Pei Linyan fell into the water and his life or death is unknown. Gu Yanzhou looks for him like a madman.

Around the summer solstice, when the heat was at its peak, everyone felt the heat unbearable, and Chang'an was hot and humid inside and outside. Pei Linyan hugged Gu Yanzhou from behind as he entered. He was enveloped in a warm and happy embrace. "Lin, what brings you to the palace so early this morning? What's the matter?" Gu Yanzhou asked.

"The Yellow River's change of course has caused the flooding of Jinan, displacing the people and making them miserable. My aunt and father are worried about this, and just as the three governors of Qi have died one after another, they want me to go to Jinan to provide disaster relief and visit the King of Qi." Pei Linyan said

"Jinan is the fief of the King of Qi. He can be fully responsible for this matter. Why do you need to go there specially?" Gu Yanzhou asked puzzledly.

"The King of Qi and the late Emperor share the same mother. After being granted the land of Qi, he has been living in a Taoist temple, meditating on immortality and ignoring worldly affairs. However, the recent incident involving the tax and the three governors shows that Qi is far from peaceful on the surface, so my aunt and father asked me to go and investigate." Pei Linyan said

"Then you must be careful about everything when you go this time, and don't act on impulse." Gu Yanzhou said

"Why? You're willing to let me go alone." Pei Linyan joked

"What can I do? I have important things to do. Even if I wanted to go with you, I would be powerless. Anyway, it would make me feel more at ease if Pei San went with you." Gu Yanzhou complained.

"Who said I was going alone? I specifically asked my aunt to allow you and me to go together." Pei Linyan said

"You and I together? Fine, you dare to lie to me, then you will sleep alone on the bed today." Gu Yanzhou said angrily

"Yan'er, my dear Yan'er, please forgive your husband, okay?" Pei Linyan said flatteringly.

Gu Yanzhou hugged Pei Linyan in his arms and said, "You are too cunning. You made me nervous. I will punish you by making you think about me and miss me thousands of times every day." Gu Yanzhou smiled and the two hugged each other tightly.

A dozen days later, they arrived in Jinan. Houses were severely damaged, and civilians were displaced. Everywhere they looked were wounded: a man with a bloodied face, a mother with a broken arm carrying a baby, an elderly man helpless beside a drowned body, a girl clutching her dress...

Gu Yanzhou leaped from the carriage, bewildered and lost. Death surged from all directions, suffocating him. It was like the deep winter of his eighth year. He only remembered a vast expanse of white in his eyes, as if heaven and earth were connected. He didn't know how long he had been crawling, but his body had long since lost consciousness. His face was covered in frost, and his breath froze into ice. He only knew he was still alive when he heard his heartbeat. His mind was empty, his eyes blurry. He saw a ray of dawn in the distance, the image of his mother as a child, her quiet smile tinged with a hint of sadness, yet absolutely beautiful. He smelled a fragrance, as warm as the sun, and saw a stunningly beautiful face. "Child, can you hear me? Are you okay?"...

"Yan'er, can you hear me? Don't scare me." Pei Linyan hurriedly shouted. Gu Yanzhou pulled himself out of his thoughts and met Pei Linyan's anxious eyes. "I'm fine, I was just distracted for a moment." Gu Yanzhou comforted

"Master Gu, you are at peace. Our young master was frightened just now. This is the first time in my life that I have seen him so distraught." Pei Sandao

"Lin, I'm sorry to have worried you." Gu Yanzhou said

"Yan'er, what are you thinking about? I've never seen you so distracted and terrified." Pei Linyan asked worriedly.

"These are just some old memories, not worth mentioning. I was suddenly moved by the scene and became dazed. Now I am fine. Let's go to Jinan County Magistrate's Mansion." Gu Yanzhou said

"Okay," Pei Linyan agreed, but his worries did not diminish at all.

The three of them went to the county magistrate's mansion.

Upon entering, they saw Jinan city officials, both high and low, gathered, arguing endlessly about disaster relief. They were divided into two factions. One advocated prioritizing the rescue of civilians, with all government offices relocating the sick and injured to nearby locations. The other advocated concentrating on strengthening the city walls first, and treating the injured later. Seeing the three men approach, everyone looked up in confusion. County Magistrate Li asked, "Who are you three? This is government territory, not for you, the humblest of us. I urge you to leave immediately, or I will blame you for being ruthless."

"You blind old dog, you can't even recognize people. These two are Pei Weiwei and Gu Tingwei, who are ordered to come here to provide disaster relief." Pei San scolded

"It turned out to be Pei Weiwei and Gu Tingwei. I was blind to recognize Mount Tai. I hope you two adults will understand." Li Juncheng said with a smile.

"That's fine. There are practical solutions to the resettlement issue," Gu Yanzhou said.

"We were arguing just now, but now that you two masters are here, it is natural that you two masters will take charge of the overall situation. No matter what you decide, we are willing to follow you, even if it means going through fire and water, or even death." Li Juncheng said

"We are willing to follow you, sir, through fire and water, and even death." The other officials echoed.

"Okay, since you are determined, then follow my orders. You officials will be divided into three groups according to age. The elders will register and verify the identities and number of victims in the government office. The strong will do their best to rescue the wounded and the sick. The young will open the warehouse to distribute food, porridge and medicine." Gu Yanzhou arranged.

Everyone took action and soon all the wounded were treated.

A woman in the team suddenly rushed out and said, "Sir, there are still more than a dozen people in our village trapped in the mountains who have not been rescued. I hope you will have mercy on us and save my family's lives."

"Yanzhou, you take charge of the overall situation here, I will lead a team to rescue." Pei Linyan said

"Okay, but Pei San must go with you, so I can feel at ease." Gu Yanzhou said

"good"

Pei Linyan led his men to the valley, "Where are the wounded trapped?" Pei Linyan asked

"This... I forgot for a moment, you can look for it below." The woman said

The group descended into the valley, and while searching, they heard a faint rumbling noise. Looking up, they saw a torrential flood. Before they could recover, the group had been swept away, some dying from hitting rocks, others from choking. Pei Linyan, using his nimble agility to avoid the flood, leaned against a tree, and frantically searched for Pei San, finding him submerged in the water, his body heaving. He stepped on a dead log and rode through the waves, pulling Pei San to his feet. He choked, dizzy, and collapsed. Pei Linyan carried Pei San on his back and flew toward shore.

Suddenly, a man in black fell from the sky and swung a sword towards Pei Linyan's heart. Pei Linyan threw Pei San to the shore and drew his sword in the air to block the attack. Both of them fell on a dead tree. In a moment, they had exchanged more than a hundred moves, but there was no winner. The man in black threw out the bag with his right hand and stepped forward with a sword in his left hand. Pei Linyan was afraid that he was cheating, so he retreated. Seeing him move back, the man in black pierced the bag with his sword, and white powder floated out. Pei Linyan inhaled a little, and immediately felt dizzy, his limbs weak, and he almost couldn't stand. The man in black saw that he had succeeded, so he faced Pei Linyan with a palm, and retreated back to the shore with the power of his palm. Pei Linyan was confused and couldn't open his eyes. He heard the sound of rushing water. He didn't expect that he had reached the edge of the cliff. His face appeared in his mind. No, he is waiting for me. I have to go back. He tried his best, but his body fell with the water. His ears, head, and whole body were submerged and soaked by water. There was darkness in front of his eyes. He heard the cry of "Lin...Lin..." and fell into endless darkness.

Seeing that he had not returned for a long time, Gu Yanzhou brought people to look for him, but found that only Pei San was on the shore.

"Pei San, where is Lin Yan?" Gu Yanzhou asked anxiously

"Master, yes, where is the master?" Pei Sandao

"Pei San, think carefully about what happened at that time. Why were you alone?" Gu Yanzhou said anxiously

"I remember that the young master and I went down to the valley to look for someone. Suddenly there was a loud noise and before we could react we were submerged by the flood. Several people were killed or injured. After the young master rescued me, I fainted and I don't remember anything else." Pei Sandao

"Flood, why is there a flood here for no reason?" Gu Yanzhou asked in confusion

"Sir, there happens to be a lake on this mountain," said a soldier.

"Pei San, go to the mountain and look for the lake. I suspect it was destroyed by someone, who then led the water into the valley, causing this disaster." The others followed me and searched downstream. Gu Yanzhou said firmly.

Gu Yanzhou searched back and forth eight hundred times. With the exception of Pei Linyan, he had recovered the bodies of all the other soldiers. Everyone lay down to rest, exhausted. Gu Yanzhou, still brimming with excitement, peered behind a rock and gazed toward the treetops. He was soaking wet, his clothes tattered, his face covered in mud, his eyes red, his fingers dripping with blood, like a demon from hell. Seeing Pei San return, he ran up to him, pulled Pei San aside, and asked, "How is it?"

"The mountains and lakes were indeed destroyed by humans, diverting water to flood the valleys." Pei Sandao

"Who is so vicious? He treats human life as worthless and kills my beloved." Gu Yanzhou roared.

"Master Gu, the most urgent thing is to find the young master quickly, and the rest can be discussed later." Pei San reminded

"Yes, that's true. Ensuring Lin Yan's safety is the top priority. Whoever finds Lord Pei will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins." Gu Yanzhou said excitedly. A huge reward will surely attract brave men. Immediately, the soldiers began to search non-stop until dawn.

"Pei San, hurry back to Chang'an and tell General Pei about this. Send an army to search for him. Go quickly." Gu Yanzhou said madly.

Seeing his crazy appearance, Pei San was afraid that he would have another accident, so he knocked him unconscious and sent him back to the county magistrate's mansion.