Chapter 57: Why Haven’t You Returned Yet

Pei Zhouwu sat alone before the bed, his silhouette even more desolate than the moon outside the window.

How much time had passed? Not even a full day, yet his longing had already reached the point where he could barely swallow a bite.

For over a month now, he had shared every meal with someone. Even the simplest fare had been delightful in her company.

As if struck by a sudden thought, Pei Zhouwu rose to his feet. Guided by the moonlight, he paced over to the dining table, sat down, and picked up his chopsticks. He began eating the food, one bite at a time, with deliberate care.

He missed Su Yueying, and he was certain she missed him too.

If she knew he hadn’t been eating properly after she left, she would be heartbroken and angry.

How could he let her worry?

So, even though the food was cold and hard to swallow, he chewed every mouthful, one bite after another.

Only, the room was pitch dark. With Liu Fuying gone, he couldn’t even muster the will to light a lamp.

After finishing the meal, he cleared the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the front room.

When he emerged again, his steps grew heavy. Standing before the stone table in the courtyard, he lifted his gaze to the bright moon in the sky, recalling the vow he had made beneath the full moon on their wedding night.

May our hearts remain true, weathering every storm together.

Now, he wished even more for the moon to carry his longing to her, hoping she would receive it and remember to return soon.

The second day and the third day passed in much the same lonely waiting—agonizing, yet filled with anticipation.

On the fourth day, the day of her return, he rose from bed before dawn. He secured the Glowworm Wooden Hairpin into his half-tied hair and stepped outside, heading straight for the pond behind the bedroom.

Just as he was about to enter the water, he suddenly remembered her words from before, telling him not to foolishly wait for her under the scorching sun.

Calculating the time, if she had set out at dawn, she wouldn’t return until at least the afternoon.

Leaving now would be far too early.

“A Ying, I promise I won’t do the things you dislike.”

So he turned back and returned to the bamboo house.

Outwardly, he appeared composed, but inwardly, his heart had been fluttering with excitement since the previous night. Once she returned, he would begin preparations to leave Xiangshan.

Entering the bedroom, he crouched before the Bamboo Bed and pulled out the half-burned stick of Soul-Devouring Incense from the partially hollow bamboo joint beneath it.

When the time came, after incapacitating the guards outside, he would stage the room to look as if a struggle had taken place. To make it convincing, he would have to shed some blood, tear a few bloodstained strips of cloth, create the appearance of blood splattered on the walls, and finally leave the burned-out incense as evidence.

Soul-Devouring Incense, costing two gold coins per stick, was not something an ordinary guard could afford.

Yet the guard captain last time had produced two sticks without hesitation.

Even as a captain, how many years of saving every penny from his salary would it take to accumulate two gold coins? Without any personal grudge, why would he invest such a hefty sum?

Clearly, someone was backing him.

Using incense to commit murder was not a sophisticated plan. Even if it succeeded, he would be charged with a grave crime, potentially implicating his entire family. Perhaps the guard captain had been coerced into it.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was that he could frame his own escape on the person behind the guard captain.

He would stage it to look like an assassination, with himself taken away.

Later, he would find a decaying corpse similar in build and bone structure to his own and discard it, making the world believe that Pei Zhouwu was dead.

The only questionable point is that the person behind the previous attempt on his life must have known he hadn’t sent any more assassins and would have noticed something unusual about the framing.

But it didn’t matter.

There were plenty of people in Shangjing City who wanted Pei Zhouwu dead.

The mastermind behind it all probably thought someone else was trying to imitate his methods to carry out the assassination. In any case, his death would benefit them all, so they wouldn’t investigate further.

After that, everything would be settled.

Whether he and Su Yueying traveled the mountains and rivers or found another place to live in seclusion among the forests and hills, it would always be better than being imprisoned here in Xiangshan.

After all, he had now been expelled from the Pei family register.

The Pei family no longer had him as a son, and from now on, there would be no Pei Zhouwu in this world.

Without him as a burden, the Pei family would live better lives.

They no longer needed him, and now he only needed one Su Yueying.

Although faking his death was risky, it was a hundred times better than living like a walking corpse here, waiting to die.

Perhaps when A Ying returned, he could use this incense stick the day after tomorrow.

He gripped the incense stick so tightly he almost snapped it, his desire to run far away with Su Yueying reaching its peak.

After daybreak, today’s meals were delivered.

He ate breakfast, then lunch, waiting quietly through noon until the sun finally softened before he finally entered the water.

Once outside, the first thing he did upon surfacing was to look for Su Yueying’s figure on the shore.

Sure enough, she hadn’t returned yet.

After getting ashore, he approached the woods, waiting in the direction Su Yueying had left that day.

Unfortunately…

Liu Fuying in Shangjing City had also set out at dawn, but by now she had already left Shangjing far behind, and even the peaks of Xiangshan were no longer visible.

When they passed a post station at noon, she ate only a few bites before returning to the carriage.

Perhaps due to the discomfort of pregnancy, she hadn’t smiled since morning. She declined Old Madam Shen’s request to share a carriage, and even Jin Li was in another carriage, not riding with her.

She wasn’t hiding alone to cry, of course—she just didn’t want to talk or have anyone accompany her.

The carriage was spacious enough to lie down in, with soft cushions and an ice chest to relieve the heat. With ventilation, it was quite cool.

But when she closed her eyes, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Logically, she should have been very drowsy at this time.

Finally unable to lie still any longer, she sat up, sighing heavily and murmuring to herself, “You just need to wait patiently a little longer. Once the Pei family clears your name, you’ll be released. Then live a good life, marry, have children, and spend your days in peace—just don’t meet someone like me again.”

She had made up her mind and would never look back.

After sunset, the summer heat dissipated considerably.

Summer days were long, and even after the sun set, it remained bright for quite a while.

But judging by the time, she should be arriving soon.

Pei Zhouwu had waited for a long time, thinking he was finally about to see her return.

Until dusk was completely replaced by darkness, scattered dots of light dotted the sky, and the moon quietly rose.

It was dark, but there was still no sign of the person he was waiting for.

A sense of unease stirred within him, but he remained calm, remembering he had once told her not to push herself too hard—to rest when needed and set out again only after resting well. If she rested more or longer, her pace would naturally slow down.

Wait a little longer.

Just wait a little longer, and she would surely return.

Crickets chirped all around, nightingales sang, and the sky grew darker. In the woods untouched by moonlight, anxiety and unease filled the air.

He wondered if something had happened to her on the way.

The thought of her alone in the pitch-black mountains, injured, with no one to hear her cries…

It was definitely not right for her to be this late.

He dared not dwell on it, only resolutely took a step forward.

He had to go find her.