Chapter 92 Reunion (XI) I thought you wouldn't come back...

Baisha Town, post station.

"Boss, should we keep waiting?"

Xiao Wu looked at the official road in the direction of Jiankang. Two days had passed, and he had not seen any familiar faces.

He wasn't the only one with this question; others shared the same idea.

"Let's wait a little longer. If we still don't see them after tonight, we'll continue our journey."

Du San Niang always felt that the person would come.

Her intuition was right.

After Li Yun descended the mountain and settled Yan Ning, he rented a fast horse and traveled out of the city. He traveled day and night and finally caught up with the group at dawn on the second day, just as they were about to leave.

“I knew you would come,” Du Sanniang said.

Li Yunru felt both delighted and guilty about her trust. "I'm sorry, I probably can't go with you..."

"I know."

Du Sanniang said, "From the moment you went down, I knew you wouldn't come back, Ruilin. You and we were never on the same path."

“I still prefer to call you that.” Du Sanniang smiled wryly. “The title of County Lady is too distant and makes us afraid to get close.”

"It's okay," Li Yunru said. "I'm used to you calling me that."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Yunru took off her belongings and handed them to Du Sanniang.

"This sword was given to me by my friend for self-defense when I left Sifang City. As you know, it is impervious to water and fire and can cut most things in this world. This jade stone is her personal token. If she is unsure of what to do, she can use it to enter Sifang City for help and protection."

Li Yunru sighed, "Third Sister, you have helped me a lot in these three years, and I have no way to repay you. Today we part ways, and I don't know when we will meet again. I am only alive now because of your protection. I really don't have much to give you. I only ask that you keep these two things and protect you and the caravan so that we can meet again in the future."

Du San Niang didn't hesitate and accepted it without pretense, "Okay, I'll take it."

She took the things in her hands, glanced at the caravan not far away, went up and hugged her, and said, "Ruilin, take care of yourself."

She didn't want to see him again as the wounded man he was three years ago, barely clinging to life.

Who knows if they'll be so lucky again, to meet someone else and go to such lengths to save them?

"I know, I will."

After bidding farewell to Du Sanniang, she also said goodbye to each of the caravan's brothers, watching them leave before deciding to turn back.

Before he could even take a step, he turned around and saw Yan Ning standing in the distance, riding a black horse. The morning breeze blew the hem of his clothes and the strands of his hair, but did not move him at all.

The person was looking this way, seemingly lost in thought, with a troubled expression on their face.

well.

I don't know when he followed me here.

She seems to have lost her vigilance.

Li Yunru took a deep breath, patted her horse, and walked towards Yan Ning.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” he said.

Li Yunru: "If you don't come back, where can I go?"

She couldn't possibly abandon him.

"I'm sorry, Liyang." Yan Ning felt extremely guilty.

This was not his original intention. Even if this was his ultimate goal, he did all this not because of this purpose. However, now, the decision he made has tied her hands and feet.

"Never mind."

It was her own choice to choose.

Li Yunru rode her horse to his side and reached out her hand. Yan Ning glanced at her briefly and then took her hand.

The man grabbed his hand, used the leverage to turn around and change horses, and sat on his lap.

The two worked together seamlessly, and the whole process was smooth and without any surprises.

His hot chest and pounding heart pressed against hers. Li Yunru could clearly feel every beat of his heart, which made her feel at ease. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her entire body against his chest. She closed her eyes and murmured, "Yan Changjun, I stayed for you, but also because I wanted to. However, I think there are still many problems between us that haven't been resolved, so... our relationship is just that."

She will not return to the Yan family.

Li Yunru, who married another man and had a formal relationship with him, is now "dead".

Yan Ning looked down and saw a small bundle of people nestled in her arms. She had taken off her gorgeous clothes and was now wearing coarse cloth and a simple wooden hairpin without any patterns. The intense and rich fragrance of the past had also dissipated, leaving only the scent of soap from the washed clothes and her own faint girlish fragrance. Everything had changed, but her appearance and temperament remained the same.

She's soft-hearted and straightforward; she says what she thinks.

With their hearts pounding, Yan Ning leaned down and kissed the top of her head, teasing her, "Given this scene, the princess's words don't seem very convincing."

What kind of good young man, without any official status or title, would be so clingy to someone? Especially since it's the other person who takes the initiative to come over and ask him to be so clingy.

At this moment, he knew that even though Liyang didn't care about him as much as before, he still held a place in her heart.

A little is enough.

"That's none of your business!"

Li Yunru snuggled closer to him.

It's so cold!

Why is it still so cold even though it's spring?

Having traveled all night and endured the wind all night, she was exhausted, cold, and sleepy, and all she wanted was to find a warm place to hide away.

Hearing her shy and coquettish manner, Yan Ning smiled and her eyes curved into crescent moons.

"Okay, okay, whatever."

He told someone to hold him tight, and with one hand he held the reins of his own horse, and with the other he took Li Yunru's horse, and they walked slowly towards Jiankang.

...

They weren't in a hurry to get going, and since they were within Jiankang's territory and the overall security was relatively good, they didn't have to worry about thieves or bandits blocking their way. They traveled very slowly, and what should have been a journey back to the city by nightfall took them until dusk the next day.

It was just the end of a busy day, and the neighbors who had been staying at their rented place had returned, and smoke and the aroma of cooking began to rise from their chimneys.

There were also young children playing by the roadside.

Seeing them gather around, she said, "The pretty older sister and older brother are back."

She lives here, and sometimes the children would run to the door while they were playing. When she had nothing to do, she would play with them for a while, so they all knew her.

The child in the lead was named Chunsheng, a pretty girl with big eyes. She was showing her the new toys and sugar figurines that her parents had given her that day.

“My father said that the employer praised him for doing a good job today and gave him extra wages, so he bought it for me.”

Her childish voice blared loudly, "They don't have any, only I do!"

The other children looked on with longing. These little items were worthless, but they were incredibly precious in the eyes of the children. Some wanted them and then got beaten up, and in the end, they grew up without ever getting them.

Only children who are loved can have this.

For many children, this is more than just a toy or a piece of candy; it represents the love and care their families have for them.

"That's amazing."

Li Yun dismounted and pinched the person's cheek.

She tried to get someone to play with them, but her parents, who had come to call them for dinner, pulled her away, and that was the end of it.

One by one, the children were pulled back, and as they left, you could still hear whispers of spitting and cursing, telling them to stay away from the two of them.

"Pah, you two shameless bastards!"

"It's one thing to force people away, but they still dare to swagger across the street like this."

That rumor circulated for a long time, and as it spread, it changed its tone. The voices praising her faded, and the voices saying that Yan Ning was a womanizer and how he had humbled himself for the sake of a beauty disappeared. All that remained were the voices of the two men driving away the original wives because of their own private affairs.

However, these things were just a passing fad. Neither of them were the type to explain themselves, so they didn't care. They smiled at each other and went inside.

He lived a simple life here, with just a small courtyard, a bedroom, and a kitchen. Fortunately, there was a well in the courtyard, so he didn't have to worry about water.

Yan Ning brought her a bucket of water, took a clean handkerchief from her bag and handed it to her, saying, "Wash yourself first and rest for a bit. I'll go buy some groceries and cook."

"good."

In the past, Li Yunru would never have believed that he knew these things, after all, back then he never lifted a finger and followed the so-called wise saying that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen.

He didn't even finish washing the locust flowers.

But a while ago, people would occasionally send her things, nothing expensive, saying they were handmade and would let her try them. They said the taste was alright, and in their spare time they would carve some wooden puppets for her to play with, so she believed them.

She wasn't worried about getting sick or starving from the food he made.

After the person left, she finished washing up and looked around the place. She had been in too much of a hurry the day before and hadn't looked around carefully. Now that she saw it, it was really too shabby. It was very clean and spotless, but in this environment, apart from a few changes of clothes and some daily necessities, there was nothing. The zither from a while ago... was borrowed from Lu Wulang...

They were truly destitute.

If this got out, who would believe that he was a powerful figure who controlled a region in Jiangzuo, a "favored minister" of the emperor, and a palace attendant?

She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to achieve by doing all this.

Who would have thought that he would persevere in such circumstances?

Or was he deliberately trying to gain her sympathy?

Show her how much he could do for himself in the three years since he left.

Li Yunru was lost in thought, suspicious of him, but she was also genuinely moved and felt sorry for him.

She had experienced both hardship and prosperity, and knew better than anyone how agonizing this kind of life was, especially compared to her past glory... Back then, he had servants at his beck and call, and he didn't need to handle these trivial daily matters himself. Everything went smoothly for him, but now he had to do everything himself. It was hard to imagine how a noble gentleman could adapt to falling from the clouds into the mire and become like this.

When Yan Ning returned, it was already completely dark. She lit an oil lamp and sat in the courtyard waiting for him. As soon as he entered, he saw the familiar figure sitting there, and a warm feeling suddenly welled up in Yan Ning's heart.

In the past, she would wait for him. When she returned from her busy day outside, she would see a beautiful peony sitting in the courtyard waiting for her as soon as she entered the door. If he was a little late, she would be unhappy and call him over to question him about the reason. If she didn't have a good reason, she would make a scene.

The past and the present seem to overlap.

"Are you getting impatient?"

He placed the things he had bought on the table and explained, “I should have come back earlier, but I thought you would need some things since you’re staying here, so I made an extra trip to buy you new bath powder, sandalwood branches, tooth powder… oh, and a hairpin.”

He took out a silver hairpin with a peony pattern from his pocket, put it in her hair, looked her over from side to side, and said with satisfaction, "Beautiful."

Li Yunru touched the silver hairpin, then looked at the pile of scattered everyday items. Her nose stung with tears, but she didn't want him to see it. She cleared her throat and said in a joking tone, "Yan Changjun, you're in such a sorry state. I hope we won't suffer. I can't stand hardship."

"I know."

He sat down, took her hand in his palm, and looked at her sincerely with his glassy eyes: "Don't worry, Liyang, this is only temporary. When we return to the capital, or when I receive my salary, I will buy you something even better. I won't let you suffer."

"Who knows? You're so poor, how much salary could you possibly have?"

"well."

She sighed, feeling utterly powerless.

"Yan Changjun, how did you end up living such a miserable life?"

People today seem to be very, very far removed from the elegant gentleman of the past, the one she remembered with orchid in his mouth and fragrant jade pendant.

Yan Ning was quick-witted and immediately understood what she meant.

He looked into her watery eyes and said, word by word, "But I like it very much, Liyang. This makes me feel at ease and at peace. It also makes me begin to truly understand many things you said in the past, to understand Emperor Xuan, to understand the various aspects of your Li family, and to understand... everyone who struggles to survive in this world."