"Do you remember your name?"

"Weila, my name is Weila."

"No, it's Ye Weila. Remember your name in the Zhou Dynasty. Your name is Ye Weila."

This was what Ouyang Rong said after he suddenly turned around and asked Ye Weilai, who had silver hair reaching her waist, before entering the bed in Meilin Xiaoyuan last night.

In the early morning, the cold wind blowing on the street at the entrance of Meiluyuan made Ye Weilai couldn't help but fold her arms.

She understood what her master meant.

After returning to Nanlong to worship her ancestors and burn paper, she was no longer a slave.

But she didn't understand what the master meant.

Why should I emphasize this suddenly?

After Ouyang Rong said these words to her last night, he lay down to sleep, and there was silence all night.

Sometimes there are very few words spoken before separation.

The commotion outside Meilu Garden in the morning attracted many neighbors from Luming Street.

Ouyang Rong stood inside the door, folding his sleeves and watching silently for a long time.

For Ye Weilai, who looked back at him from time to time outside the door, he just smiled at her without saying anything.

The eight carriages driven by Liu Ashan and others were loaded one after another, and Mrs. Zhen took Ye Weilai and others to get on the carriage.

Ouyang Rong took a step forward and boarded the carriage of the first car.

Along the way, the young magistrate closed his eyes and meditated, responding to Mrs. Zhen's chats from time to time, and turning a deaf ear to the little girl next to him who frequently looked at him.

Ouyang Rong's reaction today was a bit particularly cold.

When Mrs. Zhen saw this, she turned around and took Ye Weilai's little hand. With a rare gentleness, she comforted Tan Lang.

Ouyang Rong took half a day off today and sent Zhen and others to Penglangdu to board the ship.

Nanlong is in the south of Longcheng County. To return to Nanlong, you need to take Jiangzhou City to transfer.

Longcheng has developed water transportation and is right next to the broad Yangtze River. Naturally, it is most convenient to take a boat to leave Longcheng County.

In the morning, the sun rises.

At the corner of Penglangdu Pier, a temporarily chartered boat was moored.

The boatmen and sailors helped the servants from Meiluyuan unload the salutes from the carriage and carry them onto the ship.

This method of hiring an entire boat and not stopping to pick up other passengers along the way is also called buying a boat. It is considered a way for wealthy people to travel on the Yangtze River.

Ouyang Rong stood on the shore with his sleeves in his sleeves, his robe rustling in the wind.

He silently watched as Zhen, Ye Weilai, Banxi and other familiar figures boarded the boat.

Accompanied by the sound of retracting the ladder, the entire huge passenger ship gradually moved, as if it had heard some kind of instructions, and slowly left the docked dock at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ouyang Rong, who had always been calm, finally smiled.

He waved to the Zhen family's daughters who were gathering at the stern of the boat, reluctant to leave.

At this moment, Ouyang Rong stood on the shore and saw a blue-eyed girl with silver hair blown by the river wind on the high stern of the boat. She suddenly threw away her companion's arms and rushed towards him regardless of her own safety.

The next second, he jumped out of the boat as if he was about to throw himself into the woods, and crossed the river five meters away to land.

Ouyang Rong trembled and subconsciously stretched out his hand to catch it, but immediately, his hand stopped in the air and he silently retracted it.

Ye Weilai was pulled by several daughters of the Zhen family behind her.

Seeing this, Ouyang Rong did not stay any longer and watched the boat go away.

Silently, he turned around, took Liu Ashan and other entourage with him, and left Penglangdu without saying a word.

The ship was leaving behind him.

Ye Weilai, who was held down by the girls, burst into tears. What flowed out of her gray-blue eyes turned out to be clear and transparent tears.

Big drops of water flowed down like hot water drops on a lotus leaf. She covered her mouth with her small hands and stared blankly at the slender back of the owner on the shore in the distance as she left.

At a certain moment, the ribbon tying the hair was broken free and flew away, drifting in the wind towards Penglangdu, where people leave every day.

The strong wind blew the girl's waist-length silver hair flying all over the sky.

…

"Master, why don't you stand a little longer?"

Liu Ashan's voice came from behind him, and Ouyang Rong said without turning his head:

"We have to separate even if we stand for a while. It's just an increase in the reluctance to leave. It's normal for a little girl to be sentimental. In the future, you'll get used to it if we're apart more often."

Liu Ashan thought for a while and nodded: "That's right. Anyway, Mrs. Zhen and the others will only be away for two months and will be back before the end of the year."

Ouyang Rong remained silent.

A long time passed.

Walking in front, he suddenly turned back and said:

"Ah Shan, everyone needs to be separated and look forward."

The tall, thin and dull man was stunned for a moment. Looking at the free and easy smile of the young man in front of him under the sun, he nodded in confusion.

The leave he requested in the morning was still there, but Ouyang Rong took Liu Ashan directly back to the county government office.

After bidding farewell to "relatives" such as Zhen and Ye Weila, Ouyang Rong was half alone and could finally focus all his energy on business.

In fact, this time he found an excuse to send Mrs. Zhen and Ye Weilai back to their hometown to worship their ancestors, except that he was actually a little worried that Mrs. Liu would jump over the wall after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

There is also the selfish desire to resolve this entanglement.

The disaster relief has been completed. After he successfully controlled the flood and survived the rainy season in the south of the Yangtze River, he would confiscate the Liu family's home or put them in a cage.

Then you can arrange your posthumous affairs, find a reason to resign and go into seclusion, and go to the Pure Land Palace with ease to try to return and reap the blessings.

Instead of hastily cutting and separating at that time, it is better to gradually decouple now and prepare in advance.

Sending Zhen, Ye Weila and others back to their hometown to worship their ancestors is the first step, and it is also the most difficult step for Ouyang Rong to let go of. After all, they are "relatives" who live together day and night.

But...it seems to have been successful.

Ouyang Rong turned his back to Peng Langdu and strode away, facing the Duke Di gate where the ribbon-cutting ceremony was about to take place.

He didn't look back.

…

The sunset sets in the west.

Yin and Yang are divided into darkness.

Meilu Garden, which used to be lively at this time when the male owner was on duty, seemed a little empty and lonely for a while.

Ouyang Rong walked through the quiet corridor, opened the door of the Plum Grove courtyard under the setting sun, and entered the house alone.

A quick glance out of the corner of my eye.

He was stunned for a moment, then walked to the bed where there was only one set of bedding and pillows left, and reached out to pick up a neatly folded brand new blue Confucian shirt.

Ouyang Rong lowered his head.

Twist the fabric with your fingertips.

This stitch is a bit green and clumsy.

He pinched it lightly with two fingers and squinted his eyes to pull out a slender silver hair from his new clothes.

Watching the silver threads swaying slightly in the air.

Ouyang Rong's mind suddenly flashed through several scenes of a white-haired maid knitting clothes under a sewing lamp with her head hanging down and dozing off.

He silently put down his new clothes, walked to the table, put his silver hair between his fingers into a book, and stuffed the book into the bookshelf.

Ouyang Rong turned around.

The shadows of the setting sun are long, and I look quietly at the empty room.

He suddenly realized that time passed so quickly and it had been so long since he came to this world.

"Come back... Wealth and honor are not what I wish for. The Imperial Land... I can't expect it..."

The young magistrate whispered.

…

night.

On the river.

The moon is bright and the clouds are hidden, and the wind and waves are high.

On the dark river water, there is a lone sail swaying, sailing towards the bright moon.

The chartered boat had been sailing on the river for two days.
To be continued...