Of course, how could a letter-writing session be complete without Qin Zhuo?
Qin Zhuo's letter was certainly different from everyone else's.
The tender longing is conveyed in the letters; each letter is filled with yearning and love, which has not faded with time but has instead grown stronger day by day.
Qin Zhuo really wanted to find Shen Ning, but Li Yan was implementing new policies and faced countless dangers that year. Princess Chang Le was injured twice while protecting him, and almost died once.
Li Yan was too young, and many people underground were dissatisfied with his new policies. Therefore, he needed someone he could trust who had ruthless methods to deter those people. Qin Zhuo, as his uncle and known for his fierce reputation, was the best and only candidate.
Even though Qin Zhuo had been back in the capital for almost half a year, he still couldn't find the time to chase after Shen Ning.
Qin Zhuo was filled with hatred and longing, but his resentment was almost tangible, floating out of the paper.
Each time it reached Shen Ning, the first two pages of the thick letter were about missing Shen Ning, the middle pages were filled with 99 pages of cursing Li Yan, and only after cursing him enough would he write about himself at the end.
He never urged Shen Ning to go back quickly, nor did he complain about her leaving. Instead, he would feign grievance, his words filled with loneliness and resentment, trying to entice her to soften her heart and think of him, so she would hurry back.
----
Are you sure she'll come back?
Li Yan stared at a man dressed in flamboyant attire, his eyelids twitching incessantly. To put it simply, he was an eyesore.
He had never seen a man who loved wearing brightly colored clothes more than Qin Zhuo, and he would never admit that Qin Zhuo looked good in those clothes.
Bright red, deep purple, gold, azure, cyan, and purple-black—every garment was extremely gorgeous and vibrant.
So much so that many people could tell from a distance that the most dazzling person must be Qin Zhuo. He was eccentric and unruly, ruthless, handsome and dashing but no one paid attention to him, but his bewitching and evil aura was universally acknowledged.
Today, Qin Zhuo was dressed in bright red with gold thread jacquard patterns. Upon closer inspection, the embroidery depicted acacia blossoms.
She wore a gold and jade crown on her head, and her hair was neatly styled and sparse.
At first glance, I thought this was the groom.
Li Yan was actually hoping he would quickly fall in love with someone else and marry a new love, but that wasn't realistic at the moment.
This man waited patiently like a statue waiting for his wife; if it weren't for the fact that matters of the court couldn't be handled without him, he would have run away long ago.
The reason he's dressed so conspicuously today is because he heard that Shen Ning is coming back soon, but isn't that still two days away? Is there any need to rush?
She has absolutely no sense of restraint.
Qin Zhuo arrogantly picked up his teacup: "Du Yunzhi and Ye Feiyan's wedding is the day after tomorrow. She will definitely be back a couple of days early, either today or tomorrow."
Li Yan: "......" That's nonsense.
Qin Zhuo waited in the palace from dawn till dusk, but received no news.
Li Yan mocked the person mercilessly: "You're getting too excited, aren't you? Go back and wait. You'll be back sooner or later anyway, so a couple more days won't make a difference."
Qin Zhuo turned around and glared at him hatefully, then slammed her hand on Li Yan's table and smashed it: "Starting tomorrow, I'm taking a break. Don't look for me unless it's important."
Li Yan: ...Tsk, he's even getting angry out of embarrassment.
"Fine, fine, you can take a break."
Anyway, there's nothing I need Qin Zhuo for right now, so I figured he'd be happy to see him.
Although his uncle supported him, he also genuinely disliked him and didn't treat him like an emperor at all. On the surface, he gave him some face, but in secret, he would discipline him however he wanted.
Li Yan felt fortunate that he was young, his power was not yet secure, and his heart was not yet so wicked. If he had grown up to a certain age, become cunning and suspicious, he would definitely have been the first to kill Qin Zhuo.
How annoying!
------
Qin Zhuo returned home under the cover of night. On the way, he saw a tavern that was still open, so he casually bought a jar of wine and drank it on his way back.
His expression was even more somber than the night.
He clearly received the message that her schedule was set for the next two days.
He arranged for people to wait on the road and guard the city gate, so that he could rush to her in his best appearance as soon as she appeared. But he did not receive any news by nightfall.
"Smack!"
He slammed the wine jar to the ground, and it shattered into pieces instantly.
Looking up, he shouted unwillingly, "Turn around and get out of the city!"
The coachman hesitated and said, "Master, the city gates are locked at this time."
Qin Zhuo kicked him away, leaped forward, snatched the guard's horse, and galloped towards the city gate.
If Shen Ning didn't come, he would go to see her.
He stayed in the palace and didn't go out, simply because he harbored some resentment in his heart, resenting that Shen Ning had forgotten about Shu and had left him here for so long without returning.
He wanted to wait for her in the city, to wait for her to come back to him on her own initiative, so that he could hold his head high in front of those gossipy old men and Li Yan.
He wasn't abandoned by Shen Ning, nor did he go mad because he couldn't marry the woman he loved.
But... he really missed her.
From the moment I knew she was coming back, every moment was agonizing.
He couldn't wait any longer; no matter where she was, he had to see her today.
The horse galloped, carrying its even more frenzied master through the night streets, speeding towards the city gate.
The patrolling soldiers were all alarmed and shouted, "No riding horses in the city! Stop right now!"
A sharp-eyed person recognized Qin Zhuo and quickly stopped him: "Are you out of your mind? That's the Duke of Protectorate!"
The Duke of Protectorate was the emperor's maternal uncle. It was said that when he got angry, he would even do something to the emperor. Who would dare to mess with him?
"Hurry up and leave, just pretend you didn't see anything."
Qin Zhuo ignored the henchmen and rushed to the city gate, pulling out a golden token: "Open the city gate."
And just as he uttered those words, the city gate was slowly opened.
Qin Zhuo immediately realized something was wrong; he felt that even if he shouted, it couldn't have been that fast.
A sense of unease crept into his heart, and he nearly stopped breathing. He slowly lowered his gaze toward the doorway, and through the widening gap, he saw a group of nearly forty or fifty people standing there.
There were quite a few people, but he spotted the person among them who was completely covered up at a glance.
Even though she was wearing a hat and her face was covered, making it almost impossible to tell if she was a woman, Qin Zhuo was absolutely certain that she was the person he wanted to see.
Because of the overwhelming longing for home, and a sense of trepidation upon returning, I even forgot what I was supposed to do.
Finally, the man saw him and rode over without hesitation, removing his hat and veil to reveal the face he had longed for.
Shen Ning was pleasantly surprised to see Qin Zhuo there: "What are you doing here? I rushed here and even told them not to send any messages, just to give you a surprise. How did you still find out?"
Qin Zhuo suddenly leaped up behind Shen Ning, grabbed her waist tightly, and with a flick of the reins, abducted her in full view of everyone.
The remaining people and the city gate guards looked at each other in bewilderment.
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