"Do you know how difficult it is to be a soldier in the North City? It's all my fault!"
Ye Li didn't hit Chu Yan again, but slapped his own face in agony, "I shouldn't have let him go back to the Chu family. I shouldn't have done that."
Chu Yanlian held Ye Li's hand, held her in his arms and said, "Mother Li, this is not your fault."
Ye Li pushed Chu Yan and said, "Let me go, I want to chase Che'er, I..."
Chu Yan didn't let go, hugged Ye Li tightly and said: "I will send someone to chase Che'er, don't worry, he will come back."
Ye Li said repeatedly: "No, your people will only scare Che'er further away, I have to go there myself."
Chu Yan finally let go of Ye Li. Ye Li smelled blood and looked down to see that Chu Yan's waist was covered in blood, staining a large area. "This..."
"Lu Yiling is very good to you." Chu Yan said with pain, "It's nothing serious. She didn't dare to really hit you. It's just a superficial wound."
Ye Li pursed her lips and ignored Chu Yan's injuries. She even went out to chase Chu Che. Chu Yan said to Ye Li, "You can't ride a horse. You can't catch up with Che'er by just relying on a carriage. Why don't you ride with me? My horse is much faster."
Ye Li was worried about his son and didn't care about anything else. He just rode a horse with Chu Yan and left the princess's mansion.
Ye Li chased them all the way until late at night, but he still couldn't catch up with them. The road to the north city was long, the sky was dark, and it was very cold.
Chu Yan saw an inn and said to Ye Li, "Rest for a night before chasing."
Ye Li whispered, "Che'er has grown up so far, and the farthest he's ever been is to Chang'an when he was a child. He..."
Chu Yan comforted him, "Didn't Lu Yiling say that he went to North City with the young prince of the Qi family? With the young prince of the Qi family here, you don't have to worry too much."
Ye Li glared at Chu Yan and said, "You've never considered Che'er your own child, so you're not worried. I've owed Che'er since he was born, and I can't let him suffer any more."
Chu Yan sighed and said, "I feel that traveling at night is difficult, and it's not easy to ask people. It's better to conserve your energy and catch up during the day."
Ye Li doesn't know how to ride a horse, and she can't be brave enough to travel at night. She can only follow Chu Yan's words and rest in the inn.
It was quite a coincidence that normally there wouldn't be many people in the inn during the New Year, but this year it happened that a wealthy businessman from Hanzhou in the suburbs of Beijing was celebrating his birthday, so there was only one room left in the entire inn.
Chu Yan let Ye Li have a good rest while he looked at the wounds on his body. The wounds were not deep and had already scabbed over.
After Ye Li lay down, he was worried that Chu Che would have trouble falling asleep. He felt a sinking force on his waist. Ye Li frowned and said, "Chu Yan, you are married now."
Although she and Chu Yan were husband and wife, they were no longer husband and wife from the moment Chu Yan faked his death.
Chu Yan held Ye Li's waist tightly and said, "I have never touched Ning Wei. I told her clearly before marrying her. We both get what we need. She needs me to help her brother take over the Ning family, and I just want a nominal wife."
Ye Li turned and looked at Chu Yan, "Do you think I will believe your nonsense?"
Chu Yan lowered his eyes to look at Ye Li, stretched out his hand to stroke Ye Li's face, lowered his head and kissed Ye Li's lips. Ye Li pushed Chu Yan angrily and said, "Don't touch me!"
Chu Yan didn't force Ye Li after all. He sighed and said, "It wasn't my intention to leave you back then. I never despised your humble background. From the moment I was brought home by my adoptive parents, I always remembered that I was Chu Yan. It wasn't like you thought, that I married you when I lost my memory."
Ye Li asked, "Then why did you fake your death and leave?"
"Ten years ago, a terrible event occurred in the Chu family. My eldest brother was killed by my third brother. To seize power, my second and fourth brothers, under the pretext of revenge for my eldest brother, teamed up to kill my third brother. The two brothers fought endlessly, and the Chu family business was on the verge of destruction. For the sake of the family business, my mother threatened to kill you and your children to force me to return home."
"At first, my second and fourth brothers were eyeing me covetously, and I didn't dare to let you and the child go home with me and take the risk."
"Later, with my mother's help, I became the head of the Chu family, but my mother forbade you to come back. The wife of the head of the Chu family could not be a servant of the Qi family. Due to my mother's majesty and the elders of the Chu family, I dared not have any contact with you."
"Even if Xiaochi cried and called me in the crowd, I could only pretend not to know her."
"Ye Li, I have never given up on you. The reason I have always disowned you is not because I despise you, but because I cannot. I still have many of my mother's spies around me. My second and fourth brothers have never been willing to accept the fact that I have taken power away from them. The elders of the Chu family are watching them from the side."
"Ye Li, I have always wanted to break free from the shackles of the Chu family. Only I can take control of the Chu family and restore its former glory. I have trained court officials in the court over the years and allowed Chu Liuli to enter the palace as empress. All of this is so that I can persuade you as soon as possible and reunite with you sooner..."
But I didn't expect Chi'er to be favored by His Majesty, and Liuli would not be able to enter the palace and her plan would be in vain. If Chi'er had entered the palace, she would definitely have been used by my mother to seize power. I didn't let her become the queen for her own good. I didn't want her to become a pawn in the Chu family's attempt to seize power in the court."
Ye Li looked at Chu Yan and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Chu Yan said, "Would it have been useful if I had told you earlier? I can't even control my own life, so why would I have told you all this? I came to see you today because Lu Yiling said you were going to die. I came regardless of everything. I was afraid that if I didn't explain it to you clearly, it would become a lifelong regret."
"I've been thinking about you all the time for the past ten years. Do you still remember the day when Shen Jialin and Lu Baozhu got married? The moment I saw you on the steps, I felt so sad. I wanted to hold you in my arms so much, but I couldn't..."
Chu Yan lowered his head and kissed Ye Li's lips. "Believe me, mother is already at the end of her strength. We only need to wait for two more years. After mother passes away, you and I will be able to reunite as a family."
Ye Li leaned in Chu Yan's arms and asked, "Ning Wei..."
"I agreed with her before we got married that we would use each other for what we needed. Once her brother secured his position as the head of the Ning family and I secured my position as the head of the Chu family, I would divorce her..."
She has been infertile for these years. It’s not that she can’t get pregnant, but I never gave her the chance to get pregnant. My children are only Chi’er, Qing’er, and Xiao Xiaoche’er…”
Ye Li watched Chu Yan's hands trying to untie her belt, and she stopped him and said, "Don't touch me. You're not allowed to touch me before we're divorced!"
"Okay." Chu Yan agreed.
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