"We should split up here." 

At the entrance to the lane full of medicine vendors and stalls, Mei Yanran paused to address Chen Xiao, who had just caught up with them. A few minutes earlier, he'd come to the window of the Spirit Returning Herbhouse to report that Wei Wanru was on her way to buy her medicinal ingredients just as scheduled.

"Xiao Chen, you go track down that little beggar boy. He's not buying any rare ingredients today, so he could be around any of the common shops. Xiao Xue (小雪) and I will start walking after you so we can meet halfway."

"Yes, young Miss," Chen Xiao gave a quick nod before disappearing into the sparse crowds.

Mei Yanran next took the hand of her servant girl Xiao Xue and headed confidently into the lane. This was what Chu Yeguang had witnessed from his window before running all the way downstairs. By the time a certain crown prince had caught his breath outside the brothel, Mei Yanran and her servant girl were nowhere to be seen.

"Brother!" Chu Yexuan ran over behind him, not a bit out of breath. "What's gotten into you?"

Chu Yeguang waved an impatient hand back. "I'm certain I saw her just then."

It was common protocol for the princes to have guards tailing them for safety, especially if they left the palace alone. Chu Yexuan was always slipping away and losing his guards on purpose, but Chu Yeguang simply ignored his when they kept out of sight. Now he looked askance at his brother before snapping his fingers three times in succession.

Immediately, three men dressed in imperial guard regalia appeared in front of the prince. The streets right outside the alley were still deserted during this time of day, so it was only the neighboring medicine district that had stragglers who quickly moved away at the sight of such formidable men.

"Spread out, search for a young lady and her servant girl," Chu Yeguang commanded smoothly. "They should look relatively well off---the girl has a light blue cloak with a fur collar and her servant is wearing pink. Don't alert them when you find them, but report back to me."

The three guards muttered an assent before scattering to start the search. Chu Yexuan creased his brows and asked, "Is it Mei Yanran?"

"Don't speak her name without permission," Chu Yeguang shot back, causing his brother to roll his eyes. 

"Fine, fine, Miss Mei then. I caught a glimpse of her before I followed you out, she was heading for the general medicine vendors."

Chu Yeguang's head whipped back, "Where?!"

Chu Yexuan merely grabbed him by the wrist. "C'mon, I'll take you there. I'm good with roads."

And then he dragged Chu Yeguang away...in a completely different direction from Mei Yanran's last known location.

Sorry brother, but it'd be better for your reputation if you're not chasing girls all the time.

---

"Y-young Miss, I think we're being followed," Xiao Xue murmured casually as she leaned over to brush nonexistent dirt off Mei Yanran's shoulders.

"Ah?" Mei Yanran glanced back in alarm.

"Not so sudden, young Miss, you'll a-alert them," Xiao Xue murmured back. 

Mei Yanran bent down slightly and whispered, "Who is it?"

Xiao Xue's eyes skimmed carefully to one side before coming back again. "This servant can't see them from here, but they're keeping their distance for now." She paused as her eyes narrowed, her ears straining to catch the quiet footfalls on the roof. "And now t-they're gone."

Mei Yanran gave her servant a complex look before she sighed. She hadn't taken as much care making her servant girls beyond ensuring they would never betray her trust, her estate, or her orders. All of them were highly perceptive, intuitive but tactful types that had been assigned random personality traits by the goddess to give them more variety. For example, Xiao Xue tended to stutter when she was nervous.

"Any others?" Mei Yanran asked.

Xiao Xue tilted her head to the side as they walked, before inclining her chin, "T-two more. If they're working with the first one then this servant thinks they're scouts."

If the guards could hear her now, they would surely be astonished. As bodyguards assigned to protect the crown prince, their martial arts levels were top-notch. Beyond high level experts in the jianghu and their own third imperial prince, few were their match. But all of that paled next to the outrageously cheat-level perception of Mei Yanran's servant girl. In fact, one of the reasons Xiao Xue, Chen Xiao, and the others were so extraordinary was because their young Miss was not. Mei Yanran still entertained the idea of charming Ling Fengxiao with her ordinary self, not an overpowered, amazing, cheat-pumped caricature of what she could be.

People following us in broad daylight? Mei Yanran's eyebrows creased. That's a bit soon, right? I haven't done enough to attract any spies from jealous rivals!

At this moment, Chen Xiao returned to their side, startling his mistress. "Young Miss, I've found the target, but he's still some ways from here."

Mei Yanran processed his words and thought fast. "Are there a lot of stalls there?" she asked.

"Plenty," Chen Xiao replied. Being an older part of the city, the streets here were more narrow and the shops packed close, so even minimum crowds made travel difficult.

"Can you take us there to hide, quick?" Mei Yanran asked next. "We're being followed and I'd like to lose whoever's tracking us right now."

Chen Xiao glanced at Xiao Xue next, who simply looked at him and mouthed, There's two. His pupils narrowed, then trailed to the side as he confirmed the faint traces of qi from the pair of presences on a nearby roof. Then he nodded before offering Mei Yanran his hand. "Please hold on, young Miss."

Skin contact was one of the easiest ways to transfer internal energy in this world, and by extension a portion of the skills that such energy powered. As Mei Yanran grabbed her guard's hand, Chen Xiao stepped forward and covered the distance of three men in a single bound. Immediately, this leap was followed by a second, then a third, fourth, and fifth. Though Xiao Xue was no fighter, she was no slouch in the speed department either, and kept in close pursuit. Meanwhile, the two imperial guards still keeping watch grew alarmed and immediately rose to give chase in silence. They followed the trio as they rounded a corner, only to come upon---nothing. 

Chen Xiao wasn't quite as simple as Lin Zhiying. He also knew the shadow arts, but chose to use it once they were out of sight, effectively putting half the medicine market between them and their pursuers. By the time they stopped, they were at least ten lanes and 15 turns away. Xiao Xue released her last-minute hold on the hem of Chen Xiao's robes to catch Mei Yanran as she wobbled slightly from the landing.

"Over there," Chen Xiao said next, still holding onto Mei Yanran's hand. He gestured with his chin towards an abandoned stalled nearly hidden by empty boxes, and the three slipped behind the stack before anyone noticed. Because the stall bordered another alley, it was a convenient place to hang out and spy on the lane before them. Mei Yanran stuck a cautious head out until she saw a short figure not far down the street, and grinned.

There's the beggar boy! Now all we have to do is wait for the female lead to show up and start the show.

--

Meanwhile, Chu Yexuan had been leading Chu Yeguang on a wild goose chance through the district while evading the single guard that was running back to report. 

"Where are you taking us?!" Chu Yeguang called between leaps.

"Don't worry, we're almost there!" Chu Yexuan grinned.

Chu Yeguang scowled. "There's no way she would've traveled so far in such a short time!"

Chu Yexuan ignored him. Unfortunately, he was surprised by the two other imperial guards who suddenly appeared in front of the pair, causing his steps to falter. Chu Yeguang took the chance to wrest his wrist out of Chu Yexuan's grasp, thus breaking their connection. "Well, how is it?" he asked the guards.

The guards exchanged glances. Their momentary pause gave enough time for the first guard to catch up and cup his fist before his chest. "Your Highness, the targets were spotted in the Northwest Lane!" 

Chu Yeguang glanced at him, then back at the other two. Immediately, both of them bowed and cupped their fists with a bow. "Your Highness, the targets then vanished before we could catch up to them. We subordinates are incompetent, may Your Highness mete punishment."

"Vanished?" Chu Yeguang echoed incredulously.

"Your Highness, someone took the targets and left, presumably her guard," the imperial guard replied. "We lost them around a corner."

"Then keep looking!" Chu Yeguang snapped. Immediately, the three guards muttered an assent and scattered once more.

"Brother, if Miss Mei is out on personal business, we shouldn't bother her," Chu Yexuan spoke up. "She has nothing to do with us."

Chu Yeguang scoffed. "Maybe not you, but this prince has a genuine reason to see her." After all, he hadn't left his command token with Mei Yanran's servant girl for nothing. Now was a perfect excuse to ask for it back while seizing the chance to speak with her.  

Chu Yexuan knitted his eyebrows. He was about to speak again when a flash of pale green caught his eye. Glancing towards the source, he saw that it was the flutter of a sleeve as a young woman lifted a hand to adjust the contents of her basket. Then the woman lifted her head, and---

"Wei Wanru?" Chu Yexuan blurted out at the sight of her face.

With a start, Wei Wanru slowly looked up and locked eyes for the first time with her future husband-to-be.