"You still have the nerve to laugh? You were so full of confidence and spouted all sorts of nonsense. Look how you're going to clean up this mess now."
"What's the point of ending this? We really can't break through."
You change so quickly; when you look into his eyes again, there's not a trace of fear, only a flicker of mockery.
"So what do we do now?"
"Of course, we should obediently surrender."
The one who said this was Li Mu, who had just arrived. He was dressed in fine clothes and a magnificent crown, standing with his hands behind his back, exuding a very dignified air.
The person next to her sighed and habitually pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lian'er, I didn't expect him to have this trick up his sleeve. A few thousand archer cavalrymen—only royalty can command the people of the world. We don't have a thousand troops."
"...Go ahead, they'll definitely throw you in jail first, a mere dungeon won't hold you."
And what about yourself?
"You won't die." She hooked her arm around his neck and kissed his lips deeply. "Remember, if you live, I live; if you die, I will live for you."
He held me quietly, his fingertips repeatedly tracing my lips, his gaze as gentle as water.
"Take good care of yourself."
Little did they know that this parting would be separated by countless mountains and rivers.
Chapter 89
It was midnight, moonless, dark and windy, and I was so bored under the candlelight that I started making effigies.
That damned Lord Guan is such a chatterbox. He comes over every day at the same time for a chat, even more so than a rooster crowing at dawn.
Are all men this bored and have so much free time? I never see my Yunzhi so idle. Or is it that once you're married and have someone in your life, you don't care anymore? When I asked him to come with me to release lanterns during the Lantern Festival, he just brushed me off.
Thinking about this made me even angrier, and I became more and more ruthless in stabbing the effigies.
"I was wondering why I suddenly felt pain all over my body. I guess I've been caught red-handed."
I can't even muster the energy to lift my eyelids. Without that person around, everything is boring. What kind of weird problem is this?
"Hey, at least you can't just ignore me, a dignified marquis like me."
"How annoying! Go play with your son."
"This kid has been acting up lately, he's not behaving at all, and he's not fun to be around."
So you're just using me to kill time? "Speak, what exactly do you want?"
"We won't force you; just nod your head and we'll take you back to the capital immediately."
If you don't call this forcing someone to do something they can't, then what is? A robber even claims that robbery is justified.
"What if I keep refusing to agree?"
"Then you'll never see Nangong Ling again."
This person also has a flaw: he is so confident that it's unreasonable. I often feel that his skin is so thick that no one can surpass it.
"Can't you be a little more creative? It's always the same thing. If I can't see him, I can't see him. I find it annoying that he's always trying to control me."
"...Really? I saw you two so inseparable and so deeply in love before..."
"Fake." Finally winning for once, "Are you ever going to stop? You're so bored, aren't you? Didn't we say we were going to fight a war? Are you just sitting here as a marshal for show?"
He was stunned for a long time without reacting, probably still processing what was happening.
"How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the Marquis!"
A sweet, soft voice called out from outside.
Looking up, I saw a beautiful woman from Jiangnan, her movements graceful and elegant, like a woman who had stepped out of a painting. I was so captivated that I almost drooled.
"Why are you here?" Li Mu turned around, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"I wondered who had captured the Marquis's heart; it was indeed you, you vixen."
"Qiuhe." The voice was slightly lowered, and it actually sounded quite convincing.
"So you're going to protect her? Is it wrong for me to tell the truth?"
She has a fiery personality, not at all like her seemingly gentle nature, but her straightforwardness suits my taste.
Seeing that Li Mu was about to speak, I interrupted him, "That's right, that's right, so please take him away."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Mu suddenly turned around, his eyes wide open, disbelief followed by resentment.
"Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a penalty shot. If you wear down my patience, you'll be sorry!"
I don't know if this counts as him showing his power, but I've never seen him like this before. However, Qiuhe's face turned completely pale, so it seems my ability to offend people is still as good as ever.
"Sigh, the weather hasn't warmed up yet. If I go north to the capital, I'll freeze to death. What use will you have for a corpse then?"
"...What?" He was a little confused by me. "It's almost the end of March, and people can still freeze to death?"
Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
He was stunned for a long time, then suddenly smiled in an ambiguous way, "Then I'll leave after Qingming Festival."
Whether you stay or leave is your decision, isn't it? Why are you accommodating me like this, especially in front of your concubine? What are you really thinking?
I raised an eyebrow and saw Qiu He behind him turn from white to green, her eyes fixed intently on Li Mu.
"It's late, please go back to your room and rest, Your Excellency." I put down the little figure in my hand, walked to the door to greet and see off my guest, and smiled.
He looked at me for a while, then casually picked up the little figure I had placed on the table and muttered something before leaving.
"So that you won't hurt me and make me upset."
Her amber eyes were filled with profound meaning, the messages within complex and difficult to decipher. I turned my head and gestured to Qiuhe, too lazy to try and understand.
After watching them leave and closing the door, I sighed. The night was cool and I couldn't fall asleep.
"Madam, please do not worry. His Majesty will arrange everything and come to pick you up before Qingming Festival."
Shaoyou's voice came from outside the window. He had appeared since the day Yunzhi was taken away.
Qingming Festival is just around the corner.
The spring rain in Jiangnan is always lingering and penetrating, piling up thick fog that is refreshingly cold.
On the seventh day of the fourth month, I sat in a carriage heading north to the capital, watching the fine rain fall all around me. In the distance, there was no sign of anyone.
Chapter 90
"I thought your relationship was so deep, but it turns out it's nothing special."
A man wearing a purple crown, blue clothes, and tiger-patterned boots brought a cockatoo.
"Don't expect others to suffer the same fate as you just because you're having relationship problems." I frowned as I glanced at the cage in his hand. "What are you doing bringing this beast here?"
"I heard you're bored, so I specially sent someone to hunt you down."
"...My lord, I might think you're trying to curry favor with me."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Yu'er is indeed still young and doesn't understand things, so she changed her mind about me."
"Well, it's true that you'll let me go back sooner or later. It's rare that someone as stubborn as you has finally come to your senses. It's not easy."
"Yes, I've thought about it, and you're more suited to be Yu'er's mother."
"..."
Can't you see I'm eating? You can't just say things that could choke someone.
"Aren't you so surprised that you can't even speak?"
Then I choked again, "Cough...cough cough..."
"Hey, be careful, don't get so excited." He stood to the side without even offering to offer a glass of water. "I heard you were pecked by a parrot when you were a kid?"
After this period of contact, I have come to the conclusion that this person has a rather bad character, and it is very difficult to discern how much of what he says is credible and how much is not.
“Unruly and domineering, with a sharp tongue and a mean mouth, you have no sense of propriety and don’t know your place. Your entire Rong family has wronged Nangong Ling. Do you think he would not avenge such a deep grudge?” He walked over and put the parrot on the table, looking at me coldly as I coughed. “He disappeared from the dungeon on the first day of the fourth month, but he didn’t come to take you away. He probably wanted to divorce you, to make you glorious and then suffer endless torment. What a ruthless person he is.”
Perhaps I'm becoming more and more fragile; just from his words, a dull, aching pain welled up in my chest.
Jun Guan once said that our relationship could be easily sown apart. I didn't believe it at first, but now I feel confused.
"What kind of expression should I make to satisfy you?" But in the end, she was a strong-willed person, and no matter how vulnerable she was, she couldn't show it in front of others.
"Tsk, so stubborn?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Then tell me, what kind of threat would work?"
I pursed my lips and forced a slight smile. "Would you believe me if I told you?"
I don't believe it.
"That settles it, why all the nonsense?" I shrugged, feeling a headache coming on.
He suddenly reached out and pinched my chin, bringing his face close to mine, nose to nose, there was no ambiguity, only a heavy killing intent.
"If you don't want to attract a man's attention, don't resist him. Don't you understand that?"
"Someone like you is impervious to both soft and hard approaches, and there's no way you could ever truly like anyone. Besides, who would even want to get your attention?"
This is just my personality. If I had to say who I'm trying to get attention from, Yun Zhicai used to be the one I caused quite a stir.