The straw mat under the old locust tree in the backyard of the Xuan'an Bureau was bleached white by the moonlight. Pi Yanlin lay sprawled across it, his left foot propped up and hooked around half an unfinished sesame candy cake.
Gu Qinghuan's Xiuchun Saber rested beside him, the silk wrapping on its scabbard gleaming with night dew—the result of him intentionally nudging it askew when he tucked it in for her earlier.
"Lord Pi!" came the gong-like shout of a junior constable from the front courtyard. The tail end of his voice bounced off the spirit screen, startling the night owl in the locust tree into a frantic flutter of wings.
Chapter 220