Chapter 51 You Won't Like January 1st

Moisture touched her lips, and she seemed to smell the sweet, metallic scent of blood in her nostrils. Lin Shutang's eyes were red, and she couldn't stop trembling. "It was me who left. They had no idea."

Even at this point, she still tried to reason with Shen Yun, but Shen Yun just looked at her indifferently, as if she only had two answers: accept or reject.

Other methods—persuasion, tears, and begging—have become useless.

Lin Shutang's eyes gradually turned lifeless. She slowly lowered her eyes, her voice hoarse and barely audible, "I want to go back to the Duke's Mansion."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking into her clothes. She closed her eyes as if resigned to her fate, finally giving in.

Shen Yun got the answer she wanted, but she didn't seem particularly happy.

He lowered his eyes to stare at Lin Shutang's face, which looked as if she had lost all hope. He gripped her wrist so tightly that his knuckles cracked, but he only held it loosely and did not apply any force to Lin Shutang's wrist.

After a long while, without receiving a reply from Shen Yun, Lin Shutang felt a weight on the side of her neck; it was Shen Yun leaning against the crook of her neck.

He shed all his fierceness and simply nestled quietly around her. He was so gentle, as if he were the bewildered deer who needed to be let go.

His breath was damp and hot, and his voice trembled with barely suppressed emotion, like a flood about to burst its banks, the dam already teetering on the brink of collapse.

"Lin Shutang, please stop testing my limits, okay?"

He paused for a moment, then said, "You won't like it."

Lin Shutang looked up at the beam, but in the end, she didn't say anything. She remained as quiet as him until the tension of the past few days finally broke and exhaustion overwhelmed her. She then fell asleep in his arms.

-

Lin Shutang returned to the Duke's Mansion with Shen Yun on the first day of the new year, as they entered the city at sunrise.

No one knew that Lin Shutang had run away on New Year's Eve. It wasn't until Shen Yun entered Jingyuan Residence that the people in the Duke's Mansion realized that Shen Yun had actually returned, and was with Lin Shutang.

But they didn't find it strange, and assumed that Shen Yun had sent a message to Lin Shutang in advance, so Lin Shutang got up early to meet him.

Shen Yun carried Lin Shutang into the bed and covered her with a quilt.

The room was already warm with silver charcoal burning inside. He warmed Lin Shutang's slightly cold hands and instructed Lvwu to take good care of her.

Having caught wind of this, Lvwu hurriedly knelt down and agreed, then escorted Shenyun out of the room.

In the side room, Shen Yun quickly washed up, changed out of the robe with blood-stained cuffs, applied some medicine to the bloody whip marks on her palms, and then went to the palace to report on her duties.

-

When Lin Shutang opened his eyes again, he was unsurprisingly back in Jingyuan Residence.

She didn't ask where Shen Yun had gone. Instead, ignoring Lu Wu's advice, she stood by the window and saw servants in the courtyard sweeping away the snow.

After a long while, she turned to look at Green Willow and asked, "Am I locked up again?"

Green Willow dared not reply and quickly knelt down, saying, "Madam has caught a chill, and the physician said it's best for her to avoid the wind these days."

Lin Shutang understood what she meant, chuckled, closed the window, and said no more.

Inside the palace.

The emperor lavishly rewarded Shen Yun, not expecting that Shen Yun would complete his duties so quickly. He felt that sending Shen Yun to Yizhou was a very good decision.

Shen Yun remained indifferent throughout, seemingly distracted by the emperor's words. After expressing her gratitude, she left the Xuanzheng Hall.

Turning the corner of the palace gate, I unexpectedly encountered Princess Changning there.

"Cousin, you're back?" Changning's eyes shone with joy, and her sweet voice was very comforting to hear in the cold winter.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yun turned her head and took a step back without making a sound, creating distance between herself and Chang Ning. She gave a distant bow and said, "Princess."

Changning's hand, which instinctively reached out to grab Chen Yun's sleeve, missed its mark in mid-air. She awkwardly withdrew her fingers and pulled them back. The barely concealed joy in her eyes just now seemed to have been mostly extinguished by the falling snow.

"Cousin, you've returned to Kyoto so early? I thought you'd be at least a few more days away?" Changning looked at the young man's handsome features and asked tentatively, "Did you go back to see your wife?"

Changning, being in the palace, had limited access to information and did not know whether Lin Shutang had escaped or how far he had gone.

Seeing Shen Yun's cold and aloof demeanor, which seemed to be suppressing his emotions, Chang Ning guessed that perhaps Shen Yun had not caught up with Lin Shutang, and felt somewhat relieved.

Once outside of Yujing City, the world is vast, and even if Shen Yun wanted to, where could she possibly find Lin Shutang?

Moreover, what she gave Lin Shutang was not just a certificate of identity and a travel permit.

Even if there were soldiers checking him along the way, it would be enough for Lin Shutang to change his appearance several times over.

Shen Yun, who had been somewhat impatiently dealing with Chang Ning, suddenly smiled upon hearing this.

However, a layer of coldness floated in his eyes, and the smile did not reach his eyes, making him appear somewhat gloomy and unpredictable. "I heard that when I was not in Yujing, the princess and my wife were on very good terms. I conveyed her thanks to the princess for her kindness."

He still performed all the proper etiquette, but his demeanor lacked any humility, instead exuding an unapproachable indifference. Changning even felt that his "good intentions" seemed to have a hidden meaning.

She wasn't sure how much Shen Yun knew, but looking at his current appearance, Changning couldn't help but feel a chill.

When Changning met Shen Yun's dark eyes again, she had no doubt that she saw a fleeting warning within them.

So, he still found out, didn't he?

It wasn't until Shen Yun had walked quite a distance that Chang Ning finally exhaled the breath she had been holding in her throat.

She looked up at the fine snow falling like cotton wool, and that tall figure gradually disappeared at the end of the red walls and palace.

-

Shen Yun returned to Jingyuan Residence and first went to the side room to take off her fur coat, which was covered in snow. She paused when she heard Ying Xiao say that Lin Shutang had not eaten since waking up that day.

His features seemed unchanged, only the dark color in his eyes grew thicker and thicker.

Finally, he coldly ordered Yingxiao to go and have someone prepare a meal, and then personally went into his bedroom.

Lin Shutang lay on the bed, the lotus-patterned curtains drawn, her legs half-bent, curled up facing the wall. She didn't seem to be sleeping very soundly.

Shen Yun lifted the curtain, only to find that she was not asleep.

She stared blankly into the empty space before her, her breathing even, as still as a butterfly briefly pausing for a moment.

It seemed that even the slightest disturbance would make her fly away.

"Why aren't you eating?" Shen Yun sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at her.

Lin Shutang remained silent, staring into a certain spot in the void, like a mindless wooden doll.

The darkness in Shen Yun's eyes deepened. He didn't say anything more, but seemed to have lost all patience. He reached out and pulled her out of the quilt. The room was warm with burning silver charcoal, and Lin Shutang didn't feel any cold air seeping in as she came out of the quilt.

The temperature is still very pleasant.

Shen Yun embraced her in his arms, her back pressed against his thin clothes, and she could feel the warmth emanating from him.

Lin Shutang did not struggle; she was already used to Shen Yun's series of forceful actions and sat quietly on his lap.

However, she still resisted Shen Yun's attempt to persuade her to have a meal.

"Lin Shutang, do you think this trick will still work on me?" Shen Yun put his arm around her, his calm and indifferent tone carrying a hint of a smile. "You know what I'm capable of."

Lin Shutang looked at him, her lifeless eyes gradually turning angry. "You're utterly despicable."

Shen Yun didn't care at all, glancing down at the low table placed beside the couch. "Will you eat by yourself or should I feed you?"

Seeing that she hadn't moved for a while, Shen Yun leaned forward as if to take it, but Lin Shutang took the bowl first and said somewhat irritably, "I don't want to see you, get out."

Lin Shutang had only said this in a fit of anger, and she didn't expect Shen Yun to back down. But he just stared at her for a while, and then actually walked out silently.

It seems that Lin Shutang's willingness to eat was enough to achieve his goal, allowing him to withdraw and no longer be an eyesore.

Upon exiting the room, at the end of the corridor, Shen Yun saw a small, radish-shaped figure running towards her, swaying back and forth. Behind her, a servant followed cautiously, taking small, hesitant steps, afraid that this little ancestor might trip and fall at any moment.

Fortunately, although Shen Yan was a little unsteady, every step he took was extremely solid.

But when she saw the tall figure standing in front of the door, she hesitated and slowed down.

"Father!" Shen Yan called out in surprise.

Having only recently learned to speak, her voice was still unclear, soft and sweet like she had eaten a cloud.

He stretched out his hands and took a few steps forward, wanting Shen Yun to hug him, but the moment he got close, he seemed to feel a chill and subconsciously took a step back.

Shen Yun looked down at him. "Why aren't you in your room on a snowy day?"

“I’ve come… to find, to find my mother,” Shen Yan replied obediently.

Shen Yun frowned, squatted down, and looked at him at eye level. "How many times a day do you look for your mother?"

"I..." Shen Yan was still young and did not understand what questioning or interrogation meant.

He looked into Shen Yun's eyes and felt somewhat afraid to look directly into them, but recalling his father's words, it seemed that he was genuinely curious.

He became bolder again, "I...I'm with my mother every day."

He thought about it carefully; they'd spent the whole day together, so that should count as…

“Once!” Shen Yan nodded emphatically. “I will only see my mother once.”

Shen Yan felt that he should be praised for answering his father's question honestly.

Indeed, that was the case. He saw Shen Yun smile at him and then reach under his armpits to pick him up.

Before he could even happily wrap his arms around his father's neck, he felt a cool, amused voice whispering in his ear, "So what was Chen Yan doing on New Year's Eve?"

Shen Yan was a little confused and blinked as she looked at Shen Yun.

"Yesterday." Faced with Shen Yan's inability to answer, Shen Yun kindly offered a reminder.

"Fourth Aunt... Aunt, take me to play." Shen Yan finally realized.

A hint of understanding flashed across Shen Yun's eyes. He licked his lips and murmured, "I see."

The tone was very light, and it easily dissipated in the wind.

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Author's Note: The young master is gradually going insane... The progress bar is loading...

I suddenly realized today that I forgot to submit the application. (Looks up at the sky at a 45-degree angle...) (Blows a smoke ring)

Updates will be irregular this week; I don't have any drafts saved up, I'll post as soon as I finish writing. But I will definitely update daily, and I'll announce a break if I don't update.