Zhao Zhiwei noticed that his mother was acting strangely these past few days, getting up early and going to bed early every day, and his father also said that his mother was not feeling well.

This doesn't look like someone who's unwell at all; they don't seem to have the normal sleep schedule.

Three days have passed, and even though Zhao's father said that Yuan had left early in the morning.

Zhao Zhiwei remained cautious. After his father left, he secretly slipped back into the house and opened the door to his father and Yuan's room.

The door was pushed open, and a strong smell of mugwort filled the room.

Zhao Zhiwei was very familiar with this taste.

When the plague had just been cured, Lu Qiqi had them fumigate every corner of the houses in the village with mugwort.

It is said to have disinfecting and sterilizing effects.

But now that the plague is long over, why still burn mugwort?

Zhao Zhiwei couldn't quite understand it, but he didn't take it to heart.

He looked around the room but couldn't find anything amiss.

He could only walk out of the house in disappointment and close the door.

As soon as Zhao Zhiwei turned around, he saw a face suddenly magnified in front of him.

His face was dark, wrinkled, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Dad, why do you walk so quietly?"

Zhao Zhiwei's heart pounded with fear, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Zhao's father said, "If you don't go to school, what are you doing at home?"

If your mother finds out, she'll definitely scold you for not studying properly.

Zhao Zhiwei said, "Today is the day off for the teacher, and the school is closed. Even if I wanted to go to school, I couldn't."

Speechless at Zhao Zhiwei's words, Zhao's father glared at him and said, "Then stay home and study!"

After saying that, Zhao's father pushed open the door and went inside.

Seeing that the door was tightly closed and there was no sound from inside, Zhao Zhiwei sat down in the main room.

He wanted to see his mother today to find out what she had been busy with these past few days.

She's so busy that she's rarely seen, even among officials.

And his dad has been acting strangely lately, always covered in mud.

Because of this, Rumei complained to him in a low voice at night that her clothes were covered in too much mud and she needed to use a lot of soap.

What puzzled him most was that his family neither farmed nor cultivated land, and even when they went to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo, they didn't have to be covered in mud.

It looks like it rolled around in the ground.

Since Zhao Zhiwei couldn't figure it out, he decided to stay home and wait for Yuan to return today.

When she gets back, we'll ask her what really happened!

But even as night fell, Yuan was nowhere to be seen.

Ru Mei returned home early today and had already prepared the meal, which she had placed on the table.

She called out to her in-laws' room, "Father, Mother, dinner is ready."

"knew."

Mr. Zhao responded, and then the door creaked open.

The door opened, and Zhao's father, his clothes loose at the collar, stepped out of the room to pick up a bowl and chopsticks.

Seeing that there were only three people at the table, he asked casually, "Where's your mother?"

After saying that, he added a piece of food to his bowl.

Zhao Zhiwei looked out the door countless times today, straining his ears to listen to the slightest sound outside.

But no matter how hard he tried, he didn't see his mother come in through the door.

He asked, "Father, has Mother not returned by this time yet?"

Upon hearing Zhao Zhiwei's words, Zhao's father slammed the bowl down on the table.

He shouted, "This is outrageous! It's so late at night and they still don't know how to come home!"

Zhiwei, hurry up and eat, then go find your mother and come back.

"Once we find her, I'll teach her a lesson. She's becoming more and more like a woman."

When Ru Mei was called out by her father-in-law, she was startled, fearing that Zhao Zhiwei would be angered by him.

She quickly stuffed the bowl and chopsticks into Zhao Zhiwei's hands, saying, "Husband, eat quickly, and then we'll go find Mother together."

Zhao Zhiwei sighed and quickly ate all the rice out of his bowl.

"I'm done eating," he said, putting down his chopsticks and leaving the room.

Ru Mei was worried about him, so she followed him out.

After finishing his meal, Zhao's father put down his chopsticks and took a deep look into the room before putting the dishes away in the kitchen.

The azure night sky enveloped Tianxin Village.

Zhao Zhiwei searched half of the village, his voice almost hoarse from shouting, but he still couldn't find Yuan Shi.

Many villagers heard the noise and opened their courtyard gates to inquire.

"Zhiwei, what's wrong with your mother?"

"Zhiwei, why hasn't your mother come home yet, so late at night?"

"That Yuan family is really something. A woman, not going home so late, making her son search the whole village for her, doesn't she feel ashamed?"

"She was originally a woman who had been married twice, first to her brother and then to her older brother. Everyone knows that."

Zhao Zhiwei was only focused on finding Yuan Shi, and he became even more anxious when he heard that no one in the village had ever seen her.

He was afraid that something had happened to Yuan Shi, given her unusual behavior these past few days.

"My lord."

Zhao Zhiwei suddenly heard a panting sound, turned around and saw Ru Mei.

He said, "Why did you come out? It's dark at night. You go back first. I'll go back as soon as I find my mother."

Ru Mei ran to his side and said, "I'll look for them with you. You're out looking for people, and I'm anxious at home. It's better to come out and look for them with you."

Seeing that Ru Mei was unwilling to go back, Zhao Zhiwei did not try to persuade her further, since having one more person meant having one more source of help.

So the two of them went from house to house in the village looking for people.

"Mother, where are you?"

"mother!"

Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Qiqi put down the dendrobium tea and went out of the main room to open the courtyard gate.

As soon as she opened the courtyard gate, she saw two people standing at the entrance of Doctor Luo's courtyard, asking what was going on.

In the darkness, with no lights, one could only make out shadows by the moonlight.

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