After a moment, he slowly raised his head and looked solemnly into her eyes, saying, "I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness."
Thank you for standing by me through thick and thin; thank you for sharing my joys and sorrows.
Thank you for being so wonderful, and for taking my hand to share this life with me.
(three)
Luo Cuiwei is most unable to bear this kind of sad atmosphere.
She blinked hard, wiping away the tiny tears in her eyes, then slightly raised her red lips and arched her eyebrows.
“Why don’t you say thank you? Such a great favor, you should repay it with your body to show your deep affection,” she paused, then added, “That’s what they say in the storybooks.”
After saying that, the hand that was warming inside his clothes was rudely rubbed against him.
Yun Lie closed his eyes briefly, letting out a soft hiss with an ambiguous chill, "Don't do anything reckless! If you continue to be so casual and frivolous, I'll report you to the authorities!"
Luo Cuiwei smiled silently, leaned over and pressed herself against him, using her fingertips to lift his chin. "What a coincidence, right now in the entire Linzhou, Princess Consort Zhao happens to be in charge of all the officials. What grievances do you have, or what requests do you have?"
“I have been unjustly insulted,” Yun Lie looked up at her, his smiling black eyes turning deep, “Please, Your Highness, you must lock me up with that rogue thief.”
Outside the window, the bright moon shone on the snow, and the north wind swept across the icy night.
On the couch, the brocade quilt billowed wildly, and two burning bodies entwined in a passionate embrace.
Everything will be alright.
Everything will be alright.
As long as we hold hands tightly, one day we will be able to unload our burdens, stroll side by side among the branches and flowers, whisper sweet nothings, and gently reminisce about the sunrises, seas of clouds, and rainbows over waterfalls that we watched together back then.
Life is long, and there will eventually be a time for tender companionship, so there's nothing to fear.
(iv) @Unlimited great articles, all at Jinjiang Literature City
On the 26th day of the twelfth month of the 43rd year of Xianlong, the Northern Di people, who were suffering from food and water shortages due to the arrival of winter, crossed the border as usual, intending to try their luck and see if they could steal a lot of food for the winter. However, they were ambushed by the well-prepared Linchuan army.
Caught off guard, the Northern Di people retreated in panic. They thought the Linchuan army would simply drive them back to their original position and then call a retreat, as usual, but they were unexpectedly pursued all the way to the Gobi Desert.
From this battle onward, the Linchuan army and the Northern Di began a three-year-long protracted struggle.
During these three years, Yun Lie, who was rushing between the palace and the defense zone, not only regretfully missed Yuanzi's first cry of "Father," but also missed the day his second son was born.
From the autumn of the forty-sixth year of Xianlong to the spring of the forty-seventh year, this protracted war finally entered its most intense final stage. For nearly eight months, Yun Lie had no opportunity to withdraw from the defense zone to rest and recuperate.
It wasn't until the eighth day of the third month of the forty-seventh year that the new leader of the Northern Barbarians finally sent an envoy to Yunlie to deliver a letter of peace, declaring his willingness to become a vassal state of Dajin, and only then did the flames of war completely dissipate.
(five)
On the afternoon of March 12th, Yun Lie finally stepped into the gate of Prince Zhao's mansion with great joy.
The eight months on the front lines deepened his already bronze complexion, and his weary appearance, a result of his eagerness to return home, made him look somewhat disheveled.
In the garden of the central hall, a maid was holding the second young master of the Zhao Prince's mansion, who was not yet two years old, playing under a tree. Yuanzi, who would turn four in three months, sat on a stone bench nearby, his chubby little hands supporting his chin as if deep in thought.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the tall figure in black robes approaching. Yuanzi suddenly looked up, her little brows furrowing seriously. "Who are you? How did you get in?"
Life is unpredictable. The little girl who used to suck her fingers silently in her swaddling clothes has become a chatterbox, and her eloquence often amazes the adults.
Yun Lie paused, as a nightmare from years ago clouded his vision.
Before he could even speak, Yuanzi jumped off the stone bench, calmly took her short legs, and wobbled over to stand in front of him.
“If the people at the gate let you in, then you’re not a bad person,” Yuanzi said, tilting her head back with great difficulty, but the air of the young master of the Zhao Prince’s mansion remained unyielding. “Uncle, did you come back from the defense zone? Have you seen my father?”
Yun Lie, who nearly ground his teeth to powder, could no longer contain himself. He bent down, picked up the little one in front of him, and stared at her with wide eyes, declaring, "I am your father!"
The voice was tired and hoarse, yet it felt very familiar to Yuanzi.
She frowned and sized up Yun Lie for a while, then suddenly showed a feigned joy and reached out her short arms to hug Yun Lie's neck as if it were a case of locking the barn door after the horse had bolted.
"Oh my, I was just thinking, this dark-faced uncle is just as handsome as my father!"
Yun Lie resisted the urge to flatten the glutinous rice ball, and looked at his wife, who had come upon hearing the news, and was now leaning against the stone table under the tree, laughing so hard she was bent over.
Can anyone tell me what happened during the eight months he was away from home?
How could his lovely daughter have turned into such an opportunistic, glib-tongued little rascal!
Extra (1)
As one of the young masters of the Prince Zhao's mansion, Yuanzi naturally began to learn to read and write earlier than children from ordinary families.
When Yuanzi was three years old, Yunlie specially asked Fu Ying to act as matchmaker and invited Kong Yi, the fourth daughter of the Kong family in Qinglu, to be Yuanzi's tutor.
The Kong family was a prominent clan in Qinglu, one of the six cities under the Zhaowang Prefecture. Although the family had no interest in officialdom, they had always been renowned for their family tradition of "passing down poetry and books."
Although Kong Yi was only twenty-five years old, her scholarship was outstanding among the younger generation of the Kong family. She was rigorous and focused in her studies, and had a deep understanding of the customs and traditions of many small countries and tribes around Dajin, which earned her a small reputation in academic circles. Although she was upright and lacked a bit of tact, she was an excellent mentor.
With a good teacher like Kong Yi guiding her, Yuanzi was already exceptionally "learned" among her peers when she entered the prefectural government school at the age of seven.
To prevent her from becoming estranged from her classmates at the academy, the two princes of the Zhaowang Mansion had instructed the academy's headmaster to deliberately obscure her family background, only saying that her father was a member of the Linchuan Army and her mother was a merchant.
She was also sensible. Having received instructions from her parents in advance, she never mentioned her family background to her classmates and mingled with them.
Because she knew more than the other children, was generous, and a chatterbox, she was quite popular among her classmates.
Every day at noon, you can always see a lot of primary school students gathered in a circle in the pavilion of the Little Academy Garden, and the one in the middle who is talking non-stop is undoubtedly Yuanzi.