Chapter 206 I have never seen such a patient person (Part 2)
After a while, Li Jinyu finally spoke: "I am sorry, cousin."
He continued, "Don't worry, cousin. I will take you back after this matter is over."
Hearing this, Liang Yixin raised her eyes: "Your Majesty, do you mean that I still need to live here?"
Li Jinyu nodded: "Cousin, it is not appropriate for you to show up for the time being. I have already made an agreement with Pei Aiqing and asked him to protect you for a while."
Liang Yixin lowered her head and said nothing.
"Cousin doesn't want to?"
"Not really," Liang Yixin shook her head. "Anywhere is fine, as long as I don't return to the Duke's Mansion."
Li Jinyu felt a little uncomfortable. How could he not understand Liang Yixin's feelings? The Queen Mother, who had doted on her since childhood, treated her as a hostage, while Duke Xin treated her as a pawn of the Liang family. She had tasted both the ups and downs of this world, and she probably didn't want to return home.
After a moment of silence, Li Jinyu mustered up the courage to grab her hand.
Liang Yixin was stunned for a moment, then she heard him say, "Don't be sad, cousin. I...I will be with you from now on."
.
Liang Yixin had no worries about the safety order. Two days later, he dealt with the Queen Mother's matter with thundering means.
The Emperor issued an edict, declaring to the world that the Empress Dowager had been condemned by Heaven and had failed to awaken, having failed her ancestors and the people. Heartbroken and ashamed, she had long wished to devote herself to Buddhist practice, so she was sent to a Buddhist temple thousands of miles away to practice vegetarianism, chanting the Buddha's name, and cultivating her character.
The affair of defiling the imperial palace was not made known to the world, and this treatment saved the Empress Dowager's reputation.
On the day of leaving the palace, the empress dowager took off her palace dress, without any makeup on her face. She stood at the palace gate in plain clothes, looking at the place where she had lived for more than 20 years. For a moment, she was a little dazed.
"Don't look anymore, Your Majesty," the old nanny said, wiping away tears. "The carriage is waiting outside the palace. Let's go."
The Queen Mother lowered her eyes and asked slowly, "Where is the Emperor?"
"The Emperor is in the Qinzheng Palace, and is said to be busy discussing Minzhou affairs with his ministers."
The Queen Mother smiled, a smile that was lonely and sad: "He, how can he be busy? He simply doesn't want to see me again."
"Let's go." She took one last look at Yongning Palace, tears suddenly falling. "I am tired of living this life, let's go."
After saying that, she stepped onto the sedan chair.
The simple sedan chair lacked the splendor of the phoenix chariot. It passed through the high wall silently like a cool breeze.
On the top floor of Suzaku Tower, a bright yellow figure stood there, watching the sedan chair go away.
.
That day, after Zhuang Wan finished her work in the shop, seeing that it was still early, she simply told the coachman to drive to Yangdong Lane.
When they arrived at the place, the gatekeeper saw her and hurriedly led her in.
This house is Pei Xingju's villa in the capital. It was vacant in the past, but now a special guest lives here.
Liang Yixin was sitting in the waterside pavilion feeding the fish. When she heard the maid report that Zhuang Wan had arrived, she turned around.
Zhuang Wan approached gracefully, wearing a long dress the color of Xiang Fei. She wore a smile, but it wasn't harsh. There was no sympathy, no mockery, and no resentment. Instead, it was a calm and familiar smile, like the reunion of old friends.
Liang Yixin was stunned, and for the first time she looked carefully at this legendary beauty.
I used to think her beauty was superficial, but now I think it's bright and elegant. She even has a kind of open-mindedness and casualness that is different from other women in the boudoir. This kind of demeanor is difficult for others to match, and it is also her unique and dazzling feature.
"Miss Liang." Zhuang Wan walked into the pavilion and bowed to her.
"Miss Zhuang." Liang Yixin also stood up and returned the greeting: "I wonder what brings you here, Miss Zhuang?"
Zhuang Wan smiled, "Nothing much. I just came to see you early because it was getting dark. Did I bother you?"
"No, please take a seat, Miss Zhuang."
Zhuang Wan nodded and sat down at the table.
Pei Xingju had told her about Liang Yixin before. Although she didn't know what the emperor was going to plan next, he must have his reasons for temporarily placing Liang Yixin here.
He couldn't bear to see her sitting alone in the West Pavilion, so he decided to come and see her when he had time.
But Zhuang Wan had mixed feelings about Liang Yixin: she admired her, yet also felt hostile. Even more complicated, she felt they were, in some ways, akin. Liang Yixin was inherently rebellious, her delicate exterior shrouded in stubbornness and uncompromising obstinacy.
It’s just that Liang Yixin is good at forbearance and silence.
"Regarding the Empress Dowager..." After a moment's hesitation, Zhuang Wan said, "I've heard some news. Perhaps you'd like to hear it too."
Sure enough, Liang Yixin raised her eyes.
Zhuang Wan said, "The Empress Dowager has left the capital and has been sent by the Emperor to the Buddha Temple to pay homage to the Buddha. The Duke of Xin's residence is still searching for you, but they probably don't know you're here."
Liang Yixin's face was calm. After a moment, she smiled faintly: "You know about me?"
"I know a little, but not much. Pei Xingju told me."
"I really envy you!" Liang Yixin suddenly spoke.
Zhuang Wan was surprised: "I didn't expect to hear the word 'envy' from you."
"You probably don't know..." Liang Yixin poured her a cup of tea: "I have had this idea since the first time I saw you."
"Why?"
"Maybe... you have too much."
Zhuang Wan looked at Liang Yixin inquiringly, but Liang Yixin hid it very well, with her eyelashes drooping and her gaze fixed on the teacup.
"Although your family is broken, you still have parents who love you, brothers who dote on you, and..." Liang Yixin raised her eyes: "Master Pei is very good, he is a good man."
Zhuang Wan picked up the teacup and drank slowly, listening to her quietly.
Liang Yixin smiled bitterly. "Don't worry if you laugh at me. Although I was born in the Xinguo Mansion and possess countless wealth and power, I still struggle to obtain what I desire most. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just too greedy. After all, my status is already something many people can only aspire to. But I can't convince myself that these aren't what I want. I wasn't born how I wanted, and I'm not living how I want."
"Then what does Miss Liang wish for?" Zhuang Wan asked.
"Just like you..." Liang Yixin paused and said, "A soul that is loved and free."
Zhuang Wan smiled slowly. "Actually, I came here today not only to see you, but also to apologize to you."
"What?"
"Last time at the palace, Miss Liang helped me leave the capital and asked me to promise you something. I broke my promise, but I don't regret it."
Liang Yixin paused, then heard Zhuang Wan say, "As you said, Pei Xingju is very good, and I want to stay with him. I like him and want to be with him, out of the love that my soul freely gives me."
"But there is one thing that is different from what you said." She continued: "What I want is not to be loved and have a free soul, but to love and have a free soul."
"Love, and freedom of soul?"
"Yes," Zhuang Wan smiled. "A free soul gives us the ability to love, and the courage to accept being loved or not. But whether we are loved or not, a free soul tells us that we can love ourselves."
Liang Yixin was stunned, muttering, "Love yourself..." She suddenly panicked and looked at Zhuang Wan, "I don't understand, how can I love myself?"
Zhuang Wan said, "We yearn for freedom, yet we are always trapped in the shackles of life and stand amidst the thorns of emotion. But we have the right to sing and shout out, and that is freedom. Singing for ourselves is loving ourselves."
She added, "The most important thing for people living in this world is the ability to love, not to be loved. If we can still love others even when we are not loved, then on that day, our souls will be truly free and powerful."
Liang Yixin listened for a long time, then smiled: "I didn't know it was like this. It's my narrow-mindedness. I've been trapped for half my life, not in the secular world, but in my heart."
Zhuang Wan smiled, raised her hand and rummaged through her sleeve, pulling out a paper bag.
The paper package was tied with hemp rope, and it was square but bulging.
"This is?"
"It's lime grass pancakes." Zhuang Wan put them on the table. "I heard you don't have a good appetite, so I brought you a bag of these on the way here. They're delicious, maybe you'll like them."
After she finished speaking, she opened the paper package, revealing a few green, fragrant and tender cakes. They were coated with a layer of syrup, which was bright and moist, and looked very tempting.
Liang Yixin had seen lime grass pancakes before; they were a common food these days. They were often eaten during the Qingming Festival, also known as wild vegetable pancakes. These pancakes were cheap, sold at street vendors for just a few coins a pack. But as the legitimate daughter of a Duke's family, she had been taught from a young age not to eat cheap food. Her table was always filled with expensive pastries and delicacies. Therefore, even something as common as lime grass pancakes, she had never known what they tasted like.
Today, she really wanted to try it, as if she was breaking some rules and constraints. She wanted to be like Zhuang Wan, eating whatever she wanted and doing whatever she wanted.
"Miss Liang doesn't like this?" Zhuang Wan saw her hesitation.
"No," Liang Yixin picked up a piece and took a bite. The faint sweetness and the fragrance of wild vegetables spread in her mouth. Compared with what she usually ate, she actually felt that the taste was comparable to the delicacies of the world.
"Thank you, I like it very much." She smiled.
.
After saying goodbye to Liang Yixin, Zhuang Wan left the villa. However, a carriage appeared at the door. Zhuang Wan thought it was from the person in the palace, so she immediately lowered her head and stood aside.
Unexpectedly, a familiar voice came from the carriage.
"What are you standing there for?"
This is Pei Xing’s residence.
Zhuang Wan looked up in surprise, and saw Pei Xingju opening the car door and looking at her with a half-smile: "What did you just do?"
Zhuang Wan was embarrassed. She thought it was the emperor and was standing there wanting to salute him.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
Pei Xingju waved: "Come up."
Zhuang Wan lifted her skirt and stepped forward, but was just about to get into the carriage when Pei Xingju grabbed her and pulled her over.
"I just quit my job," he said softly, his chin resting on her shoulder, "I heard you were here, so I came to look for you."
"Why are you looking for me? Is there something urgent?"
Pei Xingju didn't say anything.
"Hmm?" Zhuang Wan stepped back and looked up at him.
Pei Xingju said uncomfortably, "If I wanted to see you, I'd come find you. What's wrong with that?"
Zhuang Wan's heart was filled with sweetness, and she immediately held his face and kissed him, "Very good, very good, it couldn't be better! Actually, I missed you too."
These days, they were all busy with their own things, and sometimes they only met during the hurried hours of breakfast or dinner. Most of the time, Pei Xing was in the office or in the study, discussing matters with others, while she would leave early and return late to spend time in the shop. Even when she returned home, she would deal with the account books.
Come to think of it, it has been a long time since the two of them were so close.
"Pei Xingju?" she whispered, "Do you want to kiss me?"
"......" Pei Xingju was reserved: "This is in the carriage."
"What happened in the carriage? It's not like we've kissed in a carriage before."
“…”
Zhuang Wan leaned over and pecked his lips, then asked, "Do you want to?"
Pei Xingju didn't say anything, so she continued to peck him: "Do you want to?"
This went on for several times, causing Pei Xing's breathing to become heavier.
"Wanwan..." he said, "Would you like to go back?"
"Why do you want to go back? Once you go back, you'll be busy again. They're waiting for you to discuss things every day."
After the court opened, those people from the Ministry of Justice ran to Pei's house all day long. Once he returned to the house, Pei Xingju had little free time.
Zhuang Wan didn't want to go back.
She climbed up to him, boldly sat on his lap, and said seductively and seductively: "Pei Xingju, I want to kiss you right now. I want it so badly."
As she spoke, she leaned forward and sucked on his lips. When Pei Xingju opened his mouth, she deliberately did not probe in, but moved her lips to his ear and bit it.
Pei Xingju was breathing slightly, his eyelashes half closed, his head tilted back against the wall of the car, letting her whisper in his ears.
Zhuang Wan blew a puff of air mischievously, making him tremble. She smiled and said, "Look, you clearly thought about it too."
Upon hearing this, Pei Xingju's Adam's apple moved.
He did want to, and that was precisely why he didn't dare do anything wrong in the car, fearing that he wouldn't be able to control himself.
And he found that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to resist the temptation of intimacy, and even... even wanted to be closer to her.
Feeling her lips moving down along the ear and landing on the neck, he held his breath and his Adam's apple slid faster and faster.
"Wanwan..." He tried to stay somewhat lucid: "Shall we go back?"
"No! I'm right here!"
Zhuang Wan was a rebellious person with a 120-pound bone structure. The more Pei Xingju endured it, the more she wanted to destroy his pretended reserved expression.
She wanted to see him suffer, to see him go crazy, to see him become a captive in love and desire.
As she kissed him, Zhuang Wan observed his expression. Pei Xingju was still somewhat conscious, but the struggle in his eyes betrayed his impatience.
She became cunning and bit the moving Adam's apple.
This could cost Pei Xingju his life.
Immediately, he could no longer hold back and took the initiative, holding the person tightly in his arms and kissing those restless lips.
The carriage moved slowly along the busy street. The hustle and bustle outside formed a sharp contrast with the tranquility inside.
The curtains were tightly drawn, letting in almost no light. In the darkness, Zhuang Wan looked up at the roof, feeling the hot air on her neck and collarbone.
Pei Xingju had been lingering there for a long time, struggling with her thoughts. She had enjoyed it at first, but gradually she grew impatient.
He kissed her countless times, but he didn't dare move down even a little bit, yet he was reluctant to leave.
"Pei Xingju," Zhuang Wan was about to cry, "Can you do this?"
“…”
He still lingered at the collarbone, almost sucking the skin through. In fact, he only needed to move a little lower to get what he wanted.
But he didn't dare.
The hand on her slender waist tightened and tightened, trying to move upwards but restraining himself and retreating. This made him sweat.
Absolutely! I've never seen anyone so patient!
Zhuang Wan thought.
She simply pulled over and hugged his neck, kissing him seriously and slowly, which drove Pei Xingju crazy.
Some things are a man's instinct and do not need to be taught. Pei Xingju is an extremely intelligent man. Once he breaks through that layer of concern, he is like an unbridled and wild lion.
Zhuang Wan closed her eyes, as if her whole heart was captured by him, and she was dying and falling into the rolling waves.
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