Chapter 17 Returning Home "Does Mother want Yangyang to enter the palace?"
When the guards arrived, they saw that Ning Xian's fair and slender fingers were stained with dirty soil and unidentified bloodstains, and he sat slumped on the ground, at a loss.
Wang Zhong was startled. Ning Xian was usually calm, so how could she have gotten herself into this state?
He caught sight of the pale purple sash that Ning Xian was clutching tightly in her hand and immediately rushed over: "Your Highness, what happened?"
Ning Xian felt as if his blood had frozen. He stared at the bottomless cliff, stiffly moving his body, and grabbed Wang Zhong's collar, trembling as he said, "It's all your fault...it's all your fault for bringing that damned Golden Lotus back! Aren't you going to go find my little cat right now?"
Seeing Ning Xian's bloodshot eyes, Wang Chong dared not say anything more, even though everyone knew that falling from such a height would not only mean certain death, but would likely result in the body being smashed to pieces.
"Yes, I'll go find it right away!"
...
Ruan Yang had absolutely no intention of committing suicide just to spite a man.
Before she fell off the cliff, she initially felt something hard hit her ankle. Combined with the slippery road due to the rain, she unfortunately lost her footing and fell.
The wind howled and roared past her eardrums, almost blasting her ear canals. After a moment of panic, Ruan Yang had no choice but to close her eyes and await death.
Suddenly, the feeling of weightlessness vanished, and a warm body embraced her, snatching her back from the brink of death.
Ruan Yang was still in a daze, only knowing that she was being carried horizontally by a masked boy, leaping and bounding among the rocks.
Before she could speak, the boy took three steps in two, carrying her on his back, and leaped onto a carriage that was rushing towards them.
The carriage swayed so violently that her stomach churned. Ruan Yang realized she was lying intimately in a man's arms. She was extremely embarrassed and began to struggle, her sharp claws scratching wildly in the air.
Overwhelmed by the fear of being imprisoned and the immense injustice she suffered at Ning Xian's hands, Ruan Yang bit her lip and held back her frustration for a long time before finally bursting into tears in the boy's arms.
Lu Wenjin was startled and asked awkwardly, "Are you... alright?"
"I am Wen Jin."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang raised her teary eyes to look at the young man. She paused for a moment, recalling everything that had happened in Danzhou, and her smile became more like a grimace: "So it was you..."
"That day... I'm so sorry, after all that trouble, it was you who saved me despite all the past grievances."
She took a deep breath, wanting to say something, but something was violently ravaging her chest. Just before she could speak, a weak sob escaped from her nose.
Ruan Yang bit her lip, grabbed the boy's collar, and her fingertips brushed against his firm chest for a moment, trying to suppress the sob that she accidentally let out.
The girl nestled softly into his arms, her small hands pressing closer and closer to his chest.
Although they were childhood sweethearts and had been together for over ten years, and had been arranged by their parents and a matchmaker, this was the first time they had embraced each other in such an "improper" way. Suddenly, Lu Wenjin's heart began to beat wildly and uncontrollably.
Lu Wenjin hesitated for a moment, then suddenly tightened his embrace on Ruan Yang: "Don't cry, don't cry..."
He gently rested his chin on the girl's forehead, and with his eyes closed, he saw dark clouds pressing down on the city, and the sound of horns filled the air. The blood of the soldiers congealed into a dark purple in the night. Ning Xian led ten thousand troops on horseback, and when her scheme succeeded, she gave him an innocent smile.
Lu Wenjin asked sadly, "Did that beast bully you?"
The girl's neck and collarbone still bear many unfaded bite marks.
Ruan Yang ignored him, still lost in her grief and crying. Lu Wenjin ended the conversation, patting her back and soothingly saying like a parent comforting a child, "It's alright, nothing will happen again. You won't see that man again. If you're willing, we'll go back and get married as soon as you regain your memory..."
After a long and arduous journey, the sky gradually darkened. The mountain road was winding and quiet, with only the silvery light from the sky and the cool evening breeze for company.
But now, Ruan Yang no longer feels like a drifting duckweed in the world, adrift and helpless.
Even though her memory of the boy in front of her was still a blank.
Even when she was surrounded by countless people and bustling around Ning Xian, she still felt lonely. Only when Ning Xian returned to her side did she feel at ease.
The moon was high in the sky, its cool light filtering through the carriage window like a fine drizzle, easing the summer heat. Ruan Yang lay in the carriage, listening to the rumbling wheels, traveling through the night with this man who would never harm her. Slowly, she fell asleep…
...
They rode at breakneck speed and returned to Sichuan the following evening. Before Lu Wenjin could tell the Ruan family that Ruan Yang had escaped from danger, he carried the sleeping man in his arms and returned to the Lu residence.
Lu Wenjin placed the person on the bed that had been prepared beforehand, then turned to Ruan Xi, who had followed her, and said, "Bring the ice pack over first, Yangyang has a fever."
Ruan Xi is now dressed entirely as a servant in the mansion. Her appearance is no longer that of a beautiful and charming woman, but rather that of a hunched-over, ugly young woman with freckles and scars all over her face after taking medicine and changing her appearance.
She glanced at her younger sister, whom she hadn't seen for more than half a year.
Her face was deathly pale and haggard, a far cry from her former radiant and resilient appearance.
She gazed intently, deciding not to tell anyone about seeing Ruan Yang yet: "We've brought her back, what are you planning to do with her?"
Lu Wenjin touched Ruan Yang's burning forehead, frowned, and interrupted Ruan Xi: "Call the doctor over first!"
Ruan Xi was taken aback, then reluctantly stepped back and called the doctor over.
A cool sensation brought down her burning body temperature, and Ruan Yang groggily woke up. Opening her eyes, she saw several servants standing beside her. She shook her head and said, "No, I don't want to see you! I don't want to go back!"
“Yangyang, don’t be afraid. I am Wenjin. You are in my courtyard and have not gone back to that beast.”
The doctor had someone capture the convulsing Ruan Yang and said to Lu Wenjin, "Fever is not a difficult disease to treat. As long as you take the medicine on time, you will get better. However... this young lady also suffers from a condition of soul separation."
Lu Wenjin nodded: "She recently fell from a height and injured her head. Do you have any way to treat her?"
"If acupuncture treatment is given in time, the memory will gradually be restored within three months. However, if it takes too long, I cannot be sure that it will be cured. Perhaps it is worth a try."
Lu Wenjin sighed in despair. Ning Xian had so many skilled doctors around him, how could he not cure her? He was clearly deliberately preventing the doctors from treating Yangyang.
"child...."
Ruan Yang's limbs trembled, she gasped for breath, two lines of clear tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, one small hand clutched the clothes around her waist, and she kept muttering something.
Lu Wenjin was taken aback and glanced at the girl's slowly rising and falling abdomen.
Ruan Xi asked in confusion, "What child? What is she talking about?"
Ruan Yang woke up from her nightmare with a start. She touched her lower abdomen, thinking that Ruan Xi and the others didn't know she was pregnant, and asked earnestly but confusedly, "I'm pregnant, but... is the baby gone?"
After listening, the doctor placed his hand on Ruan Yang's pulse again, and after a long while frowned, said, "Judging from this young lady's pulse, she does not show any signs of pregnancy. I have been practicing medicine for many years and I am absolutely certain that I am not wrong."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang struggled to sit up: "...How...how could that be? But I haven't had my period for the past two months, and I've also experienced many physical discomforts. I even consulted a monk who knows medicine, and he said I..."
Ruan Yang became increasingly hesitant as she spoke, and finally sat blankly on the bed, saying nothing more.
The doctor could tell that Ruan Yang was young and had no experience with gynecological issues, so he explained, "The young lady probably drank something like a contraceptive soup after intercourse, which affected her menstrual flow."
Ruan Yang remained silent for a long time, and finally, the weight on her heart was lifted.
Good, at least no innocent lives will be lost in that erroneous and ignorant entanglement.
With this lingering attachment gone, she would truly have no further connection with that man in this lifetime.
Ruan Yang took a deep breath, feeling as if she had just woken up from a dream. Was she relieved? Delighted? Or perhaps, regretful?
In short, withdrawal symptoms are never pleasant.
Ruan Yang gave an awkward smile: "Ah...it was a misunderstanding, sorry."
Lu Wenjin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that it was a misunderstanding. It's all that beast's fault. You don't need to feel too guilty. Just take good care of yourself. In a few days, I will personally go to the Ruan family to propose marriage."
Although Ruan Yang had forgotten everything about her past with Lu Wenjin, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears in the face of the boy's sincerity: "...Okay."
Lu Wenjin said to Ruan Xi, "A Chou, you'll be with Yang Yang these next few days. There are still many official duties to attend to in the army. I won't be able to return for another three days."
"yes."
...
The next day, the Ruan family received a letter from Lu Wenjin. The old lady pulled Ruan Xishan and his wife together and wept with joy. In the past six months, the family had experienced too many changes.
First, Empress Ruan Zhuoyin's sixth son died young, and then Crown Prince Ning Xian turned his back on her, causing the Ruan family's two daughters to lose their lives.
After suffering defeats two days ago, Bashu had no choice but to relinquish some of its cities and military power to appease Ningxian, thus securing temporary peace. Upon hearing this, Ruan Xishan suffered a stroke and is now bedridden with half his body unable to move.
The old lady decided to give her granddaughter, whom she had only met a few times, a proper welcome-back dinner.
She arrived at the residence of Madam Xu, the first wife, and asked her daughter-in-law to arrange the welcoming banquet for the next day. Before leaving, she went to the bedroom to check on Ruan Xishan.
"You've had acupuncture for several days, are you feeling any better?"
On the long sandalwood table, a stick of benzoin incense wafted through the stuffy, oppressive room. When the maid saw the old lady arrive, she drew back the gauze curtain in front of Ruan Xishan's bed.
Ruan Xishan still smelled of medicine. He said wearily, "I'm afraid my son won't make it this time."
The old lady chuckled and said, "Alright, now that I see you can still talk, I don't know what you're so upset about. By the way, you also know that Yangyang is not dead, right?"
"I understand. Lu Wenjin found the girl. She's usually quiet and reserved. I thought she was just like her mother, a blockhead. I was lucky she survived."
The old lady scoffed, "What luck? It's clearly a matter of quick thinking. What are you planning now? Are you really scared of the Crown Prince, lying in bed every day waiting for him to tear you to pieces?"
Ruan Xishan knew that the old lady was not joking. The hatred between him and the Crown Prince was enough to make the other party die a gruesome death once he caught him.
If he had won, Ning Xian wouldn't be doing well now either. Unfortunately, he lost; his former glory is long gone, and the lives of his entire family of over a hundred people are in someone else's hands.
"So what does Mother want?"
Despite her advanced age, the old lady's demeanor remained undiminished. She snorted, "Until the very last moment, my Ruan family will never accept our fate. Ning Xian is pressing us step by step, so my Ruan family will fight to the very end!"
"Now, the only one who can overpower the Crown Prince is the Emperor."
"The Empress sent someone to tell me a few days ago that His Majesty's condition has improved, and he even regained consciousness once. As long as we can successfully avoid Ning Xian's spies and continue to give His Majesty the medicine until this winter, His Majesty's illness will be almost cured by next spring."
Ruan Xishan stared intently: "Your Majesty and the Crown Prince have always been irreconcilable enemies, each wishing the other could be eliminated as soon as possible. So, Mother's intention is... to use Your Majesty to depose Ning Xian?"
The old lady nodded: "Sixth Prince Zhuoyin is injured and will not be able to serve the emperor in the future. The emperor's favor will soon come to an end. It is fine if the court is temporarily defeated, but the women of the Ji family must not be allowed to dominate the harem!"
Ruan Xishan laughed dejectedly, "But where in our Ruan family can we send our daughters away?"
He chuckled to himself, but his smile froze on his face after a moment: "Mother wants Yangyang to enter the palace?"
The old lady nodded.
"But Yangyang and the Lu family were already engaged, and Lu Wenjin cherished Yangyang dearly; the two were deeply in love..."
The old lady was slightly angry after hearing this: "Is her happiness more important, or the lives of more than a hundred people in the Ruan family?"
"As for General Lu, the border has never been peaceful. After the war, there are many bandits. I think you need to send a general to quell the unrest."
Ruan Xishan had already exhausted himself and no longer wanted to support the huge Ruan family. After thinking for a moment, he sighed and said, "Yes, I will be at Mother's beck and call from now on."
After leaving the house, the old lady glanced at Madam Xu and gave her special instructions: "Your husband now only has Yangyang as his only son. Remember, you must not neglect Yangyang as you did before. And treat Yangyang the same way you treated Axi before."
“Raise her according to the standards for a legitimate daughter.”
Madam Xu paused for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said, "Yes..."
A note from the author:
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【The Heartless Marquis/The Foolish Concubine (The Resilient Spy)】is a story about a mature man who falls for a young, innocent woman, then drives his wife away, only to end up in a tragic situation and forcibly take her away.
The accompanying text is attached: [Sprinkling flowers]
Yun Sui was a courtesan, with a beautiful face and fair skin, but unfortunately, she had hit her head and was somewhat dull-witted. The brothel madam thought that this was the best person to handle.
In late spring, the Marquis of Yiyang's mansion held a banquet. Yun Sui thought it was just a casual gathering, but she never expected to be pushed out to be a surrogate mother.
The red curtains were warm and the spring water rippled. After the medicine took effect, the man pinched her chin and sneered, "You're back? Perfect, you can give me a child as compensation."
She became the emperor's favorite, and outsiders said she was very lucky, but only she knew the hardships she had endured.
She was humiliated by the maid during the day and suffered torture from Wei Rong at night. She also had to kneel for two hours every day in the Wei clan ancestral hall. One day, she overheard Wei Rong plotting with an assassin.
"We will take action after Yun gives birth to the child."
Yun Sui knew it was just a fleeting affair, but when she learned that Wei Rong wanted her dead, she still couldn't help but cry.
It wasn't until she slipped and fell while hiking that her memory suddenly returned, and then a cold sweat broke out on her back.
She was originally a spy who plotted to assassinate Wei Rong. She successfully married into the Marquis's mansion by seducing him with her beauty, but the assassination failed, and she fled in panic.
Arriving at the Marquis's residence was part of Wei Rong's meticulously planned scheme. His gentleness was merely a ploy to seduce her so he could exact revenge; he would kill her after she gave birth to his child.
She cried all night, and the next day she drank the poisoned wine prepared by Wei Rong. As the poison took effect, she smiled at the terrified man and said, "As you wish, I owe you nothing now."
...
Wei Rong hates Yun Sui.
He hated her for plunging a dagger into his heart, hated her for toying with his true feelings, and hated her for causing hundreds of members of the Wei family to perish in the fire.
He vowed to take revenge.
A half-witted concubine is just a plaything; why bother treating her with sincerity?
After being favored exclusively, he neglected her, acted intimately with others in front of her, told her that he was going to get married, and would never come back.
He carried out a series of ruthless and heartless actions with ease, but the young girl could only look at him with red eyes, clumsily embroidering a wedding robe for him while heavily pregnant.
Wei Rong felt a throbbing pain in his chest. He thought, what if she had been in a difficult situation back then?
He suddenly didn't want to hate anymore and wanted to start over with her.
He refused the princess's marriage proposal and personally arranged Yun Sui's birthday banquet to apologize to her, but the next day he received news that Yun Sui had committed suicide.
He refused to believe it and rushed back to the Marquis's mansion that very night. When he saw the lifeless child, he vomited a mouthful of blood on the spot.
...
After getting rid of Wei Rong, Yun Sui lived a very comfortable life. The passage of time helped her forget the man who had wronged her, and with the help of the young general, she even opened a tavern.
One day, Wei Rong came here for a drink. When he saw the figure he had been longing for day and night, he hugged Yun Sui with tears in his eyes and kissed her passionately: "Sui Sui has been naughty. She actually smiled at a wild man."
"He is my husband."
In the blink of an eye, a younger and more handsome general emerged from the house.
Wei Rong recognized him; he was the adopted son he had just taken in.
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