Best friends dressed up in ancient times to become mistresses? You run, I run too!

Finally, the man stopped a few steps away from their table.

His hawk-like phoenix eyes narrowed as he looked at the group indifferently, his tone stiff as he spoke.

"She is your wife?"

"I heard she's seriously ill?"

These words were spoken to the man next to Shen Ningzhu.

That person was a master of acting; upon seeing this, he immediately got into character.

He looked at Jiang Xuan Yan without speaking, but his eyes instantly turned bloodshot and filled with unbearable grief, as if he were enduring the greatest pain in the world.

"Bam—"

Jiang Xuan Yan didn't wait for his reply, but instead took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and said coldly,

"I have a superb life-extending pill here, worth three thousand gold pieces. Would you like to buy it?"

Beneath the veil, Shen Ningzhu secretly rolled her eyes. What kind of pills are so expensive? Are they trying to scam people?

Besides, her Xiaoyi is a miracle doctor, so who would want his broken pills?

To everyone's surprise, the actor next to him agreed without even thinking.

He immediately took out all the silver notes he had on him, and also took all the silver notes from his "brother", and finally made up 30,000 taels of silver notes, which he handed to Jiang Xuan Yan.

He then took the pills from Jiang Xuan Yan and quickly handed them to Shen Ning Zhu.

"My wife, eat quickly, and you will survive."

Shen Ningzhu: ...

Jiang Xuan Yan glanced at the thick stack of silver notes in his hand, a half-smile on his face. "I'm just a stranger, and you trust me that much?"

The actor smiled wryly.

"To be honest, my wife's health is probably already... Now, we can only try anything as a last resort."

Jiang Xuan Yan frowned as he looked at the sadness in the other person's eyes, then turned and left, taking a few steps to board the ship.

Behind him, Jiang Yi said with a pained expression,

"Master, why did you give such precious medicine to a stranger just now?"

Jiang Xuan Yan merely glanced at him indifferently and then ignored him.

They had chartered the boat, so as soon as they boarded, the boat set sail.

Shen Ningzhu and her group breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that they had all been paralyzed with fear.

Taking a breath, Shen Ningzhu complained.

"What kind of lousy pill is this? It dares to cheat us out of 30,000 taels of silver. Xiao Yi, let me show you whether it's worth it or not."

The man who had just played her husband whispered.

“Miss Shen, that man was ostensibly trying to sell us medicine, but in reality, he was testing us.”

It seems we had just arrived at the inn when we came to the ferry crossing and ran into their group.

"Two consecutive coincidences aroused his suspicions."

Shen Ningzhu broke out in a cold sweat.

Only then did she realize that the dress she was wearing was made of Shu brocade, a gift from Song Hanchuan, while Liu Zhiyi's was made of shimmering brocade, a material only found in the palace.

The two actresses wore expensive fabrics to match the costumes.

Jiang Xuan Yan must have noticed that they were dressed in fine clothes and knew they could afford to spend money, which is why he deliberately asked for so much.

Moreover, given how deeply affectionate they had just acted, they would have readily agreed to the life-saving medicine. Any thought would have proven that either their illness was fake or their affection was not genuine.

So just now, if this man hadn't reacted quickly enough, they might have already been exposed?

That scoundrel prince is truly cunning.

Liu Zhiyi took the pill, smelled it, and said with a look of surprise.

"Wow, a thousand-year-old snow lotus, a ten-thousand-year-old lingzhi mushroom, a thousand-year-old he shou wu... This pill is made from hundreds of priceless medicinal herbs using a special method."

There is probably no other pill like this in the world.

Its value is beyond what money can buy.

The prince is really generous.

If it was just a test, there was no need to bring out something so valuable, was there?

Everyone:...

Liu Zhiyi looked at Shen Ningzhu with a complicated expression and a meaningful look, which made Shen Ningzhu shudder.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What kind of look is that? It's creepy."

Suddenly, Shen Ningzhu's pupils widened sharply.

"You...you're not trying to say that we've been recognized, are you? But no, if we were really recognized, they would know we're healthy, so why would we need these pills?"

Liu Zhiyi shook her head uncertainly.

"Perhaps they recognized you and deliberately gave you this pill in the hopes that it could save your life in a critical moment, or perhaps I'm just overthinking it."

"Perhaps he was moved by the affection we portrayed as husband and wife?" the man playing Shen Ningzhu guessed.

Liu Zhiyi covered her lips and laughed.

"If that's the case, then he's actually quite good."

Shen Ningzhu glared at her fiercely, "Good my foot! I don't believe he would be so kind. Besides, have you forgotten how he hurt you?"

"They really don't learn their lesson; they even spoke up for him."

"Let's go, the boat is here. We need to get going. Don't mention that scumbag anymore, it's bad luck."

Liu Zhiyi quickly grabbed her.

"Hey, no way! He's already left. Shouldn't we rest for a few days before we go?"

Shen Ningzhu shook her head vigorously.

"No, no, no, I just saw that dog prince, and now my heart is pounding like I'm having a heart attack. It's so pounding and I'm really panicking."

"Still resting? I wish I could sprout wings and fly to the ends of the earth. I can only feel at ease when I'm far away."

"Let's get on the boat and get as far away from him as possible."

"As for my health, it's alright. Just bear with it for another two or three days, and we'll reach our destination."

Liu Zhiyi twitched the corner of her mouth and said no more.

Without further delay, the group headed south and arrived at a small town in Jiangnan three days later.

Song Hanchuan had prepared several houses for the two of them to choose from.

The first building is a large mansion with five courtyards, featuring artificial hills and long corridors, winding streams, lotus ponds and gardens, and carved beams and painted rafters.

The two best friends agreed that the place was too big and they wouldn't need it at all. So they went to look at the next house.

The remaining apartments varied in size, all had excellent layouts, and were located in bustling areas, but the couple felt they weren't quiet enough.

The people from Song Hanchuan's faction smiled and said that they would definitely be satisfied with the next set.

The two of them went to see it, seemingly believing it but not quite.

Unexpectedly, the carriage left the city and stopped at a village a quarter of an hour after leaving the county.

"Ladies, this is a special treat prepared for you by the master. Please come in and have a look."

The two went inside without much thought, but they were immediately captivated as soon as they looked up.

This house is a typical courtyard house with a total of seven rooms. Each room is spacious, clean, and has excellent natural light.

The yard was very large, with the house occupying only one-tenth of its area. The backyard was planted with large areas of vegetables and fruits, and several small plots were used to grow rare medicinal herbs.

The front yard was paved with smooth bluestone, and there was space on both sides where dozens of fruit trees were planted.

The most eye-catching part was that small piece of cherry.

It's cherry season.

Beneath the lush green leaves, the luscious cherries, red, yellow, and green, are partially hidden, clusters and bunches of them shimmering alluringly in the sunlight.