After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

The dark alleys are very lively at night. Red lanterns are hung in front of stalls of all sizes, and cute little lanterns can be seen everywhere, which is also very unique.

In addition to refugees, beggars, and lawless criminals, there are also local people. They do some honest small business here. Amid the shouting, there are voices of people greeting each other, saying hello, or making funny jokes.

Yuan Ge looked around with interest for "Old Liu's spices" while paying attention to the crowd. He also whispered to Song Wenyuan, "Don't act like a lord Song. You don't want to return empty-handed after coming here. You have to find ways to blend in with them. Only in this way can you get the news you want from them, understand?... Really, you are the commander of the Jinyiwei after all. Do you still need me to teach you this kind of thing?"

The look in his eyes with a frown on his face, in the dim light, showed a kind of helplessness of being disappointed in someone.

The crowd on the opposite side rushed over here. Song Wenyuan protected her with one hand and pulled her to his side with the other hand, and then agreed perfunctorily, "Okay." According to his style of doing things, it was just to lure them with benefits, why bother to "share the joy with the people"? Moreover, with his status, he had a lot of lives on his shoulders, so it was inevitable that he had an invisible hostility and evil spirit. No matter how he disguised himself, it was not natural enough, and sometimes it backfired, causing people to speculate and be wary.

He did not explain to Yuan Ge, but lowered his head and asked softly, "Do you remember the spices I gave you just now?"

"Yeah." Yuan Ge nodded, her eyes slightly dark. Camphor, carpel, ambergris... When these three spices were put on the table, Yuan Ge knew why the petty official of the Maritime Customs was so important without Song Wenyuan telling her in person. Things that the court should have firmly controlled appeared in the hands of street vendors, and the Maritime Customs was the first to bear the brunt of them. However, if it was just the Maritime Customs, they should not have been so bold as to touch these three things. I'm afraid there are bigger fish behind them...

She looked back at Song Wenyuan, took a deep breath, pulled the corners of her mouth, adjusted her expression, and then pushed through the crowd and walked to the other side.

In front of Old Liu's spice stall, there was a skinny old man sitting. The old man was sitting cross-legged on the ground. He was wearing a gray-black robe which was a bit dirty. His bare hands had long, black and skinny fingers. He sat there silently and didn't shout. He seemed to have noticed someone stopping by and looked up. Yuan Ge was startled and there was a flash of surprise in his eyes that he couldn't hide - the man's face was also skinny and dry, but his two eyeballs looked very big, and one of them was white, which was particularly creepy when he stared at you.

It was obvious that none of the expressions I had sorted out before were useful anymore.

Miss Yuan looked at the other person with a complicated expression. She opened her mouth and was about to speak when she heard the old man slowly open his mouth and ask, "Miss... do you want to buy rouge or spices?" He spoke slowly, and each word was dragged out in a faint voice.

Even though there were people coming and going around her, Yuan Ge still felt cold all over for a moment, as if there was a wind blowing from the ground, blowing on her neck and making her limbs cold. She subconsciously tightened the hand that was holding Song Wenyuan's sleeve. The next moment, her fingertips were wrapped, and the warmth came from the other's palm to the back of her covered hand. The sound falling in her ears was slightly deep, which made her feel inexplicably relieved.

"Don't be afraid," he said.

Those two simple words instantly pulled her back into the crowd. She turned around and smiled, indicating that she was fine, then turned back to look at the old man again, "Sorry, I was distracted for a moment. This is Old Liu's spice shop. The auntie who sold tofu pudding just now introduced me here."

The old man lowered his head slightly, then slowly said, "Yes, usually my son comes here, but today he has something to do... Miss, are you looking for rouge or spices? They are all here, take a look."

Yuan Ge leaned over and sniffed it. After a while, he picked up a box of incense and smelled it. Then he turned around and handed it to Song Wenyuan, and asked with a chuckle, "Husband, does this smell good?" As he asked, he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Song Wenyuan was not surprised. He lowered his head and sniffed it, then shook his head and said calmly, "It's just average."

So Yuan Ge put the box of incense back to its original place, then lowered his body slightly and asked the other party in a low voice, "Old man, I want to ask if there is any more, um, more expensive incense. It's like this, my husband is going to participate in the imperial examination next year, so I have arranged to have dinner with several ladies of status in the city in a few days... I want to give them some incense that the ladies like, take a look, do you have any recommendations?"

The old man then tilted his head and looked at her with his big eyes, which made people feel scared. He stared for a long time, then suddenly pulled the corner of his mouth, tilted his head again, and waved his hand, "Little girl, you are joking. If you want to buy good things, you have to go to the East Market. The things in this dark alley are all from poor people. If you really give them away, your husband's career will be ruined. Let's go!" After saying that, he waved his hand again, and his voice was raised a little, as if he was annoyed that the other party was teasing him.

"Hey!" Yuan Ge didn't know how to walk, he raised his leg and was about to jump over the stall, but as he did so, he found that his hand was still being held... He was slightly stunned and struggled, but couldn't get free, so he blinked and gave a look to Lord Song.

Lord Song calmly followed the other person's gaze towards the hand he was holding, then calmly followed him holding the hand, and then he whispered, "There are too many people." This explained why he didn't let go.

Lord Song's expression was so calm and composed that Yuan Ge had to believe that he was really thinking about his own safety... Besides, they were still a "husband and wife relationship" now, so it would be bad to contradict himself, so he had no choice but to let him go.

She walked over to the old man and squatted down, continuing to explain in a voice that sounded almost like a thief, "Old man, this is it... I smelled a kind of fragrance in my friend's room before, like some kind of nail fragrance..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yuan Ge saw the other party's clenched fingertips tighten, and the nails were obviously white. She calmed down a little, and then continued, "I asked her where it came from, and she recommended the dark alley to me. The aunt just now also said that your family's spices are the best in this dark alley. Old man, I really need this incense. Since I really want it, can you give me a price? Sell me some?"

The old man who had his back to Yuan Ge just now suddenly turned around and swung his hand, almost hitting Song Wenyuan on the head. Fortunately, Song Wenyuan was quick and pulled the man up and protected him in his arms.

The other party was already furious. "What do you mean by fragrant or not? The old man said there is no such thing! You little girl, you want to force me to buy it because I am blind in one eye and have two broken legs?!"

The sudden rise in the volume attracted the attention of the people around, and they all looked over with unfriendly expressions.