Li Mu’s heart became as turbulent as the rolling river waters beneath his feet—a vast expanse of confusion.

He never could have dreamed that everything had been fine, so why had she suddenly changed her mind? He had merely been delayed on the road by the Jingkou Magistrate for a while, yet she had left him without even a word of farewell and returned to Jiankang?

He spun around sharply and demanded sternly: “Madam left no other words?”

The attendant recalled the scene when Madam had arrived at the ferry, boarded the boat, ordered these trunks to be carried off, told him to watch them, said those words for him to relay, then sailed away. Even now he was still completely baffled, lost in a fog. Seeing Li Mu’s very ugly expression, he shrank his neck and said quietly: “She left no other words. At the time, after saying that, she just left me there and went…”

Li Mu remembered how she had barely acknowledged him after leaving home this morning, and thought of their conversation last night, his heart rising and falling uncertainly.

He had a vague feeling she was angry with him.

But he truly couldn’t understand why she would still be angry with him.

He felt he had long since figured it out, no longer caring about the musical score matter, and naturally, he also believed her words.

Li Mu really didn’t know what else he had done wrong to cause such dissatisfaction that she would make this willful move of abandoning him and leaving alone.

He felt somewhat annoyed. Frowning slightly, he suddenly remembered that when talking with the Jingkou Magistrate just now, the man had mentioned that someone had come early in the morning to report that he had left early, so he had hurried to catch up, fortunately not missing the send-off.

At the time he hadn’t paid attention to the Magistrate’s words. But now, thinking carefully, suddenly he seemed to understand something.

Luoshen’s abandoning him to leave alone was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision made at the ferry.

Very likely, this morning’s Jingkou Magistrate had been summoned by her. These past few days at home, she had seemed normal, getting along harmoniously and intimately with his mother and A’Ting, appearing the same as always in front of him, but perhaps in her heart, she had already formed this plan.

He had been fooled by his little wife, completely unaware until this final moment when he finally understood.

Li Mu’s expression became even uglier. Seeing the attendant still staring at him stupidly, he said with a stern face, ordering him to temporarily move the luggage to the inn and wait there, not to return home and alarm Lu Shi, while he himself would immediately give chase.

He followed the riverbank westward, chasing for an entire day until evening, when he reached a dock where boats could moor for the night. After searching through all the boats moored there, he still didn’t see any trace of the boat Luoshen was on.

This stretch of waterway, being close to Jiankang, was busy with river traffic. Hundreds of boats sailed the river, shuttling back and forth from morning to night without pause. That boat looked quite ordinary outwardly with nothing distinctive about it. Moreover, the river surface was broad—if it traveled far from the riverbank, he wouldn’t necessarily be able to see its shadow without missing anything.

Li Mu stood by the river, gazing at the dim river surface after sunset, lost in thought for a moment before making a new decision.

He decided to stop this futile and foolish action.

He would travel overland. If he went at full speed, he would certainly be faster than her water route.

Rather than blindly searching for a needle in a haystack like this, fearing he might miss her, it would be better to get ahead of her and rush to that lock gate a hundred li east of Jiankang City on the waterway to wait there, sitting by a tree stump waiting for rabbits, and intercept her when her boat arrived.

Having made up his mind, Li Mu’s emotions, which had been chaotic all day, finally gradually calmed down. He hastily found a nearby place to eat, filled his stomach, rested briefly, then continued on his way. Within a day, he had reached the river lock.

The river lock was less than a hundred li from Jiankang. All boats had to pass through this checkpoint to enter the waterway leading to the imperial city.

Just days ago, Li Mu had taken Luoshen by boat through the lock gate when leaving Jiankang for Jingkou, so the lock official naturally recognized him. Suddenly seeing him return, appearing out of nowhere saying he wanted to wait here for a boat to arrive, the official was puzzled but didn’t dare ask too many questions. He received him cordially, waiting only for the boat he sought to arrive.

Li Mu thus waited at the lock gate for three days.

During these three days, no fewer than a thousand boats passed through this essential checkpoint bound for Jiankang.

For three entire days, from morning to night, from the opening to the closing of the lock, Li Mu personally watched, not letting any boat pass unnoticed.

But among all those boats, he never saw hers.

And counting the days, even if she traveled slowly, her boat should have arrived by today at the latest.

Li Mu could no longer be certain. His mood had changed from initial confusion and annoyance to worry and anxiety.

This stretch of waterway, being near Jiankang, had been peaceful and safe for many years, and Fan Cheng and others were all traveling with her, so Li Mu hadn’t originally worried about her safety, only wanting to intercept her early and bring her back.

He was absolutely certain she couldn’t have traveled so fast as to bypass him and reach Jiankang first.

But for some unknown reason, she had never arrived.

Li Mu waited another day with increasingly anxious and uneasy feelings, still seeing no sign of her boat.

He could wait no longer. He told the lock official to continue watching there, borrowed several men, and in his own name sent them separately to various government offices along the route to ask if there had been any reports of waterway incidents in recent days, while he himself turned back along the riverbank, inquiring and searching as he went.

Another day passed with still no news.

Such a large boat along with all the people on it had vanished like a drop of water under the sun, without a trace.

The person sent to the Jingkou Magistrate finally brought back word. The Magistrate had personally made quiet inquiries near the Li family—in recent days, Mrs. Li had not returned.

Hope was dashed once again.

Li Mu had gone several nights without proper sleep. He was nearly driven to distraction with worry.

Originally he hadn’t wanted to let Gao Qiao and the Eldest Princess know about this matter, thinking he would intercept her and take her away before she returned home in anger, and the matter would pass.

Now looking back, that original idea seemed so laughable.

He harbored a last thread of hope, praying heaven would take pity and a miracle might still occur.

Perhaps she really had traveled faster than him. Before he reached that lock gate, she had already returned to Jiankang. At this moment, she was safely at home.

This day, just as dawn was breaking, he entered Jiankang, crossed the empty streets, and came before the main gate of the Gao family residence.

In the dim morning light, the two black lacquered doors were tightly closed before him. The area in front of the gate was empty, with only the two lanterns above the main gate that hadn’t yet been extinguished swaying gently in the morning breeze, welcoming his returning footsteps.

He walked up the steps with heavy strides, stood before the threshold, gathered his courage, raised his hand, and grasped one of the door knockers on the main gate.

After a long while, the sound of shuffling footsteps finally came from inside the door.

With a “creak,” the door opened a crack.

“Who is it? Knocking so early…”

From inside the door emerged the head of the Gao family’s gatekeeper.

He was bleary-eyed, yawning as he looked at the person standing outside the door.

That person was covered in dust from travel, his face full of exhaustion and fatigue, his eye sockets sunken, his eyes bloodshot. The gatekeeper’s eyes widened in shock: “Li Langjun?”

Coming to his senses, he quickly opened the door.

Li Mu suppressed his suddenly racing heart, stared at the gatekeeper, and asked hoarsely: “Has Madam returned?”

The gatekeeper shook his head: “The young mistress hasn’t come home…”

The instant he heard these words from the gatekeeper’s mouth, all the hope and lucky thoughts that had sustained Li Mu along this journey were completely shattered.

His forehead, palms, and back instantly broke out in cold sweat. His heart sank to the bottom of an icy abyss, his neck felt as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand, nearly suffocating him. But then he saw the gatekeeper’s face brighten with a smile, asking him to wait a moment. He turned and went inside, quickly running back with both hands holding a letter, respectfully presenting it with a smile: “Li Langjun, how did our young mistress guess so accurately? Before leaving with Li Langjun, the young mistress gave me this letter, saying that if Li Langjun came looking, I should give you this letter.”

Li Mu had originally felt he was about to die, but suddenly came back to life. He snatched the letter and with a “rip” tore open the entire seal, pulling out the letter inside.

After just one glance, he froze completely from head to toe.

The gatekeeper saw his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the letter, his face contorted with an expression that seemed like laughing, yet also like crying, and looking again, also like gritting his teeth—extremely strange. For a moment he stared in bewilderment.

“Li Langjun? What’s wrong with you? Are you unwell? What about the young mistress? Didn’t she come with you?”

The gatekeeper asked him.

“I’m fine. Your young mistress is also well. No need to tell my father and mother-in-law that I came.”

Li Mu rasped his instructions, took one quick step down from the platform, mounted his horse, and one man and horse galloped away, disappearing into the morning light in the blink of an eye.

…

That deep night, Li Mu returned to Jingkou again.

He didn’t enter the town but went directly to the southern suburbs.

Even Wuzhui with such stamina, by the time he finally reached the gate of that estate in the southern suburbs of Jingkou, was utterly exhausted from running, drenched in sweat as if just pulled from water.

Feeling his master release the reins and his back lighten, Wuzhui’s two front hooves came together, collapsing powerlessly to kneel on the ground, tongue hanging out, panting heavily.

So late at night, the estate gate was already closed, the entrance pitch black.

Li Mu rushed to the gate and pounded on it forcefully, the banging sounds quickly dispersing into the night.

Fan Cheng, holding a night patrol torch, hurried out. Seeing Li Mu, he called out happily, then seemed to remember something, showing a guilty expression. He quickly bowed to him, saying in a low voice: “Please forgive me, Governor. That day the situation was truly sudden. I had just escorted the young mistress onto the boat when she said she was leaving, not allowing even a moment’s wait. I really was…”

Before he could finish, Li Mu had already passed by him, striding into the interior.

“The young mistress is staying in Qinghui Tower in the back! Past the corridor! Turn left! Past the pond you’ll reach it!”

Fan Cheng shouted toward his retreating figure.

Li Mu hurried through the corridor, turned left, and rushed toward that lakeside small tower.

The people in the tower had already gone to sleep, the doors and windows were dark, and the ground floor door was tightly shut.

Li Mu rushed to the door taking several steps as one, raised his hand to push—it wouldn’t open.

The door was barred from inside.

He knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

A servant woman’s questioning voice came from inside the door.

“It’s me!”

His voice was dry and hoarse, but the servant woman still recognized it, exclaimed, and quickly got up to light a lamp.

“Li Langjun, please wait, let me first tell the young mistress!”

The sound of footsteps going up the stairs—thump, thump, thump.

Li Mu stood before the door waiting, still breathing heavily, sweat carrying his burning body temperature dripping from his forehead and face.

After a while, a light appeared in an upstairs window, casting a warm yellow glow.

Li Mu held his breath, listening intently to the sound of the servant woman coming back down.

The servant woman replied, but her voice carried confusion, speaking through the door: “Li Langjun, I’m truly sorry. It’s not that I won’t open the door for you, but the young mistress said she knows you’ve traveled hard and told you to do as you please and go rest well first. If there’s anything to say, it can wait until tomorrow morning.”

Li Mu’s gaze darkened. He raised his hand to knock again, then stopped.

He backed away, standing on the ground in front of the building, looking up at that small window upstairs.

Behind the window it was quiet with no human figure visible, only the glow of lamplight.

He watched for a moment, withdrew his gaze, looked around, his eyes settling on a nearby old camphor tree. Walking over, he climbed the trunk upward, quickly scaling the tree. Standing on a cluster of branches, he leaped toward the small building about ten feet away. His figure like a nimble ape, he jumped across, reached out to grab a crossbeam under the flying eaves, used the momentum to swing upward, and landed steadily on the rooftop.

He walked along the eaves, his feet silently treading across the tile roof toward that window. Reaching the window, he thrust his elbow forcefully—click—the window opened.

He flipped inside, his feet landing on solid ground.

This was a woman’s bedroom with precious canopies hanging low and orchid fragrance pervading the air. Through a beaded curtain, Li Mu saw a woman wearing a long trailing robe, her back to him, sitting before a mirror box.

She seemed completely unaware that someone had broken in behind her, quietly gazing into the mirror as if intoxicated by the beauty reflected there. Holding a jade comb in her hand, she slowly combed a strand of long hair falling over her shoulder.

Hair like ink, clothing like clouds, wrists like snow, person like jade.

He had finally found her—his little wife who had inexplicably abandoned him days ago, making him experience a nightmarish search for his missing spouse!

On the way here, Li Mu had more than once gritted his teeth, thinking about how when he caught her, he would make her understand all the anxiety and anger her willfulness and such willful behavior had caused him.

But when the moment truly arrived, when after traveling day and night, nearly exhausting Wuzhui, making a great circuit and finally returning here to see her figure appear before his eyes again, all his previous worry, anger, anxiety, dissatisfaction, and exhaustion vanished in this moment.

His heart was filled only with overwhelming excitement and wild joy, wanting only to hold her tightly in his arms and never let her leave his sight again.

“A’Mi!”

He called her name, swept aside the beaded curtain with one hand, and strode toward her.

Luoshen gathered up her hair that she had combed smooth and shiny as silk, turned her head, glanced at his dust-covered, bedraggled appearance, and said indifferently: “Finally you weren’t completely hopeless—you knew to come looking here.”

“Didn’t I tell you to do as you please and go rest first? Yet you climb through my window like a thief—what do you intend?”

The beaded curtain swayed and rustled with her clear voice.