Suddenly being called stupid, people were stunned.
"You little brat, have you been bewitched by this demon's beauty? Why are you defending a demon? Be careful, or she'll suck you dry in the night!"
Some tried to advise, while others cursed angrily.
"How dare you call me stupid, you *****..."
His words were too vulgar, causing Yan Qinghe to stop in his tracks and retort, "Who are you calling stupid?"
"You!"
After he answered, the crowd belatedly burst into laughter.
Amidst the chaos, Yan Qinghe quickly left with the girl in his arms, catching up to Yan Wu ahead.
Yan Wu looked at him questioningly: "What have you picked up this time?"
As he asked, a distant memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Before the Marquis of Wei Yuan's incident, Yan Qinghe was still a kind-hearted and enthusiastic young man.
He would occasionally pick up an injured bird, a limping stray cat, or a skinny little beggar...
After bringing them back, the bird would be eaten, the cat would be given to Yan Seventeen for medical treatment and practice, and the little beggar would be sent to the villa in the suburbs to join the Yan Generation.
Now, why had he picked up a girl?
What use was a girl?
They only cry and cry...
Yan Qinghe's chest was soaked with tears. He said to Yan Wu, "You go ahead with A'shu and A'huan, I'll take her to deal with this."
Since he had already saved her, he couldn't just abandon her halfway.
Yan Qinghe resignedly carried her, flying to a secluded alley.
In the dark and quiet alley, the girl's sobbing became clearer.
He set the girl down by the wall, lifted the cloak, and saw her eyes red from crying, her face flushed, looking like a boiled shrimp. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, little girl."
"Can you stop crying?"
Song You'an had always been obedient, especially to her savior. She immediately bit her lip, forcing herself to stop sobbing, but let out a loud hiccup.
Her red eyes and fair skin that had cooled down, along with her silver-white hair, made her look just like the little rabbit Yan Qinghe had kept when he was young.
Yan Qinghe asked impulsively, "Are you a rabbit spirit?"
"I'm not a demon!" Song You'an sniffled, her voice a little louder.
"I know."
Yan Qinghe handed her a handkerchief, gesturing for her to wipe her face.
"My father used to have a concubine like you, with a head full of white hair. My father said it's called albinism, it's just an illness."
"But my father never let the seventh concubine go out."
"Little rabbit, how could your family let you go out?"
Song You'an secretly looked up at him, unexpectedly meeting his clear and pure starry eyes. Her tense nerves relaxed a little.
"...It was my maid who wanted to go out... There were too many people, and the carriage was inconvenient, ... so we got down to walk."
"Later, we got separated in the crowd. I wanted to find her, and unknowingly got separated from all of them..."
"...I met a bad person, he grabbed me, ... after lifting my veil, he accidentally knocked off my silk hat... He got scared and ran away..."
Song You'an recounted her experience of the night in fragments.
Moonlight fell into her upturned watery eyes, reflecting points of light. She murmured softly, "My misfortune turned out to be my protection..."
If it weren't for her head of silver hair, she didn't know what her fate would have been after encountering that bad person...
At this moment, Yan Qinghe patted her hair.
"Little rabbit, let me take you home."
"Okay..."
Seeing her curled up into a small ball, Yan Qinghe was again reminded of the little rabbit he kept in his childhood.
Originally, he only had one, but later a servant, trying to please him, gave him another.
The two rabbits together soon produced many, many baby rabbits.
His father complained about the smell of the rabbits and simply had them taken to the military camp, where the baby rabbits were made into braised rabbit meat.
The young Yan Qinghe ate two big bowls with tears in his eyes.
It wasn't until nighttime when he looked at the empty rabbit cage that he began to feel guilty.
For so many years since then, he never ate rabbit meat again, and felt a natural affection and sense of guilt whenever he saw rabbits.
Yan Qinghe couldn't help but pat her head again.
"Wait here for me."
Seeing him about to leave, Song You'an quickly grabbed his sleeve: "Don't..."
"...Don't leave me."
If he left, it would be very difficult for her to get home.
Her timid gaze softened Yan Qinghe's heart, and he had to crouch down, cover her with his cloak again, and carry her to buy a small rabbit lantern.
Encountering an old man selling candied haws, he then bought a string of them.
After that, he saw Li Shuchen carrying a whole bunch of candied haws, walking beside Qi Huan.
......
Yan Qinghe handed the lantern and candied haws to the little person in his arms to hold, then walked towards Qi Huan and the others.
Amidst the scattered lights, Qi Huan's eyes were curved in a smile as she earnestly guessed lantern riddles.
"Nine out of ten die (guess a medicine name)"
Coincidentally, all the riddles at this stall were about Chinese medicine, and she had just memorized many medical books this year.
She confidently said, "I know! It's Duhuo!"
"Examining oneself thrice, it's Fangji."
"Long-awaited reunion, it's Jianxi."
"Stealing beams and replacing pillars, it's Muzei!"
......
After each herbal answer was given, the stall owner's face fell, and he handed the stall over to her.
Qi Huan chose a little pig lantern and a little dog lantern from the zodiac series, then picked four other styles of lanterns to give to her family.
After choosing, she smiled at the stall owner and said, "These will do! Happy Lantern Festival!"
"Happy Lantern Festival!"
The stall owner was truly happy!
At the same time, the system gave Qi Huan points: "Good deed +57, points +57."
These were points for returning 57 lanterns.
Qi Huan struggled to carry the six lanterns, her brows dancing with joy and self-satisfaction: "A'shu, aren't I amazing? Don't you want to praise me?"
"I do."
"A'huan is so clever."
Li Shuchen tossed the candied haws in his hand to Yan Wu, took the four lanterns she had prepared for her family, leaving only two, one for each of them to carry.
This freed up his hand to hold hers.
The two walked hand in hand, leisurely.
Seeing the rippling small river ahead, Li Shuchen asked her, "Does A'huan want to release river lanterns?"
In a flash, Qi Huan suddenly remembered the pool full of river lanterns outside Mo County.
She raised her eyes, her gaze sticking to Li Shuchen's smiling eyes, as if they could draw out threads.
Following behind them, Yan Wu took a bite of the candied haw, missing his good friend terribly at this moment.
This damage shouldn't be borne by him alone!
Just as he was thinking this, his sharp eyes caught sight of Yan Qinghe coming towards them.
At the same time, Qi Huan and Li Shuchen also saw Yan Qinghe.
As well as the large, unidentifiable object hanging on him.
......As they got closer, it looked like a person.
Qi Huan tilted her head to peek, her bright eyes flashing with a hint of mischief: "So our A'he has a date too!"
The familiar voice passed through the cloak and into Song You'an's ears. She trembled and softly called out, "Cousin..."
Qi Huan: !
Her smile froze on her face as she looked suspiciously at Yan Qinghe.
"Where did the girl in your arms come from?"
"Picked her up."
As they talked, Qi Huan wanted to lift the cloak to see, but was afraid it might not be An'an and would offend the girl.
Just as she hesitated, a pale little face peeked out from the gap in the clothes: "Cousin..."
Qi Huan was completely dumbfounded. Why was her little cousin in Yan Qinghe's arms?
"This is not the place to talk," Li Shuchen said, holding her hand and gesturing for Yan Qinghe to follow.
After returning to the teahouse, they went up to a private room on the second floor.
Yan Qinghe put Song You'an down and explained the whole story.
"Don't be afraid, An'an. Sister is here, no one can hurt you anymore."
Qi Huan held her delicate little hand, trying to keep her voice as gentle as possible.
Although Song You'an had little presence in the Song Mansion, the little girl always smiled shyly, fair and pure, soft and sweet.
She would occasionally give her some hairpins and embroidery.
Both timid and adorable.
Qi Huan had always seen her as a little sister, and thinking of her helplessly being surrounded by onlookers, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
After asking a couple of simple questions, she asked with an indiscernible look in her eyes:
"You said it was Yunque who voluntarily let go of your hand?"
