Despite her unwillingness in her heart, faced with Father’s insistence and Li Mu’s persuasion, Luoshen could only bid farewell to Mother and A’Ting, board the carriage waiting outside the gate, go to the dock, and board a boat that Gao Yin had just hired.

While A’Ju and the maids busied themselves arranging the cabin and spreading bedding, Luoshen sat dazedly to one side, thinking of the parting scene with Li Mu moments before, her eyes reddening again involuntarily.

All along, she had felt she liked Elder Brother Lu.

He and Father were so alike.

Whether it was his appearance, his bearing, his talent, his character, or the gentle gaze he cast upon her, everything matched her ideal image of a good husband.

Later, by some twist of fate, Elder Brother Lu left Jiankang for the southwest, and she married into the Li family.

She had married in late autumn last year.

Now it was only early spring of the following year.

The time wasn’t very long—altogether just a few short months, not counting the period when he went to Shu to fight in the war.

But she didn’t know when her attention had begun to focus on this man named Li Mu.

He was so different from Father, from Elder Brother Lu, from the brothers she knew.

In him, Luoshen seemed to catch a fresh, irresistibly attractive masculine scent that drew her senses.

From initial disgust to experiencing last night, in that half-willing, half-reluctant state, she had finally truly transformed from a young girl into a little woman because of this man. Her heart and eyes were full of that novel feeling mixed with shyness, joy, and a certain hidden expectation for more. Then suddenly Father descended from heaven and, with what sounded like an unreasonable excuse, forcibly took her away from Li Mu’s side.

What hurt and disappointed her even more was Li Mu’s attitude.

He was her lord!

Just last night, he had done that most intimate thing between men and women with her.

At that time he held her, kissing her body over and over. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel his affection for her and had gained great satisfaction from it.

A sense of satisfaction from being needed by him, both in body and heart.

But why, after just one day had passed, faced with her reluctance and pleas to stay, was he also so heartless?

Was it simply because of Father’s insistence that he yielded?

Tonight, if only he had shown any desire for her to stay, she would definitely have remained.

But he didn’t—instead he followed her father in persuading her to return to Jiankang.

How could all this not make her feel dejected and sorrowful?

Footsteps came from outside the cabin door as Gao Qiao entered.

For the first time in her life, Luoshen felt dissatisfaction toward Father.

“A’Mi…”

He looked at Luoshen, hesitated, then called her name softly.

Luoshen didn’t even glance at Father. She rose, walked quickly to the sleeping area, lay down without even removing her shoes, facing inward with her back to him.

Gao Qiao stood behind his daughter in silence for a long time, then slowly walked to her side, bent down, removed her shoes, and moved her feet under the covers.

His movements were extremely gentle, as if afraid of disturbing her.

Luoshen closed her eyes and heard Father quietly instructing A’Ju to care for her carefully.

After a moment, his footsteps, sounding somewhat heavy, slowly departed and disappeared from her ears.

Luoshen curled up under the covers, hugging herself into a ball, tears quietly flowing again.

…

Several days later, Gao Qiao brought Luoshen back to Jiankang.

Xiao Yongjia had moved back to Bailu Zhou since late last year. For over a month, she hadn’t been seen and had sent back no news.

As usual, Gao Qiao was busy during the day, and though tired when sleeping at night, perhaps due to his age, he often tossed and turned unable to sleep. Sometimes thinking of the words she left before departing—saying she had matters to consider and would seek him out when she had thought things through—recalling her unusual attitude then, and with so much time having passed without follow-up, it hung over his head like a suspended stone, making his heart inevitably uneasy. In recent days, he had also sent messages asking about her condition.

But at that time, there had been no reply.

Gao Qiao remembered that when he set out for Jingkou that day, it was on sudden impulse, traveling through the night. He hadn’t informed Xiao Yongjia at the time, yet brought his daughter back like this—he inevitably felt somewhat guilty.

Arriving home, he instructed people to settle his daughter first. Just as he was wondering how to explain the circumstances to Xiao Yongjia, Gao Qi brought him a message saying Eldest Princess had sent someone two days ago asking him to see her.

Two days had already passed.

Gao Qiao didn’t dare delay. He changed clothes, tidied his appearance, and immediately rushed to Bailu Zhou. Upon reaching the island, servants told him Eldest Princess was in Painting Tide Pavilion. He hurried there, but couldn’t help being startled upon entering.

Painting Tide Pavilion was built by the river. Xiao Yongjia was gazing at the river by the window.

River wind poured through the open window, stirring her sleeves and sashes in the breeze.

Hearing Gao Qiao’s footsteps entering, she turned around. Her hair was arranged in a simple knot, she wore moon-white clothes, with only a long cape draped over her shoulders to ward off the wind.

From head to toe, except for a jade bracelet she had worn since childhood on her wrist, there were no jewels or ornaments adorning her body.

Her face was completely free of cosmetics, without the slightest trace of rouge or powder—clean and pure.

For many years, Gao Qiao had grown accustomed to Xiao Yongjia’s elaborately made-up appearance in gorgeous clothing. Suddenly seeing her like this—with plain brows and clear eyes, not only seeming like a different person but actually appearing younger than usual—he initially didn’t dare recognize her. After a pause, he called out “A Ling” with surprise in his voice.

Compared to before, Xiao Yongjia had grown somewhat thinner, but her spirits seemed good and her expression was calm. She nodded and asked him to sit.

Gao Qiao suppressed his doubts, looked at her several times, hesitated, then asked: “What’s… wrong with you? Are you unwell?”

Xiao Yongjia smiled faintly: “I’m fine. Knowing you’re busy, I’ve troubled you. Please don’t blame me.”

Gao Qiao’s first reaction was that she was reproaching him for not coming the day he received the message.

“A Ling, don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I was making excuses not to come. I went to Jingkou a few days ago and just returned today.”

He said immediately.

Xiao Yongjia was startled.

Gao Qiao saw her beautiful eyes turn toward him with doubtful gazes and quickly said: “Something came up, so I went personally to the Li family and met Li Mu…”

He hesitated slightly, carefully observing his wife.

“…And incidentally, I brought A’Mi back too…”

Xiao Yongjia was obviously shocked, her brows immediately furrowing: “Where is our daughter? Everything was fine—why did you suddenly bring her back?”

Seeing her abandon her previous otherworldly appearance and look ready to be angry, Gao Qiao felt nervous and hurriedly said: “Our daughter is at home—she just arrived today. She’s fine! Don’t worry, listen to my explanation!”

He soothed his wife with a few words, then went to the door, dismissed everyone from the pavilion, ordered them not to approach, and closed the door.

Xiao Yongjia stared at him with furrowed brows, her face full of displeasure.

Gao Qiao returned, organized his chaotic thoughts, and began expressing his suspicions.

Before Xiao Yongjia finished listening, she flew into a rage, slapping the table and interrupting him.

“Gao Qiao! You old fool! You spend all day scheming with people until you’ve addled your brains! How could my son-in-law be someone plotting treachery? If you keep talking nonsense, you’d better watch out!”

Seeing things going badly, Gao Qiao quickly waved his hands: “A Ling, be patient and let me finish. We have only one daughter, and she’s married to him. If he were fine, why would I wrongly accuse him for no reason? Even he himself didn’t deny it!”

Only then did Xiao Yongjia reluctantly suppress her anger, both shocked and suspicious: “What do you mean by this?”

Gao Qiao then recounted the night he rushed there, called Li Mu to the riverside, and their entire conversation.

His brow furrowed tightly.

“A Ling, his arrogance and audacity truly exceeded my expectations. When I exposed him, right to my face he spoke such presumptuous words. His wolfish ambitions are clear as day! Now he’s still just a Guard General—if he gains more power in the future, I truly cannot predict what he might do.”

“Not to mention you’re His Majesty’s elder sister—even if I, Gao Qiao, hadn’t married Imperial Princess, I couldn’t sit by and watch such a rebellious person disturb proper order. Since the court’s southern migration, national power has steadily declined—why? Precisely because of frequent internal strife and disunited hearts. If the nation’s foundation is unstable and we add such an ambitious person who might one day gain power and stir up trouble, we won’t need barbarians to invade south—the Southern Dynasty will be finished!”

Xiao Yongjia was stunned, sitting motionless. After a long while, she slowly looked up at him.

“Is this why you brought our daughter back?”

Her voice trembled slightly, showing how chaotic her emotions were at this moment.

“How can my daughter marry such an ambitious person plotting rebellion? So I brought A’Mi back overnight! Originally marrying her down was already wronging her—now knowing what kind of person Li Mu is, how can we make mistake after mistake, sitting idle and letting her sink into the mire to suffer future consequences?”

Xiao Yongjia raised her hand to her forehead.

“Does A’Mi know? What is her attitude?”

Gao Qiao’s mind filled with the image of his daughter’s reluctant departure that night, and thinking of how she ignored him on the boat, his own mood grew heavy.

After a moment of silence, he said: “She doesn’t know the real reason yet. She only thinks Li Mu is leaving home, so I brought her back. It’s all my fault. My careless words initially harmed our daughter. Fortunately the marriage hasn’t lasted long—just a few months. I expect after some time, she’ll gradually let go.”

He looked at Xiao Yongjia, his eyes full of guilt.

“Now she seems angry with me and won’t acknowledge me when I seek her out. You’re her mother—I’ll have to ask you to counsel her more.”

Xiao Yongjia shook her head: “Enough, why tell me these polite words! Things have come to this—what else can we do? I’ll return today to accompany her.”

Gao Qiao showed a grateful expression.

Xiao Yongjia felt an intense headache. She closed her eyes, then opened them.

“Regarding Li Mu—if things are truly as you say, what other plans do you have?”

Gao Qiao’s anger was stirred again, though his eyes also revealed a trace of regret.

“Traitorous ministers deserve death! But his goal is northern expedition, which is admirable. I was thinking that after all, he’s still young and, relying on some ability, doesn’t know his limits, which led to such defiance! Seeing his mother is also a reasonable person, killing him would be too hasty. Given his current position, he can’t stir up major trouble. Better to let him learn some lessons—if he shows remorse later, it wouldn’t be too late…”

He looked at his wife.

“This matter is of great importance. Today besides you, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else. You mustn’t speak of it to outsiders, don’t mention it to our daughter for now, and especially don’t hint at it before His Majesty.”

Xiao Yongjia murmured: “I’d better return to the city first…”

The son-in-law she had accepted in her heart was suddenly revealed to be an ambitious wolf. If these words hadn’t come from her usually steady husband, she would have had someone drag him out and behead him immediately. Xiao Yongjia’s feelings can be imagined. Worried about her daughter and no longer in the mood to discuss with her husband the matter she had finally decided, she was flustered and rose to leave. After just two steps, she suddenly felt ringing in her ears and dizziness. Her legs went weak and she collapsed.

Gao Qiao was alarmed.

His youthful reflexes hadn’t completely deteriorated—with quick eyes and hands, he rushed forward and caught her. Seeing her limp in his arms, face pale, eyes closed, having actually fainted, he panicked, lifted her up, and headed toward the sitting room while loudly commanding someone to fetch a physician.

Arriving home heartbroken and unwilling to stay in Jiankang city, Luoshen was planning to seek her mother at Bailu Zhou when she suddenly learned her mother had fainted. Greatly alarmed, she immediately ordered a carriage, took a boat to the island, and rushed to her mother’s side. By the time she arrived, her mother had awakened and was lying in bed. Seeing her arrival, she smiled and seemed about to get up, so she quickly sat beside the bed and told her not to rise.

Xiao Yongjia was not seriously ill—her body was just naturally weak, she hadn’t been resting well recently, and combined with excessive emotional agitation just now, it had triggered an episode where her qi and blood became blocked, causing her to faint. The physician prescribed several doses of medicine, instructed her to rest well, then departed.

As mother and daughter spoke of their separation and reunion, Gao Qiao watched silently from the side before quietly withdrawing.

With only mother and daughter left in the room, Luoshen no longer had reservations. She lay against her mother’s knees, silently reddening her eyes, and said in a voice tinged with tears: “Mother, Father was too unreasonable. He wouldn’t even let me stay one more night. Initially he decided with one word to marry me off, and now with another word he wants me back! Even if he has to handle affairs for Imperial Uncle, how can Father act like this? What exactly is going on? If something’s wrong, don’t hide it from me.”

Xiao Yongjia had long seen that her daughter had given her heart to Li Mu. Now that things had turned out this way, her heart ached. Seeing her so distressed, she could only embrace her, force a smile, and following her husband’s earlier explanation, told her daughter that she had been feeling unwell recently and missed her. Hearing that the emperor was sending Li Mu away on business, she had asked her father to bring her back for company.

“A’Mi, you won’t blame Mother, will you? Since you’ve returned, please stay and peacefully accompany Mother for some time, all right?”

Originally filled with sadness, hearing her mother plead with her like this, Luoshen wiped her eyes, straightened up, and looked at her carefully.

After just over a month apart, Mother had grown much thinner.

Thinking of how her parents had never gotten along and Mother lived alone here, while previously she had at least had her own company, now that she had married into the Li family—where Mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and Li Mu were all kind, and she lived smoothly—Mother was lonely with no one for company.

This Bailu Zhou, nominally a scenic estate, was essentially no different from a cage confining her mother.

Luoshen’s heart softened. No matter how many doubts and dissatisfactions she had, she couldn’t consider them now and quickly nodded in agreement.

Xiao Yongjia had servants prepare a room and arrange for her daughter to stay.

Gao Qiao, seeing his wife had soothed their daughter, finally breathed a temporary sigh of relief. Over the following days, he worked tirelessly, returning from Tai City each evening, no matter how late, to visit his wife and daughter on the island.

On this day, the court assembly that had been quiet for several days stirred again with the return of Guard General Li Mu to answer the summons.

The emperor wanted to take advantage of the excellent situation from recovering Bashu to push the national borders northward. His gaze fell on Yicheng north of Jingzhou, appointing Li Mu as governor to immediately recruit soldiers, dispatch them to Yicheng, build cities and establish military farms, stockpile grain and provisions for future northern expeditions.

As soon as this news emerged, it immediately drew attention from all quarters.

Besides ridicule, what remained was surprise and incomprehension.

Everyone knew that the Xiangyang area of Jingzhou was originally Great Yu’s frontline territory on the upper Yangtze for resisting northern barbarian invasions. The Xu family had operated there for many years. Over the years, they had fought various battles large and small with barbarians attempting to invade south.

Some had suggested to Xu Mi that troops could be stationed further north, which should reduce military pressure on the upper Yangtze region and prevent the Jingxiang area from being in a state of high alert every time barbarians showed signs of moving south, with civilians living in constant fear.

But Xu Mi hadn’t adopted this suggestion.

The reasons were naturally manifold.

But most importantly, continuing north would require dispersing large numbers of troops and consuming double the provisions, while the population and land gained would be far from compensating for the costs.

So the Xu family had no interest in continuing northward.

As long as they controlled Jingxiang, no one in the Southern Dynasty dared move against the Xu family.

Now the emperor was actually sending Li Mu to Yicheng north of Jingxiang to clear wasteland and establish borders.

Everyone knew what kind of place Yicheng was.

Years of warfare had left nine out of ten households empty. Even the barbarians looked down on it—after pillaging, they would sweep through and depart, leaving now only a desolate dead city.

If successful, it would be like adding another protective wall for Jingxiang.

If unsuccessful, the Xu family would suffer no losses.

For the emperor’s edict, no words other than “seeking empty fame” and “unrealistic ambitions” could describe it.

And Li Mu accepting this appointment only proved one thing.

At best, he was riding the momentum of previous victories, a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.

At worst, he was simply hot-headed and seeking death.

Strangely, Gao Qiao remained silent about this edict.

What did this indicate?

It indicated the emperor and Gao Qiao had completely grown apart.

Moreover, there were rumors that several days ago, someone had seen Gao Qiao bring back to Jiankang the daughter who had only recently married.

The most reasonable speculation was that Gao Qiao didn’t favor this decision or Li Mu’s future, so he took this opportunity to bring his daughter home.

With the Gao family’s status compared to Li Mu, though they had initially married their daughter to him, if they now wanted divorce, it would be a simple matter.

This action could also be seen as further estrangement between father-in-law and son-in-law.

That evening, Xu Mi hosted a banquet at his residence, celebrating through the night until dawn.

After Gao Qiao escaped wave after wave of colleagues coming to probe for information, by the time he could finally leave Tai City, the sky had darkened.

Like the previous few days, he didn’t return to his residence but went directly to Bailu Zhou.

Because leaving the city involved some distance and required ferry travel, by the time he arrived it was nearly the end of the seventh watch.

In the days since Luoshen’s return, besides accompanying Xiao Yongjia, she hadn’t stepped outside once. As soon as darkness fell, she would return to her room.

Gao Qiao hadn’t eaten and was already famished. Upon arrival he asked about his daughter and, learning she had already retired to her room, fell silent.

Xiao Yongjia ordered food served for him, sitting beside him watching. After Gao Qiao finished eating, she said: “You’re busy too—no need to work so hard like this. Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to come daily. I’ll take good care of our daughter. She’s very sensible and will understand you eventually.”

Gao Qiao glanced at his wife.

Since late last year, he had felt Xiao Yongjia’s temperament had greatly changed.

When facing him, she no longer gave orders imperiously or made cold, sarcastic remarks as before, but was quite polite.

Such a change should originally be a good thing.

But for some reason, he felt vaguely uneasy in his heart.

He always felt she had become a stranger, as if she was no longer the person he knew.

He hesitated, finally asking: “A Ling, do you have something on your mind recently? If so, don’t keep it to yourself—let me know, maybe I can help.”

Xiao Yongjia smiled faintly: “Nothing.” After speaking, she rose and had A’Ju prepare for Gao Qiao’s rest.

These recent evenings, though they shared the same courtyard, they still kept separate rooms behind closed doors.

Gao Qiao watched her retreating figure, feeling slightly dejected. As he was lost in thought, a servant reported that Li Mu had arrived by boat on the island, saying he would depart Jiankang tomorrow and had come specially this evening before leaving to bid farewell to him and Eldest Princess.

Xiao Yongjia stopped walking, turned back, and exchanged a glance with Gao Qiao.

Gao Qiao’s face immediately darkened.

“Tell him we’ve both retired and there’s no need to meet. Tell him to go back!”

The servant acknowledged and was about to leave when Xiao Yongjia said: “Wait. I’ll go out to see him.”

Gao Qiao was startled: “A Ling! He’s acting obstinately—what’s the point of meeting him? I said everything that needed saying that night! Besides, his purpose in coming must be A’Mi!”

Xiao Yongjia furrowed her brow: “I know what I’m doing—no need for you to say more.”

She left Gao Qiao behind and turned to go outside.