Before going to bed every day, Yan Shang would routinely reflect on himself, examining his behavior throughout the day to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.
Thinking about this, he couldn't help but think of last night when Mu Wanyao asked him not to look for her again. When Yan Shang was reading today, the conversation between the two of them last night suddenly popped up in his mind several times, making him distracted.
So at night, Yan Shang naturally thought of Mu Wanyao.
She was hesitating, wanting to reject him but unable to bear to do so.
This is Yan Shang’s conclusion after thinking about it.
When he came to this conclusion, Yan Shang felt a little disappointed. However, he had already felt disappointed by Mu Wanyao, so he could still withstand this blow.
Therefore, at this moment, sitting in front of his desk, Yan Shang was just in deep thought, without showing any strange expression.
He reflected on whether it was his problem or Mu Wanyao's problem? Was it because he showed an anxious attitude that scared Mu Wanyao? But why should she be afraid?
Is she afraid of love between men and women?
Yan Shang closed his eyes and recalled the abnormalities that Mu Wan had revealed when he shook his head several times.
The first time she showed fear was when she was pinned to the bed and he almost couldn't help kissing her. She was so scared that her whole body froze and she trembled unconsciously. The second time... was when Mu Wan handed him the water lily.
Yan Shang opened his eyes and looked at the water lily pot placed next to his desk and in the corner under the window. Water lilies bloom during the day and close at night, so it was certainly not the blooming season. Yan Shang just looked at the water lily pot and thought of Mu Wanyao who took the initiative to come to him that night holding the water lily.
She acted nonchalant at first, and when they got to bed, she was smiling and joking with him, just like usual.
However, when he accidentally pushed her down, she resisted again... and when Mu Wan shook and kissed him, Yan Shang felt... well.
Yan Shang hesitated a little, not knowing if he was thinking too much. He just felt that Mu Wanyao had kissed him many times, but she never seemed to be obsessed with him.
Like he was moved.
He was sure that Mu Wanyao liked him... but he just felt that she was too calm. Every time she kissed him, she was like a bystander, observing his reaction indifferently. Only his reaction could bring her pleasure.
What she liked was his reaction.
Rather than kissing, hugging, and having sex itself.
Yan Shang was depressed for a long time, then slowly stood up, walked to the pot of water lilies and squatted down, looking at the lotus leaves embracing the flower bones, filling the room with fragrance, but he didn't know when this flower would truly bloom.
Yan Shang reached out to touch the lotus leaf and murmured softly, "...Is it because her previous marriage was such a failure? Because she disliked her ex-husband so much, so she treated me like this?"
All of a person's actions must have traces left over from the past.
Yan Shang was stunned for a long time, and inexplicably hated her ex-husband for causing her such great harm.
He did not guess the real reason why Mu Wanyao had gone back and forth with him, but he just felt that she did not dare to accept him because she had been hurt, which made him feel pity for her and he could not bear to force her.
That's all.
Although her behavior made him feel disappointed, he couldn't blame her.
Yan Shang silently endured this incident and decided to give Mu Wanyao more time to accept him. If she gave her more time, she would know that he was different from her ex-husband. No matter what her previous marriage was like, anyway, he was not the kind of person who would hurt her.
Two months...I hope Mu Wanyao can accept it.
However, with Mu Wanyao's poor memory, if he didn't leave any trace in her life in two months, wouldn't she regard him as a stranger when they meet two months later? The relationship that she had cultivated with great difficulty had to start from scratch again, right?
Yan Shang naturally didn't want Mu Wanyao to forget about him again, so after much thought, he decided to write her a letter every three days.
At least let her remember his existence.
-----
One letter every three days, Yan Shang timed it very well.
This just makes Mu Wan vacillate between the two stages of "forget it, don't think about him anymore" and "he wrote to me just when I stopped thinking about him".
The struggle in the government was not easy. Mu Wanyao followed the prince and fought with the King of Qin every day. Both sides kept making moves and countering moves. Mu Wanyao was trying to get the prince to let her take charge of the inner court banquet at the end of the year.
The year-end ceremony is a major event for all countries to celebrate, and it only happens once every few years. Mu Wanyao must take the opportunity to show up. As long as he does this well, not only will Mu Wanyao's prestige in Wei be higher, but he will also be remembered by people in various small countries.
This matter must be accomplished.
As long as the highest-ranking imperial concubine in the palace was confined to her house, and there was no hostess in the palace who could handle the matter, naturally the matter could fall on the princesses. And Mu Wanyao was fighting against the imperial concubine, the biological mother of the King of Qin, and then squeezed out the King of Qin's biological sister, Princess Yuyang, and held a grand banquet by himself, which was nothing.
Princess Yuyang is soft-hearted, while the imperial concubine is domineering. Muwan won't give in to either of them. I guess the King of Qin hates her to death.
It was also because she found ways to fight these people every day, that when she returned to the princess's mansion at night and drank alone to relieve her stress, Yan Shang's letter became her "appetizer".
Normally, she would sit on the third floor attic of her own inner house, quietly looking at the lights of the mansion opposite, judging whether Yan Shang had returned home or not, whether he had already fallen asleep or was still reading.
She could already tell which side of his house the light was on.
So she had nothing to do, so she stared at the two lanterns hanging on the porch outside his house. One day, she saw that the lantern was not lit, so she wondered if he had not returned home all night; the next day, she saw that the lantern was lit all night, and she was angry again, wondering if he had not slept all night.
Random thoughts are the best way to relieve stress, but they are also the most torturous.
After the maid Chunhua left, the job of standing behind the princess every night and reading the letters from Shangshu Yan to Mu Wanyang fell on the maid Xia Rong.
Xia Rong read Yan Erlang's letter in a clear voice: "I stayed at the teacher's home last night and met his wife. The teacher is over 50 years old, but seeing his wife's big belly, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: the teacher is still strong at old age."
Hearing this, Mu Wanyao burst out laughing.
Xia Rong looked at the princess and saw that she was looking at the lights of the mansion opposite, shaking a glass cup in her hand. After drinking for a long time, the princess' face was flushed and her eyes were charming, but she had returned to the mansion with a gloomy face, and only laughed at this moment.
Xia Rong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was fortunate that Yan Erlang's letter could make the princess laugh. Otherwise, the princess would lose her temper all day, making them all very scared.
Listen to Mu Wan shaking his chin and laughing: "He is really mischievous. He must not show anything on the surface, but when he returns home, he says that his master's wife is pregnant and that his master is still strong and healthy..."
Xia Rong smiled and said, "Yes. Erlang now talks more to His Highness than before. In the past, Erlang would never say such words no matter what."
Mu Wan shook his head and laughed: "Yes, he has such a temper that he won't say anything bad about others..."
So now when Yan Shang wrote to her, he would secretly talk about his teacher's words behind her back, which made Mu Wanyao moved and feel complicated.
Why should I trust her so much?
Is he so sure that she won't find any loopholes in him and harm him in the future?
People like him shouldn't say anything to others.
Mu Wan shook his hand and supported his forehead: "Oh, my head hurts even more."
Just like that, she kept reading the letter every day for two months. Maybe she couldn't forget someone. Even now, Mu Wanyao missed Yan Shang a little and wanted to see him appear in front of her.
Yan Shang is really a man with a lot on his mind.
-----
Summer is over in a blink of an eye, and the autumn leaves are red.
The autumn leaves fall and the winter is cold.
Chang'an entered October and began to enter early winter.
Two months later, the servant that Mu Wanyao sent to monitor and take care of Liu Wenji reported that Liu Wenji just went to Beili every day to get drunk, and during the day he either slept or read books, and did not socialize with others. Mu Wanyao saw that he did not cause any trouble, so he left him alone.
During this period, Mu Wanyao, while fighting with the King of Qin, still had time to go to the Prince of Jin's mansion to see Chunhua. Chunhua was already pregnant, her figure was plumper, and her face had a gentle glow of maternal love. Although Chunhua's eyebrows were always covered with a trace of sadness, she was relieved that the Prince of Jin's mansion did not abuse her and she was living well.
It’s just that Chunhua wanted Mu Wanyao to touch her belly and feel the fetus, but Mu Wanyao ruthlessly refused.
Mu Wanyao said absentmindedly: "I don't like children, I will never like them."
Chunhua could only sigh and accept the fact that the princess might rarely come to see her at the Prince of Jin's mansion. After all, he was the Prince of Jin, and the princess would not come often to avoid suspicion.
In mid-October, on the day of the examination, Yan Shang went out as usual, preparing to go to the Ministry of Personnel to take the examination in the Boxue Hongci category.
If your results are good, you will be hired immediately; if you are not hired, you will have to wait until next year.
Many people in Chang'an were waiting to see how Yan Shang would perform after he rejected Liu Xianggong. Yan Shang was calm and didn't show any signs on his face.
When he went out, the servant brought the horse. When Yan Shang turned to face the alley, he was stunned for a moment.
Because I saw the carriage of the princess's mansion parked in the alley, and the maids and guards were mounting the horses. Obviously, Mu Wanyao went out early today and met him here.
Yan Shang saw the maid and guards greeting him, he crossed his arms in return and looked towards the carriage.
Knowing that Mu Wanyao is inside.
His heart moved, and a very gentle smile appeared in his eyes: I never met her when I went out every day before, but I met her easily today. Could she be waiting for him on purpose?
Yan Shang went over and stood outside the car, bowing to the people in the car: "Your Highness, are you well?"
Mu Wanyao's lazy voice came from the car: "Will you take the exam today?"
Yan Shang: “Yes.”
Then the car curtain was suddenly pulled open, Mu Wan looked out of the car, and Yan Shang looked up at that moment.
The young man stood outside the car, his long blue sleeves hanging down to the ground. His thin figure made him look quite romantic, and his eyebrows and eyes were as black as ink, and his temperament was as clear as jade and bamboo, transparent and exquisite.
Mu Wanyao saw it clearly, saw every eyelash on his raised eyes, and every drop of early winter dew on his temples.
Such style.
And Lang Shang also looked at her, and saw a bright red jumping into his eyes. She leaned on the car window, slightly crooked her eyes, and her eyes were round like a cat's, with a little charm and a little clarity. When she leaned on the window and looked at people like this, he felt like he was thrown into a bright red dream.
Her beauty makes everything around her look dull and boring.
The two looked at each other quietly.
After two months, we saw each other for the first time.
Mu Wanyao lay on the window sill in a leisurely manner, but she felt her palms were full of sweat; Yan Shang stood below and looked up at her, and even the examination could not make his heart beat excitedly, and now it was so fast that it seemed not to belong to him.
After a while, he came back to his senses and lowered his eyes, not daring to look at her any longer, for fear that his embarrassment would be noticed by the people around him.
Yan Shang whispered, “I’m very happy to see Your Highness when I go out today.”
Mu Wanyao said nothing and quickly lowered the curtain, separating the two worlds.
The maids and guards around the carriage gave Yan Erlang a sympathetic look, silently telling Yan Erlang with their eyes that the princess was a person with such a bad temper and it was okay for her to ignore him.
Before he could say anything, he saw a carriage slowly coming out of the alley and passing him.
When the carriage was about to pass by him, a lazy voice came from the carriage that only the two of them could hear: "You can be happy."
Yan Shang suddenly looked up at the carriage passing by him. His eyes were bright and he felt a sense of motivation.
-----
Mu Wanyao was restless.
Yan Shang went to the Ministry of Personnel to take the examination, and Wei Shu went with him. She was always worried about this matter, and she couldn't listen to what the ministers said in the East Palace all day.
Finally she couldn't sit still any longer, so in the afternoon she said she was not feeling well and went back to the princess's mansion.
Mu Wanyao waited for news in the princess's mansion, drinking cup after cup of water. He felt that she was probably more nervous than he was.
She couldn't help but let her thoughts run wild.
Because the system exam is harder than the imperial exam. There are so many talented young people like Wei Shu taking the exam with Yan Shang. Can Yan Shang really do it with his level? Is it really useful that he has studied for half a year? He couldn't even handle the previous state exam... Wouldn't the current system exam really give him a headache?
In the evening, she bit her lips, complaining about why Shang was not a great talent.
If he were talented, she wouldn't have to worry so much.
Mu Wanyao sat in the main hall, drinking water and waiting for the result. Muffled winter thunder came from the sky, which made her feel ominous.
-----
Yan Shang is fine.
This exam was actually easier for him than the last one. The last exam was all about poetry and prose, which he was not good at. This time, there were more things to be tested, so he was not so unsure.
What's more, this time the exam started with questions about politics.
With test questions like "asking for strategy", it becomes much easier for Yan Shang.
The Minister of Personnel, the Vice Minister of Personnel and others came to watch their examinations in person. The whole hall was silent, with occasional muffled thunder in the sky.
The examination will take two days.
This was the first day. They would stay in the Imperial City tonight, take the test again tomorrow, and the results would be out the day after tomorrow. It was much faster than the previous exams.
-----
Liu Wenzhi slept in Beili for a whole day. In the evening, the smell of rouge and wine in the building woke him up with a splitting headache.
Liu Wenzhi staggered to his feet and went to change his clothes, then sat back in his seat and continued drinking alone.
He was here all day, and the ladies in this brothel were used to him, knowing that he just wanted to drink and didn't want to be served. This young man was so handsome, but he was drunk all day, and it was obvious that he was suffering from love. The ladies in the brothel naturally had a good impression of this kind of loyal young man, so they secretly told people not to drive this young man away.
There are thousands of prostitutes dancing at the dance table and colorful pavilions for singing on the singing boats.
On a brightly lit night, famous prostitutes began to dance on the stage, and the ladies upstairs snuggled up to their gentlemen, beginning a new night of drunkenness and dreams.
Liu Wenzhi sat among them, and heard romantic songs and lyrics from time to time, but he pretended not to hear them and just drank his wine.
A dozen young men pushed and shoved past, making a lot of noise, the sound of bead curtains colliding, and the ladies followed them and shouted -
"It's Zhang Lang. Why hasn't Zhang Lang come for a long time?"
"But the Ministry of Revenue is busy lately?"
"Oh, that superior is too mean. He didn't even let you rest for two days. Don't worry, I will let you relax tonight."
The young man called Zhang Lang laughed loudly, followed by a dozen people fawning on him and hugging him. He was extremely disdainful, and when he saw Liu Wenji passing by, he just glanced at him, and then he casually hugged a beautiful girl and kissed her.
A lady knelt down beside Liu Wenji and poured wine for him. She whispered, "My dear, that is the Eleventh Prince from the household department. He is a noble man. You must not offend him."
Liu Wenji was drunk, he looked at her, listened to her soft voice, and felt that she was as gentle as his own spring flower. He forced a smile and whispered: "Who can I afford to offend now? Don't worry, I won't leave."
The lady sighed, felt sorry for him, and sat beside him, pouring him wine and taking care of him.
Liu Wenji: "...What are you doing here with me? I don't need my wife to serve me, please go away."
The woman begged, "I have only been here for a short time and I don't want to serve those dirty people. Please have mercy on me, my dear, and let me stay and serve you."
Liu Wenzhi thought that life was not easy for anyone in the world, so he did not refuse.
Laughter and noise are the norm here.
Zhang Lang drank two more glasses of wine and was drunk. He sat upstairs and started to touch the lady serving him. She pretended to refuse. It was just a game between men and women. Zhang Lang was carefree and suddenly saw a lady sitting in the corner. He took a casual glance and saw that she was so beautiful.
Zhang Lang pushed aside the people around him and pointed at the woman: "Bring her to me!"
Everyone around Zhang Lang followed Zhang Lang's gaze and looked over there.
The weak lady knelt beside Liu Wenji and was pouring wine for him. Suddenly, several men came over, separated her from both sides, grabbed her arms, and lifted her up. She screamed in panic, and the men smiled and said, "Don't scream, don't scream, Zhang Lang wants you to serve him!"
The lady's eyes were filled with sorrow: "I don't want it, I don't want it... Liu Lang, Liu Lang, save me!"
She reached out her hand to Liu Wenjie, who was very drunk. The woman's long nails scratched the back of his hand, and the pain brought him back to reality. He heard the woman's desperate cry for help.
Liu Wenzhi turned his head to look, and saw that the lady who had just sat with him was being pressed and dragged away by several men. Those men had tacitly lewd smiles on their faces. The lady was dragged to the ground, her long hair was disheveled, and her clothes were torn with a sound of tearing.
The woman screamed, "Help me! Help me!"
Her pleading, tearful, beautiful eyes looked towards Liu Wenzhi with appeal.
Liu Wenzhi's brain suddenly went blank.
He seemed to suddenly see Chunhua looking at him with tears in her eyes but always keeping silent.
When she was dragged to the King of Jin's bed that night, was she also so helpless? When her beautiful eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the people around the King of Jin, did she also beg for help?
When a tragic fate befell her, was she extremely desperate? Was there no one who extended a helping hand to her?
Let her fall into the abyss, let her breathe little by little, let her never struggle out of the malicious trap set by fate...
Mu Wanyao’s cold eyes appeared in Liu Wenzhi’s mind.
She said, "It will pass. It will be forgotten."
Liu Wenji heard his own voice at that time, overlapping with his current mumblings - "I can't get over it, and I can't forget it."
At least for now.
-----
"Bang--"
Someone on the second floor of the brothel overturned the case, and a young man staggered towards the group of laughing young men. The young man shouted sternly: "Let her go, let her go——"
Release the shackles that fate has bound on her!
Let go of her fragile and innocent soul!
-----
Liu Wenji rushed over, pushing aside those young men who were laughing and dancing. He squatted down and hugged the dishevelled stranger in his arms. Zhang Lang was about to steal the lady with his arms around her, but was suddenly pushed aside. He screamed and fell in pain, sweating profusely.
Zhang Lang was furious: "How dare you snatch my person? Destroy him for me——"
"boom--"
The sound of thunder was drowned out by the rouge and singing and dancing in the willow-covered land. The building was already in chaos. A group of young men rushed towards Liu Wenji, who protected the strange woman under him and closed his eyes.
-----
Thunder in the sky.
In the middle of the night, the door of Princess Danyang's mansion was knocked open.
Mu Wanyao was awakened by someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night. He thought something had happened to Yan Shang, so he hurriedly got up and went out.
She pushed open the door and saw two servants she had sent to take care of Liu Wenji kneeling in the corridor, covered in blood and mud, crying and looking up: "Your Highness, this is bad, we didn't take good care of Liu Lang.
"Liu Lang was…was made a eunuch."
Mu Wanyao listened to the two servants crying twice in a daze before she realized what had happened. She staggered back two steps, her face suddenly pale and bloodless.
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