A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 155

“This…” Ning Jin quickly racked his brains, suddenly remembering the old prime minister who had recently retired pouring out his grievances to him, and asked in a serious tone, “It’s like this, there is such a person, he is very wealthy and has a high reputation, but unfortunately his three sons are all unsatisfactory. The eldest son is weak, the second son is reckless, and the third son is not ambitious. He wants to choose one of them to inherit the family business, but he doesn’t know which one to choose, and he is very troubled by this matter.”

Mo Yan glared at him, dissatisfied: "Is that all?"

"This is a big deal for him. Which son do you think he should choose?"

“If he’s still not satisfied, he can just have another one. What’s so difficult about that?” Mo Yan shrugged.

"The problem is that he is quite old, already in his seventies."

"Oh..." Mo Yan scratched her ear, "You're getting so old, you should hurry up and have a baby."

Ning Jin choked for a moment, stared at Mo Yan for a long time, and then slowly said, "...Your idea is really good. But you must not tell anyone that you have been married."

"Why?"

"It's probably rare to see someone who's still this foolish after getting married," Ning Jin shook his head and sighed.

"You..." Mo Yan glared at him fiercely, still puzzled, and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"If a man is over seventy and his wife can still have children, then his wife must be having an affair."

Mo Yan paused for a moment, seemingly understanding, her face slightly flushed, but she still said firmly, "How can outsiders say for sure about such things? ... If there's nothing else, I'll go out." With that, she lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.

Ning Jin quickly stopped her, saying, "What's the rush? Sit down."

"Is there anything else?" Mo Yan said irritably. "Anyway, I'm already this stupid, so you'd better not ask me anything."

"Little brat, you've got quite a temper." Ning Jin pointed to the small stove next to him and said, "I didn't bring any maids with me this time, and Zichu's tea isn't very good either. Since you're just idling around outside anyway, why don't you brew me a pot of tea?"

Mo Yan didn't waste any words. She poked the stove and started brewing tea, thinking that she could leave as soon as possible.

Seeing that she was indeed seriously lighting the stove, Ning Jin suppressed the smile on his lips and asked Wu Zichu in a casual manner, "How much longer until we reach Hejian Prefecture?"

"We should arrive around dusk. We'll stay overnight in Hejian Prefecture and then head out of the pass tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan suddenly remembered something: "I'll be leaving the pass tomorrow. Lord Bao will have to send someone else to handle the case in Jiangnan. I need to ask a constable from Hejian Prefecture to deliver a letter to him."

Upon hearing this, Ning Jin glanced at her sideways and said with a half-smile, "You're going to abandon an important case and leave right away. What are you going to say? Why don't you just say that you eloped with me?"

Mo Yan didn't respond to his question, then turned to Wu Zichu and asked, "After we leave the pass, where will we rest tomorrow night?"

"I heard it's a small town on the border, called something like Yan Town, but I can't remember. Tomorrow, the Liao people will settle us there and wait for us, so we don't need to bother," Ning Jin said before Wu Zichu could.

"Yanxie Town?"

“It seems so…” Ning Jin still couldn’t remember.

Wu Zichu, who was standing next to him, nodded slightly and reminded him, "It is indeed Yanxie Town."

"How did you know? Did you take this route with the princess last time?" Ning Jin asked casually.

Mo Yan shook her head, her gaze somewhat strange, and turned her face away, saying indifferently, "No, I just stayed in that town for a few days."

Ning Jin didn't let her off the hook, insisting on asking, "You and Zhan Zhao?"

For a moment, the air inside the carriage seemed to stand still. Mo Yan remained silent for a long time, only nodding almost imperceptibly.

Although Ning Jin smiled slightly, his expression was somewhat stiff, and his voice was soft but unnatural: "Why did you all end up living in town?"

“He was injured, and we were recuperating there,” Mo Yan replied softly. As the carriage jolted along, her thoughts seemed to drift back to that time. “We rented a small courtyard with a tree in it. When it rained, the raindrops pattered on the leaves, making a beautiful sound. That’s when we got married.”

Ning Jin gave a light "Oh" and said, "You can go and take another look at that courtyard tomorrow."

Mo Yan kept her head down and remained silent. Water seemed to splash out of the teapot, and with two hissing sounds, wisps of smoke rose from the charcoal in the stove.

"I don't want to go," she said very softly after a long silence.

Ning Jin acted as if he hadn't heard, and calmly said, "I can go with you."

Before dusk, we arrived at Hejian Prefecture.

Ning Jin was naturally invited by Li Qigao, the Prefect of Hejian, to a welcoming banquet, with Wu Zichu attending to him. Although Mo Yan held the position of guard, he had no real duties. After dinner, he put on his cloak and strolled leisurely nearby.

Winter was approaching, and the willow leaves by the pond had long since fallen. The large rocks were still there, though. She walked slowly over and sat in the same spot she had sat in three years ago, looking down at the pond water…

A breeze rippled across the pond, spreading in endless concentric circles. Her gaze was somewhat unfocused, as if she saw two blurry figures embracing on the water's surface. She could almost hear Zhan Zhao's voice echoing in her ears for a long time before she sighed sadly and whispered, "Brother, I keep thinking, did you lie to me again? You said I should live well, so that someone would remember you and think of you. But why did you leave so cleanly, without a word, even taking the Giant Sword?"

"Have you forgotten? That sword was given to me a long time ago. How could you take it with you? Over the years, I've thought about it again and again. In the end, you still lied to me, didn't you?" She smiled slightly. "You were afraid I would die with you, so you said this to comfort me..."

A few gusts of cold wind swept by, and cold rain fell, splashing the water's surface into tiny sprays. Mo Yan seemed oblivious, still lost in thought, until a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder struck, startling her and making her realize she was soaked to the bone.

She got up, wrapped her cloak tighter, and hurried into the mansion. Since she was a woman, it would be inconvenient for her to live with the guards, so Ning Jin arranged for her to stay in the room next to his own in the east wing.

Mo Yan entered the mansion and was heading towards the east wing when she was stopped by two guards. The two men noticed that her clothes were different from those of the guards escorting the tribute, and that she was soaking wet as she rushed into the east wing, so they became suspicious and stopped her to question her.

Normally, Mo Yan could simply take out the official badge from Kaifeng Prefecture, but this was inconvenient on this occasion, so she had to explain that she was Ning Jin's personal bodyguard.

"How come His Highness has a woman as a personal guard?" one of them asked in surprise.

The other person whispered a few words in his ear, and then the two of them looked at each other and smiled furtively.

Mo Yan could guess what they were saying without even listening, but she was too lazy to explain to them. She just wanted them to leave quickly so she could go back and change out of her wet clothes.

"If you don't believe me, you can go and ask Lord Wu Zichu yourselves." She didn't want to pay attention to the two of them, so she left after saying this.

"Hey! Stop right there! You have to come with us to see Lord Wu before you can leave." The two men shouted at her.

Mo Yan ignored them and continued walking. She heard a whooshing sound of palms coming from behind; she dodged to the side, but another person grabbed her shoulder, rendering her immobile. Over the years, Mo Yan's martial arts skills had improved considerably, but these two were clearly far superior. Judging from their attire, they were just ordinary guards in the mansion; how could they possess such high levels of skill? Suspicion immediately arose in her heart.