After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

Ever since learning that Lan Tingzhou was going to change academies, Lan's mother had been urging the two of them to go to Danzhou Prefecture as soon as possible.

Lan Tingzhou was thinking about the people she wanted to visit, while Gan Cai'er was eager to see the embroidery shop.

So the two packed their belongings early, drove their carriage, and with their servants, set off for Danzhou Prefecture to begin their new life.

In her previous life, Lan Tingzhou had never left Qingshui Town before passing the imperial examination, and Gan Cai'er had never lived in Danzhou Prefecture.

This journey will be a completely different experience from her previous life, and Gan Cai'er couldn't help but feel both apprehensive and excited.

What makes me uneasy is that the road ahead is completely unknown.

What's exhilarating is that this very unknown means that everything from the past can be corrected.

When Lan Tingzhou visited with generous gifts, he learned that the seemingly unknown "Tingfeng Jushi" on Lu Yu's list was actually Xu Nanshi, a master of prose in the world, and "Yi Song Weng" was Wei Buzhen, a master of painting!

Lantingzhou was greatly admired by Wei Buzhen. The two hit it off immediately, chatted amiably, and felt as if they had known each other for a long time.

When Wei Buzhen learned that Lan Tingzhou wanted to study at Luming Academy, he immediately led Lan Tingzhou there without hesitation.

Upon hearing of Wei Buzhen's visit, Ouyang Shu, the headmaster of Luming Academy and former Grand Tutor, personally came out of the mountain gate to welcome him.

Lan Tingzhou was recommended by Wei Buzhen, so he naturally received considerable attention from Luming Academy. Moreover, his achievement of winning the top spot twice within a year had already spread widely among various academies.

Whether a student has a future or not, experienced teachers can usually tell about 70-80% of it at a glance.

From the moment Lanting Zhou stepped through the mountain gate, the teachers of the academy were all eager to learn; this was a promising talent.

After two rounds of written tests and one round of debate, Lan Tingzhou successfully gained admission to Luming Academy.

Three days later, Lantingzhou can enroll.

Gan Cai'er and Lan Tingzhou had a major disagreement on whether or not to stay overnight at school.

"You don't want to live on campus?!"

"You want me to live at school?"

Located on the southern slope of Cuiyun Peak, Luming Academy covers a vast area. To facilitate students' focused study, the academy has dormitories where students can stay during their studies and only return home once every one or two months.

Gan Cai'er thought Lan Tingzhou would choose to live at school without hesitation.

After all, he usually prefers peace and quiet and avoids me like the plague, not wanting to see me at all except on the first and fifteenth of the month.

If he could live in the academy and completely escape my disturbances, shouldn't he have done so without hesitation?

Lan Tingzhou thought that Gan Cai'er would pester him relentlessly to stop him from going to boarding school.

Given how clingy Gan Cai'er is to him, she wants to be with him every single moment of the day. How could she possibly allow him to be out of her sight for a month or two?

The two stared at each other in astonishment for a long time before suddenly realizing that what the other was saying was actually true!

"Do you really want me to live at school?" Lan Tingzhou asked again.

"Classes start as soon as it gets light at the academy. Living at the academy saves us the trouble of traveling back and forth, allows us to get some rest, and also gives us more opportunities to interact with our teachers."

Gan Cai'er counted on her fingers, speaking eloquently and logically.

Lan Tingzhou's gaze deepened, a hint of scrutiny lingering within it.

He just quietly looked at Gan Cai'er.

Gan Cai'er felt intimidated by his gaze and her heart raced. Some thoughts, without thinking, slipped out of her mouth.

"There are no women in the academy, so my husband can focus on his studies!"

Sure enough, this is the real Gan Cai'er.

Lan Tingzhou's lips curled up slightly, and his gaze softened.

"We are new to Danzhou Prefecture and unfamiliar with the place. I would be worried about leaving you here alone."

"Before I left for Danzhou Prefecture, my mother specifically told me not to disturb your studies."

Lan Tingzhou glanced at her sideways and said coolly, "Since when have you been so obedient to your mother?"

Gan Cai'er twirled her handkerchief, glared at him fiercely, and then turned and went into the house.

In the end, Lan Tingzhou took Mo Yan to live and study at the academy. Gan Cai'er rented a small courtyard at the foot of Cuiyun Peak, bought a few maids and a housekeeper, and settled down. Lan Tingzhou was worried about Gan Cai'er and would come back to check on her every few days.

“Miss, it’s rare for you to be away from the old lady’s control, so why do you insist on sending your husband to live in the academy? You two have only been married for a little over a year. What kind of new bride kicks her husband out?” Xiao Hong muttered.

"If he studies hard at the academy, I can become an official's wife sooner," Gan Cai'er said with a smile, quite perfunctorily.

Actually, Gan Cai'er was genuinely scared.

She feared that if she spent too much time with Lan Tingzhou, her dead heart would gradually rekindle, leading to further disappointment and embarrassment.

She didn't want to experience that helplessness and pain of exhausting all her energy to pursue and seek something, only to end up with nothing.

No matter how good the Lanting Boat is, it doesn't belong to her.

She no longer wanted to be involved in matters of the heart.

"The son-in-law has achieved the top score in two examinations and has now entered the best academy in Danzhou. If the young lady wants to become an official's wife, isn't that a piece of cake?"

In Xiao Hong's eyes, her son-in-law was perfect in every way, the best in the world. And indeed, Lan Tingzhou later became the best in the world.

Gan Cai'er smiled but didn't reply. She twisted the thread with her fingertips and began to embroider a purse under the lamp.

"Hey, Miss, why is the boat you embroidered floating on clouds?" Xiao Hong peeked over, looking puzzled.

Gan Cai'er was taken aback and looked down at the needle and thread in her hand.

On the dark blue purse in her hand, a lone boat floated above fluffy white clouds.

Gan Cai'er was momentarily dazed, her thoughts pulled back to her previous life.

The lone boat on the clouds was a pattern she often used when making embroidery for Lan Tingzhou after returning to the Lan family in her previous life.

The boat is the Lanting Boat, and the cloud is Shen Yunxi.

In her past life, when Mei Wanyin tricked her out of the Duke of Wei's mansion, she was penniless and injured. Holding her three-month-old daughter Meng Fu, the two of them almost died together in an abandoned local temple.

It was Shen Yunxi, who happened to be passing by, who saved them and took the mother and daughter back to the Lan residence.

Thus, Gan Cai'er remarried Lan Tingzhou and became his concubine. In this way, she and her daughter finally had a place to live.

After returning to the Lan family mansion, she would embroider "A Lone Boat on the Clouds" whenever she made small items for Lan Tingzhou. She sincerely hoped that Lan Tingzhou and Shen Yunxi would be safe, well, and happy.

She remembered that in her previous life, before she died, she was embroidering a pouch just like this.

She had intended to give it to Lan Tingzhou as a New Year's gift. However, the weather was too cold at the time, and her hands and feet became stiff from the cold. She spent several days embroidering but was unable to finish it.

Gan Cai'er clutched the purse in her hand, her heart tightening.

She was just bored and wanted to practice making a purse to get a feel for it. Little did she know that she would unknowingly make one just like the one from her previous life.

Is this a debt from a past life being repaid in this one?

The unfinished embroidery pouch from her past life eventually ended up in Lantingzhou's hands.

The blizzard of the twenty-fourth year of Jinghe caused Lantingzhou's right eye to twitch all night.

The next morning, he took his personal guards, along with silver charcoal and new clothes, to Gan Cai'er's residence. However, the house was empty.

The dilapidated wooden house was frozen like an icebox, with a howling north wind blowing and a bone-chilling cold, without a trace of warmth.

Did she know he was coming, so she ran away again? Or did she go looking for Meng Yu as soon as she heard he was back?

Lan Tingzhou's eyes were lowered, his gaze dark and unfathomable, his lips pressed into a sharp arc. The chill emanating from him was colder than the icy snow outside.

But when his sinister gaze swept across the sewing basket, he saw a half-finished purse lying inside.

His heart skipped a beat, and a sudden sense of panic arose within him.

He knew that Gan Cai'er always saw things through to the end and never gave up halfway.

At that moment, he sincerely hoped that she had gone to find Meng Yu.

"Don't worry too much. Maybe my sister has moved again. Send more people to inquire, and we'll find her eventually," Shen Yunxi said in her usual gentle voice.

“She has legs; she can go wherever she wants. Why should I worry about her?” Lan Tingzhou lowered his eyes, his voice cold and hard.

Shen Yunxi choked, her eyes showing helplessness.

“It’s getting late, and the study is chilly. You’re not feeling well, so you should go back to your room and rest. There’s no need to rush copying these books.” Lan Tingzhou softened his tone.

Shen Yunxi sighed softly, put down her pen, and gracefully rose to leave the study.

Only Lantingzhou remained, sitting alone under the lamp.

As she was leaving, she glanced at the purse that Lan Tingzhou had been clutching in his hand. The workmanship was mediocre, hardly exquisite.

If she remembered correctly, Lan Tingzhou had an even uglier purse that he always carried close to his body. It was patched and mended repeatedly, and even after being washed until it was faded, he never threw it away.

The moonlight outside the study had faded, and a sliver of morning light peeked through from afar. All night long, Lan Tingzhou sat there, clutching the unfinished embroidered purse tightly in his hand.

He knew that his little girl might never come back.

If he had stepped in and stopped her that day, would she have stopped running away and hiding? Would he have been able to keep her?

Lan Tingzhou hated Gan Cai'er intensely, to the core. How could she, how dare she, abandon him time and time again?!

As the rising sun streamed into the study, Lan Tingzhou clutched his chest and vomited blood.

Lan Tingzhou fell ill with a persistent high fever.

The imperial physician came to the Lan residence twice a day for consultations, and he shook his head and sighed.

"A cold is easy to treat, but a knot in one's heart is hard to untie. Your Excellency, you should try to think more positively about things, otherwise no matter how much medicine you use, it will be in vain."

Lantingzhou closed his eyes and remained silent.

When he was able to leave his sickbed, he became increasingly thin and indifferent, making it difficult to discern his emotions.

Shen Yunxi held Lan Fu's hand and gazed at Lan Tingzhou's figure in the distance, sighing softly, "Fu'er, a person must have a mouth, otherwise they will regret it for the rest of their life."

Lanfu blinked her big eyes, pointed her little finger at her mouth, and said sweetly, "Mother, Fu'er has a mouth."

Shen Yunxi smiled and said, "Yes, Fu'er has grown a mouth, she will definitely be happy in the future."