Before long, many of the guards in the courtyard were removed.
Lin Xihe sat at the desk, her expression solemn, her brush dipped in ink.
She spread out two sheets of plain paper, one for Ji Zhuo and the other for Gu Qinghuai.
Aside from the different names at the top, the contents of the letters were the same: "Don't worry, I'm fine, don't harm anyone in the manor - Lin Xihe".
When Ling Xue returned, the news she brought made Lin Xihe overjoyed.
Chu Yunni offered to help her leave the city under the pretext of offering incense.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xihe instructed Ling Shuang to gather all the servants in the mansion to the open space in the west courtyard and announce that they would be reassigned to new jobs.
Ling Shuang stood in front of everyone and spoke eloquently for a full half hour before letting everyone disperse.
Upon returning, everything in the mansion seemed normal, except that Lin Xihe coughed lightly a few times on her way back after finishing her meal.
The next day, Lin Xihe's cough became even more severe during breakfast.
Today, Ling Shuang summoned all the servants to the west courtyard and rearranged their shifts.
After that, no one saw Lin Xihe again. Everyone only heard that she had fallen ill, and for the next four or five days, Ling Shuang took meticulous care of her alone.
Lin Xihe had already finished breakfast the next day. After disguising herself, she took advantage of everyone going to the west courtyard, sneaked into Chu Yunni's carriage, and successfully escaped from the capital.
Once outside the city, she transferred to Mo Wusheng's carriage and sped towards the nearest dock, boarding a ship heading south.
This was Lin Xihe's first time meeting Mo Wusheng.
This man looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His skin was tanned dark from years of hard work, but his face was quite handsome.
Upon hearing that Mo Wusheng had received the reward, he agreed to the three-year agreement without hesitation.
Lin Xihe told him that she did not have a fixed destination.
Mo Wusheng pondered for a moment and then suggested, "How about we go to my hometown, Moyu City? It's about 700 or 800 miles from the capital. If we travel by water, I'll protect you. Plus, you've changed into coarse clothes and deliberately darkened your face, so no one will notice."
Everything went more smoothly than I had imagined along the way.
Four days later, Ling Shuang also quietly left the mansion.
When the servants of the Lin family noticed something amiss, all they found were the two letters left by Lin Xihe on the table.
Upon arriving in Moyu City, Lin Xihe had Mo Wusheng purchase a two-courtyard house in her own name.
"You trust me that much? The wise man in your dream who told you to find me, you trust me so completely?"
Lin Xihe smiled and joked, "Of course! This expert is amazing! We hit it off immediately. Besides, you'll have room and board with me from now on. Where else can you find such a good employer?"
Mo Wusheng curled his lip and snorted, "You're just spouting nonsense. Only you could say something like that. Anyway, as long as it doesn't cost me any money, I'm fine with anything."
Who would have thought that Mo Wusheng was not as eloquent as his name suggested? Once he started talking, he couldn't stop, though he didn't say many nice things.
Ten days later, Ling Shuang rushed over, following the clues left by Ling Xue.
When she left the capital, Ji Zhuo had not yet returned.
Half a month later, many soldiers suddenly appeared on the streets of Moyu City.
They carefully checked each household, especially those like Lin Xihe who had recently purchased a house.
Since arriving in Moyu City, Lin Xihe has kept to herself and her food and supplies have all been purchased by Mo Wusheng from nearby sources.
She wouldn't even allow cosmetics and face powder, which women commonly use, to be displayed in her home.
Mo Wusheng hired a carpenter to build a hidden compartment in the house, where he carefully hid Lin Xihe's, Ling Shuang's, and Ling Xue's clothes.
Whenever soldiers came to search, Lin Xihe and the others would hide in a separate room.
After the officers entered, they found only traces of the man's life and did not suspect anything further before turning and leaving.
In this vast world, if Lin Xihe truly wanted to hide, it would be extremely difficult to find her using ancient methods of searching for people.
As the days went by, soldiers would come every now and then to look for him, and each time they would search more thoroughly than the last.
After inquiring with the accompanying officers and soldiers, Mo Wusheng learned that the reward for finding the missing person had risen to a staggering ten thousand taels of silver.
"I really want to hand you over, it's worth tens of thousands of taels of silver!" Mo Wusheng said half-jokingly after the soldiers left.
Lin Xihe lay on a rocking chair under the tree, feigning anger: "That will have to wait until the three-year term is up. Don't forget we signed a contract."
Mo Wusheng counted on his fingers and replied seriously, "Hey, there aren't three years left, only two years, seven months and twenty-eight days."
Lin Xihe rolled her eyes and ignored him.
“Miss, even if you can avoid it for now, you will give birth in a little over a month. What will you do then?” Ling Shuang asked with a worried expression.
Lin Xihe had already made a plan and calmly said, "We'll hire a wet nurse, and when someone comes to check, we'll hide and say it's the wet nurse's child."
“Alright, once there are fewer soldiers outside, I’ll go out and find a wet nurse in a few days.” Ling Shuang nodded in agreement.
"Mm," Lin Xihe replied.
"I'll go to the kitchen and steam the bird's nest. Miss, you mustn't skip it later." Ling Shuang looked at Lin Xihe, who was becoming increasingly thin, with heartache in her eyes.
"Okay, I'll definitely eat it." Lin Xihe smiled and agreed, then lay back lazily in the rocking chair and said nothing more.
Ling Xue, meanwhile, was intently embroidering the child's clothes.
Of the three of them, only Ling Xue was able to patiently learn needlework.
Mo Wusheng couldn't help but speak again: "Hey, you've escaped, but you don't look very happy."
"Really?" Lin Xihe asked in return.
"I don't think you need to leave the capital. Every time someone comes looking for you, you're sad for days. Why bother? You two are just mutually attracted."
"Shut up!" Ling Xue couldn't hold back any longer and snapped.
"What's wrong? You little brat, you're throwing a tantrum again?" Mo Wusheng said helplessly. Every time he opened his mouth, these two maids would start nagging incessantly.
"I told you not to mention it, but you insisted on bringing it up." Ling Xue couldn't help but complain.
Lin Xihe looked up at the sky, which was as blue as a gemstone, pure and without a trace of impurity. She often stood in the courtyard like this, gazing at the sky again and again.
Suddenly, her heart started racing for no apparent reason, and an indescribable panic welled up inside her.
"Ling Xue, help me up."
Lin Xihe felt as if something was calling her from ahead, and even getting up from the rocking chair was a bit difficult for her.
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