Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

It was nearly dark when Dai You left.

Xia Yao, Zhou Yuan, and the others stayed behind. They agreed that at daybreak the next day, Zhou Yuan would take his brothers home, while Xia Yao would continue on his journey with Xia Lanyue.

Regarding the fetus in Xia Lanyue's womb, everyone tacitly chose to remain silent.

In the middle of the night, Xia Lanyue was fast asleep when she vaguely sensed someone walking back and forth beside her.

She had been preoccupied with her thoughts and was a light sleeper, but now she was fully awake.

Xia Lanyue shifted her body, then got up, put on her shoes, and prepared to walk out of the carriage to take a look.

She heard someone softly calling her name outside the car window, "A-Yue? A-Yue?"

Xia Lanyue thought she had misheard, so she lifted the curtain of the car and looked outside.

The night was too dark to see anything clearly, but the voice was even clearer: "Ah Yue, come out."

It's Dai You's voice!

Xia Lanyue tensed up immediately. She quickly turned to look at Cuihong, then at the servants outside the carriage window. Fortunately, everyone was sound asleep and no one noticed.

Xia Lanyue was nervous. Why had Dai You come back to find her again? If he did this and Butler Zhang found out, it would be very dangerous.

Xia Lanyue tiptoed out of the carriage, jumped off, and walked towards the direction of the sound.

"Young Miss? Where are you going?"

A voice came from behind Xia Lanyue, and she instantly tensed up, her hair standing on end. But quickly, she told herself that Yao was shocked, and then turned around as if nothing had happened, saying, "I'm going to the restroom."

The servant continued, "Why didn't you let Cuihong come along? There are snakes and insects in the woods; it's not safe."

"Ah, it's okay, I'm not afraid. You go back to sleep, don't worry about me," Xia Lanyue smiled.

"That won't do. I can't bear the responsibility if something goes wrong. Wait a moment, I'll go and get a maid." The servant turned and walked towards the bonfire.

Knowing she could no longer meet Dai You alone, and not wanting to expose him, Xia Lanyue turned and walked towards the car.

However, after the servants summoned the maid, they saw a shadowy figure crouching in the bushes and shouted, "Who's there?! Come out!"

Upon hearing this, the people in the bushes quickly ran into the depths of the dense forest. Judging from the rustling sounds, there were at least four or five of them.

Hearing the commotion, the servants around also got up and rushed to Xia Lanyue's side with their knives.

Xia Lanyue was terrified by the scene and quickly reassured everyone, "Don't panic, it's just a wild rabbit, a rabbit."

"Young Miss has excellent eyesight; she can even see what it is in the dark," Butler Zhang said as he slowly walked over and then gave orders to the servants, "Why don't you go after it and see what it is? Don't let any wild beast come back and hurt the young lady."

Upon hearing the sound, the group, carrying torches and knives, headed into the woods.

Xia Lanyue sensed the hidden meaning in Butler Zhang's words; her only hope was that Dai You would not return and risk his life again.

Xia Lanyue was too preoccupied to notice Xia Yao's arrival.

"What's wrong?" Xia Yao asked with concern.

"Huh?" Xia Lanyue looked up abruptly, saw it was him, and didn't hide it from him, "It seems like Dai You came just now."

Xia Yao frowned. "He's coming to pick you up? You two agreed on this?!"

"No," Xia Lanyue quickly explained, "I thought he and Jiang Di had left. I didn't expect him to dare to come back." Xia Lanyue looked around, "What should we do?"

"Are you worried about him?" Xia Yao asked.

"Hmm," Xia Lanyue said, then realized that Xia Yao's words sounded off, and quickly shook her head, "I just don't want anything to happen to him, I have no other thoughts."

“I didn’t say you had other ideas, so what are you explaining?” Xia Yao said.

Xia Lanyue sighed, "Xia Yao, now is not the time to be angry. Human life is at stake."

"It's not as serious as you make it out to be," Xia Yao said, disbelieving.

“It’s serious. You think it’s not serious because you don’t know how ruthless Dai Xiyue’s father is. Given her relationship with Dai You, he’s long wanted to…” Xia Lanyue stopped mid-sentence, regretting that she had said too much, “In short, he really will be killed.”

"That's perfect, I was hoping for that result too," Xia Yao said angrily, turning around and walking back.

Xia Lanyue was speechless. Even at this point, Xia Yao was still jealous.

But she didn't know that this was their last time arguing.

Xia Yao walked to the campfire and sat down on the ground.

Xia Lanyue was still anxiously watching the dense forest, waiting for the people to arrive.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the woods, and soon the people in the woods came out; it was the servants returning.

Xia Lanyue anxiously searched for familiar figures in the crowd, but to her delight, Dai You and Jiang Di were nowhere to be seen.

The servants returned empty-handed, much to the displeasure of Steward Zhang, who thought, "They're utterly useless."

The servants lowered their heads, letting Steward Zhang scold and reprimand them, and dared not utter a word in response.

One of the servants suddenly looked up and said, "Steward Zhang, I... have something to say."

“Speak,” said Steward Zhang.

The servant whispered in Steward Zhang's ear that it had been given to only one person.

Xia Lanyue didn't know what they were talking about, but she felt that what they couldn't let her hear must be related to Dai You, but what could it be?

For some reason, Xia Lanyue suddenly had a bad feeling. Could it be that Dai You was buried by them and that's why they didn't bring him back?

Thinking of this, Xia Lanyue felt weak all over and couldn't even stand up, so she fell to the ground.

The maids who remained behind had already woken up from the noise earlier.

Seeing Xia Lanyue in this state, Cuihong quickly came over to help her up.

The servants, who had been whispering to Steward Zhang, exchanged a glance upon seeing Xia Lanyue's reaction. They then walked over to Zhou Yuan and placed a knife to his neck.

The other servants, after Steward Zhang ordered them to "surround them," surrounded Xia Yao and his brothers.

Xia Lanyue didn't understand what was going on and looked at everything blankly. "Butler Zhang, what does this mean?"

"Miss, is there anything wrong with your body?" Butler Zhang asked, seemingly ignoring the question.

Xia Lanyue did not feel anything unusual in her body. "I'm fine, the fall didn't hurt."

"I'm not asking about the fall itself, but whether you experienced any other sensations, such as suffocation or stomach pain?" Butler Zhang asked.

Xia Lanyue examined her body and shook her head.

The servant beside Zhou Yuan said, "I saw it clearly. This man put medicine in Miss's soup. He was acting suspiciously. There must be something wrong with him."

Xia Yao looked at Zhou Yuan, then at Xia Lanyue, and panicked. Before anyone could ask, she questioned Zhou Yuan, "What did you put here?!"

Zhou Yuan didn't say anything, appearing completely at ease.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Xia Lanyue became frightened and walked to Xia Yao's side. "I drank all that soup. Am I... going to die?"

Xia Yao stepped forward and embraced Xia Lanyue, comforting her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, everything will be alright. Where is the doctor? Please take a look at her."

"Ahem," Butler Zhang cleared his throat and pulled Xia Lanyue out of Xia Yao's arms. "Miss, let's go back to the carriage first." He turned to the accompanying physician and said, "Quickly, take a look at the young lady."

At this moment, Zhou Yuan sneered, as if mocking Xia Lanyue, "You're overthinking it. If it were poison, you would have died long ago."

"Impossible, I saw it clearly, you really did let him go," the servant who reported him quickly explained, afraid that Steward Zhang wouldn't believe him. "I really didn't lie. Otherwise, search him, maybe he still has some unused medicine on him."

Butler Zhang nodded.