Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Xia Yao dragged his tired body home.

The moment I pushed open the courtyard gate, I smelled the aroma of firewood and cooking filling the yard, and saw Xia Lanyue busily preparing the meal.

Xia Yao was stunned, as if he felt that everything in front of him was not real, and stood there for a long time without moving.

He didn't come back to his senses until Xia Lanyue called him.

"You're back," Xia Lanyue said, placing the groceries she was carrying on the table.

"Yes," Xia Yao nodded with a smile.

His smile was one that Xia Lanyue hadn't seen in a long time. She suddenly felt a little dazed, as if time had gone back to when they were in River Valley Village.

Xia Yao walked up to Xia Lanyue and asked blankly, "A-Yue, you're not leaving, are you?"

Xia Lanyue was taken aback by his words and replied without hesitation, "I'm not leaving."

Xia Yao couldn't hide his joy and hugged her tightly.

"Hmm..." Xia Lanyue let out a muffled groan, "It hurts."

Xia Yao quickly let go of her hand and looked at her.

Xia Lanyue clutched her chest, looking pained.

Xia Yao was very worried. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

Xia Lanyue looked at Xia Yao and shook her head, "It's nothing."

By the light, Xia Yao saw her flushed face and realized that it was probably due to her excessive indulgence yesterday, which had left some damage to her body.

Xia Yao carefully pulled Xia Lanyue into his arms, as if afraid she would break. "I'm sorry."

Xia Lanyue was a little surprised that he would say that. She felt that Xia Yao today was different from before. He was gentler than she had ever seen before. And nestled in his arms, she had for the first time a wish that time would stop at this moment.

After a brief moment of tenderness, Xia Lanyue stepped out of Xia Yao's arms. "Let's eat, the food's getting cold."

The two sat down at the table together for dinner.

Xia Yao seemed to have something to say, but Xia Lanyue waited for a long time without him saying anything. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Seeing Xia Lanyue speak, Xia Yao looked up at her and asked, "I wanted to ask why Dai You hasn't returned?"

Xia Lanyue paused in her chopsticks, then stammered, "He...we had a fight, and I don't know where he went."

She didn't know where Dai You had gone, but she couldn't say the details. She didn't know if Xia Yao would betray Dai You again for the sake of his future.

Xia Yao ate his meal calmly, then put another piece of food on Xia Lanyue's plate. "Don't worry about him. He's a man, it's okay for him to stay out overnight. He'll come back once he calms down."

"Yes, I'm not worried about him," Xia Lanyue said, looking down as she ate the food Xia Yao had given her.

"Aren't you going to ask me about Jiang Di?" Xia Yao asked.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. She then realized that Xia Yao was unaware that she had news of Jiang Di. Fearing that Xia Yao would become suspicious, she pretended not to know and asked, "How is Jiang Di?"

Xia Yao looked at Xia Lanyue, who had a calm expression, and said, "He ran away. He was kidnapped."

"Oh, that's great, then he should be alright," Xia Lanyue said.

"You don't seem surprised at all. You were quite nervous yesterday," Xia Yao asked.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. "Huh? Didn't you just say he escaped? He survived, so why am I nervous?"

“They’re just okay for now,” Xia Yao said.

Xia Lanyue sensed the hidden meaning in his words and frowned. "What does this mean?"

"What? Are you worried again?"

Xia Lanyue said casually, "No, I just don't understand what you're trying to say."

"It's alright, let's eat," Xia Yao deliberately ended the conversation, then put some food on Xia Lanyue's plate.

Xia Lanyue felt uncomfortable, keeping half a sentence to herself, but she could only lower her head and eat.

The two ate their meal in silence until it ended.

Xia Yao put down his chopsticks and said, "I'll be back a little later tomorrow, so don't wait for me to eat."

"What are you going to do?"

“The magistrate has assigned me tasks, so I’ll be quite busy,” Xia Yao replied.

"What mission?"

Xia Yao stared into Xia Lanyue's eyes for a moment before saying, "Arrest them."

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. "Arrest them?"

Xia Yao nodded.

Xia Lanyue opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat because she saw the probing look in Xia Yao's eyes and hesitated. But soon, she decided to ask anyway. Since she had a clear conscience, what was there to be afraid of? "Will you go too?"

"meeting".

"If you see him, could you please let him go?"

Xia Yao fell silent, staring into Xia Lanyue's eyes for a long time before asking another question, "Did you really stay because of me?"

Xia Lanyue paused slightly, knowing that Xia Yao was overthinking things again, and then nodded affirmatively, "Of course."

"If I let him go, I'll be in trouble. Aren't you worried about me?"

This was something Xia Lanyue hadn't considered. She had heard Wang Xiang's praise of him and had always had confidence in him. She thought he would be fine, and even if something did happen, it wouldn't be as serious as Jiang Di's, so she wasn't too worried. "I'm worried about you too."

"You've lied again," Xia Yao said, somewhat displeased.

“No, really,” Xia Lanyue explained.

"Then how will you prove it?" Xia Yao asked.

How to prove it? Xia Lanyue hadn't thought about how to prove it yet. "How to prove it?"

Xia Yao walked over, pulled Xia Lanyue up from the stool, put one arm around her waist, and kissed her.

As usual, Xia Yao would appear at the residence of the magistrate of Zhao Village precisely at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) every day.

Village Chief Zhao was stretching his limbs in the front yard when he saw Xia Yao arrive, and he started chatting with him.

"Xia Yao, you're a completely different person since your wife came back," Zhao, the village chief, joked.

Xia Yao smiled and said, "Village Chief Zhao, please stop teasing me."

"Haha, you're young after all, full of energy," Village Chief Zhao stopped what he was doing and gestured for Xia Yao to go to the front hall with him. "You don't need to go looking for someone today. It's too hot outside. Rest here."

"This... it would be bad if someone reported it to the county magistrate," Xia Yao said, looking troubled.

“It’s just a formality, why take it so seriously? If we can’t find the person, the magistrate will naturally find a way to cover it up. Why should we bother?” Village Chief Zhao walked to the chair and sat down, picking up his teacup and taking a sip. “Your idea is better. We can both give an explanation to our superiors and shut the magistrate up.”

Xia Yao smiled and said, "It's still best that the village chief made the arrangements."

Upon hearing this, the two exchanged a smile.

On the other side, Xia Lanyue had just woken up from her sleep.

She endured the soreness and got up.

She looked down at the new marks on her body, feeling somewhat helpless.

Xia Yao didn't say it, but he cared about Jiang Di. That night, he took the opportunity to torment her.

She couldn't say anything, she could only hold it in, and the thought of it made her angry.

She decided to leave Xia Yao out of the room starting today until she recovers.