Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

93 Foster Son, Don't Be So Crazy (30)

Eight years later.

The capital shimmered with festival banners. Bright silks fluttered between marble archways, while street musicians played lutes and reed pipes. Flower garlands hung from the balconies of merchant houses. The birthday feast of the Crown Princess drew near, and the city pulsed with celebration. 

Foreign caravans rattled through the gates, their wagons brimming with lacquered boxes, dyed fabrics, and strange, fragrant oils. Traders, mercenaries, and pilgrims could be seen in every corner, their different languages rising and falling in a layered, bustling hum—sharp consonants from the northern steppes, lilting coastal dialects, the clipped syllables of desert traders. 

Street vendors called out in several tongues at once, each insisting that their spices were the rarest, their fabrics the finest, their charms the most effective. The air smelled of roasted chestnuts, tanned leather, and incense.

It was not strange to see travellers from afar come to the capital to spectate, or weasel an invitation from high-ranked nobles to the grand ball that was to be held the day after.

It was also not strange to see foreigners of mixed blood come and go,  bringing exotic things with their arrival.

But although these people were used to seeing foreigners, the capital's citizens still couldn't help but pause when they saw the girl on the white horse.

"Jia!"

A loud shout echoed. However, the young girl that rode the white horse didn't slow down. She rode like the wind, the horse responding to the slightest tug of the reins, its movement as fluid as flowing water. Her golden hair flowed behind her, her alabaster skin flushing pale pink over her cheekbones. Her sky-blue eyes were bright as the cloudless sky, and her lips were slightly parted.

Many men in the crowd couldn't help but swallow their saliva, their heartbeat involuntarily becoming faster.

"Jia, if you don't stop, I'll tell Su Liang what happened to her precious parsnips!"

The threat was very effective. Her lips pursed, Song Jia brought her horse to a sliding stop and waited for the other rider to catch up. It only took him a small amount of time to arrive before Song Jia.

He was a man that looked older than her, around his late twenties or so. He was broad-shouldered, sharply dressed in the layered wool and satin favored by high-ranking husbands of noble consorts. His hair was brushed back and bound with an engraved silver clasp, and his voice was sharp enough to cut through the street noise

"You're so reckless! We've just arrived and you're already showing off? Do you want her to discover us this early?"

Song Jia smiled. "Isn't that our plan? Why do I have to wait until the grand ball to show off?"

Inwardly, she clicked her tongue at him. Why was he the nervous one? He only needs to stand behind me and look handsome. This grandma is doing all the heavy lifting~

Nian Shou wanted to whack her on the head. Having spent all these years together with her, he immediately knew what she was thinking.

"We still haven't found all of her undercover forces. It still isn't time to expose ourselves."

"What is there to expose? I'm simply behaving my part as the impulsive daughter of a high noble. The more I act like this, the less suspicious she would be."

"What kind of abnormal reasoning is that? Are you trying to get out of trouble by speaking nonsense words again?"

The two of them were still arguing when a soft voice gently called out, "Shou'er."