Chapter 312: Chapter 217
It should be said that Xie Wanqing never thought Lu Ziyuan would die.
In her eyes, Lu Ziyuan was the God of Killing of his time; everyone else would die, but he would continue to live well.
In this life and the past, it was always so.
As for dying for love, she didn’t think Lu Ziyuan would do so for her.
After all, after she died in her past life, didn’t he live five more years?
He eventually died on the battlefield.
That was an accident.
If not for the accident, he would have lived a long life.
Even if he claimed he would be heartbroken, living like a walking corpse, he would still be alive.
Xie Wanqing was certain of this.
Aside from the initial panic and confusion, she soon composed herself and began executing her original plan.
Purchase a small courtyard, not too large, but not too small, then buy some servants to guard the house and serve daily needs.
It’d be best if the courtyard had a pond where she could admire plum blossoms in winter, lotus flowers in summer, and the desolation of falling leaves in autumn, year after year, as she stayed in her courtyard watching the clouds and flowers come and go.
On the boat that day, she only handed over the jewelry that could reveal her identity, keeping the valuable silver notes securely on her person.
These were the capital determining her future quality of life.
Living as a carefree hermit, far from the upheaval of the Capital City, far from those who exploit, force, threaten, and dictate her life, this was most desirable for Xie Wanqing.
Her greatest wish in her past life was to marry Lu Ziyuan, and though she succeeded, she regretted it afterward.
Upon reincarnation, she initially aimed to correct her past mistakes, hastily choosing someone to marry, but reality proved that not only did she fail to amend those errors, but things spiraled wildly out of control.
Now, having successfully escaped, Xie Wanqing wished only for a life where she gets to make all her own decisions.
She no longer wanted to be manipulated by others, schemed against by her husband, or exploited by her own aunt.
With such aspirations, she began to busy herself in Bianzhou.
This was where Lu Ziyuan followed orders to suppress bandits but ended up bringing back Liu Manrou.
Xie Wanqing had never imagined in two lifetimes she would come here and plan to settle down.
Meanwhile, far away in Lu City, the situation for Lu Ziyuan was far from ideal.
Dayang Lake had been dredged day and night for nearly a month, bringing up corpses one after another.
There were old and young, male and female, some bodies new, some old, but none belonged to Xie Wanqing.
Dayang Lake has a long history; countless people must have died here over the years.
Trying to fish for someone here is not much better than searching for a needle in the sea.
Warriors skilled in swimming dived into the icy waters, reporting that the silt at the bottom was deep enough to swallow not just a body, but even a medium-sized boat with ease.
Not finding the body was expected, yet the higher-ups hadn’t called off the search, so it continued.
As days went by, "neither seen alive nor dead" became almost a conclusion.
Lu Ziyuan couldn’t accept this reality at all.
He and his men dredged Dayang Lake for over half a month; at first, when hearing a corpse was retrieved, he would feel faint, his limbs weak, yet forced himself to identify them.
Each time, he would be drenched in cold sweat, as if narrowly escaping death, feeling relieved.
No bad news meant good news.
But that relief vanished once all passing ships from that day had been brought back for inspection.
