Yes, who else could it be besides him?
"My Lord..." Ma Wan's tears welled up even more: "I am indeed..."
Li Lu understood her sobbing words, but said: "I don't care why you came. I only know that your heart towards me is genuine, and you are my wife, Li Lu, who married me in a formal ceremony, so I should protect you."
He held Ma Wan's hands, and when he said this, he slowly lowered his eyes and spoke in a much lower voice: "But I also know that I am weak and cannot be of great use. And the situation in Prince Rong's Mansion is not a suitable place to stay..."
He said: "Wan'er, if you want to leave, I can also have someone secretly escort you away safely..."
Ma Wan's heart suddenly trembled, and she subconsciously held the pair of weak and clean hands: "Why do you say that, my lord...Does my lord want me to leave?"
Li Lu looked up, and his slightly red eyes seemed to have given her an answer, but he still said: "Wan'er, I don't want to involve you in this fight because of my own selfish motives..."
His eyes were filled with guilt and yet infinite nostalgia.
When their eyes met, Ma Wan could clearly feel that the owner of these eyes needed her very much.
Recalling her first encounter with Li Lu, Ma Wan was attracted by the loneliness conveyed in his music even though she didn’t know his identity.
Ma Wan lost her father at an early age, and she and her mother took care of the affairs of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion and took care of her younger brothers and sisters. She completed everything properly and thoughtfully, and her family members never hesitated to express their love and appreciation for her. All this made her develop a rare independent and confident character. She was never inferior or timid, and she never lacked the ability to love others.
Her love for Li Lu was mixed with a desire for "redemption" that she herself might not have faced.
Li Lu used his music to construct a clean and lonely world where he was the only one walking alone in the vast world.
Ma Wan was attracted to him and thought that since she could understand his music, she was his one and only soul mate. This resonance was rare and precious, so it was natural for her to want to enter that world and resolve and redeem the boundless loneliness.
Therefore, from a soul perspective, in Ma Wan's subconscious mind, Li Lu is the "weak" party.
The months of house arrest in the Buddhist temple were an unprecedented blow and cleansing to Ma Wan's soul. On the other hand, Li Lu, the "weak person", even became the one who could decide her life and death due to the changes in the external environment... However, even so, Li Lu still took the initiative to put himself in a weak position, gave her the choice of staying or leaving, and clearly sent her the signal that "he needs her".
This feeling of being needed by her beloved was almost "hitting the mark" for Ma Wan. In a deeper sense, it was even a kind of filling and reconstruction of her recently injured soul.
She was destined to be unable to resist this fatal attraction.
The torment and tension of the past few days suddenly collapsed at this moment. Ma Wan leaned over and hugged Li Lu tightly, tears streaming down her face silently: "Just as the prince said, I am the prince's legally married wife... Wherever my husband is, I will naturally be there."
Li Lu slowly hugged her back.
Ma Wan seemed to have put all her strength into this tight hug. In her opinion, her husband needed her, and she also needed her husband very much at this moment.
This feeling of mutual dependence in difficult situations completely eliminated the remaining estrangement and uneasiness in her heart caused by her position.
Today she and her husband had truly been honest with each other, and from now on, there would be no more hidden grudges between them.
This beautiful thought brought a precious smile to Ma Wan's tearful eyes, but putting aside the ego between husband and wife, she was still a little confused about the overall situation: "Sir, after that...what should we do?"
She was asking about the overall situation, the Rong Palace, and the Ma family.
She is Li Lu's wife and the daughter of the Ma family.
"Wan'er, you and I are so insignificant that we cannot influence the overall situation of the world... But I will always remind father that we should always put the people of the world first, so that father can keep his original intention."
Li Lu gently held Ma Wan's thin shoulders with both hands, and promised solemnly: "I also promise you that no matter what the situation or position is in the future, I will do my best to protect the Ma family."
A relieved smile broke out on Ma Wan's tearful face and she nodded to him repeatedly.
Li Lu raised one hand to wipe away the tears on her face and said softly, "Okay, stop crying. Too much tears are harmful to your health..."
Ma Wan nodded again and tried to ask: "Prince...can I send a letter back to the capital at this time to let my family know that I am safe?"
She knew that her grandfather might have given up on her, but she could understand his choice, as he had made it clear to her before she chose to marry him...and even so, she would not completely deny his love for her.
Besides, she has her grandmother and mother at home, and they must be very worried about her these days.
"Of course you can." Li Lu answered without hesitation, but reminded seriously: "But the situation is like this. In order to ensure that this letter can be sent back to the Ma family smoothly, it may not be appropriate to say anything else in the letter."
Ma Wan nodded. She understood that she was able to leave the temple because her husband asked Prince Rong for it. However, Prince Rong would not tolerate her repeated betrayals and would have people pay close attention to the news she sent to the capital.
She was not a foolish person and would not do anything unnecessary at this time. She just wanted to send a letter home to let her family know that she was safe and to let them rest assured.
Ma Wan wrote the letter that night and gave it to Lan Ying, asking her to deliver it.
Lan Ying held the envelope, wanting to speak but stopping for a moment, but couldn't help but whispered: "Girl, in this situation, you'd better be more cautious towards the prince..."
"Lan Ying..."
Facing her maid's disapproving gaze, Lan Ying said bluntly, "...I am just worried that the prince has ulterior motives and might take advantage of me!"
Ma Wan looked at her and frowned: "Do you think he instigated me to send this letter back to the capital? Or do you think that I, a discarded child, really have any use worth mentioning now, which is worthy of his careful calculation?"
"Lan Ying, I know you have always been prejudiced against him, but to be fair, have you ever produced any solid evidence other than these groundless speculations?"
"If it weren't for him this time, you and I would have died in that Buddhist temple long ago - Lan Ying, you shouldn't be so ungrateful."
Listening to these increasingly serious words, Lan Ying's expression changed several times. Just as she was about to speak, she heard her girl's tone become more and more disappointed: "You and I are master and servant. If you really don't want to stay here, I will find a way to send you away."
Lan Ying was startled, and quickly knelt down with red eyes: "Girl, I begged you so hard that I could come to Yizhou with you... How can I abandon you!"
Seeing that Ma Wan was really angry, she could only slap herself in the face, crying and admitting her fault, begging: "It was just nonsense from me... I won't do it again in the future!"
"Okay." Ma Wan turned away, unable to bear it, and said helplessly: "Remember what you said today, and don't do it again next time."
Lan Ying agreed, wiped her tears, and went out to deliver the letter, but she felt extremely anxious.
During these few months in the temple, she thought that the effect of the drug that the girl was fed had finally worn off and that the girl would finally wake up...but who would have thought that today, the seductive prince would come here with the drug again!
Judging from the situation this time, the girl might be completely immersed in this magic potion...
The girl obviously loved him even more. From now on, she would never speak ill of Prince Rong so easily... She had to find evidence as soon as possible to expose the true face of this hypocrite and seductive man.
Lan Ying did not dare to relax at all. She clutched the envelope tightly and quickly disappeared into the night.
At the other end of Prince Rong's Mansion, another group of people took advantage of the night to arrive outside Prince Rong Li Yin's study.
After getting the permission, the door was opened, and the leading person entered the study room and knelt down to pay respect: "...Su greets Uncle Wang!"
Prince Rong walked out from behind the desk, raised his hand to help the dusty young man up, and said gently, "Get up."
"I haven't seen you for many years, Uncle Wang is still the same as before..." The young man's red eyes were full of gratitude: "If it weren't for Uncle Wang's secret help this time, I'm afraid I would have died long ago."
This person was King Yue Li Su, who failed in his rebellion in Yuezhou but luckily managed to survive.
He had escaped from Yuezhou under the protection of his elite confidants, but the Emperor of the Holy Ce had never stopped his hunt for him. Over the past six months, he had been on the run every day.
During a crisis, he came face to face with people from the imperial court. Only three of his trusted aides were left by his side. It was Prince Rong’s men who appeared in time and helped him escape.
Although they had not seen each other for many years, Li Su had a good impression of his uncle Wang. This time, the other party took the initiative to help him, which made Li Su, who was in desperate situation, immediately decide to go to Yizhou and seek shelter from this cousin who was only eight or nine years older than him.
Although Li Su is a useless person, he has already had the intention to rebel and has put it into action. Naturally, he is not a brainless and sentimental fool. He knows very well that if he wants to seek asylum, he must show corresponding sincerity.
After this incident, he also realized the fact that he was just a small fry, and he had no ability to make a comeback anyway... Oh, there was no way to make a comeback in the first place, so he simply offered up all he had left.
He presented his military map to King Rong.
Although Li Su's rebellion failed, he had done extremely thorough preparations for sharpening his sword. He privately built two armories to store many weapons and property accumulated from years of plunder. The locations were extremely secluded, and one of them was already mostly empty when the rebellion started, while the other was almost intact.
“Among my family members, the one I respect the most is Uncle Wang... I, Li Su, am willing to do my utmost to help Uncle Wang revive the Li family, kill the evil queen, and become the ruler of the world!” Li Su’s face was full of sincerity.
Li Yin sighed without commenting: "It's all for the Li family's empire and the people of this country."
The young man in black robe who brought Li Su here took the Hyogo map from Li Su, took a rough look at it, and nodded slightly to King Rong.
Li Su felt relieved and responded, "Yes, Uncle Wang has the world in his heart, and he will surely become a good ruler who will win the hearts of the people!"
Li Yin still did not say anything further. He just expressed his concern for Li Su like an ordinary elder.
Li Su poured out his grievances and shed bitter tears, recounting the many difficulties he had encountered over the past six months.
While they were talking, Li Su had asked his confidants and Li Yin's men to retreat together and discuss the planned route to check out the Hyogo.
"Now that you are here with Uncle Wang, you can settle down." Looking at his nephew who looked miserable and haggard, Li Yin gently asked someone to take Li Su down to rest: "Next, you should rest well."
Li Su wiped away his tears and thanked him again and again. Facing such an uncle Wang, he really felt like he was back home.
He bowed, retreated to the threshold, and turned to leave the study.
The man in black stepped out of the threshold half a step ahead of him.
This person also led the way when they entered Prince Rong's mansion, so Li Su subconsciously said, "Thank you for leading the way."
But the next moment, the man turned around and changed from leading the way to blocking the road.
Before Li Su could react, the man, who was between a teenager and a young man, raised his hand and stroked his neck with his backhand without expression.
Li Su's body froze, and he stepped back abruptly, holding his throat tightly with both hands from which blood was gushing out. He fell to the ground uncontrollably, and forced himself to look at Li Yin: "Uncle Wang...Uncle Wang..."
Li Yin sat down beside the small table where the chessboard was set, without even raising his eyes.
The young man wiped the bloody dagger clean and put it away again.
Soon two attendants came in and dragged the dying Li Su away. The two maids lowered their heads and quickly cleaned up the bloodstains before leaving again.
The man in black stepped forward and bowed to Li Yin.
Li Yin looked up at the tall and steady young man in front of him, with undisguised satisfaction in his eyes: "You did a great job. You also handled all the trivial matters outside very well recently."
"It is Yi Cong's responsibility to share the prince's worries."
Li Yin nodded with a smile, raised his hand to signal him to sit down and play chess, and said: "When the overall situation is settled, my son Yicong can restore his original surname... Then your father will definitely let my son recognize his ancestors in the imperial temple in the capital."
When the usually calm boy heard this, a gleam of anticipation appeared in his eyes.
There were harmonious sounds of chess and laughter inside the house, while the moonlight outside the window was quiet.
As the moon sets and the sun rises, all things come to life, and Jiangdu city becomes bustling early in the morning. Some are setting up stalls at the morning market, some are going to work, some are drinking morning tea, some are visiting shops, and some are going to the academy. The coming and going of people, together with the chirping of birds, wake up Jiangdu city.
In the governor's mansion, Wu Jue had also gotten up, but was forcibly pulled out of bed by A Dian. At this moment, he was forced to practice the Five Animal Exercises in the garden.
In Chang Suining's words, the fat has been accumulated enough and it's time to put it in the pot and cook it down.
The process of "refining fat" was not pleasant. When Wu Jue was struggling in pain, he suddenly saw a familiar figure appear at the bridge head in front of him. He quickly left A Dian behind and walked towards the person with a smile.
"Old Meng, you're finally back!" Wu Jue wiped the sweat from his forehead, grabbed Meng Lie's arm, and asked in a low voice: "Did everything go smoothly during this trip?"
Happy New Year to everyone on the second day of the Chinese New Year! (It’s really hard to lose fat, but it’s really easy to gain fat. I’m going to eat at a big table again tomorrow, and the fat on my belly is gradually growing… I seriously suspect that the fat that Jia Ling lost has been transferred to me…
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