After taking one last look at Li Xuanba’s corpse, Yunyi struggled to stand up and stumbled toward the exit. The most urgent matter now was to find Feng Li. With Li Xuanba dead, Ajin was her only remaining lead.

After washing the blood from her body, Yunyi gathered some dry grass and firewood, piling them outside the door. She then took out the fire starter she carried with her and ignited them. Soon the flames, aided by the wind, consumed the firewood and spread toward the door of the house. She imagined that by the time someone discovered the fire here, Li Xuanba’s body would already be burned beyond recognition, unidentifiable. No one would know that the person who died here was the Third Young Master of the Governor’s residence!

In the blazing firelight, Yunyi turned and left. There was still half a day until dark, and she must find a way to locate Ajin.

After returning to the city, Yunyi went to see Wu Laosan. When he inquired, she made the excuse that she had heard him coughing yesterday and was worried, so she had specially returned to check on him.

Wu Laosan was naturally delighted by Yunyi’s filial concern, saying: “Father is fine, just a bit of a dry throat. Drinking more tea will help. But you, frequently coming out like this will invite gossip. This time is acceptable, but next time absolutely not, even if Third Madam is willing to show you favor.”

“I understand,” Yunyi agreed. As she did so, Wu Laosan noticed the wound on her arm and asked in surprise: “How did you get injured? What happened?”

Seeing Wu Laosan’s anxious expression, a warm current flowed through Yunyi’s heart. She smiled and said: “It’s nothing. On the way back, I accidentally got scratched by a tree branch. It’s not serious.”

“You…” Wu Laosan hesitated, then stopped. Yunyi asked curiously: “What does Father want to say?”

A trace of sadness flashed in Wu Laosan’s eyes, then he shook his head: “Nothing, just telling you to be more careful. Fortunately it’s on your arm – if it had been on your face, that would have been terrible. Wait here, Father will get you medicine. Even the smallest wound can’t be taken lightly, or it will be troublesome if it becomes infected.”

He quickly brought wound medicine and gauze. Since Wu Laosan often went hunting in the mountains and inevitably got injured sometimes, he always kept some wound medicine at home. After rolling up her sleeve and cleaning Yunyi’s wound, he sprinkled pale yellow medicinal powder on it, then wrapped it tightly with gauze, saying: “There, remember to change it every other day until the wound is completely healed. Don’t forget.” As he spoke, he stuffed the wound medicine and gauze into Yunyi’s hands. “Also, remember not to get it wet, and don’t eat chicken, beef, or steamed buns – they’re not good for wound healing.”

Yunyi smiled and agreed: “I know, Father, you’re so long-winded!”

Wu Laosan gently pinched Yunyi’s cheek and laughingly scolded: “You little girl, Father isn’t old yet and you’re already complaining about being long-winded. What about in the future? Will you stop visiting Father?”

Yunyi grasped his hand and acted coquettishly: “Of course not! Even if Father is long-winded, you’re still my very best father!”

“Such a sweet talker!” Wu Laosan said, taking needle and thread and squinting as he carefully mended Yunyi’s torn sleeve. Whether during her time in the Luoyang Imperial Palace or after arriving in Honghua Prefecture, Yunyi had never worn mended clothes. But now she felt particularly warm, more so than any garment she had ever worn.

After Wu Laosan bit off the thread, Yunyi turned to look at the mended area and smiled: “Father’s handiwork is really good – you can hardly tell!”

“If I couldn’t even mend clothes, how could I have raised you? When you were little and didn’t have enough clothes to wear, I would find scraps of fabric and figure out how to cut and sew new ones based on your existing clothes. At first I didn’t sew well, and the rough edges often rubbed your skin raw. Later, after sewing more, I learned how to do it properly. Father still remembers one year when I got you a piece of floral fabric and four taels of cotton to make a padded jacket for winter. You were so happy you couldn’t sleep for several nights, saying you would wear it forever. But in just two years you had outgrown it. You couldn’t bear to throw it away, so you kept it locked in a chest. Look, it’s still there even now.” Speaking of Meixue’s past, Wu Laosan chattered on endlessly.

Yunyi listened with a smile for a while, then said: “Alright, if you keep talking, it’ll be dark soon. When I came earlier, I saw someone selling fresh fish on the street – all live ones. Let me go buy you one to try.”

With Wu Laosan’s enthusiastic agreement, Yunyi headed out. She didn’t notice that after she turned around, Wu Laosan’s gaze became inexplicably sorrowful.

Yunyi made her way to the market. Although almost every household had had their men conscripted to attack Goguryeo, causing them great grief, life had to go on. After some time of recuperation, Honghua Prefecture was gradually beginning to recover some vitality, and vendors had returned to the streets. However, many of the stall owners were now women.

Yunyi went from one fish vendor to another, inquiring about someone named Ajin. The vendors all shook their heads, saying they didn’t know him. When she reached the end of the street, a woman of about forty thought for a moment and said: “Ajin? Could it be the Mu family who lives outside the city and makes a living by fishing?”

Yunyi had no idea, so she went along with what the woman said: “Yes, that’s him. Auntie, do you know him?”

Just then someone came to buy fish. The woman selected a fish, weighed it, and gave it to the customer. While collecting the money, she said to Yunyi: “How could I not know him? Look, these fish are bought from him. Both father and son are very honest – they never pass off inferior goods as good ones, and they never short-change on weight. It’s just that they’re both very taciturn and don’t know how to talk. Plus, they only have one old boat and can’t catch many fish, so they often only come to sell fish every few days, and in small quantities.”

Yunyi was delighted and quickly asked: “Auntie, do you know where they live?”

“Of course I know,” the woman was about to answer when she suddenly became suspicious: “But why are you asking about this, young lady? If you want to buy fish, just buy from me. Ajin’s house is very far from here.”

Yunyi smiled and said: “Auntie doesn’t know – a few days ago my father wanted to eat fish, so I came to the street to buy some for him. Who knew that I was careless and had my money pouch stolen? Ajin happened to be passing by, and when he heard about this, he gave me a fish. Father said we couldn’t just accept someone’s kindness for nothing, so he told me to deliver the money to him. But I only knew his name was Ajin and nothing else, so I could only come here to ask around.”

“So that’s how it is,” the woman responded and readily told Yunyi where Ajin lived. Yunyi thanked her repeatedly and bought a fish from her stall.

Returning home, she gave the fish to Wu Laosan and made an excuse about having business to attend to before leaving again. She hurried out of the city toward the place the woman had mentioned – time was getting late, and she needed to handle this matter quickly.

After leaving the city, Yunyi walked while asking for directions. After walking for about an hour, she finally arrived at the place the woman had described. She approached the two dilapidated wooden houses and knocked on the door: “Is anyone home?”

Before long, a young man came to open the door – it was Ajin. He looked Yunyi over and asked: “Miss, do you need something?”