Chapter Fourteen: Only the Fool Knows

Li Xubai and Song Shiyu searched all around but could not find Miss Gu Qi and her servant. They rummaged through the bundles left behind, finding only two worthless garments.

The two sighed as they gazed up at the mountain foot.

“If they ran off, then so be it. Let’s head back. We’ve already taken the money; it’s probably better we don’t have to escort her!” Li Xubai said nonchalantly.

Song Shiyu gave him a look as if he were a fool. “Are you out of your mind? Who is she? She’s the seventh young lady of the Gu family, granddaughter of Minister Gu. You took her silver and were supposed to escort her to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. Now she’s missing. If she’s safe, that’s one thing, but if anything happens to her, no amount of silver you paid will save you. The Gu family will never let you off.”

Li Xubai frowned. “They ran off on their own. What does that have to do with me?”

“Do you think the Gu family will believe that? You’re just a carriage attendant. To them, killing you would be as simple as crushing an ant. No one would dare seek justice for you,” Song Shiyu said coldly, finally making Li Xubai take the matter seriously.

Indeed, in his current era, society was rigidly stratified and class-bound, with clear divisions between commoners and nobility.

Commoners’ lives were worth nothing.

The nobility could trample them at will.

To the Gu family, he was nothing but an insignificant insect whose life and death hinged on a single word.

“Then what do we do?” Li Xubai panicked. He had no desire to die again.

If he died again, there would be no chance for another resurrection through transmigration.

Song Shiyu glanced at him calmly. “What else can we do but climb the mountain and chase after them?”

Li Xubai looked at the winding, rugged mountain path and felt reassured. “Right, they live a sheltered life. They can’t climb as fast as we can.”

Song Shiyu nodded in agreement.

The two ascended Qishan Mountain, one after the other.

“Hey, is Miss Gu Qi crazy? She paid the money, yet ran off herself?” Li Xubai asked as they walked, trailing behind Song Shiyu.

Song Shiyu’s face remained expressionless. “She’s not crazy; she’s cunning.”

“What do you mean? You’re saying I’m dumb?”

Song Shiyu turned her head and looked at Li Xubai with a faint, penetrating gaze. “A little.”

Li Xubai was speechless.

Song Shiyu smiled rarely. “That seventh lady, Gu Shiyan, is the minister’s illegitimate daughter. Her birth mother was greatly favored, overshadowing the official wife. Naturally, Gu Shiyan never regarded the legitimate daughter as important.”

She spoke slowly, her expression wistful as if recounting something far removed in time.

“This time, her stepmother didn’t allow her to go to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. She harbored resentment, unwilling to miss the chance to shine, yet unwilling to disobey her mother’s order by leaving the estate secretly. Tell me, what do you think she would do?” Song Shiyu said deliberately.

“Oh, so her name is Gu Shiyan. It sounds nice, but the person isn’t much!” Li Xubai suddenly understood and kicked a stone by the roadside hard. “But we promised her we wouldn’t reveal this matter. Why would she go to such lengths?”

“That’s exactly why I said she’s cunning. She trusts no one easily. Her actions are all about eliminating every possible risk,” Song Shiyu said disdainfully.

Li Xubai thought no wonder many from ancient times died young.

Thinking too much leads to dying too fast!

“What if I just didn’t climb the mountain to find her?” Li Xubai asked in frustration.

“If you don’t look for her, when she returns to the city, she’ll tell the shopkeeper you abandoned her halfway. Who do you think the shopkeeper will side with?”

“What if I do look for her?”

“If you find her, she’ll say you weren’t careful or responsible enough, letting her get lost and climb to the temple on her own. What do you think the shopkeeper will do then?”

“Ah, damn it! No matter what I do, I’m doomed.” Li Xubai collapsed in despair. “She’s so young, yet so scheming and thorough!”

“So young? She’s already fourteen, old enough for arranged marriage. She’s an adult!” Song Shiyu looked at him as if he were possessed.

Li Xubai stared back with an even more horrified, ghost-stricken expression.

Fourteen years old—ages were somewhat exaggerated back then, at least by one year. That meant Gu Shiyan was, at most, thirteen by modern reckoning.

Not to mention her physical maturity, just the sharpness of her mind astonished Li Xubai.

Thirteen was about the age of middle schoolers in his previous life.

He pictured his peers at that age.

None had that kind of cunning.

Apparently, too much schooling really can make one dull!

“What’s wrong? Scared?” Song Shiyu saw Li Xubai frozen in shock, amused and exasperated. “I told you not to come, but you insisted. Now you see how serious it is, right?”

“Yeah, I’m scared.” Li Xubai shuddered.

The shopkeeper Su was right not to let him talk much to Gu Shiyan.

Tonight, no telling who would suffer!

Song Shiyu comforted him rarefiedly: “It’s alright. As long as you refund the silver and keep this matter secret, she won’t keep chasing you. Besides,” she paused and sighed softly, “Minister Gu may be a fool, but Grand Tutor Gu is straightforward to a fault. He definitely won’t make things difficult for you.”

Hearing this, Li Xubai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, he felt sorry for the silver he had just gotten and hadn’t even had a chance to warm.

Oh, right, the fifty taels promised for escorting Gu Shiyan to the temple—all gone too.

Gone...

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, kicking heavily several times.

“Wait a minute, we’ve chased so long but haven’t even seen a shadow. Their legs shouldn’t be this fast,” Li Xubai looked at the endless winding mountain road ahead, then squatted to examine footprints. “Look, these prints are fresh, made not long ago, but the impressions are deep and larger than,” he glanced at the hem of Song Shiyu’s skirt and her shoes, “larger than the young lady’s feet.”

He searched carefully along this stretch of mountain road. “Sister-in-law, I don’t see the young lady’s footprints here. That’s strange. Could there be another path up the mountain?”

Song Shiyu shook her head. “There’s only this road leading to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.” She concentrated and said, “I think Gu Shiyan must have hired someone in advance with a litter to carry her up.”

Li Xubai was speechless.

“Are you still going to chase? There’s nothing to gain either way. At the temple, all you might get is humiliation.”

Li Xubai stubbornly said, “I’m chasing. I want to see who humiliates whom!”

Song Shiyu smiled faintly. She knew well that Li family’s inexplicably surviving second son was stubborn and would never back down.

After walking a while, Li Xubai suddenly seemed to remember something, looking thoughtful as he asked, “Sister-in-law, your surname is Song, and you know so much about the Gu family’s affairs, and now you’re so determined to chase Gu Shiyan. Tell me, do you have some past with the Gu family?”