Chapter 17: This Time, We Shall Become True Husband and…

Xiao Rong had left the capital.

As if completely unprepared and unworried, he truly departed after sending Si Jin back to the residence.

He didn’t even exchange many parting words, almost giving Si Jin the illusion that he had discovered nothing.

But how could he not have noticed? The chilling, threatening words he uttered the previous day still echoed in her ears. After the fear subsided, an even greater urgency to not linger here remained.

On the second day after Xiao Rong’s departure, Si Jin informed the household that she would be going to the outskirts with Shen Xuzhi to enjoy the scenery in her leisure time.

The night before the trip, she closed her door and packed the real luggage meant for the journey beyond the stated itinerary.

There wasn’t much to bring, as if it were just an ordinary outing from which she would return in a few days.

Si Jin wrote the whole story in a letter, waiting only for someone to deliver it to Shen Xuzhi tomorrow. She was the only one who could help her now.

Clutching the envelope tightly, Si Jin took a deep breath and was about to tuck the letter inside her clothing.

Suddenly, a sound came from the door, startling her into panic. She hastily pulled open a nearby wardrobe drawer.

“Madam.”

It was Chun Xing’s voice outside.

Si Jin quickly composed herself and responded, “Come in.”

By the time the door opened, Si Jin had already hidden the letter, leaving only the wardrobe drawer open as if she were organizing clothes.

However, her peripheral vision caught that the drawer she had hurriedly opened was the one containing her undergarments, which was somewhat embarrassing.

Chun Xing entered the room and bowed to report, “Madam, Wan Yi Fang just sent word that the dress you planned to wear tomorrow was accidentally soaked. It likely won’t dry overnight. The maid who made the mistake has been summoned to the courtyard gate.”

Si Jin frowned slightly, displeased by this unexpected complication before her departure, as if it foretold an unfavorable journey.

But she quickly suppressed this unease, not wanting to unsettle herself before even taking action.

“Just change into another outfit. There’s no need to make such a big fuss. It’s late, and we have to get up early tomorrow. Let her withdraw, and I need to rest too.”

“Yes, Madam.”

After Chun Xing left the room, Si Jin pressed her hand to her chest and heaved a deep sigh of relief.

Nothing will go wrong. Everything will proceed smoothly, she told herself inwardly.

Once her mind had calmed, Si Jin turned back to close the wardrobe drawer but suddenly paused.

She didn’t often open this drawer, nor did she frequently wear the undergarments inside, but she clearly remembered that on top should be the Spring Flower Undergarment she had chosen for herself on her birthday earlier this year.

Because the fit wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t resist its beauty, she couldn’t bring herself to discard it. Yet, unable to bear wearing it tight, she had only worn it a few times before placing it on top of this drawer, hoping she might slim down enough to wear it someday.

But the ill-fitting part wasn’t due to weight.

Before going to Ning’an Temple, she had tried it on again with the thought of testing it, but she ended up taking it off in frustration and putting it back before even leaving her room.

Si Jin furrowed her delicate brows and began searching through the drawer.

It wasn’t there. It was nowhere to be found.

The undergarments in the drawer were tossed into disarray by Si Jin, but the Spring Flower Undergarment was completely missing.

This undergarment couldn’t have been lost due to her habit of misplacing things. She hadn’t even had the chance to wear it out. In just a few days, how could it have vanished without a trace?

Suddenly, Si Jin’s heart jolted, inexplicably recalling Xiao Rong’s visit to Qiu Shui Courtyard before his departure.

He had seemed to bid her farewell, yet said little to her.

At the time, Si Jin thought it was merely another of Xiao Rong’s overt and covert warnings—so confident of victory, so certain she wouldn’t dare flee, and couldn’t escape even if she tried.

Now, reflecting back, if his visit had another purpose, could her mysteriously vanished undergarment possibly be…

Utterly absurd!

There was no evidence, no way to verify, but Si Jin could think of no other possibility than Xiao Rong having stolen her undergarment.

This time, there was no east wind blowing through an open window.

Wait.

Si Jin’s pupils trembled.

Could it be that the undergarment was also…

Her back stiffened, her scalp tingled, and she couldn’t stop herself from recalling all the lost items from the past—her undergarments, her silk handkerchiefs, even other things.

Scoundrel!

Filthy and despicable!

Vile and shameless!

That bastard Xiao Rong!

The moon was bright, the stars sparse, and all was silent.

The late autumn evening breeze, carrying a chill, brushed across the windowsill. The white silk tucked halfway under the pillow trembled slightly, revealing the embroidered floral pattern on the satin surface.

This was the tenth day since Xiao Rong lost track of Si Jin.

From the moment she left the capital, he had ridden out in pursuit.

Xiao Rong arrived at the location but found no trace of her.

It seemed Si Jin had not taken the route indicated on the map.

Xiao Rong lowered his gaze and drew out the pristine white silk from beside his pillow.

Just the touch of his fingertip sent a surge of excited restlessness through his blood.

He bent his head, burying his face in the silk, his lips kissing the neatly stitched embroidery on the satin—the very spot where the undergarment would rest against her chest.

Xiao Rong took a deep breath, a smile spreading at the corner of his lips.

He had long known she was planning to escape from him, yet he neither exposed nor hindered her.

He was waiting, waiting for an obvious answer.

Now, he had received her reply.

Then it was time to act as he had envisioned.

Ever since Xiao Rong could remember, his mother had been an unmentionable presence in the Xiao family.

She was the eldest daughter of the Xiao family—beautiful, dignified, talented, and virtuous, once praised by the late emperor as the capital’s top talented woman.

She should have continued living in a halo of adoration, but in reality, she was now a madwoman hidden away in a secluded residence.

Why had she gone mad?

Because of his father who fled.

Some said his father deliberately deceived his mother, enduring humiliation to marry into the Xiao family for wealth and fame, then absconded with enough riches to live carefree for life, naturally vanishing without a trace to avoid being found by the Xiao family.

Others said he was forced by his mother, unable to bear the shame, and after rising up to escape, died on the road, leaving no remains, unwilling even in death to be buried in the Xiao family’s graves.

Regardless of the version, his mother indeed failed to find the man, and gradually, in her obsession, became a madwoman.

If he failed to find Si Jin, would he too go mad like his mother?

Xiao Rong’s fingertip greedily caressed the soft satin of the undergarment, his smile deepening.

Perhaps he would.

But he was different from his mother.

He would not fail to find her.

He had once again confirmed that suppressing his instincts would not yield the results he desired, nor was it the way he could express his affection to her.

Follow her, find her, seize her.

They would share a bed in life and a grave in death. Wherever she was, she should be with him.

This time, they would become true husband and wife.

Xiao Rong’s ears twitched slightly as he deftly folded the undergarment and tucked it into his robe. Just then, a knock came from the door.

“Enter.”

“Sir, we’ve traced Madam’s whereabouts. She passed through Chizhou and headed northwest.”

The candlelight flickered, casting shifting shadows behind Xiao Rong in the brightly lit room that was shrouded in a stifling atmosphere.

Xiao Rong’s expression was inscrutable. After a moment of silence, he issued a concise order: “Prepare the horses.”

His voice betrayed no emotion, yet it evoked an instinctive dread, like the calm before a storm.

Si Jin had been traveling for a full month, her body utterly exhausted.

She had chosen remote routes through impoverished regions, making proper rest nearly impossible.

The only consolation was that Xiao Rong hadn’t found her.

She didn’t know if she’d left any traces along the way. Xiao Rong was perceptive—the slightest clue could lead him straight to her.

So she couldn’t stop yet. She had to keep fleeing further away.

Only when she reached a sufficiently distant place, and only when Xiao Rong abandoned his search after finding nothing, could she turn toward Xiqiu to reunite with her brother.

In over a decade of life, Si Jin had never done anything so bold. Even now, it felt like a dream.

She couldn’t recall whether reason or impulse had dominated her decision to leave.

The hardships along the journey had even made her think: perhaps it would have been better not to flee, to just continue resisting and entangled with Xiao Rong.

But whenever Xiao Rong transformed into a nightmare slithering through the darkness of her dreams, jolting her awake, she immediately dismissed that thought.

There was nothing worth missing about her life in the capital. Leaving Xiao Rong also meant leaving that unpleasant place—perhaps she could finally live a different, better life outside.

Only her parents weighed on her conscience with guilt and concern. But she would have to wait until she reached Xiqiu and saw her brother before figuring out how to explain everything to them.

With her brother by her side, her parents might worry less and forgive her willfulness.

Si Jin pushed aside her tangled thoughts, determined to sleep quickly. She couldn’t rest long—soon she would need to continue her journey.

The moment she closed her eyes, a faint murmur reached her ears from the corridor outside her door.

“Know… Si Ming… quickly…”

Si Jin’s eyes flew open, her brow furrowed as she wondered if she’d misheard.

But soon, the voice mixed with approaching footsteps allowed her to hear more clearly: “So have you found out where Si Ming is hiding?”

Si Jin gasped sharply, bolting upright from the bed.

Was it coincidence? Someone with the same name?

It was already late at night, and this was a remote inn with almost no guests.

Tensing all over, Si Jin rose from the bed, not daring to make a sound as she crept toward the door.

But the footsteps had already faded into the distance, and the hushed conversation was no longer audible.

A vague sense of foreboding rose in Si Jin’s heart.

She quietly opened the door to find the corridor empty.

Yet faint sounds still came from not far away—likely from those who had just passed.

Without overthinking, driven solely by the need to confirm whether they were truly discussing her brother, Si Jin followed the direction of the sounds.

As she reached the corner, a floorboard creaked.

Finally, Si Jin heard voices again.

“Hmph, even if we have to chase him all the way to Xiqiu, it doesn’t matter. He keeps hiding east and west, but we’ll eventually find him in Xiqiu.”

Si Jin’s heart pounded wildly. She was now certain this person was talking about her elder brother, and the tone was hostile, suggesting malicious intent.

Was her brother hiding from them? What trouble had he encountered?

“Shall we head directly to Xiqiu now?”

“No rush. We’ve already tracked his traces. Let’s search the vicinity tomorrow first—we might stumble upon an unexpected gain.”

Si Jin heard every word clearly, her pupils instantly constricting.

Her brother was actually nearby!

She only had a faulty map that Xiao Rong had swapped, so she had no idea where she had ended up.

She knew she had deliberately avoided the direction to Xiqiu; this place shouldn’t be on Si Ming’s route to Xiqiu no matter what.

Had Si Ming deviated from his planned path to evade these people? What did they want to do to him?

“Zhou Qi called this a cushy job. If I don’t see the results I want in the end, he and Si Yue will have to answer to me.”

Si Jin’s breath hitched, her entire body tensing.

She suddenly recalled the scene at Ning’an Temple where she had overheard Si Yue and Zhou Qi talking.

Were these people sent by them? Were Si Yue and Zhou Qi the ones plotting against Si Ming?

Si Yue was their eldest brother, and Zhou Qi was their second sister’s husband of one year.

They were all part of the Si family!

Si Jin tried her best to calm herself down. She couldn’t recognize the speaker’s voice—it seemed unfamiliar, possibly distorted by the door and window.

Holding her breath, she cautiously peeked through a crack in the window to get a glimpse inside.

With just one quick glance, Si Jin immediately pulled back.

It was Xiao Sheng.

Xiao Rong’s uncle-in-law, the man who should have been in prison.

How could this be—

“Who’s there!”

“Someone’s outside!”

A loud crash echoed.

The moment Si Jin was discovered, she panicked and bumped into the wooden rack in the corner of the corridor.

The abrupt noise tore through the silent night, stirring activity from other guest rooms as well.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Si Jin turned and fled.

The tethered horses in the stable seemed to sense the urgency, restlessly stamping their hooves.

Fumbling anxiously, Si Jin worked to untie the reins, unsure if it was her imagination or if her pursuers were already closing in.

Untie it, quickly!

“There! Grab her!”

The moment the reins came loose, Si Jin swiftly mounted the horse.

Terrified as she was, she had to force herself to stay calm now.

A fierce wind carrying a chill assaulted her face, the dim light making it nearly impossible to see the path ahead.

She hadn’t gone far when she saw dark figures emerging from all around.

They had brought so many people.

Si Jin had no time to ponder why these people wanted to harm Si Ming; her immediate priority was to escape them.

Though not skilled in riding, having traveled the same path during the day allowed her to roughly distinguish the direction even in the poor nighttime visibility.

Doubling back the way she came, her familiarity with the route soon left her pursuers behind.

The night forest was eerie and dark, leaves rustling in the wind, the sound of hooves pounding in rhythm with her frantic heartbeat.

A fork lay ahead: a steep, high slope or a flat but narrow path.

The slope was treacherous for escape, but Si Jin knew the narrow path ended in a valley—a dead end.

Before she could think further, hoofbeats suddenly sounded behind her.

She spun around abruptly, locking eyes with the sinister gaze of the newcomer.

Xiao Sheng was momentarily stunned, then quickly curled his lips into a triumphant smile. “What an unexpected catch. Let me guess—why would you be here?”

Si Jin watched as Xiao Sheng spoke while retrieving a bow and arrows from his saddle.

If she fled up the slope now, she would become an easy target for Xiao Sheng’s arrows.

But if she took the narrow path, he would eventually catch up to her anyway.

Gripping the reins tightly, her palms damp with cold sweat, Si Jin suppressed her voice, not daring to make a rash move. “What do you want?”

Xiao Sheng held the bow leisurely, his tone unhurried. “I originally intended to capture a passerby eavesdropping on confidential matters. But I never expected the real prize to come to me willingly.”

“Going after Si Ming is nowhere near as direct as going after you.”

With a sinister chuckle, Xiao Sheng drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it squarely at Si Jin.

A buzzing filled Si Jin’s ears, leaving no room for thought. Instinct took over—she jerked the reins, urging her horse to flee swiftly toward the narrow path.

Whoosh—

An arrow shot straight toward her retreating figure.