxuan naturally leaned against Xin Zizhao's warm chest. "Okay, let's go to sleep then."
The candlelight in the room flickered. Their shadows were reflected on the wall. Xin Zizhao asked Wei Shuxuan, "Shall I blow out the candle?"
"Okay."
A gust of wind blew, and the flickering orange flame disappeared in an instant. The whole inn was instantly immersed in darkness.
The next day, perhaps because she had walked too much the day before, Wei Shuxuan felt that she had slept very well. She got up a bit later than usual. When she went to the lobby for breakfast, she found that the others were already waiting for her.
"Sorry, sorry. I got up late. Let's have breakfast."
Just as Wei Shuxuan was about to start eating, she noticed that there seemed to be one person missing. "Don't you notice that there's one person missing here?"
When Wei Shuxuan said this, the others then realized that there really seemed to be one person missing.