C212

Shen Zhu had been staying in the tavern for the past two days and he was completely unaware of the rumors outside.

During the day, she discussed with Zhou Muqing about the Medicinal Hall and after they sent her away.

Since she had nothing else to do, she asked the waiter to take out a brush and ink. Then, she began to practice calligraphy and paint in the room to pass the time.

In her previous life, her grandfather was an elegant person. Usually, he liked to raise flowers, write calligraphy, and so on. That was why she learned a lot from him.

When Shen Zhu picked up the brush, she remembered the scene when she was painting with her grandfather in her previous life. She looked at the blank Xuan paper on the table and thought for a while before writing.

Her grandfather had personally taught her how to draw ink paintings, and naturally, her painting technique wasn't bad either.

Before long, a picture of the countryside appeared on the paper. Although it didn't add any color, the entire painting was filled with warmth.

Shen Zhu looked at the painting on the table, then continued to draw his brush and muttered softly, "The thatched roof is low, the stream is green, and in the midst of drinking, Wu Yin is beautiful. Whose family is this?

Shen Zhu mumbled to himself as he wrote the poem.

This poem is best used to describe the painting.

The sky outside the window was covered with a fiery red sunset glow, and one could vaguely see the mottled afterglow of the setting sun.

Shen Zhu stood at the window, and watched the two couples walk past on the street. He couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness.

She could not bear to look out the window, so she simply closed the window, her heart couldn't help but to think about the situation at home, and to find out how Ruanruan and Jingshu were doing.

Shen Zhu stood at the window for a good while, staring blankly at the tightly shut window.

After a long while, he turned around and walked to the edge of the soft couch before sitting down and entering the Cloud Pavilion with a thought.

She completed the Cloud Pavilion's daily quests, then asked for some herbs and a lot of information from Boo. After exiting the space, she began to experiment with the formula of the herbs.

Shen Zhu's face carried a hint of melancholy. With one hand holding the wine cup and the other holding the wine jug, he drank cup after cup, as if he was drinking water from a bottle.

Her usual alcohol tolerance was also very average, but after drinking two jugs of wine today, she didn't feel the least bit intoxicated.

Shen Zhu stumbled to the side of the bed and sat down, holding onto the bed, he looked into a corner, in a daze.

"In this world, there is no one who cannot live after leaving. Love is nothing. Without love, I still have bread …"

she murmured drunkenly.

When she first came to this era, she did not know anyone and had no one to rely on. It was Su Zongwen who gave her warmth, always acting as her strongest support.

She had lived two lives, but this was the first time she had ever loved a person. She never thought that she would end up like this. Two streams of clear tears slowly rolled down her face.

In her heart, she secretly made up her mind: If Su Zongwen really married that princess, then she would leave him and would never, ever be able to accept polygamy.

The night gradually turned darker, bringing along a trace of emptiness, and faint sounds of sobbing came from within the room.

Minister Mansion.

As the emperor's birthday was coming up, there were a lot of things happening in the capital city recently. After Su Zongwen left the imperial court, he would have to settle some matters in the imperial city.

None of the guards had returned.

"Madam …"

Su Zongwen rubbed his forehead, then headed back to his own courtyard.

Where could she go?

"Big brother, you're back."

Su Yunyan carried Ruanruan and stood at the entrance of the courtyard looking out non-stop. When he saw Su Zongwen, he immediately went to welcome him.

"Yes." Su Zongwen looked at the quiet courtyard, the expression in his lowered eyes dark and gloomy.

"Big brother, you haven't eaten yet, right?"

Ruanruan was very happy to see Su Zongwen, with his arms open wide, he pounced into's embrace, and began babbling some indistinct words, which Su Zongwen immediately stretched his hands out to catch the child.

"Give Ruanruan to me."

He hugged Ruanruan, his originally gloomy mood finally improved a little. He played with Ruanruan, and then carried the child into the house.

"Shuer has already gone to sleep, he had slept too much during the day, and is still in high spirits."

Su Yunyan explained as he followed Su Zongwen inside.

"Yan'er, you've worked hard these past two days." Su Zongwen said in a heavy voice.

"Ruanruan is so cute and obedient, I didn't work hard at all. If I could stay with her for an entire day, I would not even have the chance to celebrate." Su Yunyan immediately explained.

After the two of them entered the room, Chun Cao had already placed the dishes on the table. Su Zongwen carried the child and sat at the table, looking at the delicacies on the table, his mood became gloomy once again.

He looked at the dishes on the table, but he had no appetite.

, who was in Su Yunyan's embrace, suddenly started crying. She immediately stood up with the child in her arms, gently patted her shoulder, and coaxed the child while saying: "Where has Sister-in-law gone to? It's been two days, why isn't she back yet? Ruanruan cries non-stop every night, this child must be missing his mother …"

As she spoke, she let out a faint sigh and muttered to herself, "Sister-in-law, how can you leave these children behind without a care …"

"Give me the child."

Maybe it was because she was so comfortable in her father's arms, so she cried for a while and fell asleep when she was tired.

"I'll bring Ruanruan to sleep. Big Brother, you should go wash up and sleep after breakfast."

Seeing that Ruanruan was asleep, Su Yunyan carried the child back to the main courtyard.

In the two days that Shen Zhu was not around, Ruanruan had always slept at the main courtyard with her and the Madame Chen watching them in the day.

"Yes."

After Su Zongwen sent them away, he did not continue eating, and immediately ordered his men to remove all the food.

He lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time. It was almost dawn before he took a nap.

Next day

Su Zongwen didn't even have time to change into his court uniform before he went to the Worldpeace Courtyard.

"Chun Cao, has the lady come back yet?"

"Master, Madam hasn't returned for the past two days." Chun Cao shook his head and replied with his head lowered.

The man's eyes darkened.

Suddenly, two days after disappearing, the dark guards appeared.

"Sir, Madam is at the Eternal Fortune Inn."

Joy appeared on Su Zongwen's face, and he rebuked: "Then why didn't you report it earlier?"

"Madam has an unknown force by her side. This subordinate dares to investigate …"

Su Zongwen missed his wife and was not in the mood to listen to the guard's detailed report, "I'll go look for Madam first."

After changing his clothes, he hurriedly went to the Eternal Fortune Inn and went straight to the counter.

"Innkeeper, does my wife live in your shop?"

Su Zongwen had become the imperial tutor at such a young age, coupled with the kind intentions of others, his name had already spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

"Master Su." The shopkeeper laughed. "Madam Su has indeed been staying at our inn for the past two days. However, she checked out early and left for a while."

Shen Zhu frequently visited the Hundred Fragrance House, and the Eternal Fortune Inn was not far from the Hundred Fragrance House, so the shopkeeper knew her.

"Shopkeeper, do you know where she went?" Su Zongwen was startled, and immediately asked.

"This …" The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment before shaking his head with a face full of bewilderment. "I'm not too sure about that, and I've never heard Madame Su mention it."

"Which room does she live in? Can I see it? " When Su Zongwen heard the shopkeeper's words, a hint of disappointment flashed across his face.

"Master Su, Madam is staying in the room on the left side of the second floor. The shopkeeper bowed and led Su Zongwen upstairs, sending him to the door before leaving.

Su Zongwen reached out to push open the door. The interior of the house was very clean and tidy, a gust of wind blew past the room, causing the two windows to sway slightly. He stood at the door for a while before he stepped into the room.

The furnishings inside the room were very simple, it was no different from a normal guest room. Su Zongwen walked around the room, and then stopped beside the table.

On the desk was a completed ink painting. The ink had dried completely.

Su Zongwen stood by the side of the table, staring at the painting in a daze, carefully holding onto the painting, his finger stopped in front of the little person painted, and gently caressed the person on top.

As he looked at the picture on the table, he could completely imagine how Shen Zhu felt when he painted this picture. The words on the picture were exactly what he was thinking, but under the current circumstances, wanting to live such a life was simply an extravagant hope.

"Yue Niang..." Su Zongwen looked at the painting in a daze and couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

He stayed in the guest room for most of the day, and Shen Zhu's shadow was everywhere in the room. The more he looked at the painting on the table, the more he felt sorry for it.

Su Zongwen searched the streets for a long time with the painting, but he couldn't find any trace of Shen Zhu. In the end, he could only bring the painting back to his house in a daze.

He hung the painting in his study and shut himself up in his room to look at the painting for most of the day. He didn't even have lunch.

Madame Chen hurried over after finding out about this news, his heart aching.