Concern
A wave of shock suddenly surged through Lin Xu's heart.
She tried her best to appear calm, looking into his now dull and lifeless eyes, but her voice unconsciously trembled slightly.
"...Why do you ask me this out of the blue, my husband? I...married you, of course, only so that I could be with you day and night, live in peace and harmony, and share all the beauty of this world..."
Lin Xu had told countless lies to those eyes without batting an eye.
The two first met on the Weilong River, whispering in each other's ears on the night of Qixi Festival, and even at Shaojing Garden, when their lives were hanging in the balance, she spoke of her unwavering love for him in every word...
She had lied to him so many times, and thought she could be completely indifferent by now.
But for some reason, she now felt a pang of guilt, as if she had been exposed. She hadn't changed her story at all.
She even began to feel that perhaps those words could no longer be considered lies.
Now, even speaking calmly and uttering a complete sentence is somewhat difficult for him.
Dou Yanxun lowered his eyelids slightly, making it impossible for her to see his eyes clearly.
He seemed to see through her embarrassment and inner turmoil, but only deepened the smile on his lips and sighed softly.
"Fine."
When he raised his head again, his face returned to its usual casual expression.
He glanced at her silently, then released his arms, turned and walked away.
The face that was just moments ago so close now appears hazy and unreachable, separated by the halo of light streaming in from the lattice window.
"My wife is intelligent and quick-witted, and she is devoted to me. For me, she is a blessing I have earned in three lifetimes."
He reached for the tea that had gone cold on the table. His wide sleeves were embroidered with delicate auspicious cloud patterns. He swept his hand over a still-wet ink stain on the edge of the bluestone inkstone on the table, and in a moment it spread into a dark blue mess.
His face showed no concern, his eyes were indifferent, and he lowered his eyelashes as he drank the remaining tea in one gulp.
Lin Xu stood there, feeling a layer of cold sweat on her back, her clothes sticking to her back, feeling slippery and uncomfortable.
She could only watch silently as his Adam's apple rose and fell, and after a moment the surroundings returned to their initial calm. She didn't know what else to say.
All around was silent, as if all the tenderness, interrogation, and tug-of-war just now were nothing but a dream.
When he awoke from his dream, his out-of-control state was gone, and the real Dou Yanxun had already left, returning to his former indifference and detachment.
Lin Xu gazed at his tall and slender profile, but had a vague premonition that things were about to spiral out of control.
Even though there were only the two of them in the bedchamber, she didn't know how to stir his heartstrings again.
She had grown tired of saying all the sweet words, and although he remained silent, it was clear that he still did not believe her deep down.
Those lingering, long-suppressed suspicions and doubts, if they surfaced even slightly, would reignite like embers, making him willing to plug his ears and hear nothing more.
What else could she do?
Before she could speak gently, Dou Yanxun turned around, glanced at her, put down his teacup, and strode out of the hall.
A gentle, measured voice, almost entirely devoid of emotion, followed from behind:
“I have been busy with official business lately, and if I return home late at night, I will disturb my wife’s rest. So I will stay in the front yard.”
He was dressed in soft, turquoise silk, which was clearly the most gentle thing about him, but the wind blowing in his face from under the corridor made his back look lonely and desolate.
For the first time, Lin Xu felt a sudden sense of panic.
Even within that indescribable emotion, there was a mixture of grievance and sadness.
How could he leave like that... How could he do this?
She had already said that, so why didn't he believe her... Lin Xu stood there, stunned, watching his figure gradually disappear into the wind.
.
The two suddenly became very distant. Although Dou Yanxun still treated her with gentleness and courtesy on the surface, he would stay in the front yard whenever he worked late into the night.
This was the first time Dou Yanxun had treated her so indifferently since they arrived in Laining.
Although everything seemed normal during the day and the servants in the mansion remained very respectful, Lin Xu had been sleeping alone for three days straight and had not seen him.
Even so, one could still hear about his achievements in handling official documents day after day.
First, he insisted on his own opinion, refusing to let go of the severe punishment imposed on the bandits. Then, he dealt with a group of former yamen runners who had been incompetent.
Soon, rumors began to circulate. Everyone said that this Magistrate Dou appeared gentle, but his methods were ruthless; he was practically a devil in disguise. Some local gentry with considerable connections in Laining also began to feel some dissatisfaction with Dou Yanxun.
Among them, Mr. Zheng, who had just celebrated his fortieth birthday, was the first to launch an attack.
Lin Xu learned about this while sitting under the grape trellis looking at the account books one morning after having breakfast.
After retiring from his official post, Zheng Jiangran, a young master in the county, started a water transport business, investing in several boats and effectively controlling the second largest wharf in Laining County. These wharves have always transported high-quality fir and beech timber, as well as some delicacies and wild products from the southwest, from west to east to Mujing for sale.
Over the years, Zheng Jiangran has made a fortune just from the fees he collected at the dock for berthing and loading/unloading cargo. Now that the family business is thriving, he has handed it all over to his sons to manage, while he has retired from the limelight and funded the construction of the Laici Zen Temple along the moat.
Initially, the temple only worshipped the Zheng family's incense, but as the number of believers gradually increased, it also began to enshrine several Bodhisattvas and divine tablets. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular temples in Laining.
However, the riots that were suppressed by Dou Yanxun some time ago have inexplicably resurfaced.
Every year on his birthday, Zheng Jiangran would distribute porridge and do good deeds along the moat, and this year was no exception.
The Zheng family had been distributing alms for several days, setting up numerous soup kitchens. Everything was peaceful until, near the end, when, for some unknown reason, more than one dead rat was discovered at the bottom of the soup.
At first, several villagers were dissatisfied and angrily went to the Zheng family manager in charge of the soup kitchen to demand an explanation, but were told that this year, for some unknown reason, the Zheng family's granary had suffered a disaster and was infested with rats that could not be eradicated.
Master Zheng was naturally very worried, and he had already consulted a wise man who said that all of this was caused by the disturbance of the mountain god in the county town, which led to the disaster.
The mountain god was disturbed for no reason—the reason for which naturally led some to think of the recent capture of the bandits.
As a result, the public anger that had just been suppressed reignited like a wildfire.
A few days later, just as the bandits were being transferred to the prefectural capital, several ragged villagers emerged, lining the road and crying out, "The bandits are also refugees, why do you kill innocent people indiscriminately?"
With Dou Yanxun in charge, the county government naturally dispatched its officers to suppress the incident, but it still took considerable effort. The matter escalated and gradually spread to almost every corner of Laining.
Lin Xu listened quietly as Zhu Ling returned from her shopping trip, vividly describing the details she had heard from the streets and alleys. Her fingertips brushed against the slightly yellowed cover of the ledger, and she couldn't help but stop what she was doing.
Just as she expected.
She just didn't expect that those people would become impatient so quickly.
It's an open secret that various factions have long held sway over Laining County. Those bandits were simply a pebble thrown into a calm lake by these forces who couldn't contain themselves any longer.
They were testing Dou Yanxun's true strength and weakness.
During the meeting that day, she pretended to be a superstitious woman who didn't care about politics, playing dumb to fool everyone present.
Lin Xujia hadn't expected that this one bandit gang would so easily provoke Zheng Jiangran, the one who had to stick his neck out. The fact that he insisted on protecting these bandits was enough to show that the Zheng family's canal transport business, after so many years of operation, was probably tainted with corruption.
Even more so, Zheng Jiangran was so restless that she actually used the "nonsense" she had heard from some of Dou Yanxun's advisors that day, invoking the concept of feng shui.
Therefore, among the group of people sitting together in the hall that day, there were indeed some with ulterior motives, who were spies lurking in the county government office.
Furthermore, they were secretly exchanging information with these local bullies in Laining.
Lin Xu's eyes slowly narrowed into slits as she couldn't help but recall Dou Yanxun's faint smile that day.
So, when the hall was full and he looked around at everyone, did he already notice something unusual?
Beneath the seemingly calm surface of Laining, there are clearly lurking forces waiting for their chance to strike. Once the interests of these local bullies, which have been cultivated for many years, are threatened, it will be difficult for them to escape unscathed.
Dou Yanxun had already considered these things, but he still chose to act decisively, even at the cost of causing chaos in Laining and being seen as a ruthless and treacherous minister by the uninformed people.
She couldn't help but sigh softly to herself. Half worried, half curious.
When exactly did he make this decision?
Whenever they were together day and night, he always appeared calm and collected in front of her, never revealing the slightest worry about these matters, and she almost truly fell for his deception.
Now that he has affected the interests of these people for many years, will he face even fiercer attacks or be drawn into danger?
These past few days, the two have rarely met, and Lin Xu is somewhat hesitant about whether she should discuss it with him again.
After all, last time, he had only given Dou Yanxun a few hints, and afterwards, Dou Yanxun's emotions were stirred up. Lin Xu really couldn't figure out what Dou Yanxun was thinking.
That day he asked himself why he had married him.
Lin Xu clearly remembered the light that dimmed in his eyes when he heard his answer. He still wore a faint smile, but it didn't reach his eyes at all.
As for why she really wanted to marry him... that initial answer, that mindset of trying every means to get close to the Dou family and to him in order to change the situation, has naturally changed a lot over the years.
To say that she had no feelings for Dou Yanxun at all...
This is obviously fake.
He was always gentle and affectionate towards her, and although he was occasionally sarcastic, he never really hurt her.
He seemed indifferent on the surface, but he had observed her daily life closely, and even remembered what she liked to eat and what she didn't like to eat, whether she was afraid of the dark or had a sweet tooth.
When he smiled at her with such a handsome face, she couldn't help but feel a tremor in her heart.
How many days of tender moments as husband and wife... how many days of sleeping together in the same bed... and how many days of his gentle yet passionate kisses falling on her cheeks, lips, upwards or downwards, kissing her eyes, or her neck.
How could she possibly resist without being tempted even a little bit?
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