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

Su Zhen smiled, tightened her grip on Han Zhi's hand again, and walked forward.

Little Black was restless in Su Zhen's arms, its four paws waving in the air. It also made occasional "woofing" sounds, its chubby body trying to move forward, seemingly unhappy about being held all the time.

Su Zhen lifted it up a little higher and laughed, "If my husband is disobedient, will Little Black also be disobedient?"

Hearing Su Zhen's voice, Xiao Hei raised its head and nuzzled against Su Zhen's chin affectionately. Su Zhen was amused by it, and its smile widened, so it let it rub against him.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, she glanced at Han Zhi, who was walking beside her. His gaze was fixed on the other side, his eyes holding a deep, unsettling light.

"My lord? Is something on your mind?" Su Zhen asked softly. "If so, let's go home now and get some rest."

Han Zhi turned around, shook his head, and sighed, "They say a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness, but how come my weight is not even half as much as Xiao Hei's?"

Su Zhen was stunned for a moment, and quickly realized that she had been tricked again. She was so angry that she wanted to pinch him, but the only free hand she had was grabbed by the other party.

"No, my lord, don't be jealous. Xiao Hei is just a pet, and you are my husband. Why should I be jealous of a pet?"

Han Zhi started acting cheeky, even taking a bite out of the candied hawthorn skewer he had given Su Zhen, and said:

"I don't care, I want Ba Niang to hold me anyway."

"How can you be so shameless, sir? This little black boy is not like you..."

“What’s different? I think it must be that Eighth Sister is biased.”

This infuriated Su Zhen. She couldn't pinch him, and she couldn't scold him in public, so she simply pulled out her most long-buried and deeply hidden trump card—a weapon that even her father, Su Xun, and her mother, Madam Cheng, had rarely seen—

"I...I'm not going to talk to you anymore, sir! I won't say anything to you either!" Su Zhen was very unhappy and simply decided to ignore Han Zhi.

Han Zhi's face instantly turned pale, as green as a withered vegetable leaf that had been picked. He quickly brought the candied hawthorn back to Su Zhen's lips, also trying to coax her:

"Eighth Sister? Good Eighth Sister? My precious Eighth Sister? My good darling Eighth Sister?"

Su Zhen pretended not to hear and just looked away, even Xiao Hei followed her, looking in another direction. She didn't even glance at the candied hawthorn that was brought to her mouth.

For some reason, Su Zhen walked directly in a certain direction, and Han Zhi dared not disobey, so he passively followed.

Reaching the entrance, he looked up and realized it was a brokerage firm. Su Zhen put Xiao Hei down, slapped Han Zhi's hand away, and went inside.

Han Zhi was about to follow Su Zhen inside when Su Zhen glared at him and pulled him back.

"Dare to give it a try?"

It said nothing, yet it was as if it said everything.

Han Zhi swallowed hard and had no choice but to stand with Xiao Hei at the door, the two of them standing together.

This time, it didn't take long before Su Zhen came out. Han Zhi was about to go up to her and take her hand, but she didn't even look at him and picked up Xiao Hei directly.

"Eighth Sister? Good Eighth Sister, please pay attention to me!" Han Zhi could only hurriedly follow behind her.

"I am so biased, and you are so devoted, why don't you go find another lover and insist on following me?" Su Zhen felt that she had neglected him and felt bad, so she freed one hand.

The rest depends on his own understanding. If he still doesn't understand this, then he's been angry for nothing.

Fortunately, Han Zhi took Su Zhen's hand and put down the already cold candied hawthorn to warm her hands himself.

"I'm just trying to win back Ba Niang. What if one day, my devotion makes the biased Ba Niang change her mind?" Han Zhi said with a playful smile, and then kissed Su Zhen outside.

"Pah, to be so dissolute outside, you have no shame whatsoever." Su Zhen spat at him with a laugh.

"I don't care! I have to let the whole world know that Eighth Sister is my most beloved wife, Han Zhi's most cherished wife." Han Zhi said shamelessly as always.

……

"Get out! You don't even have money, and you're dreaming of having a wife? You're dreaming!"

The couple were still flirting on the road when they were suddenly startled by a loud shout, and their gaze immediately shifted. At that moment, Xiao Hei also barked, and Han Zhi and Su Zhen saw a man lying on the snow not far ahead.

They hurried forward, but before they reached him, they saw the man get up from the snow, the snow falling off him. But he raised his hand, pointed at the door, and cursed:

"You lot really don't know what's good for you! This poem may be elegant, but you can't see its true meaning! You're all so vulgar!"

Han Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly before he could see the man's profile clearly—Liu Yong.

The two thugs who had just thrown him out came forward again, cursing, "How dare you, a down-on-your-luck man, talk about the women in our building?"

As they spoke, they were about to attack again.

Seeing this, Han Zhi immediately shouted, "Spare them!"

The two thugs stopped at this point, but they weren't looking at Han Zhi; instead, they were looking into the building behind them.

Looking in the direction the thugs were looking, Han Zhiren was dumbfounded—

Is it still Pingluan Tower?!

But it was Chen Shishi who came out of the door. She stretched out her hand as if to stop the two thugs. Han Zhi and Su Zhen also hurried forward, coming into Chen Shishi's line of sight.

"Young Master Han?"

Chen Shishi seemed somewhat surprised. Her appearance was not intentional, but rather rather sudden—after all, she was still holding a pipa in her arms.

"Madam Chen, what's going on?" Although Su Zhen didn't particularly like Liu Yong's style of poetry, it was rather inappropriate to resort to violence like this.

Chen Shishi sighed and explained, "Master Liu came here today to listen to music and seek pleasure, but he is in a bit of a mess and has no money on him. He said he wants to use the lyrics and music to pay for the drinks."

"But we refused on the grounds that we had come up with new words. Lord Liu did not insist, so he went to find other ladies in our brothel. As a result, this is how things turned out."

Looking at Han Zhi and Su Zhen standing in the snow, she asked again, "Young Master Han and Lady Su, what's going on?"

Han Zhi explained, "I brought my wife out for a walk to clear her head, but we just happened to be passing by when this happened."

It's not Han Zhi's fault. It's just that his house is only two or three streets away from here. It's not that he wanted to come here.

Chen Shishi bowed again and said, "Did I startle Mr. Han and Mrs. Su today? If you were frightened, please forgive me."

"It's alright, it's alright. How much does this Master Liu owe for wine? Let's pay it to avoid any more arguments," Han Zhi asked at this moment.

"It's nothing. He owes money for drinks, but he also got punched by the thugs in the building, so it's not good for him to take it back." Chen Shishi shook her head, but it was unclear whether she was just being polite or if that was really the case.

Liu Yong waved his hand and snorted heavily. Chen Shishi sighed, deciding not to pay him any more attention, and went into the building with two thugs.

As for Liu Yong, he stood somewhat unsteadily in the wind and snow. The young couple exchanged a glance, then, with a hint of helplessness, could only step forward—

"Master Liu?"

Liu Yong, feeling dizzy, turned his head and bowed, saying, "If I remember correctly, you must be Han Zhi, the young master."

"Exactly."

"I have the pleasure of reading Han Langjun's new poem today. The line 'Half a lifetime adrift in mountains and seas, a lone boat' perfectly captures the sense of desolation. I admire it."

Liu Yong cupped his hands and said sincerely.