Gone with the Rain – Zhang Nan, Wang Yuwen

Mo Xi is the niece of the sixth-ranking official Bai Wentai. Her parents passed away when she was young, so she was entrusted to her uncle Bai Wentai. Mo Xi, being greedy for food, wanted to sneak and eat delicious food, so she hid in a carriage and followed everyone to Wu Mansion. The invitation from Wu Xiang to the Bai family was to recognize Fengyao as an adopted daughter and betroth her to General Chen Wende, who leads the Northern Frontier Army. Mo Xi, upon unexpectedly learning about this, wanted to stop the arranged adoption, but she encountered a black-clad assassin on the way. Mo Xi realized that the assassin did not intend to harm her, so she coerced the person in black to inform Fengyao inside the hall on her behalf. After receiving the hint from Mo Xi, Fengyao pretended to have a heart ailment and left, thus avoiding the danger. Considering her husband Bai Wentai’s official career and her son Bai Pengkun’s future, Madame Bai made a heartless decision and agreed.

Chen Wende intends to thoroughly investigate the case of Wu Lang’s treason and aims to uncover all the officials who colluded with Wu Lang in secret. Bai Wentai is also implicated, his family’s wealth is confiscated, and the Bai family’s heirloom is taken away. The meals at the Bai family’s home become increasingly coarse, forcing Mo Xi to sneak out and cook her own meals. One day, while buying mutton, she unexpectedly encounters Wan Jiagui, a young soldier from the Longxiang Army who is heavily injured and unconscious. Fengyao comes to find Mo Xi with delicious food, and Wan Jiagui, hiding under the bed, overhears the conversation between Fengyao and her maid, thus learning about the lost pearl on Fengyao’s shoe. Coincidentally, that pearl is in a box under Mo Xi’s bed, leading Wan Jiagui to misunderstand Mo Xi. Wan Jiagui, after his condition improves, initially plans to quietly leave, but the Northern Frontier Army is still searching for him throughout the streets, so his plan to leave the city is temporarily postponed.

Mo Xi shares a room with Fengyao, while Wan Jiagui stays in the courtyard to recuperate. Bai Pengkun sneaks into Mo Xi’s courtyard with a sedative, intending to drug her and take her to a friend’s residence. Wan Jiagui, being alert, gives Bai Pengkun a beating. On the following day, Bai Pengkun complains to his mother, Madame Bai, suspecting that there is a man hidden in Mo Xi’s courtyard. Due to the comprehensive framing by Wu Lang and others, Chen Wende becomes completely burdened with the stigma of being the leader of the rebels. His investigation into the actions of Wu Lang’s accomplices in the city is also seen as plotting against loyal officials. Chen Wende has no choice but to order his subordinates to arrest the spies spreading rumors throughout the city. Fengyao wants to give the pearl from her other shoe to Mo Xi, asking her to sell it for money to cover daily expenses. It is only when Wan Jiagui, who is hiding in the rafters, hears this, that he realizes he has misunderstood Mo Xi all along.

Upon learning that her mother intends to send Mo Xi to become Chen Wende’s concubine, Fengyao immediately gathers money for Mo Xi and wants her to escape as soon as possible. Bai Wentai and his wife inform Mo Xi about the arranged marriage and Mo Xi discusses her conditions with them. She demands sufficient gold, silver, and jewelry as her dowry, as well as the inclusion of herself and her mother, Tang Niangzi, in the family genealogy. Additionally, she requests to meet Chen Wende in person. Mo Xi asks Chen Wende to allow her to move her mother’s grave before getting married, so she can relocate it to the ancestral grave of the Bai family. In reality, Mo Xi plans to use the relocation of the grave as a means to obtain an exit permit, which would help Wan Jiagui to leave. Chen Wende gives Mo Xi the permit but also assigns his subordinates to closely monitor her every move. When Madame Bai learns that Chen Wende has agreed to the grave relocation, she becomes extremely angry and refuses to let a fireworks girl like Mo Xi be buried with them.

Mo Xi takes homemade fireworks and explosives, and Wan Jiagui helps Mo Xi improve them by using the method of making gunpowder from the Longxiang Army. Fengyao suspects that Mo Xi has plans to escape, so on the day of the grave relocation, she secretly hires a carriage to follow and assist Mo Xi. Mo Xi leaves the city with Wan Jiagui, and she burns the marriage letter that Wan Jiagui wrote to her for her parents. On the way back, Lai Xi stops at a mutton stall as planned to take a restroom break. While everyone waits, Wan Jiagui sneaks out of the carriage, enters the restroom through the back door of the stall, and puts on Mo Xi’s cloak before getting back into the carriage. Everyone assumes that Lai Xi has returned to the carriage, and they prepare to continue the journey. According to the plan, Mo Xi throws the explosives at the carriage, causing the horse to startle and run wildly. Chen Wende’s deputy, Xiao Wu, appears with soldiers and begins to chase the carriage. Fortunately, Wan Jiagui manages to escape, but the carriage, along with him, falls into a valley.

Fengyao is curious about the person whom Mo Xi wholeheartedly protects, but Mo Xi doesn’t mention a word. The Longxiang Army, led by General Chu Wei, is rushing from the north of the pool to Jingzhou, preparing for a face-to-face battle with the Beishuo Army. Chen Wende decides to lead his troops and leave, carefully considering the situation. Before leaving, Chen Wende hopes that Mo Xi will leave with him, as he has fallen in love with her at first sight. However, Mo Xi already has Wan Jiagui in her heart, so she refuses. The Longxiang Army successfully infiltrates the city, and at a glance, Mo Xi sees Wan Jiagui among the troops, envisioning a happy life with him. Fengyao unexpectedly learns that she has a pre-arranged marriage, and the groom is prepared to visit the Bai residence. Mo Xi pretends to be a maid and goes to investigate, discovering that Wan Jiagui is the intended husband chosen by Fengyao.

Wan Jiagui took Mo Xi to the market to have fun. The two of them played pitch-pot, tasted street snacks, and watched a carousel. Mo Xi took a liking to a palace lantern that was not for sale. Wan Jiagui hung the copper bell back on the eaves, bringing good luck to the whole street, and won the lantern for Mo Xi. Mo Xi considered the palace lantern as a token of love between her and Wan Jiagui and decided to treasure it.

Bai Wentai arranged a marriage for Fengyao, and her future husband is the son of the Wu family. During their escape from Jingzhou, the Wu family’s son was injured in the bumpy journey and became mentally challenged. In order to distance himself from Chen Wende and protect his official hat, Bai Wentai had to become in-laws with the Wu family. Mo Xi sent a letter to Wan Jiagui, hoping that he could find a way to help Fengyao break off the engagement. However, the messenger returned with the news that Wan Jiagui had already passed away.

Bai Wentai grew increasingly haggard during his imprisonment. Bai Pengkun blamed his sister for being selfish and heartless. Fengyao had no choice but to turn to Mo Xi for help, hoping that Chen Wende could assist in resolving the marriage issue. A military officer from the Long Xiang Army rushed to the Bai family and brought back Wan Jiagui’s letter. In the letter, Wan Jiagui expressed his love for Fengyao and confessed that he had reluctantly canceled the engagement due to military duties. He asked Long Xiang’s officer to take care of Fengyao. However, Wu Lang didn’t believe it. He brought Wan Jiagui’s parents to confirm, but they felt that the tone of the letter didn’t sound like their son. Mo Xi presented the white jade pendant that she had given to Wan Jiagui, calling it the token of love between Fengyao and Wan Jiagui. Wan Jiagui’s parents had seen their son wearing the pendant, so they firmly believed in the relationship between Wan Jiagui and Fengyao and sought the help of General Chu Wei.

Bai Wentai suddenly passed away, and the Wife of the second master of Bai Family, in her grief, took care of the funeral arrangements. However, Bai Wentai had run up significant debts with various shops, and the creditors came to demand repayment from the Wife of the second master of Bai Family. Wan Jiagui’s parents sent some gold as a gesture, but since they were living as guests in Jingzhou and didn’t have sufficient silver, Fengyao felt grateful but the Wife of the second master of Bai Family and Bai Pengkun believed it was the least the in-laws could do.

The elders of the Wan family objected to Wan Jiagui’s parents paying off the debts, as they believed the amount owed by the Bai family was too large to be covered. Bai Pengkun once again set his sights on Mo Xi and planned to marry her off as a concubine to his friend, Zheng Kaitai. Mo Xi suggested an idea to the Wife of the second master of Bai Family, advising her to paste Mo Xi’s horoscope paper on top of her own horoscope paper using glutinous rice paper. Once the rice paper melted, it would appear as though the Wife of the second master of Bai Family and Zheng Kaitai were discussing a marriage proposal. When Zheng Kaitai realized that he was being proposed to by the Wife of the second master of Bai Family, he regretted the engagement and compensated the Bai family with a large sum of money.

The creditors came knocking and beat Bai Pengkun. The Wife of the second master of Bai Family became furious and suffered a stroke, leading to her demise. Bai Fengyao was heartbroken and fell seriously ill. Mo Xi took care of all the household chores, and it was she who revealed the true cause of the Second Master of Bai Family’s death to Bai Fengyao. It turned out that under Mo Xi’s persistent questioning, the doctor who had diagnosed Bai Wentai finally revealed the truth that he died from poisoning. Mo Xi suspected that Wu Lang was behind it as a retaliatory strike for Bai Fengyao not marrying him, but the exact reasons would have to be investigated once the situation in the Bai family stabilized.

Bai Pengkun secretly took away all the valuable belongings of the Bai family, leaving behind the debts for Fengyao and Mo Xi. As they couldn’t afford to pay the monthly expenses, the servants decided to leave the Bai family as well. The two sisters decided to sell the ancestral home to repay the debts. A Persian merchant named Luo De bought the Bai family’s house. With Luo De’s help, Mo Xi and Fengyao managed to repay all the debts owed by the Second Master of Bai Family and Bai Pengkun.