Chapter 79 In his spare time, he was simply unwilling to give up.

Shen Yan arrived at Jingyuan Residence early the next day, but the door was still tightly closed when she reached it.

Shen Yan's heart, which had been held high, instantly sank back into her chest, and her once-proud eyebrows drooped. The small cloth bag she clutched tightly in her hand dragged on the ground, and tears hung precariously on her eyelashes, making her look quite pitiful.

The servants were about to offer some words of comfort to their young master when the door suddenly opened from the inside. The creaking sound made Shen Yan raise his head, and sure enough, he saw his mother standing in front of the door, her two grape-like eyes wide open.

His father didn't lie to him!

Lin Shutang stared at the tiny figure standing on the ground without saying a word; the mother and son simply stared at each other with their big eyes wide open.

After a long while, Shen Yan finally spoke softly, calling out, "Mother."

Lin Shutang was brought back to her senses by the call. She bent down, pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and asked, "Have you eaten?"

She still didn't quite know how to get along with Shen Yan.

Shen Yan nodded, her jaw twitching slightly before she quickly shook her head. "I wanted to come early to pay my respects to Mother, so I haven't had breakfast yet."

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her tone softened, as if she were so hungry that she had no strength left.

Lin Shutang nodded in understanding, then gestured to Lvwu to prepare breakfast. She straightened up and headed towards the dining hall. After taking a couple of steps, she looked back and saw Shen Yan dragging her small cloth bag, struggling to follow her.

Seeing that Lin Shutang seemed to be waiting for him, he hurriedly sped up.

When he reached Lin Shutang, Shen Yan's chest was visibly heaving. He exhaled a long breath and raised his innocent, childlike face, "Mother, I can keep up."

Father said he couldn't displease Mother and had to obey.

Shen Yan didn't want his mother to think he was a spoiled child. He hoped that in this short day, his mother would see that even though he was a little boy, he wouldn't cause her any trouble by staying by her side.

That way, perhaps his mother would still be willing to see him again the next day.

Lin Shutang noticed the cautiousness in Shen Yan's eyes and the slight attempt to please him. Shen Yan's features were eight or nine parts similar to Shen Yunsheng's, which always made Lin Shutang pause in surprise.

She sighed, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

She didn't consider herself a good mother, and she projected her hatred for Shen Jun onto Shen Yan.

Now that he is two years old, the barrier between them is not so easy to overcome.

Lin Shutang looked away, awkwardly reaching out to pull him, his sullen eyes brightening as he happily took Lin Shutang's hand.

Shen Yun stood by the window of the study, watching the two figures walk away, and slowly lowered her eyelashes.

He tilted his head slightly, his tone heavy with meaning, "Say what you just said again."

"The people sent to the Jizhou garrison returned and said that the five people died mysteriously shortly after arriving at the garrison. The records only recorded them as dying of illness, and their bodies were thrown into a mass grave."

"They dug for two days and two nights based on the burial location and found that these people all had the Xuan Tie finger ring of the Tian Shu Guard on their left finger bones. Our spies in Yujing also found that there were exactly five Tian Shu Guards in Yujing who left the capital that year. The records indicated that they went to the border to carry out a secret mission. Then... they also died of illness."

Yingxiao relayed the messages presented to her by her subordinates one by one.

Even though he didn't know why the Crown Prince had asked him to investigate these people, he could vaguely guess that the Emperor was involved in this matter.

Five Tian Shu Guards left the capital of Yujing City and subsequently died of illness one after another.

The new Tian Shu Wei was transferred from Jizhou Weisuo, and he also died mysteriously.

These five people must have done something shady for the Emperor at the border, otherwise there would be no need to change their identities and be transferred to Jizhou to be silenced.

Shen Yun remained unfazed upon hearing this, perhaps because Ji Huaiyi had already made his point very clearly that day, but he was simply unwilling to give up and needed another strong piece of evidence to convince himself completely.

Shen Yun gave a light, sarcastic laugh. No wonder, it seemed as if Xi Yue knew their plans in advance and launched a general attack just as he left the camp, completely trapping Zhou Ziyang in Black Pine Ridge.

His Majesty's tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain and inviting the enemy into the trap was truly masterful.

-

After Lin Shutang and Shen Yan had breakfast, the two sat in the courtyard.

Shen Yan ate two breakfasts that morning. He ate whatever Lin Shutang picked out for him, until his belly was round and full.

He sat obediently next to Lin Shutang at that moment, not making a sound to disturb her while she was reading. He fell asleep on the stone table in no time.

Lin Shutang put down her book, rested her hands on her chin, and leaned on the stone table. She looked at Chen Yan sleeping soundly, her long eyelashes swaying gently. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting golden spots on the ground as the breeze swayed.

When Shen Yan was very young, he slept in the second room. Sometimes she would sneak in to see him. Many times, she would bump into Shen Yun and see him sitting in front of the cradle, his eyelashes lowered and his face unreadable. He would sit there for an entire afternoon.

If she leaves, she believes that Shen Yun will treat Shen Yan better than she would.

She reached out to brush away Chen Yan's eyelashes, but just as her fingertips touched them, she suddenly heard a voice above her, "You'll catch a cold if you sleep here."

Lin Shutang sat up abruptly, looked up and saw Shen Yun. She didn't know how long he had been there. "You didn't go to your shift?"

“Today is a day off.” He stared at her, his tone clearly indifferent, but his eyes were exceptionally intense.

Lin Shutang looked away uncomfortably, gave a soft "hmm," and then fell silent between them.

The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind overhead.

Shen Yun didn't seem to have any intention of leaving. Lin Shutang stared at his bright white robes, her fingertips hidden in his sleeves fidgeting with them, before finally raising her head and saying, "Then you should carry Shen Yan back to her room."

She said this, and stood up to make way for him.

Shen Yun nodded, walked past her, bent down and slipped his hand under Shen Yan's armpit. Without turning his head, he said to Lin Shutang, who was about to leave, "Could you hold the door open for me?"

Lin Shutang paused in her steps, turned around, and saw that Shen Yun had already lifted Shen Yan's buttocks and was holding her in his arms, turning around to look at her.

This gave Lin Shutang, who was just looking for an excuse to leave, the illusion that he had been cheating and shirking his responsibilities.

She thought that her words were a way of giving the two of them the dignity of not having to force themselves to stay together, and that Shen Yun would understand.

"It's inconvenient for me to hold the child."

As if sensing Lin Shutang's thoughts, he offered an explanation.

Lin Shutang pursed her lips. Since she had already said that, her evasiveness would only make her seem suspicious.

So he walked toward him, passed by him, and went to the second room first.

Shen Yun followed behind her. Once out of the shade of the trees, the sunlight began to pour down generously, showering Lin Shutang's sky-blue dress. The woman's slender waist was so delicate that it could be encircled by a single hand, and her movements were like a pool of clear water.

Lin Shutang felt the scorching, undisguised gaze from behind her, and waves of heat washed over her head.

She wanted to walk faster so she could quickly carry Shen Yan back to the room and the two of them would part ways.

But the person behind her was walking very slowly. When Lin Shutang reached the corridor, she turned her head to look around the corner and saw that the person was actually half a step behind her!

Lin Shutang was a little angry; she felt that Shen Yun must have done it on purpose.

Whether it was from being in the sun in the yard or from being angry, a thin layer of red appeared on her cheeks. "Did you...do that on purpose?"

As Shen Yun drew closer, Lin Shutang shouted in a low voice, her almond-shaped eyes blazing with anger.

Shen Yun's gaze swept over her face before he slowly spoke, "What?"

"Still pretending!"

Lin Shutang opened his mouth, but in the end he swallowed his words. Oh well, Shen Yun is the best at pretending to be confused when he knows the truth. The more he argues with him, the longer he will spend with him.

Instead, it suited his wishes.

Lin Shutang stopped talking, turned around and continued walking.

Upon reaching the door of the second room, Lin Shutang deftly pushed it open and turned to leave without waiting for Shen Yun to enter.

As he passed by Shen Yun, he added, "The bed still needs to be made."

Lin Shutang turned her head to look at him. His expression was calm, and he met her slightly angry gaze with an extremely composed look, as if Lin Shutang was overthinking things.

Lin Shutang gritted her teeth and said, "Okay."

She entered the room, knelt on the pear wood bed, and unfolded the neatly folded quilt. The second room was originally prepared for the infant Shen Yan, and it was designed to gather energy. As soon as Shen Yun entered, his tall and upright figure seemed to block most of the sunlight, making the space feel cramped.

Lin Shutang paused in shaking the bed, watching the figure on the brocade quilt gradually cover her, the overlapping shadows intertwined, and unconsciously her breathing slowed down.

Lin Shutang pursed her lips, got off the bed, and almost fled, but her right wrist was suddenly grabbed by Shen Yun.

Lin Shutang's heart pounded for a moment, not understanding what Shen Yun was going to do.

She should have turned around and asked him if he needed anything else, then left gracefully, but she couldn't even turn her head, let alone speak; she seemed rooted to the spot.

The large, warm hands that held her wrists encircled her skin, and her ear was imprinted with that tangible gaze again and again, the burning eyes slowly lingering on her jawline.

Lin Shutang tried to pull her hand away slightly, but as expected, she couldn't break free.

The person behind him seemed to catch their breath, then, as if suppressing some emotion, the strength in their hand gradually loosened.

"Don't leave the residence unnecessarily these days," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

Lin Shutang scoffed, turning his head as if about to question him, but then added, "It's not an order, just concern."

"Yujing will not be peaceful in the near future."

Upon hearing this, she nodded, completely pulled her hand away from his, and left the room.

Shen Yun stood there, and as the door closed, his shoulders slumped, his figure appearing lonely and desolate.

Shen Yan opened his eyes, crawled out of the covers, and knelt on the bed. "Father, how long should I sleep?"

Actually, he woke up in the yard, and the sunlight stung his eyes. He was thinking of jumping down to find his mother, but his father covered his eyes again without saying a word.

He had finally been able to see his mother and didn't want to spend all his time in this room.

Shen Yun looked down at him and said, "If you have the ability to please your mother, you can stay at Jingyuan Residence every day."

"But Mother didn't say anything." Shen Yan tilted his head, his little hand touching the brocade quilt beneath him. It was the bed his mother had made for him; it was so soft.

"Then you figure something out." Shen Yun said this coldly and left the room.

Shen Yan never expected his father to change his attitude so quickly. One second he seemed to be very gentle and considerate of him, and the next second he left so heartlessly.

Shen Yan hurriedly jumped off the bed and followed after him in her slippers.