He chuckled and pinched my nose. "You've got plenty of energy. I was worried for nothing."
"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, laughing as she pulled his hand down and played with it in her palm.
"One day and one night."
Has anything happened outside?
"If something really happens, it won't make a difference if we wait another day. We haven't found Li Mu yet, and Xiao Lianjue is currently holding back. Isn't it good that no one is threatening us?"
"No, Ayu's return was timed too perfectly. I reckon things will change in the next few days, so..."
“This isn’t the time to worry about these things. Getting better is the most important thing.” He was tickled by my touch, so he pulled his hand away and then wrapped it around mine again. “You always say I’m getting worse as I get older, but what about you? Aren’t you still unable to shake off your protective instincts? Outsiders only see you as an idle person who likes to stir up trouble, but they don’t know your true intentions. You’re just shifting your focus to pave the way for someone. Lian’er, you know that things are different now, but you still stubbornly refuse to let go. Don’t you trust me enough?”
"I'm used to it. After all these years, how can you expect me to change it all at once?" I glanced at him with a smile. "Isn't this just like how you get angry at the mere mention of certain people's names? If the thorns in your heart could be so easily pulled out, wouldn't all the time and the pain you've endured in the past become a joke?"
Then the two of them laughed at each other again without any rhyme or reason. I said I was tired and wanted to sleep for a while. He fed me some water and some food, then pulled me close and we lay down together.
The early spring sun was warm, and the soft orange light that shone through the paper windows enveloped the entire room was so gentle that it could warm one's heart.
Chapter 131
A light rain on the day of Lixia (the beginning of summer) made the May days damp and long. I sneezed in the warm room, and Granny Zhao immediately jumped up and shooed me out the door.
The little guy lying in the soft tent stared at me with wide eyes, and I thought he was reluctant to part with his mother. In the blink of an eye, he grinned and smiled more happily than anyone else.
"Young Master is frail, so his room must be kept clean." Granny Zhao smiled and pushed me out the door. "Madam, why don't you have Xiaoman keep him company?"
Looking for Xiaoman? When I was in postpartum confinement, Nangong Ling told her to keep a close eye on me, and she took it all as gospel. Now that I've finally made it out of confinement, she wants me to go back and face her?
"lady."
Before I even left the courtyard, someone called out to me. Looking closely, I saw it was Shaoyou.
"What's wrong?"
"His Majesty has sent his men to fetch the Lady to the Xianglong Pavilion."
"What's up?"
"I guess he wants to discuss the young master's name with the madam."
We've been thinking about this name for over half a year and still haven't come up with anything. Either the two of us can't agree on it, or the conversation just drifts off into something else entirely.
This can't be left unresolved forever; it needs to be addressed eventually.
Xianglong Pavilion.
He sat in a chair, facing the desk sideways, with half his face turned towards the window. He held a brush in one hand and gently tapped the nanmu wood table with the other.
The sky was somewhat gloomy, with dark clouds rolling and churning with the wind, creating a menacing sight at first glance, which only made the person by the window appear even more delicate and beautiful.
I was outside, about to go inside, when suddenly a beam of blue light struck down from the sky. I jumped and rushed inside.
The man turned around, saw my posture, frowned, reluctantly put down his pen, walked to the table, and hugged me tightly.
"Be careful not to trip."
"Oh," I replied casually, then asked, "Haven't decided on a name yet?"
He frowned and shook his head. "I can't find anything satisfactory."
This reminds me of when I was born. My mother made my third brother go to the study every day to read aloud. In the end, we couldn't decide on a name, which angered my third brother. According to my second brother, Rong Tian slammed his fist on the table and angrily pointed out the window. At that time, the lotus flowers in the pond were in full bloom, and that's how I got my name.
I followed my third brother's example and pointed to a well. I was stunned. Nangong Ling didn't understand what I meant and just looked in the direction I pointed, looking very puzzled.
"What?"
"Xiao Jing, Nangong Jing... Not bad, not bad."
As soon as I said that, he immediately understood, squinted at me, and that look made me feel uneasy.
"are you serious?"
"What? That's how I got my name. It's already good that I didn't point to any dogs or cats."
"Are you trying to make things difficult for the little guy or for me?"
Why is it that my third brother can decide my fate just by slamming his fist on the table, but I, as his own mother, can't even name my son? Is it because I didn't slam my fist on the table?
Looking at the mountain of paper rolls on the table, I thought better of it. If I messed these things up, it wouldn't just be a matter of whether or not I could use them to name my child.
"What are you thinking about again?" He pinched my cheek with a little force.
I pursed my lips, pulled my thoughts back, and looked up to see him staring at me with an unfriendly expression.
Do I look like I'm joking with you?
I glared back at him defiantly, "Are you really going to disregard what I said?"
"No, how can I, Nangong Ling, name my son so casually?"
"Then it's yours. It's been so long and there's still no progress. Do you want to call him 'Little Bean Sprout' for the rest of your life like I did?"
He pursed his lips, his neck stiffening. Although I was telling the truth, babies born at full term are only so tiny, let alone this little guy who was only eight months old. He was weak and only the size of someone who could be held in one hand, but some people just couldn't accept their son being called a bean sprout, and I was no exception.
"Don't frown, he laughs so happily when I call him Bean Sprout." Avoiding his gaze, I glanced behind him and something red unexpectedly caught my eye. "What's that?"
He glanced back. "Invitation."
"What's up?"
"Martial Arts Tournament".
"Back then, Yan Suqing turned the tables and helped Jun Guan. You didn't get rid of him, but he's shameless enough to still send you an invitation?"
His goal was Arabic.
"Do these two... really have a grudge?"
Could it be that I said something wrong back then just to be cheeky? I remember that old bastard Yan Suqing glared at me back then.
“The Yan family has always been relegated to a lower position, and Yan Suqing is unwilling to accept this. However, the Hundred Days Sect stands in his way, getting the most attention. Yan Suqing and Bai Wuyan have known each other since childhood. Their relationship is neither good nor bad, and they occasionally have contact.” He paused here, “I told you before that Bai Wuyan found out about Xiao Lianjue’s power because of Consort Li’s interference, and it was Yan Suqing who did this for Consort Li, but he went a bit too far.”
"I knew he wasn't a good prospect. Bai Wuyan ultimately died at his hands?"
"Um."
"Huh? Could it be that Ayu is Bai Wuyan's son, and Yan Suqing wants to eliminate him completely?"
"Bai Wuyan only has one daughter." He glanced at me with disdain. "It's not that Yan Suqing wants to eliminate the root of the problem, but because Ayu saw something she shouldn't have seen."
What was it? I thought for a moment, "...On a dark and stormy night like this, could Ayu have seen everything without missing a single detail?"
He nodded. "At that time, Ayu was still young but very calm. Even when his master, who had been so kind to him, died in front of him, he didn't rush out. He remained silent because he knew that if even his master couldn't beat someone, rushing out would only be suicide. As the saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. One day, he would finally kill his enemy and avenge his master. Unfortunately, although he hid well, he still slipped up when he was escaping. It was only because Bai Wuyan held on to his last breath and clung to Yan Suqing that Ayu was able to save his life."
"No way, the Heart-Shattering Palm was once incredibly powerful. How could Yan Suqing possibly handle it?"
“He cheated. He planted people in the Hundred Days Cult. Think about it, how could he make Bai Wuyan notice something was wrong right under Xiao Lianjue’s nose? Could he have done that without someone subtly probing him? If he could do that, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to drug someone.”
"He used to stop at nothing to become the leader of the martial arts alliance. He's been in this position for so many years, he's bound to become increasingly dissatisfied. He probably started having this idea as soon as he helped Jun Guan. This invitation... although it's for A Yu, given your current status, it might be detrimental to you. You'd better not go."
He breathed softly into my ear, his tone teasing, "Being timid and cowardly isn't like you. A troublemaker like you doesn't care about danger or fire, you always want to get involved, don't you?"
This sounds strangely familiar. Isn't this the opening line that Gemini Wei always recites when he reads his older brother's speech?
I pinched him hard, and he laughed as he took my hand and put it to his lips. "You've hardly gone out for the past few months. It's rare that you don't feel bored?"
"Who says it's not boring?"
"Then just treat this trip as a vacation, don't overthink it, I'll take care of everything now."
"Oh, it would be nice to bring Little Bean Sprout... I mean Little Well, along to bask in the sun. It's not good for her to stay cooped up in the warm room all day, is it?"
He pursed his lips again, and it took him a long time to process the fact that his son was a bean sprout named Nangongjing. He didn't give me a kind look all afternoon.
I said, who was just now confidently saying "I'll take care of everything"? You're the first one to give me a dirty look.
Chapter 1
Standing in front of the Nangong family's gate, I was met with a vermilion gate and a golden plaque, the imposing presence so overwhelming that I could not take another step.
It was only at that moment that I realized the Rong family had truly fallen. It wasn't just a nightmare. It turned out that my future was ultimately not up to me. My sharp temper in my youth not only handed my future over to him, but also the lives of hundreds of people in the Rong family.
I was seven years old that year, and he was eight. We knew from the first meeting that we didn't like each other.
I sat in my elder brother's lap on the high platform of the hall, while he stood below, behind his father. In my eyes, his slender figure seemed as insignificant as an ant.
At seven years old, I was already so arrogant that I looked down on everyone except the Rong family. So when I said he was not worthy of the Rong family, I didn't even look at myself in the mirror.
He said I didn't care, it was just an arranged marriage, what did it amount to? He didn't care, so he raised his eyebrows, full of disdain and mockery.
Now that the outcome is revealed, only his words count. From the moment he disliked this marriage, the downfall of the Rong family was sealed. In just a few years, he drove the Rong family members to their deaths one by one, forcing my eldest brother to abandon his sword and become a monk, forcing my second brother to cut off his own hands, forcing my third brother to cripple his martial arts, forcing the Rong family to disintegrate, and forcing my father to commit suicide. From then on, the Rong family was defeated and there was no possibility of them rising again, because in the end, only my mother and I were left.
"Mother, that person inside has an irreconcilable feud with the Rong family, why would they come here?"
"Lian'er, we have nowhere else to go besides the Nangong family." Mother's smile was as gentle as ever. "Because we are a member of the Rong family, whom the young master of the Nangong family dislikes, the result will be the same no matter where we go. We will have no place to stand."
"...Go further away, we can go to a more distant place. The world is as vast as the Gobi Desert, his influence can't be that great, can it?"
“We have no money left. If we beg on the street, it’s not just a matter of whether you’re willing to give it to us, but also whether others will give it to us.”
I took a deep breath and told myself to stay calm. "Then why us of all people?"
My mother gave me a complicated look and sighed, "Who knew... the first time you two met, you had such a huge fight. I haven't seen you meet more than a few times since then, but every time you do, it's tense. I don't know what kind of clash your horoscopes have. I took the fortune tellers at the temple to see you, but none of them could figure it out."