Chapter 331 Fiancée

Xiao Yuan also tried to suppress it, but the matter had already spread, especially to the previous dynasty, and it could no longer be suppressed. People said all kinds of things.

However, those ministers already had some understanding of the new emperor's temper, and even if they had doubts they did not dare to speak them out. In this way, they all maintained a superficial calm.

As for the Queen, except for very important palace banquets, she basically never showed up. Even if the rumors were true, it would not have any impact on the court. Therefore, the ministers cooperated and turned a blind eye.

As time passed, Shen Anan's belly grew bigger day by day.

In the imperial study, Xiao Yuan was thinking about a letter in his hand when he saw Shen Anan trotting in, which scared her.

"Little ancestor, stop right now."

As soon as he got anxious, Shen Anan stopped and looked at him with a giggle.

Xiao Yuan stood up, took her hand and sat down beside him, "Your belly is so big, why are you still so irritable?"

Shen Anan hugged his waist and glanced at the letters on the table.

A confession of guilt!

Xiao Yuan stroked her hair, not knowing whether she could understand what she remembered today, and said softly, "An An, tell me, should I make this letter of apology public?"

"Hide it," Shen Anan said suddenly.

Xiao Yuan was slightly stunned and lowered his eyes to look at the woman with bright eyes.

"For Daliang, for the reputation of the Xiao family, and for the father-son love in your heart."

"An An." Xiao Yuan hugged her tightly, his thin lips pursed tightly.

Shen Anan lowered her eyes and smiled, "If you wanted to announce it, you should have brought it to the court a long time ago. Since you are hesitating, it means you don't want to, so just hide it. Why make things difficult for yourself?"

I have to say, even now, An An is the person who knows him best.

Xiao Yuan hugged her, feeling particularly at ease.

"What more could a husband ask for than to have a wife like this?"

——

Five or six months later.

In a private room of a restaurant, Ling Chenyi, Li Huaiyan, and the Minister of War, Lord Zhao, were drinking together at the same table.

But in fact, just watching Li Huaiyan drowning his sorrows in alcohol, time went by little by little, but he still didn't find Zheng Yue'er. From the madness in the beginning, to now becoming taciturn, drinking and having fun every day, he just didn't go out to seek pleasure or hang out in brothels anymore.

Ling Chenyi leaned back in his chair, holding his head with one hand and looking at Li Huaiyan, "Now only Brother Zhao and I are willing to come out and have a drink with you. The whole court is drunk and has no friends left."

Apart from attending court, the only thing he did was drinking. He would drag anyone he caught with him. Now that Duke Li held great power, which official dared not give him face? They had no choice but to drink with him. A few days ago, an official from the Ministry of Personnel drank so much that he vomited blood.

Now when officials see him, they have to walk along the cracks in the wall.

Li Huaiyan lay on the table and gave a bitter smile, "You are my brothers. If you don't drink with me, who will?"

"That's not how you live your life. Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble from drinking?"

"What are you afraid of? I'm not afraid." Li Huaiyan waved his hand. "What does life or death matter? She doesn't care about me."

After all the twists and turns, the crux of the problem still lies with Zheng Yue'er.

Ling Chenyi looked up at the beams, feeling helpless for a long time. You know, Li Huaiyan was so stubborn, he should have sealed off the city at that time and dug the person out for her.

But to be honest, they have been looking for her for the past six months, mobilizing almost all their forces. Even the emperor sent people to search in secret, but there is still no news about the girl.

How could a living person just disappear out of thin air? Ling Chenyi even began to doubt whether she was no longer alive.

"We have to go to court tomorrow. It's almost time to stop drinking." Lord Zhao snatched the wine jug from Li Huaiyan and threw it on the ground.

Li Huaiyan's head was leaning heavily on the table, his empty eyes seemed to be staring at Lord Zhao, but also seemed to be looking through him at someone else.

After a brief silence, Lord Zhao suddenly spoke, "Three days from now will be my big wedding day. Don't forget to come to my house and have a drink of wedding wine then."

Li Huaiyan didn't move, just rolled his eyes.

Ling Chenyi was very surprised, "You are going to get married? How come I have never heard of it?"

I had never heard of her getting married suddenly.

"Oh," Lord Zhao touched his head embarrassedly, "Brother Ling also knows that I have been poor since I was young, and I was able to pass the imperial examination because of the kindness of that woman. I searched for several years before I finally met her."

Ling Chenyi nodded slightly. It turned out to be a story about a poor scholar passing the imperial examination and a kind-hearted girl.

"Then congratulations, Brother Zhao."

Lord Zhao nodded slightly, glanced at Li Huaiyan inconspicuously, and pursed his lips.

"Xiao Lingzi, you will be all alone from now on. Even Lord Zhao is getting married. Don't let the princess kick you out later."

Ling Chenyi slapped his hand away and wanted to ask, "Aren't you alone?" But seeing his brother's eyes red from drinking, he didn't have the heart to say it.

Li Huaiyan's emotions fluctuated greatly, but he muttered to himself, "I am also alone. You didn't marry a wife, but my wife ran away. I am more pitiful than you."

Ling Chenyi couldn't bear it anymore, so he raised his foot and kicked Li Huaiyan's stool.

"What are you nagging about? With your current status, you can pick any noble lady in the capital. Why do you have to stick to just one?"

If he couldn't understand Xiao Yuan, then he couldn't understand Li Huaiyan even more. He didn't understand why he was so obsessed with Zheng Yue'er after just a month or two of getting along with her.

"What do you know? You are a lonely person and you know nothing."

Li Huaiyan murmured softly, his eyes suddenly fixed on Lord Zhao's sleeve. He stood up abruptly and tried to grab Lord Zhao's sleeve, but Lord Zhao dodged him nimbly.

"Brother Li?"

"Show me your sleeve."

Lord Zhao was reluctant to do it with his back to him, but when he saw Li Huaiyan's eyes slightly reddened and he looked like he was going to rush forward to grab it, he also stretched out his hand.

Li Huaiyan grasped his wrist tightly and stared at the exquisitely embroidered magnolia flower on it.

Lord Zhao couldn't even move his hand back.

"Who embroidered this flower for you?"

"My fiancée is extremely good at embroidery and knows many different embroidery techniques. What's wrong?"

"There will be many kinds?" Li Huaiyan muttered to himself.

Lord Zhao took his arm back while he was distracted and nodded, "This is just one of the ways. She is very skillful."

Li Huaiyan remained silent and stood still.

Ling Chenyi frowned, "What's wrong with you?"

After a long while, Li Huaiyan gently shook his head and slowly sat down, "Nothing."

The only thing is that the needlework techniques are very similar, and both are magnolia flowers.

As he was thinking about it, Li Huaiyan suddenly laughed softly. His smile was bitter and astringent.

He suddenly realized that he knew too little about her. Apart from the magnolia flowers that were often embroidered on her handkerchiefs, he knew nothing about her. Even if the magnolia flower embroidered on Lord Zhao was placed in front of him, he could not tell whether it was made by her or whether it was related to her.

Maybe, he will never find her in this life.

"It's getting late, and I have to bring snacks from the west of the city to my fiancée, so I'll be leaving first." Lord Zhao left the table early.

Ling Chenyi nodded slightly, and turned around to find that Li Huaiyan was staring straight at the direction where Lord Zhao left, his eyes terrifyingly blood red.

He had an uneasy feeling, "Li Huaiyan, what's wrong with you?"

Li Huaiyan said nothing. He stood up shakily and followed Lord Zhao out the door.

Ling Chenyi looked suspicious, but seeing how drunk Li Huaiyan was, he could only quickly catch up.

Li Huaiyan looked a little drunk when he walked, but his mind was very clear. He followed Lord Zhao to the west of the city to buy red bean cakes, and watched him get on the carriage.

"Follow him." Li Huaiyan ordered the driver.

Ling Chenyi jumped on the carriage before it set off, "Li Huaiyan, what are you crazy about again?"

Li Huaiyan turned his face away and said nothing. He didn't know why he was crazy, but he had a strong premonition.

The carriage made many turns and finally stopped at a distance from Lord Zhao. Then it followed Lord Zhao through the alley and finally stopped at the gate of a small courtyard.

Ling Chenyi stood behind Li Huaiyan, watching the door of the small house open. A woman wearing fine cloth and a woman's bun walked out.

Lord Zhao handed the cake wrapped in oil paper to the woman. She lowered her head, and her gentle smile shone brightly in the sunlight.

Ling Chenyi was stunned.

Then he noticed that the person next to him seemed to be trembling slightly. Before he could grab him, he saw a figure rushing towards the two people at the door like an arrow.

He raised his fist and hit Lord Zhao hard on the side of the face, then kicked him to the ground.

Ling Chenyi reacted and immediately rushed forward and hugged Li Huaiyan.

"Stop it."

"Let go," Li Huaiyan's eyes were bloodshot and he struggled desperately, "Ling Chenyi, get out of the way."

Lord Zhao on the ground looked at the crazy Li Huaiyan, but his expression was very calm.

"Mr. Zhao, I treat you as a brother. You know exactly how I've been living these past six months."

Ling Chenyi had never seen Li Huaiyan so crazy before, and he almost couldn't hold him back, "Brother Zhao, what's going on? As the saying goes, a friend's wife should not be bullied. How could you do such a thing?"

Lord Zhao put one arm on his knee and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his other hand. "Miss Zheng has left Duke Li's mansion and has nothing to do with him. She can no longer be considered a friend's wife."

At the beginning, their marriage was hasty and there was no elder to decide. After the marriage, they quarreled constantly and they didn't even have time to send the marriage certificate to the government office.

"You're looking for death." Li Huaiyan struggled hard.

He didn't know why. It was Zheng Yue'er who left without saying goodbye and had an unclear relationship with Lord Zhao, but at this moment, he didn't even have the courage to look at her.

Like worry, fear, and not daring to face it.

A figure stood in front of Lord Zhao, looking at Li Huaiyan calmly, "Duke Li, what happened between you and me has nothing to do with Lord Zhao, please don't embarrass him."

Li Huaiyan's anger had been somewhat extinguished by Ling Chenyi, but it rose again, "You're protecting him? Yue'er, you're still protecting him?"

Zheng Yue'er turned her head away, said nothing, and did not budge an inch.

"So, the fiancée he mentioned is you, and you want to marry him?"

Hearing this, Zheng Yue'er's face was obviously surprised. She turned her head to look at Lord Zhao who had already stood up. When she turned back to meet Li Huaiyan's angry face, she said coldly, "Who I marry has nothing to do with Duke Li anymore."

"You are my wife, and I have never agreed to divorce. Why do you leave? Why have you nothing to do with me?" Li Huaiyan pushed Ling Chenyi away, strode forward and grabbed Zheng Yue'er's wrist.