Candied Hawthorns Paired with Ginseng Fruit

Xiao bestowed the name Xiao Zhan upon the dragon child! That meant Xiao merely served as his surname; what, then, were the characters that followed his surname?

"What are the characters that follow your surname?"

Moli blurted out, only realizing her lapse in decorum the moment the words left her lips, and she dared not meet Xiao Junwang's reaction.

Seeing that Moli was answering a question with an unrelated query, Xiao Junwang drifted off in thought for a moment. He could no longer remember how long it had been since anyone had asked for his given name; usually, others simply addressed him as Xiao, while those aware of his status called him Your Eminence...

"To reign supreme over the world, without a single vain defiance against the firmament."

"Jun-wang."

Xiao Junwang uttered his name with exceptional clarity, word by word, even reciting the meaning behind it from when it was first given to him.

"Xiao Junwang?"

Moli repeated his given name, appending his surname as if she had not yet had her fill of it.

The name itself was not particularly extraordinary, but the explanation behind it carried a resonance that could not help but intoxicate the listener, much like the expectations Xiao held when naming the dragon child.

Because every household had barred their doors and extinguished their lights, the two of them could not find a place to settle for the night and were forced to spend a miserable evening making do in a dilapidated courtyard near the ruins.

By the next day, the main city was indeed just as bustling and prosperous as Feng Wujiang had described, forming a sharp contrast to the sparse population of the previous night.

***

The dragon child was still young. Last night, Moli had told him to protect the pearl well, and now, seeing the crowded streets, he actually tucked the pearl securely inside his tunic, not forgetting to pat his pocket afterwards to confirm it was safe and sound.

A vendor passing by on the street was crying out the sale of candied haws. Seeing their bright red gloss, the dragon child's mouth watered with greed, and he made a fuss insisting on eating them. In the end, it was Xiao Junwang who produced some silver and bought ten large skewers of them for him in one go.

Watching the dragon child devour the candied haws down to the last stick while still looking as though he hadn't had enough, Moli turned her gaze back to the silent Xiao Junwang.

"Is it really okay for the dragon child to eat so many of these? This..."

"Have a taste yourself."

Facing Moli's worry, Xiao Junwang produced from behind his back a large, particularly tempting skewer of bright red candied haws and handed it to her. It seemed this woman had never tried candied haws before...

Moli blushed, looked left and right, and upon discovering that no one was paying attention to her, she finally took the skewered fruit from Xiao Junwang, tore off the wrapping, and began to eat it bite by bite.

Sweet with a hint of tartness, tart with a hint of sweetness, it was not cloying at all and left one craving another bite after the first.

"Mother~~"

The dragon child called out to Moli, climbed onto Xiao Junwang's shoulder, and taking advantage of the moment she was swallowing a piece of candied haw, stuffed a soft little berry right into her mouth.

Before Moli could even see clearly, she chewed up what the dragon child had fed her along with the candied fruit and swallowed it.

"Dragon child, where did you get that wild fruit?"

***

Seeing Moli nearly choke, Xiao Junwang gave the dragon child a light slap on his bottom and asked with a stern face.

The item the dragon child had just fed to Moli was a fully formed millennium ginseng fruit. It was only thanks to his sharp, discerning eyes, which recognized that it was non-toxic, that he had dared let the dragon child feed it to her.

People came and went in a constant stream on the main street, yet not a single person paid them any heed.

"Th-that's where~~ I saw it fall out of that older brother's pocket. It smelled so good, so I picked it up."

The dragon child confessed honestly, pointing to a young gentleman sitting in a wheelchair not far away, his brows furrowing into a wronged expression on his cute little face.

Following his direction, Xiao Junwang did indeed spot a somewhat familiar face, though for a moment he could not recall where he had seen him.

The young gentleman in the wheelchair seemed to have sensed something. He stopped in a panic, frantically patting his pockets left and right, while the people surrounding him also came to a halt amidst loud exclamations:

"Where is it? Where is it?"

In the bustling street, a group of people suddenly ground to a halt and descended into chaos, causing a blockage along the thoroughfare.