In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

Su Zhen blushed as several maids helped her with her makeup. Han Zhi, who always washed up quickly, peeked in when he returned to the front of the room. Seeing Su Zhen sitting in front of the dressing table, he walked over with a grin.

"Ba Niang?"

"Hmph..." Su Zhen rolled her eyes at him, then looked away and refused to look at him.

At this, all the maids laughed, but only Yueping dared to make a teasing remark:

"Young master, have you perhaps upset your wife?"

"What do you know?" Han Zhi laughed and scolded, "What's this called? This is called—"

"Flirting!"

The maids then spoke in unison, their smiles widening as they finished.

“Oh—that’s right! This is called flirting!” Han Zhi chimed in.

Yueping then said to Su Zhen, "My lady, don't get angry with them. Today, my husband will be taking you out. You can take this opportunity to extort some money from him."

“That’s true,” Su Zhen agreed, then glared at Han Zhi.

Han Zhi waved his hand generously and said in a show of extravagance, "No problem! This money was originally meant for Eighth Sister anyway!"

These words once again drew laughter from the maids.

Before long, Su Zhen was tidied up, and Han Zhi went up to her in a fawning manner, took Su Zhen's fair and tender hand, and kissed it in front of everyone.

"Yueping and the others are still here, how can you be so shameless?" Su Zhen exclaimed "Oh dear," and gently patted him.

At this moment, the maids also quickly ran out. Han Zhi also smiled and helped Su Zhen up, pulling her along as he said:

"Shall I take Ba Niang out for a stroll?"

“Alright, but if I have too many things to buy, please don’t mind, my lord,” Su Zhen said deliberately.

Han Zhi patted his chest and led Su Zhen outside, saying, "It's alright. Even if I sell myself to the imperial kiln, I'll still pay off Eighth Sister's money."

These words amused Su Zhen, who gently squeezed the hand holding hers, but Han Zhi felt no pain or itch.

……

As one of the economic centers of the Song Dynasty, Yizhou had many roadside shops, and even street vendors with carts were everywhere. In addition, there were several stages for theatrical performances, which kept passersby from getting bored.

Su Zhen followed Han Zhi as they strolled along the street, stopping here and there to look around. Not only was Su Zhen curious, but Han Zhi was also very interested, looking around intently.

"Eighth Sister, Eighth Sister!" Han Zhi gently shook Su Zhen's hand, then pointed in a direction and said, "Eighth Sister, look! There's a stage!"

However, Su Zhen seemed to still be sulking with Han Zhi. After hearing his words, she only glanced lightly in the direction he was pointing. Then she turned her head to the side, deliberately avoiding looking in that direction.

Han Zhi found his thing very interesting and insisted on pulling Su Zhen over. Afraid of hurting her, he reached out his other hand to help her over.

"Eighth Sister, Eighth Sister, come and see! It's a ring trick, it's quite interesting."

He gently squeezed her hand again, and her curiosity was further piqued by his nagging. However, her "dignity" compelled her to force herself not to look over.

But in the end, her "dignity" was defeated by her curiosity. She had only intended to take a quick glance, but that single glance was enough to keep her eyes glued to the viewer.

The performer intertwined three rings and then swiftly weaved through them, creating a dazzling spectacle.

As the performer's hand speed increased, the rings seemed to lose their substance, becoming like phantoms. Finally, the performer slapped the three rings together, miraculously turning them into one, drawing gasps of amazement from the surrounding audience.

Su Zhen was also captivated by the amazing performance. Seeing this, Han Zhi smiled, squeezed Su Zhen's hand, and said:

"So, did I tell you I wasn't lying to you, Eighth Sister? Wasn't this ring trick interesting?"

This brought Su Zhen back to his senses. He coughed twice and said, "So what if it's interesting?"

"Are you still angry?"

Han Zhi asked with a smile, then saw a vendor not far away and said, "Eighth Sister, you stay here. I'm going to buy something. Don't move around here."

"Go ahead, just don't lose it," Su Zhen said, pretending not to care.

Han Zhi chuckled twice, then ran off and disappeared into the crowd. Su Zhen appeared indifferent, but her eyes betrayed her as she watched him go.

She wanted to go with him but was afraid of getting lost, yet she was also afraid to go and lose herself.

She could only frown and stare intently in the direction Han Zhi had left. Even after he was out of sight, she stood on tiptoe and craned her neck slightly to look in that direction.

Once Han Zhi's head reappeared in the crowd, she returned to normal and pretended to watch the magic show on stage.

Su Zhen didn't know where Han Zhi had gone, but she suddenly noticed something red being held up in front of her. She looked down slightly and saw it was a candied hawthorn.

"Clang!"

Han Zhi, as if he had brought out some treasure, said, "Eighth Sister, look! Candied hawthorns."

"What do you mean, 'what is it?' Turns out it's just a candied hawthorn." Su Zhen's words were cold, but her hands were quite honest as she took the candied hawthorn.

"I thought you were sincere, so I went and bought all the candied hawthorns for me."

Han Zhi paused, then scratched his head, and turned to leave again. As he walked, he said, "Then I'll go buy the whole thing!"

Seeing his silly look, Su Zhen wanted to laugh, but fearing that he would actually buy them all, she reached out and stopped him.

"My lord!" Su Zhen called out, "There's no need to go. I was just saying it casually, why did you take it seriously?"

"What if Eighth Sister really wants to eat it?" Han Zhi said, and continued walking in the direction he had just come from, but Su Zhen pulled him back again.

"No! This one is enough for me."

Su Zhen pulled Han Zhi back, then took a bite of the candied hawthorn and said somewhat indistinctly, "My lord is usually very shrewd, how come you act so foolishly at a time like this?"

"Isn't this what Ba Niang wanted?" Han Zhi scratched his head and said matter-of-factly, "Why should I think so much about what my wife wants?"

Su Zhen chuckled and then said, "Alright, alright, stop being so glib."

"Shall we continue watching, or...?"

Han Zhi had only spoken halfway when a shout came from the crowd:

"The trial has begun! Prefect Tian has taken the stage!"

Han Zhi and Su Zhen exchanged a glance, and then the former asked, "Uncle is holding court to hear a case. Eighth Sister, shall we go and take a look?"

Su Zhen glanced at Han Zhi, then at the direction of the government office, and nodded, saying:

"I have not yet seen the Emperor ascend the hall, so I will go and take a look."

"go!"

Since Su Zhen said she wanted to see it, then I'll take her there!