"Ah, this snack is simply delicious!" Dongfang Yi hugged a snack box and ate the mung bean cakes inside. Her eyes were squinted into a blissful shape.
In her opinion, these snacks were in no way inferior to those from the imperial kitchen in the palace. Sure enough, the best delicacies could be found at the roadside stalls.
Helian Qi watched the woman in front of him enjoying herself so much that he subconsciously curved his lips. He reached out his hand to wipe away the crumbs on the corner of her mouth, his heart full of contentment.
Behind them, Ru Yi and Dong Hua were also playing around. The four of them looked extremely harmonious.
Just behind them, deep in the crowd, a pair of eyes were silently watching them.
That person was none other than Situ Qing. Just now, he had sent someone to confuse the common people, but that woman clearly had no real ability and was easily dealt with by Helian Qi's few words.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown. His eyes were fixed intently on the woman not far away.
Dong'er, how long has it been since I last saw you? Now, you look so good in your noble young master's attire. Your eyes have never changed, still shining with brightness and wit. Do you know how much I miss you?
Now, Situ Qing seemed to be possessed. All his troubles stemmed from Dongfang Yi. For her, he had abandoned his plan to live a peaceful life and decided to conspire with that person.
He had only one purpose, which was to hope that she would return to his side. He was willing to pay any price.
Thinking of this, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl up into a sickly smile.
A woman walked over from behind. It was Bai Huan. She came over and whispered a few words in his ear, telling him that the woman had been caught.
But Situ Qing's face only froze for a second, and then he resumed his usual indifferent look.
"It doesn't matter. She was just a pawn. She knows how to end herself."
After saying that, he turned around with Bai Huan and left the place.
Helian Qi always felt that there seemed to be some movement behind him. He looked back but saw nothing. So he frowned tightly, feeling a strange sensation in his heart.
Dongfang Yi saw his tense look and couldn't help but ask, "What did you see?"
But he just shook his head and then rubbed her head, telling her not to think too much.
After all, they were out for fun, so he didn't want to see this little woman looking worried. He didn't believe that anyone could harm her the slightest bit with him by her side.
After saying that, the two of them continued to stroll in other directions of the market.
On the other side, the guards had caught the woman who had caused trouble among the people receiving the grain and brought her to a closed room, planning to interrogate her after the noble people returned.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the woman fell to the ground. Her mouth was constantly foaming, looking like she had been poisoned.
The guards were immediately flustered and quickly brought in a doctor to take a look. But the result of the diagnosis was that she had already died of poisoning.
It turned out that what Situ Qing meant by "ending herself" was that she would take poison and commit suicide. He was really ruthless!
On the other side of the market, they had been strolling for about two incense sticks' worth of time and felt a bit tired. So they walked into a teahouse and went up to the second floor.
They sat in a position closest to the window on the second floor. Looking at the bustling crowd downstairs, Dongfang Yi couldn't help but sigh, "It's so wonderful to view the scenery of the world with a beloved one!"
After saying that, she turned her head and stared intently at the man in front of her. Countless emotions were spreading in her eyes.
Helian Qi felt his heart skip a beat. Then he felt his heart flutter. So he couldn't control himself and leaned forward to kiss the woman in front of him.
He seemed to have forgotten that both of them were dressed as men, and there were quite a few tea - drinkers sitting around. After noticing the commotion here, they all stopped their hands from drinking tea.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Even the sound of swallowing could be heard.
"Male... male lovers!" Someone whispered softly.
Dongfang Yi couldn't help but find it funny, but at the same time, she felt extremely shy. Knowing that they couldn't stay here any longer, she had no choice but to hold the man's hand in front of her and flee this place of trouble.
Even when they reached downstairs, they could still hear the loud discussions upstairs.
"To be male lovers! How could they do such immoral things in public!"
After hearing this, Dongfang Yi could only smile awkwardly. Looking at the man in front of her, who looked so natural and was not affected at all, she couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you hear what they said?"
"I heard it." He replied like this.
"Then why don't you have any reaction?" She asked again.
Helian Qi frowned, showing his incomprehension, and counter - asked, "You're clearly a woman. They just can't tell. Why should I care about what they say?"
After hearing this answer, Dongfang Yi couldn't hold back her laughter. She didn't expect that this man could be so cute when he was being a bit of a fool. But should she say he was just and fearless or that he was being stubborn?
The two of them held hands and walked onto the street. She didn't care whether others would say it was improper for two men to hold hands. After all, it was just this one time out, so they should do whatever they wanted to have fun.
As they were walking, they saw some street performers not far away. They squeezed through the crowd and got to the front. To their surprise, it was a Western Regions man playing with a snake.
As soon as Helian Qi saw the scene in front of him, his eyebrows couldn't help but frown tightly. He murmured in a low voice, "The Western Regions glass rattlesnake!"
Because the noise of the crowd was too loud, Dongfang Yi didn't hear clearly what he said. So she asked again, "What did you just say?!"
Helian Qi then pulled her out of the crowd and began to say, "Did you see that snake? That's the Western Regions glass rattlesnake."
"What?!" She asked loudly again.
She could hardly believe that they could see the snake in the market that they had been puzzled about its antidote in the palace. So that's what it looked like.
"I didn't expect such a highly poisonous snake to appear in the market." She said like this.
"This snake is controlled by its master's musical instrument. As long as the master doesn't give the order to kill, it won't make any killing moves." Helian Qi replied like this.
The two of them squeezed back into the center of the crowd again.
After the Western Regions man who was playing with the snake finished his performance, he bowed to everyone. Then he began to pack up his things and was about to leave, but was stopped by Helian Qi and the others.
"Can you speak the Central Plains language?" Dongfang Yi asked.
The Western Regions man replied in broken Central Plains language, "I can speak a little."
After hearing this, she nodded and then continued to ask, "May I ask where you got this snake?"