Chapter 34: To Report or Not to Report?

The room fell silent in an instant.

Li Xubai stared at Song Shiyu. Song Shiyu lowered her head slightly, gazing at the worn cotton quilt.

"Don't you want to ask something?"
"Don't you want to say something?"

Song Shiyu and Li Xubai spoke at the same time, both pausing in surprise.

"Interrogating people is exhausting; you might as well say it yourself," Li Xubai said after a moment of silence, his expression a mix of a smile and a sneer.

Song Shiyu glanced at him, her demeanor returning to its usual indifference. Only her swollen, red-rimmed eyes betrayed that her earlier display of agony had been no hallucination. "What does Second Young Master want to ask? What if what I say isn't what you want to hear? You had better not ask, lest you bring humiliation upon yourself."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Li Xubai stomped his foot in frustration and cursed, "Forget it then! I didn't want to hear it anyway." He turned to storm out, but just as he reached the doorway, he spun around and warned her: "Let me remind you again, Song Shiyu—you are now the eldest daughter-in-law of the Li family. If you want to court death, you’d better weigh the consequences. Go die somewhere where no one will find you; don't drag the rest of us down with you. We haven't lived enough yet!"

Song Shiyu watched him leave, then suddenly slumped, leaning against the head of the kang in a daze.

Why did this happen? She had clearly stopped that fool Gu Shiyan—how could the Gu household still end up imprisoned and confiscated just like in her past life?

Song Shiyu blinked, forcing back the tears. Things hadn't reached the absolute end; there was still room for salvation. In this life, she was already grown by the time the Gu family faced their calamity; she was no longer the ignorant five-year-old child who could do nothing. She would find a way—she must!

She slowly clenched her fists, carefully recalling the events of this time in her previous life—events that could change the fate of the Gu mansion. She closed her eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them.

Yes, Lü Yijian! Cao Heyong had been demoted, and Lü Yijian had ascended to power! She now had a legitimate reason to go find Xiong Tianqiang!

On the surface, Xiong Tianqiang was the owner of the Chengfeng Casino, but behind the scenes, he served a powerful master. Perhaps she could find a breakthrough there. She threw off the quilt and stepped off the kang.

Suddenly, she froze.

Wait. Among those taken away to prison from the Gu mansion today, two people seemed to be missing!

Song Shiyu’s expression shifted drastically. She rushed to the door and flung it open, only to collide head-on with Li Xubai, who had been leaning against the frame.

"What are you doing? Have you gone mad?" Li Xubai clutched his aching chin, tears welling in his eyes.

"None of your business!" Song Shiyu rubbed her forehead and sprinted out without looking back.

Left behind, Li Xubai felt like he had played the fool, helping someone who didn't appreciate it. He shouldn't have meddled in her business! After bidding farewell to Li Xuzhang and Li Yunnuan, he didn't even have the heart for lunch and headed off to work at the Lulutong Carriage Agency.

***

Li Xubai sat restlessly in the second-floor private room for a long while. As the weather warmed, people grew drowsy in the afternoon, especially the idle staff in the private rooms, who had all found hidden corners to doze off. Gradually, the sound of snoring filled the air.

Bored, Li Xubai went downstairs, only to find the situation even more brazen. Not only was Manager Su missing, but the staff were sprawled out on the floor, snoring like thunder, with the shop’s shutters half-drawn.

This was blatant laziness! He’d have to dock their pay! Li Xubai chuckled to himself, yawned, and headed toward the back courtyard.

He finished his business and was just pulling up his trousers when a nervous voice whispered from nearby: "Li Xubai, Li Xubai."

The voice was hushed, sounding hauntingly eerie in the silent afternoon. Li Xubai looked around. "Who's that? Playing ghost?"

"Hush, over here, Li Xubai, over here." The voice sounded again from behind and to his right.

Li Xubai looked toward the sound. Half a face was visible, poking out from a pile of straw in the corner of the stable. Li Xubai jumped back in shock. "Are you a human or a ghost?"

"It’s me, Li Xubai, it’s me," the person whispered like a wandering soul.

Li Xubai gathered his courage and walked over. Upon closer inspection, he was even more horrified. The face was smudged with dirt, and the hair was intentionally loose to cover the forehead, but he recognized her instantly.

"Gu Shiyan? You—shouldn't you be in the prison? You broke out? You’ve got some nerve!" Li Xubai stood a safe distance outside the stable, stunned.

Gu Shiyan shook her head, looking terrified. "No, no, I just managed to escape by luck. I haven't been caught by the Imperial Guards. Please, don't report me."

Li Xubai frowned. "Look, Seventh Miss, if you're afraid I'll report you, you shouldn't have called out to me. You could have just slipped away when it got dark. Why call me? Now I can’t even pretend I don't know."

Gu Shiyan was on the verge of tears. "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too." As soon as she spoke, a smaller head popped out from the straw, gazing at Li Xubai with innocent eyes.

Li Xubai was dumbfounded. "Who is this? Your brother?"

Gu Shiyan quickly pushed the child's head back into the straw and laughed nervously. "No, nobody." She paused, swallowing hard. "Do you have any food? I’m starving."

Adhering to the principle that the less he knew, the longer he’d live, Li Xubai didn't press further. He turned to the kitchen, grabbed two white steamed buns, and handed them to Gu Shiyan, who was buried in the straw. "Here, this is all that’s left. Just eat it."

Gu Shiyan shoved one to the child in the straw and began devouring the other.

"Seventh Sister, it's too dry, I can't eat it," came the small, milky voice from the straw.

Gu Shiyan looked at Li Xubai, embarrassed. "Um, do you have any water?"

"You're a lot of trouble. Wait here." Li Xubai dipped a ladle into the well and handed it over.

The child had just taken a sip when the sound of doors being kicked in and shouting erupted from the front hall.

***

Li Xubai rushed out to see the staff from both floors gathered, with Manager Su at the entrance negotiating with a squad of Imperial Guards that had surrounded the agency. Li Xubai’s heart sank, and he cast a worried glance toward the back courtyard. But he didn't dare move—it would be too conspicuous.

"Officers, officers, we are honest, law-abiding businessmen. How could we possibly harbor fugitives?" Manager Su said with a fawning smile, slipping a pouch into each guard’s hand.

The leader of the guards weighed the pouches and ordered, "Search carefully, and don't break the shopkeeper's things." The other guards echoed their compliance.

Only then did Manager Su dare to let them in. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said to Li Xubai, "These people are like wolves and tigers. If we didn't grease their palms, they’d tear the whole shop apart."

Li Xubai hummed distractedly, repeatedly glancing toward the back. The guards searched every inch of the floors before pulling back the curtain and heading toward the back courtyard.

Everything he feared was coming to pass! Li Xubai cursed silently and hurried to meet them. "Officers, officers, the back is just for the horses, it’s terribly smelly."

The lead guard looked him up and down and shoved him aside. "Search."

Manager Su steadied Li Xubai and asked, confused, "Second Young Master, what's wrong with you? It's just a few horses in the back, and horses can't hide people. Why are you panicking?"

Li Xubai’s face was deathly pale. Horses couldn't hide people, but the straw pile certainly could!

The Imperial Guards searched the courtyard and spotted the ladle lying in front of the straw pile. Li Xubai hurried to explain, "I was just adding water for the horses."

The lead guard stared intently at the straw, his expression turning increasingly ominous. Li Xubai felt his heart pounding, breaking into a cold sweat.

The leader gestured. Two guards stepped forward, drew their swords, and thrust them into the straw pile. Li Xubai nearly fainted, sweat dripping down his face.

Seeing the guards pull their swords out clean, without a drop of blood, the leader gave the order to move on to the next place. Only then did Li Xubai manage to catch his breath, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"Second Young Master, what's wrong? Why is your face so pale?" Manager Su asked strangely.

Li Xubai shook his head. "It's nothing. I've never seen such a scene before. I was scared, just scared."

"Cowardly as a mouse," Manager Su sneered as he walked away.