The West Market, although bustling and lively, also has many dilapidated areas. These places are connected to the North Market, and the beggars of the West Market mostly live around here.
The houses in this area are shabby, chaotic, and reek of foul odors.
Tong An didn’t expect Ding Yuan used to live in such a rundown place, but the place he had lived in the palace before wasn’t much better than here.
At this time, it was dusk, and the beggars living here had all gone to the night market to beg.
In the night market, not only could they get food, but with some luck, they might also receive one or two copper coins from kind-hearted people.
Ding Yuan used to live at the very back of this area. The place he lived in was so broken and small that it wasn’t sought after by other beggars.
Tong An saw Ding Yuan searching back and forth in his old broken shed and asked, "Ding Yuan, what are you looking for?"
"A bundle, there should be some books inside." Ding Yuan said, "Last night, I dreamed about things from my past, and I dreamed that I had a bundle with a few books inside."
Tong An knew about Ding Yuan’s memory loss, and hearing this, he asked in surprise, "Are you starting to regain your memory now?"
Ding Yuan shook his head and said, "Not really, it’s just that recently I’ve been dreaming about things that seem like they might be from the past; I don’t know if they’re real, so I want to verify it."
"I see, then I’ll help you look."
"It should be around here." Ding Yuan picked up a piece of wood and began digging. Seeing this, Tong An helped him dig.
The two dug for an hour and finally found a bundle, a ragged cloth bundle.
"Yes, it’s exactly the same as in my dream." Ding Yuan said joyfully, immediately reaching out to take out the ragged cloth bundle. He hurriedly opened it and found that there were indeed a few books inside, but the covers of these books had no titles.
He reached out to pick up the first book, and carefully flipped through it, and the words "Pei Family Precepts" came into view.
He and Tong An spoke in unison: "Pei Family Precepts?"
The pages of the book were yellowed, and the words were somewhat blurry, but still legible.
"Pei Family?" Ding Yuan felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and warmth. "Was I a part of the Pei Family before?"
"Highly possible." Tong An glanced at a few lines of the Pei Family Precepts, and remarked with surprise, "Ding Yuan, maybe your family was a big family before. I remember only big families have precepts."
Ding Yuan looked at the contents of the Pei Family Precepts, and the sense of familiarity in his heart grew stronger.
"I feel like I’ve memorized this book of precepts before, as if someone forced me to memorize it."
"Then you must be a member of the Pei Family." Tong An congratulated Ding Yuan, "Ding Yuan, congratulations, you have a surname now, you are now called Pei Dingyuan."
"Pei Dingyuan?" Ding Yuan laughed, "The surname Pei and the name Dingyuan match well."
"Quick, see what the other books are." Tong An urged.
Ding Yuan quickly opened the remaining two books. These two books still lacked titles, and their contents were very strange. They looked like poems but weren’t, like stories but weren’t. They seemed mystical and it was unclear what they meant.
"When the Young Master comes, show them to him, maybe he’ll know what they mean." In Tong An’s heart, there was nothing Zhao Yao couldn’t figure out.
Ding Yuan also believed Zhao Yao could identify what these books were, "Let’s show them to the Young Master then."
"It’s getting late, we should head back."
"Alright." Ding Yuan took a deep look at the place he had once lived before leaving.
Just then, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind.
A middle-aged woman sternly instructed him, "You must return to..."
"You must go back... you must find them... you must see them... you must..." The middle-aged woman’s words weren’t finished before her eyes closed, and she became silent.
Tong An walked a few steps, saw Ding Yuan standing there motionless, and hurriedly went back to ask concernedly, "Ding Yuan, what’s wrong?"
"Some images just flashed through my mind; a woman told me I must go back, but didn’t say where. She also told me to see someone, but didn’t say who." Ding Yuan tried hard to recall but his mind was blank, he couldn’t remember anything.
Ding Yuan raised his hand to tap his head, hoping to remember something, but his mind still drew a blank.
Tong An caught his hand and consoled him, "Even if you beat your head, you won’t remember anything."
"Tong An, I feel like I’ve forgotten something very important."
"Since it’s an important matter, you’ll remember it eventually." Tong An patted Ding Yuan’s shoulder and comforted him, "You’ve started dreaming about the past now, haven’t you? That’s a good sign, maybe you’ll keep dreaming about past things, and one day you’ll remember it all."
With Tong An’s comfort, Ding Yuan felt much better.
"Let’s go, time to head home."
After walking for a while, Ding Yuan looked at Tong An beside him and suddenly said, "Tong An, the Young Master is actually a prince, isn’t he?"
Hearing this, Tong An was so shocked he almost tripped, but managed to stabilize himself just in time. He looked at Ding Yuan in astonishment, "You knew?"
"I figured it out a long time ago." Ding Yuan had also known Tong An’s identity for some time, but considerately kept it to himself. "The Young Master doesn’t seem like the son of an ordinary wealthy family."
"Then why don’t you guess he’s the son of an official’s family?"
"The Young Master’s demeanor doesn’t fit a child from an official’s household." Ding Yuan said with a smile, "Moreover, the things the Young Master arranges aren’t something an official’s child would do."
"The true identity of the Young Master, I can’t tell you. Next time the Young Master comes, you can ask him directly, he’ll probably tell you."
"Alright." In fact, Ding Yuan had also guessed Zhao Yao’s identity. He had heard from the teacher about some royal matters before, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the Young Master is the Tenth Prince.