Female martial arts fanatics only love to fight, while men fight for their lives.

Li Huaiqing was going to discuss business with the people from the clan today. In order to avoid attracting attention, he deliberately chose the Li family's property.

He walked into a teahouse called "Yanyulou" holding up the corner of his clothes. As soon as he made eye contact with the shopkeeper, he was slapped on the shoulder, "Li Huaiqing!"

No one had ever dared to greet him like this. Li Huaiqing froze and first glanced at the guards around him, who obviously hadn't noticed her arrival.

"Miss Lou, nice to meet you." Li Huaiqing folded the folding fan in his hand and clasped his fists, still with extraordinary demeanor, turned around and smiled,

"I was not able to visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple with Miss Lou that day. I wonder if there is still a chance now?"

He quickly turned down today's important matters. It was not easy for her to take the initiative to look for him. If she missed this opportunity, there was no guarantee there would be a next time.

Lou Xiao glanced around the teahouse and saw that people from all walks of life were looking up at her. She was still wearing a dress suitable for meeting the Empress, so it was obvious that she was not an ordinary person.

But what's the use of looking? She returned her gaze to the gentle gentleman in front of her, "Not today. I need your help with something."

"Oh? It's my pleasure. What is it?"

She was being stared at by so many people with different looks, and finally she got annoyed, so she reached out and pulled his sleeve and walked out, "Let's go out first, there are too many people here and it's inconvenient."

Li Huaiqing lowered her eyes. The sleeves she held in her hands wrinkled the material and disrupted the beautiful orchid pattern.

Her long sleeves were gorgeous and extremely complicated. When they overlapped with his clothes, it was like a pearl covered with red gauze. I thought it was gaudy, but it actually added a bit of vitality.

The pearl necklace on her hair crown swayed as she walked with big strides, without any manners at all. She was not like the young ladies in the capital who were simply casual.

No one dared to reach out and pull him. Li Huaiqing felt a little uncomfortable at first, but soon he calmly exchanged glances with the shopkeeper, indicating that today's meeting was cancelled.

Lou Xiao pulled the man out of the teahouse and put her hand down. She was tempted by the smell of the meat pie stall next to her. She first touched her waist.

Her fingers touched the cold jade, and she remembered that she had not carried any money with her for some time.

The gems on the clothes cannot be pulled, and the gems on the hairpin... She tilted her head to pull out the hairpin. At this time, Li Huaiqing had already signaled the guards around him to pay the copper coins.

"Miss Lou, the item in your hair is a gift from the emperor. If you gave it to the stall owner, you will be fine as a favorite of the emperor. But if he is a commoner and keeps the gift from the emperor privately and cannot explain where it came from, he will be sentenced to death."

The seemingly gentle young man's words were very cruel. He raised his hand and put the hairpin back on her head, and also straightened the tangled beads on her hair crown.

"Why did you come out alone? Where are the guards and maids?"

Lou Xiao realized at this moment that she was impulsive and had forgotten many of the rules of the capital. "I'm just strolling around, why do I need someone to serve me?"

She couldn't understand why there had to be someone around her, and he couldn't understand how there could be no one around him.

The two were born and raised in very different environments. Li Huaiqing gave up on getting an answer. His guards brought freshly baked meat pies from the stall owner.

He saw her eyes light up immediately, she took it from the guard, took a bite and then asked him randomly,

"Why don't you buy one for yourself? It tastes pretty good... Keep the bill for now, I'll pay you back next time."

Why would Li Huaiqing eat such street food? He ignored her question and said, "It's just a copper coin. You are too polite, Miss Lou."

She seemed much more approachable when she wasn't at a formal banquet, but she still loved eating.

Li Huaiqing walked slowly with her all the way, and after she finished the meat pie in her hand, he considerately handed her a handkerchief to wipe her hands.

"Thank you." Lou Xiao took it back without feeling embarrassed and asked him, "Will you throw it away after wiping it or..."

"Miss Lou, if you want to throw it away, just throw it away." Li Huaiqing smiled gently, but Lou Xiao sensed something was wrong. It seemed that it could not be thrown away.

So he put it in his waist and said, "I'll go back and wash it and return it to you, along with the money for the meat pie."

Li Huaiqing didn't understand whether she was really stupid or was deliberately teasing him. How could someone accept his handkerchief, either intending to throw it away or return it? Was he so despicable?

He was a little angry, but his good upbringing prevented him from showing it. He just asked her, "Miss Lou, you haven't told me yet. What do you want to see me for today?"

Lou Xiao walked to the street and looked around. The pearl necklace on her hair crown swayed, like a little deer lost in the bustling capital.

"I heard that many foreign merchants came to the capital. I want to see if they have any strange things." She looked very trusting of him and her expression was serious.

"You come from a big family, what good things have you not seen? I just want you to help me choose. I want to find a gift to give to someone."

Giving gifts?

"Who is so lucky to receive Miss Lou's gift?" Although at this time, the first thing he should think of when he said "giving a gift" is His Majesty's birthday,

But reason told him, how could the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion let her go out in such a blatant manner and choose birthday gifts on the streets of the capital without any hesitation?

Although she, the sudden Duke of Zhenguo, was quite favored, the Duke's Mansion was cautious and would not dare to let her act recklessly like this.

At her age, she was probably given to a man.

Thinking about how the several gifts he sent her were ignored and he only got a few insignificant gifts in return, which were obviously selected by Lou Hong,

Li Huaiqing felt depressed. Who else in the capital could compare to him and be worthy of the gift she wanted to carefully select?

He was not jealous because he liked her, but he had never been ignored by a woman in his life. He had always been a popular figure among both men and women, and he was not used to someone ignoring him.

What's more, he had already made a gesture, but she didn't even bother to respond and refused to stand beside him as he handed her the ladder.

This gave him an unfamiliar feeling of frustration.

"It doesn't matter if a gift is expensive or not, what matters is that it suits the person's taste. How old is the person you are giving the gift to? What are his hobbies?" He seemed to be very concerned.

He mentioned the Jingyuexuan that he had taken her to, "We have the best gold and silver craftsmen in the capital in Jingyuexuan. Why don't you go there and make a unique piece of jewelry for him, Miss Lou?"

Lou Xiao laughed and said, "No, I don't need these."

It seems that he is of a fairly high status.

Li Huaiqing's eyes darkened slightly. "If you want rare treasures, it is indeed a good choice to look for them from foreign merchants."

Lou Xiao was not familiar with the roads in Beijing, so he walked to the approximate location, "So I asked you for help. It is said that foreign merchants gathered in Xiyun City. Let's go and take a look."

That's true, but──

"Xiyun City takes this road, Miss Lou." Li Huaiqing pointed his folding fan in the opposite direction of her direction, smiling slightly and hatefully, "You're going the wrong way."

His original intention was to embarrass her, but it was obvious that she didn't expect it, so she just said "Oh" and turned around and strode forward.

After walking a few steps, he turned back and urged Li Huaiqing, who was stunned for a moment, "Hurry up! What are you doing in a daze?"