A master of metaphysics is farming.

The carriage traveled along the road and arrived at the county government office.

Xing Ji spoke a few words to the constable, who nodded and allowed him to enter.

Xiang He followed He Suian off the carriage, but unexpectedly, the yamen runner personally led them inside.

If this were an ordinary person, they would probably be stopped and scolded several times.

Seeing the curiosity in her eyes, He Sui'an bent down slightly and leaned closer to her, "The magistrate's grandson is my student."

"…!" Xiang He's lips twitched. "No wonder…"

The two followed the constables through the main hall and then through a side door to the central garden, where a man dressed in official robes was teasing birds.

Turning around, she saw He Sui'an and waved to him with a smile, "Mr. He is here, please come and sit down."

He Suian led Xiang He over to sit down, introduced him to Xiang He, exchanged a few pleasantries with him, and then took out the letter of severance for him to read.

The magistrate nodded slightly. "Since you've all signed, I'd be a bad person if I didn't approve it. Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Watching the magistrate walk away, Xiang He was surprised that it could be resolved so easily.

"Consider this a favor I owe you!"

"It's just a small thing."

Xiang He got up and looked around. The county government office was indeed a county government office. Although its architecture and decoration were not as luxurious as the Wang family's, its solemnity was evident.

But as they turned southwest, they sensed something unusual in the bright, clear sky.

But it only lasted for a moment, and the feeling quickly disappeared.

Xiang He tapped her sideways leg with her right hand hanging by her side, "That's strange..."

Hearing her soft murmur, He Sui'an looked in that direction. "What's strange? Could it be something else?"

"It was just for a moment, maybe I was mistaken."

Xiang He waved his hand and sat down again. The county magistrate had already come over with the letter of severance and laid it flat on the table.

"Please take a look at the young lady."

Xiang He didn't just glance at it before putting it into her cloth bag. "Thank you, sir."

"polite."

He Sui'an stood up and clasped his hands together. "My lord, I must return to my private school to teach. I will bring some fine wine to share with you another day."

"Very good, very good."

After leaving the county government office, He Suian took a carriage back to the private school, which took up almost the entire morning of his time. He still had students to teach, so Xiang He decided not to bother him any longer and wandered the streets with her bamboo basket on her back.

She walked down the street, thinking that since the incident had happened so suddenly yesterday, Jiang Xinyue and Wang Rongxing might be very worried, so she should go and let them know that she was safe.

The sun had already risen, and the air was a little chilly. Xiang He pulled up her sleeves, thinking that she would go to the shop later to buy some fabric so that Su could make some clothes at home. The clothes they were wearing now were all hand-me-downs from their elders, and they hadn't worn any new clothes for holidays or festivals.

As she walked along, planning what to buy that day, she soon spotted Wande Money Shop. She deposited her silver notes there first, leaving ten taels of loose silver and copper coins on her person. The amount on the deposit slip kept increasing, and just looking at it made her happy for a long time.

Holding the stub in my arms, I walked towards East Street, where the streets of the city were bustling with activity.

No, it should be said that the streets everywhere were very lively. Xiang He happily carried her bamboo basket towards Chunfeng Tower, but she hadn't run far when she saw Wanqiu Restaurant.

A beautiful figure walked out from inside, and the two of them made eye contact. Xiang He's heart rang with alarm bells, and she took off running.

"Hey! You!" Guan Yuluo had only taken two steps when Xiang He was already far ahead. She stomped her foot in frustration, "Why are you running? Are you feeling guilty?"

Xiang He didn't know how far she had run, but when she looked back and saw no one, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly hearing a commotion beside her, she looked up and saw that she had arrived at Chunfeng Tower.

He rushed inside to find the shopkeeper; he remembered Xiang He and pointed the way to the Wang family mansion…

"..."

Left with no other choice, Xiang He turned and headed towards the Wang family mansion.

We rushed to the Wang family mansion, and the gatekeeper pointed us in the right direction to the Spring and Autumn Pavilion...

"Ah..." Xiang He's shoulders slumped. "Excuse me, where is the Spring and Autumn Pavilion..."

"Southeast, by the Xiaocao River."

Xiang He bowed even lower, "Thank you..."

They walked and asked for directions until they reached the outskirts of the city. Finally, they heard voices on the lush, deserted grass. Looking towards He Yao, they saw a pavilion by the river not far away.

"My goodness... these rich people just love to waste their time..."

If it weren't for the fact that Wang Rongxing wasn't a bad person and had been quite considerate after knowing her for a few days, she really wouldn't want to run around like this...

She approached silently, and one of them spotted her first, quickly raising his hand to her, "Miss Xiang is here! Come over here!"

Xiang He forced a smile, and when she saw that the old lady of the Wang family was also there, she shrugged and straightened her back as she walked over.

"The old lady is here too? Out for a stroll?"

The old lady beckoned to her to sit down, and Xiang He didn't stand on ceremony. She had walked for so long, and was even more tired than when she was running in the mountains. She plopped down and poured herself a glass of water.

"Seeing that the sun was shining quite well today, I came out for a walk. These younger folks were worried and insisted on coming along."

"It's good to walk around more and get some sunshine, which is good for your physical and mental health."

"Of course, Rongxing said that the young lady was feeling better yesterday... Is she feeling any better now?"

Xiang He nodded in thanks, "I'm much better now. I looked so frightening yesterday that I was thinking of thanking Young Master Wang and Miss Jiang. I didn't expect everyone to be here."

Jiang Xinyue sat down as well, pushing some of the fruit on the table towards her. "Seeing that you look much better today, I can finally relax."

"That scared me to death!" Wang Rongxing squeezed down to sit. "Should I have someone bring some nourishing herbal medicine?"

"No need, I already drank the medicine this morning."

These people were very polite, but Guan Yuluo, standing to the side, felt like an outsider, watching them exchange pleasantries, unable to feel part of the conversation at all.

She tightened her grip on the teacup; she hadn't asked about it last time because the old lady was unwell.

She suddenly smiled and took the old lady's hand, "Grandma, who is this young lady?"

“Ah, I almost forgot,” the old lady gently patted Guan Yuluo’s hand, “Miss Xiang and I are very familiar with each other, and she is also a good friend of Rongxing.”

"Oh..." Guan Yulu poured Xiang He a cup of tea, "I was wondering why she and Brother Rongxing were getting so close."

Xiang He's lips twitched, and as her gaze shifted, it met Jiang Xinyue's, who was trying hard to suppress a laugh.

It seems she saw through Guan Yuluo's little scheme and didn't care at all.

This made Xiang He wonder why Guan Yuluo, who had been talking about Wang Rongxing behind his back at the cloth shop that day, also seemed to want to get close to him.

Rumors are circulating that Wang Rongxing is a womanizer, and no decent girl wants to marry him...

Xiang He immediately understood that this was a scheme to ruin Wang Rongxing's reputation so that she could marry someone without any competition.

They really have a lot of wicked ideas...

No, Wang Rongxing was even willing to take Xiang Lianhua into his home, so he shouldn't be the type to mess around. Then what about his reputation for womanizing...?

Xiang He turned her head and clicked her tongue inwardly. So it turned out that someone was instigating things behind the scenes.

She sighed inwardly at the unpredictability of women's hearts, when she heard a faint sound from not far away. She quickly looked up and saw ripples on the river, but there was nothing on them.

"Did you hear anything?"

The four looked puzzled. Wang Rongxing followed her gaze and asked, "I didn't hear anything, and I didn't see anything either. Miss Xiang, could you have misheard?"

Xiang He stared intently at the ripples, a bad feeling creeping over her, and shoved the cloth bag into Jiang Xinyue's hands—

"Someone has fallen into the water, please hold this for me!"

"Huh?! Hey!" Wang Rongxing hurriedly caught up, and after running a short distance, Xiang He was about to jump down when Wang Rongxing grabbed her wrist. "The water's cold today, I'll go down!"

Xiang He pushed him away, "See that tender blue color on the water? It's a girl!"