I served as Li Bai's page.

Li Bai and I returned to the inn from Huaiqing Bridge. The inn was quiet. I took out my key and opened the door. Li Bai went in and sat down on a chair in the corridor.

After preparing the water, I called out, "Young Master, come and wash up before bed."

"I don't want to sleep yet, you should wash up and go to bed first," Li Bai said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to sit quietly by myself for a while." After Li Bai finished speaking, he looked straight ahead, but all he could see was the pitch-black night.

If Li Bai didn't sleep, I didn't dare to sleep either. I moved a stool to the door, leaned against the door frame, and silently watched Li Bai.

Two hours passed in this way. Li Bai turned around and saw me still sitting by the door. He said, "Go wash up and go to sleep. I'm going to sleep too." After saying that, he stood up and walked into the house.

The next morning, when I woke up, Li Bai was already reading in the corridor.

I stretched and sat up from the bed, then quietly went downstairs and asked the waiter to bring breakfast to my room.

"Yuehua, you're getting lazier and lazier. Get up early tomorrow morning and read with me," Li Bai said, looking at me.

"Yes, young master. Could you please call me when you get up?" I said to Li Bai, shamelessly.

"Calling you is like forcing you. You need to develop the habit of getting up on time. Think about it, reading is such an exciting and meaningful thing. Don't you feel a great sense of accomplishment when you finish it?"

"But sometimes I just want to sleep a little longer," I said shamelessly, looking at Li Bai.

Li Bai rolled his eyes at me and said, "Let's go eat breakfast."

After breakfast, Li Bai and I tidied up and prepared to go find Meng Ning.

We arrived at the Qinhuai River. The sounds of sheng and xiao from last night were gone, replaced by the shouts and cries of merchants, especially in front of the Confucius Temple.

Li Bai and I strolled around the Confucius Temple area. Remembering that Meng Ning had mentioned their shop was nearby, we started looking around. After checking several shops, none of them were the right one. Suddenly, Li Bai asked me, "What kind of shop does Young Master Meng's family run?"

"I don't know either, he didn't say," I replied.

We went to a few more shops, but it wasn't the right one. Li Bai said dejectedly, "Let's give up. We'll meet again if fate allows. Let's wander around other parts of Jinling City."

"Alright, we've walked for so long, let's rest for a while." After saying that, I sat down on a stone bench on the street in front of the Confucius Temple. When Li Bai saw me sit down, he came and sat down next to me.

"Young Master, Yuehua."

I looked up and said to Li Bai, "Young Master, I'm hallucinating. I think I just heard Ziyi calling us."

"I heard it too." Li Bai and I stood up at the same time, and when we turned around, we saw Zi Yi standing behind us.

I hugged Ziyi tightly, and tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

"Ziyi, I missed you so much! When did you arrive in Jinling?" I hugged Ziyi and looked at her again and again, asking anxiously.

Li Bai snatched the purple robe from my hands, examined it closely for a long time, and said, "It really is Little Purple Robe. Why have you come to Jinling?"

"Young Master." At this moment, Uncle Lu and two servants came over and called out in unison.

Li Bai and I called out at the same time, "Uncle Lu!"

Li Bai was eager to know why Uncle Lu had brought Zi Yi and two servants to Jinling. He pulled Uncle Lu to sit on the bench we had just been sitting on and said, "Uncle Lu, has something happened at home? Why are you in Jinling?"

Uncle Lu said, "Young Master, don't worry, everything is fine at home. Master has gone to Rencheng in Donglu. Boss Lin from Jinling has taken a liking to our tea, so we're here to deliver some to him."

"Have all the tea leaves been handed over to Boss Lin?" Li Bai asked.

"The goods have all been delivered, and Boss Lin is very satisfied. He plans to cooperate with us again," Uncle Lu said.

"Young Master, it's noon. Let's find a restaurant to eat at and talk." I said.

I pulled Ziyi along and we arrived at a restaurant next to the Confucius Temple. Li Bai ordered a pot of wine and drank with Uncle Lu and the others.

Uncle Lu suddenly asked, "Where's Young Master Wu? Wasn't he with you?"

I quickly gave Uncle Lu a wink and said, "Uncle Lu, I'll explain everything to you in detail when we get to the inn. Let's eat now."

Uncle Lu saw the look in my eyes and stopped mentioning Wu Zhinan.

After dinner, we returned to the inn and rented two more rooms. One room was for Uncle Lu and Ziyi, and the other was for the two servants who were traveling with us. After settling them in, Li Bai and I went to Uncle Lu's room.

I asked Uncle Lu, "When did you leave home?"

"We left home in mid-May, rented a boat in Chongqing to come to Nanjing, and it's been almost two months now. After delivering the goods, we were planning to go back, but we didn't expect to run into you," Uncle Lu said.

"Uncle Lu, Yueyuan's wedding couldn't take place. She must be heartbroken," Li Bai asked.

"I was heartbroken for two days, but considering that Young Master Wu left home for his future, I didn't say anything more after that," Uncle Lu said.

"When did my father go to Rencheng?" Li Bai continued to ask.

"Master went to Shandong at the end of January. The local government sent people to urge him to go before the New Year. Master wanted to wait until the wedding at Yueyuan was over before leaving, but unexpectedly, Young Master Wu failed to return on time," Uncle Lu said.

"During that time, everyone in the family was worried sick about you, fearing that something might have happened to you outside. Fortunately, your master went back to his hometown and sent a letter through someone, so the whole family was relieved to know that you were safe and sound," Uncle Lu continued.

Li Bai looked at Uncle Lu, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated, then stood up and walked to the window to look outside.

I pulled Ziyi to sit next to Uncle Lu and said, "Uncle Lu, Young Master Wu is gone."

Uncle Lu stood up in horror: "How could it be gone?"

"Last winter, Young Master Wu caught a cold and coughed for a long time before recovering. However, he didn't fully recover and kept relapsing. In early June, we went to Dongting Lake and asked a doctor to examine him. The doctor said he had tuberculosis. He recovered after taking medicine, but while visiting Junshan Mountain, he suddenly vomited blood and passed away when we returned to the shore of Dongting Lake. Because of the hot weather, we buried him by the shore of Dongting Lake. Young Master Wu said that we would move his grave back to Qinglian Town later." I said, tears streaming down my face.

Ziyi clung to me and cried. Uncle Lu wiped away his tears and said, "How are we going to explain this to Yueyuan? She's still waiting for Young Master Wu!"

Li Bai suddenly turned around, squatted down in front of Uncle Lu, and said, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have asked him to come out with me. I'm sorry to Wu's parents, and even more sorry to Yueyuan." After saying that, he buried his face in Uncle Lu's lap and started crying.

Uncle Lu patted Li Bai's back and said, "Young Master, it's not your fault. Everyone is born, grows old, gets sick, and dies. He had an incurable disease, and no one could save him. Alas, what a pity."

After a moment of grief, Uncle Lu continued, "We need to come up with a foolproof plan so that Wu's parents and Yueyuan won't be too heartbroken when they hear this news."

The woman in purple said, "Why don't we just not tell them? The young master won't be back anytime soon anyway."

Zi Yi's words reminded Uncle Lu, who said to Li Bai, "Come back with us. Drifting around isn't a solution. We can figure out what to do when we get back."

"Uncle Lu, I won't go back now. I'll go back when I've obtained an official position and can bring honor to our ancestors."

"Do as you please, we're heading back tomorrow," Uncle Lu said.