Unwilling to let her know what he was really thinking, Li Qingyuan turned his head away and, with his usual proud attitude, said, “Since I promised you, I won’t go back on my word. Tomorrow, wait for me at the alley entrance at the usual time.”
Li Qingyuan turned his head and urged her again, “Are you still not going to the academy?”
His eyes suddenly widened as if he had thought of a terrible possibility. He looked at Gu Wuyou in shock. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to skip the whole day?!”
Gu Wuyou hadn’t intended to skip class; she just wanted to stay with him a little longer. Now that he had put it that way, she couldn’t help but blush. She mumbled softly, “I wasn’t.” Then, looking at Li Qingyuan, she couldn’t help but whisper, “You’re really going back on your word today.”
Big liar.
And his memory was terrible.
He clearly missed their appointment, yet he had completely forgotten about it.
At first, Li Qingyuan didn’t quite understand, but once he realized what she meant, he instinctively wanted to explain, “I wasn’t—” But looking at the little girl’s bright, vivid face, he thought that if she found out he had actually been secretly following her just now, her little tail would probably wag to the sky.
She was already so shameless.
If he gave her any more reason to be smug, by tomorrow—no, she wouldn’t even wait until tomorrow—she would probably open a dye shop on the spot.
So, the proud Li Qingyuan chose not to tell her the truth and silently took the blame. “Got it. I won’t do it again.” Seeing the little girl’s face still filled with disbelief, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, “If I lie to you again, I’m a puppy!”
“…Oh.”
Gu Wuyou nodded. “You said it yourself. If you lie to me again, you’re a puppy.”
Li Qingyuan had never been this humiliated in his life. He didn’t even want to deal with her anymore. He turned his head, crossed his arms over his chest, and unhappily shooed her away. “Are you still not going to the academy?” If he kept talking to her, he might actually need to see a doctor.
Gu Wuyou dawdled, clearly reluctant to leave. She tapped her toe against the ground, the pearls on her shoes swaying slightly. “I still have one last question.”
Li Qingyuan narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, already knowing what she wanted to ask. “You want to know where I live now?”
Gu Wuyou’s eyes widened in shock. “You—how did you know what I was going to ask?”
Tch.
With her completely transparent expression, it would be strange if he didn’t know.
Li Qingyuan crooked his finger, motioning for her to come closer. “Come here.”
Gu Wuyou immediately leaned in.
“I—” Li Qingyuan deliberately dragged out his words. Just as the little girl’s face filled with anticipation, he suddenly curled his finger and flicked her lightly on the forehead. Then, before she could react, he took off running.
Putting seven or eight steps between them, he turned back with an unrestrained grin and called out, “Hurry up and go to your academy! If you don’t go now, you won’t get to eat meat pies tomorrow!”
After speaking, he turned and walked toward the depths of the alley.
His long, high ponytail swayed in the air, drawing a striking and lively silhouette.
Gu Wuyou stood in place, watching Li Qingyuan for a long time before finally covering her forehead and stomping her foot. Her small face puffed up as she glared at his retreating figure, huffing angrily.
The young general at this age was not nice at all!
He always tricked her, always bullied her!
But—
She looked at that carefree and unrestrained figure and couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips curl up.
She still liked him so much.
This young general, so completely different from the one in her memories—full of life, temperamental and awkward, bringing all the things she had never seen before crashing into her world once again.
She placed her hand over her heart.
Gu Wuyou watched Li Qingyuan’s figure disappear into the distance before finally turning and walking toward the alley entrance.
The carriage driver had been waiting anxiously for a long time. If it weren’t for Gu Wuyou’s prior instructions, he probably would have already gone searching for her. Now, seeing her approaching from afar, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet her. “Fifth Miss, where did you go?”
Seeing him, the smile on Gu Wuyou’s face faded slightly, but the corners of her lips were still curved upward.
Feeling a little apologetic, she said, “Ah, you must have been waiting anxiously. Sorry, I just ran into a friend…” As she spoke, she handed him the oil-paper-wrapped package in her hands. “These are meat pies, they’re really delicious. You can have them.”
“This…”
The driver took the package of meat pies, looking somewhat dumbfounded. Before he could say anything, Gu Wuyou had already climbed into the carriage. Just moments ago, she had seemed a bit disappointed, but now, for some reason, she looked completely delighted. Turning back to him with a bright smile, she said, “Let’s go to the academy.”
She still had things to do.
By the time she arrived at the academy, it was already three-quarters past the hour of Si (around 9:45 AM).
She first ran to find Gu Tiao to let her know she had arrived before returning to Pingshuo Hall. As she stepped inside, the first class had just ended, and the room was noisy with chatter. Naturally, people were discussing why she hadn’t shown up earlier.
Someone turned to ask Gu Yu.
“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?” Gu Yu snapped at them impatiently.
She was already frustrated.
Ah Yi hadn’t shown up again today for some reason, and now Gu Wuyou was also missing. This morning, she had clearly seen her leave, yet she never arrived at the academy. Earlier, she had gone to ask her second sister about Gu Wuyou’s whereabouts.
Her second sister had only reassured her, saying there was nothing to worry about.
But what did “nothing to worry about” even mean? Yesterday, Gu Wuyou had made such a bold statement in front of the entire academy, and now she was skipping class? Gu Yu was so furious with her that she could barely stand it.
“What are you yelling for?!”
The girl who had asked was also annoyed and nearly started arguing with Gu Yu. Fortunately, someone beside her pulled her back and advised her to drop it.
But after this commotion, the others no longer dared to ask Gu Yu. Instead, the conversation shifted to another topic.
“Speaking of which, Huang Fu didn’t come today either.”
“What difference does it make whether she comes or not?” Someone sneered. “She just sits there in silence anyway. Aside from answering a few questions in class, I’ve never seen her talk to anyone.”
“True…” Another person giggled. “If we didn’t know better, we’d think she was mute.”
“Hey?”
“You guys don’t know yet? Huang Fu won’t be coming back anymore.” Someone who was in the know turned their head and dropped this piece of news. Seeing the others looking surprised, she explained, “I just went to see Mr. Gu, and I happened to see someone from the Huang family there. They didn’t say why, just that she won’t be coming back.”
No one was particularly close to Huang Fu, so the news didn’t stir much reaction.
The girls’ academy had always been less strict than the boys’ academy. If a girl got engaged, was promised in marriage, or had other matters to attend to, it wasn’t uncommon for them to stop coming.
However, just as this was being discussed, Gu Wuyou, who had just stepped into the room, furrowed her brows and asked, “Who did you just say won’t be coming back?”
Everyone turned in surprise at the sound of her voice.
Seeing Gu Wuyou, someone stammered, “L-Leping County Princess…”
Gu Yu, on the other hand, immediately rushed over, grabbed her by the arm, and looked her up and down. Confirming that she was unharmed, she angrily snapped, “Where have you been?!”
Gu Wuyou saw the worry and concern on Gu Yu’s face, and her heart softened. She replied casually, “Something came up, so I was delayed.” Then she turned back to the person who had spoken earlier. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Ah…”
The person was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded, “It was… Huang Fu. Her family sent someone over today, saying she won’t be coming anymore.”
Huang Fu again?
Gu Wuyou stood still, frowning.
Yesterday, Huang Fu was the one hiding behind the tree. This morning, she was the one speaking with the general. And now… she was suddenly leaving the academy for good. Just what role did Huang Fu play in all of this?
“What’s wrong?” Gu Yu, seeing her frown, also furrowed her brows.
Gu Wuyou shook her head. Her thoughts were still scattered—something was on the verge of surfacing, but she couldn’t quite grasp it yet. “…It’s nothing.” Once the midday break arrived, she would go investigate. Earlier, her second sister had already given her the names of a few servants—both male and female—who had been near the boundary of Pingshuo Hall and Buzhi Hall yesterday.
She would definitely find some clues.
Gu Yu wanted to say more, but the teacher for the second class had already arrived, so she had no choice but to return to her seat.
At midday break.
Usually, Gu Wuyou was the last to leave the classroom, but today, she was the first out the door.
Gu Yu immediately got up and followed her, chasing after her as she asked, “Where are you going?”
“Huh?”
Gu Wuyou was a little surprised that Gu Yu had come after her. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. “Why did you follow me?”
Gu Yu ignored her question and instead asked with a displeased expression, “You still haven’t answered mine!”
“I’m going to find evidence.” Gu Wuyou didn’t hide anything and answered as if it was only natural. “Second Sister just told me a few names of servants. I’m going to question them.”
“You—”
Gu Yu opened her mouth to say something but, upon looking at Gu Wuyou’s determined face, she pursed her lips and ultimately said nothing. Hearing the growing commotion behind them, she let out a defeated sigh, grabbed Gu Wuyou’s arm, and led her toward the moon gate.
“Forget it, I’ll go with you. You’ve only been at the academy for a few days—how many people could you possibly recognize?”
As they walked, she added, “Let me make this clear—I’m not doing this for you, and I’m not doing this for Li Qingyuan either. I just don’t want an innocent person to be falsely accused.”
“Oh~”
Gu Wuyou smiled sweetly as she followed Gu Yu.
“What’s with that ‘oh’!?” Gu Yu shot her an irritated glare, feeling that this one syllable was utterly infuriating.
Finally, they arrived at the moon gate. Gu Yu casually pulled aside a passing female servant, handed her a silver ingot, then turned to Gu Wuyou. “Tell me all the names you know.”
After Gu Wuyou listed them one by one, Gu Yu instructed the servant, “Bring them all here. Not a single one is to be left out.”
“Yes.”
The servant immediately set off to complete the task.
Gu Yu then pulled Gu Wuyou toward a secluded plum grove to wait. It wasn’t long before someone approached, but when they turned to look, it wasn’t the servant bringing the people they had summoned—it was Jing Yubai and the other two.
Both sides froze upon seeing each other.