After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

Upon hearing this, Feng Liangcai and Liang Yuheng quickly averted their gazes and said to Xiao Jinghan in a serious tone, "Brother Xiao, don't be angry!"

"Yes, Brother Xiao, we are all very happy for you to see that your wife is in good health."

Xiao Jinghan swept his hands together and said, "Do you two have anything serious to do? If not, I'm leaving."

Upon hearing that Xiao Jinghan was about to leave, Feng Lang quickly stopped him, "Hey! Brother Xiao, don't go yet, are you going to Zhenliu River?"

"Hmm," Xiao Jinghan said, "What's wrong?"

"You should go later," Feng Liangcai said mysteriously. "Prime Minister Liu's second son is over there."

"Yes, yes, you'd better not go there," Liang Yuheng chimed in.

Xiao Jinghan sneered, "How strange, why would I be avoiding Liu Yunze?"

Liang Yuheng frowned. "Brother Xiao, the rumors circulating outside are really nasty!" He punched himself and sighed. "It's all my fault for being drunk that day and not knowing anything. Otherwise, I would definitely not have let those rumors spread beyond the Stork Tower!"

Xiao Jinghan sneered, "Let them say whatever they want, there's no need to pay them any attention."

"Brother Xiao, aren't you worried?"

"What are you worried about?" Xiao Jinghan said. "You can worry when word gets out that Liu Yunze gave birth to my son."

After saying that, he left Yanchunlou with a calm and elegant demeanor, without caring about Feng Liangcai and Liang Yuheng's reactions.

Outside Yanchun Tower, the coachman was anxiously looking around. When he saw Xiao Jinghan come out, he hurriedly went up to him and said, "Young Master, something terrible has happened! Madam and her maid Ying'er have gone missing."

Xiao Jinghan stood outside the gate of Yanchun Tower, casually straightening his sleeves, and said, "One of them only cares about dying, and the other only cares about eating. Where could they possibly go?"

The driver was stunned when he heard this.

"To Zhenliu River." Xiao Jinghan strode onto the carriage. "Hurry up."

-

On the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open.

The evening breeze carried a coolness, and the lanterns along the street lit up one after another, with paper ash swirling in the wind and drifting over the slightly cool bluestone slabs.

The moon hangs high in the sky, its pale light faint. Every household places fruits and paper money for the dead in front of their doors, separating the human world from the underworld by a thin layer of night.

People came to burn paper money and light lanterns on both sides of the river. They were all dressed in plain white clothes, with solemn expressions, watching the burnt yellow paper turn into tiny white butterflies and drift into the deep river.

Some of the yellow paper, unwilling to fall into the water, spun and flew up, landing on trees, beside carriages, or directly into the crowd, reluctant to leave this world.

Ying'er stared at the yellow paper that was sparking and flying around, and trembled with fear. "Miss, this place is so scary, let's go back quickly."

She pointed to a piece of yellow paper hovering in mid-air and said in a trembling voice, "I remember my mother saying that these flying yellow papers are haunted by wandering ghosts. Do you think they can see us?"

Ying'er became more and more frightened as she spoke, hiding behind Liu Yuansheng and cautiously looking around, seeing everyone as a ghost.

Liu Yuansheng remained calm throughout, and even though Ying'er was dragging him, he still walked briskly to the riverbank.

A cool breeze blew across the river, and lanterns floated on the water, their golden glow trailing away with the flowing water.

Liu Yuansheng lit the candle on the lotus lantern and gently placed it in the water, watching the lantern gradually drift away, filled with longing for her mother, Bai Yinzhu.

Someone was crying around her, the sound of crying sometimes near and sometimes far, making Liu Yuansheng lose herself in thought. In a daze, she became that little nun in Shuiyue Nunnery again, living a life of being bullied day after day.

Years later, he suffered a complete loss of reputation in Xitou Village and was utterly disgraced at the Princess's Mansion.

It seems that fate has never been kind to her.

Now, she has been deprived of even the right to speak.

She sighed deeply, struggling to pull her wandering thoughts back. Just as she was about to leave with Ying'er, she suddenly heard someone behind her say, "Excuse me, please."

Liu Yuansheng stiffened, her eyes, which had been fixed on the river, suddenly snapped up as she turned around to look behind her.

In an instant, a man wearing a veiled hat and dressed in white hurried past her.

He walked very fast, without looking up the whole time, only brushing her hand lightly with his sleeve as he passed her.

That feeling was both strange and familiar.

Liu Yuansheng's heart tightened suddenly, her gaze fixed on the man's back as she watched him place a lotus lantern into the river.

The lotus lantern remained lingering on the bank, so he casually plucked a sprig of orchid and gently stirred it in the river.

Liu Yuansheng stared at the orchid in his hand, her body suddenly swaying, almost losing her balance.

It's him?

Is it really him?

Liu Yuansheng could hardly believe her eyes. She missed that person terribly, yet she dared not approach him, fearing that he would disappear the moment she got close.

She couldn't help but start to have wild thoughts. If that person really was him, was he the man she longed for day and night, or a ghost who had escaped from the gates of hell and came to the human world to take a quick look at her?

Liu Yuansheng was filled with doubt and uncertainty. She finally mustered up the courage to approach the person, but she accidentally slipped and fell out in a sorry state.

"Miss! Watch out!"

Ying'er rushed forward, but she was too late. A long, strong hand grabbed her arm first and pulled her ashore.

Liu Yuansheng was unsteady on her feet, her white dress trembling as she leaned against Xiao Jinghan, like a frightened bird.

Xiao Jinghan grabbed her tightly. "What's wrong? You seem distracted?"

Liu Yuansheng looked frantically in the direction of the man in white, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Liu Yuansheng stared wide-eyed, anxiously looking around, but no matter how she searched, she couldn't find any trace of the person.

Is it a hallucination?

Was she hallucinating because she missed him so much? Or did she really see his spirit?

I have no way of knowing, but the more I think about it, the sadder I become.

Liu Yuansheng opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound. In the despairing silence, two tears slid down her face.

Xiao Jinghan looked down at Liu Yuansheng, who was silently weeping, and said, "You don't mean to drown yourself in the lake to find your mother, do you?"