Chapter 39: Picking Up Someone “Yes, General, send my aunt to…
"Yes, the general left after sending the concubine back." The maid replied.
Ji Yunchan's eyes were filled with disappointment, and she was annoyed that she slept so deeply that she didn't know anything from the moment he came back, sent her back to the house, and then left.
What a great opportunity.
She looked out the window with a gloomy expression and sighed softly.
She always makes Ah Heng sad.
That evening, Ji Yunchan went to the study again.
Instead of waiting outside until she fell asleep like she did yesterday, Ji Yunchan walked straight into the inner room, looked at the simple bed inside, and thought silently for a moment.
Yesterday, he saw her sleeping in the study, but he didn't abandon her or wake her up. This shows that although Ah Heng was angry with her and didn't want to pay attention to her, he still pitied her and loved her and treated her as always.
The bed in the inner room could barely accommodate one person, but definitely not two people. There was no clean side room for him to sleep in. Ah Heng felt sorry for her, so he would not leave her here and sleep in the main room himself.
It’s better not to fall asleep... Ji Yunchan thought to herself. She moved the teacup next to her to the edge of the table. Anyone passing by would touch it if they were not careful.
If you fall asleep, you can make more noise.
Thinking this, she sat down on the bed.
......
In winter, the days are long and the nights are short, and the candlelight burning upwards casts the outline of the shadow.
Ji Yunchan looked at the soft yellow light from the wick for a while, and suddenly thought, what if the light in the study was on and Ah Heng walked outside the door and didn't come in?
Thinking of this, she got up from the bed and blew out the light.
The room suddenly became pitch black, and Ji Yunchan took two steps back and sat in the darkness for a while, feeling depressed and cursing herself for being stupid.
How can I stay awake when the lights are off?
She sighed, got on the bed as if compromising, and pulled the quilt up to cover her body. Ji Yunchan opened her eyes, looking at the darkness in front of her, and thought, let's try it.
Ah Heng didn't come home, and she had no idea where to find him.
She buried herself in the quilt and took a deep breath. The lingering scent of Yan Heng entered her nose, and her thoughts wandered unconsciously. Ji Yunchan secretly thought: If nothing had happened, if the Yan family had not been demoted, and her family had not been exiled, and she and Ah Heng had reached the age to get married and got married, what would happen after marriage?
The two families are neighbors and live so close to each other, so life should be the same as usual.
She would still quarrel with Ah Heng, just like before.
But the quarrels we had before were completely harmless. Looking back, they seemed like flirting.
But now the quarrel was so fierce that Ah Heng ignored her.
Ji Yunchan's eyes were sore and she hugged the quilt tightly.
If only none of this had happened.
But so many things happened that when Ah Heng asked her if she regretted it, she didn't dare to think about it at all.
There are so many things to regret, and if she admits it, the regret will overwhelm her.
No regrets, she thought to herself.
......
My thoughts were scattered and uncontrollable, and I thought about a lot of random things. As I was thinking, I closed my eyes.
So what she thought about before going to bed continued in her dream. In the dream, she got married with Ah Heng, and Ah Heng called her "wife" tenderly. Then he said coldly, "Don't call me Ah Heng". The scene reversed, and Ah Heng fell from the wall, begging her to shut up with red eyes.
She watched herself say to him heartlessly, word by word, "I've never liked you either."
That’s not the case, Ji Yunchan shook her head and stopped.
Stop it, don't do this, don't do this to him.
She whimpered unconsciously in her sleep, tears wetting her eyelashes.
But in the dream, she couldn't see herself watching, her lips opening and closing, her face full of indifference.
Shut up!
Ji Yunchan shouted with all her strength.
"Shut up..." The moment the sound was uttered, Ji Yunchan's body trembled and she suddenly woke up from her dream.
Realizing that it was just a dream, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to slow down her racing heartbeat.
Why did I suddenly dream about the memory that I least want to recall?
I slept restlessly in a half-asleep state, and it was unpleasant to wake up.
It was already dawn. She looked around the small room and her eyes fell on the teacup that she had placed on the edge of the table before going to bed.
The teacup was placed neatly in its original place, with no signs of having been moved.
Yan Heng didn't come back.
Ji Yunchan slowly sat up and reached out to push the teacup inward.
She was stunned for a moment, then stood up, tidied the bed in the inner room back to its original state, and left quietly as if she had never been there.
She walked back to the main room, where Yuye was tidying up and cleaning. Seeing Ji Yunchan was absent-minded, she tried to say some words of comfort, but when she met her gaze and saw that she seemed to have something to say, she shut up again.
My aunt is such a beauty, but now there are black marks under her eyes. I thought with heartache on a rainy night.
Ji Yunchan couldn't wait any longer, so she went into the room and saw Yu Ye there, so she ordered, "Go and find out what the general has been doing recently."
Yuye came back to his senses and replied "Oh", then left immediately.
Ji Yunchan slept with her clothes on all night and tidied her clothes before going out, but there was no bronze mirror in the study, so she had to come back to tidy up her hair.
She walked to the bronze mirror and sat down while thinking about something. Her eyes inadvertently swept across the mirror. Her hand holding the comb paused and she looked at it again in disbelief.
The person in the mirror didn't have messy hair, but the dark circles under his eyes were very obvious.
She slept so well the night before, how could it have turned out like this? She thought in disbelief.
Then the hand holding the comb dropped again, and she touched her eyes in the mirror. Yes, it was because she slept well the night before.
She reached out to get some powder to cover it up, but her slender fingers touched the powder box and she stopped.
If Ah Heng saw this, would he feel sorry for me?
She looked at herself in the mirror again, hesitated for a moment, and gave up the idea of hiding.
…
Yan Heng had no way of concealing his whereabouts, so after a short while on the rainy night, he was heard to have returned.
She was covered in snowflakes, and she patted them when she entered the room. She said to Ji Yunchan, "Auntie, it's snowing outside."
Ji Yunchan's eyelashes trembled and she hummed softly.
After walking a few steps towards this side on a rainy night, he realized: "Did you find out?"
Yuye responded, "The general went to the prefectural government today. Deputy General Chang said that we won the battle and held a celebration banquet as usual."
Zhizhoufu.
Ji Yunchan unconsciously exerted force on the edge of the table and made up her mind after a moment.
She stood up and said, "Let's go to the prefectural government."
"But it's very cold outside," Yuye advised. "According to the date, your period will come in the next two days. You should take good care of yourself."
Ji Yunchan tapped her fingers on the table and said without hesitation, "Then drink a bowl of pain-relieving medicine first."
We can't wait any longer.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, it was no use trying to persuade her on Yuye.
But there was no pain-relieving medicine at all. Just for comfort, she went to make a bowl of boiling ginger soup for Ji Yunchan, adding brown sugar and red dates.
After Ji Yunchan drank it, he poured her some hot water into the bottle and put a thick cloak on her.
Ji Yunchan lifted the thick curtain in front of the door and walked out. The howling north wind outside was mixed with coarse snow particles falling down. She couldn't help but look at the gray sky. The snow had not melted yet, and it was snowing again.
......
Over there, the banquet hall of the prefectural government was bustling with singing and dancing. The dancers danced in gauze, revealing their slender waists and narrow shoulders, so thin that it was impossible to tell whether it was winter or summer.
Yan Heng sat in the main seat with no interest, watching coldly.
Although he said some harsh words, he did not fall out with the prefect after all. After he had been invited many times, he had to come after all.
Besides, where else can we go?
The dishes on the table in front of me were rich and exquisite. It was cold in the northwest, so people ate more meat. After marching for such a long time, it was time to eat more.
Yan Heng lowered his eyes and looked at it, then put the food into his mouth silently, but he seemed to have no taste.
He was in tune with the atmosphere and toasted with everyone. When he was in a good mood, he was not arrogant and talked and laughed with everyone, even ignoring the flattery. But at this moment, his expression was calm and there was no sign of a smile, which made the people below feel uneasy.
Among the people below was Du Ruo.
She attended the banquet with her brother and sister-in-law. She originally came to apologize, but seeing Yan Heng's expression, she didn't dare to step forward.
That day, he returned home with an embarrassed face and happened to meet his sister-in-law. He asked her the whole story and explained it to her in detail for a long time. With his brother beside him to scare her, Du Ruo's face turned red, white, and then red again. Finally, he realized that he was wrong.
She looked in the direction of Yan Heng. Even though his expression was not good, there were many people around him. He was the protagonist of this banquet.
Du Ruo hadn't found a chance to step forward and was feeling very anxious. Thinking of Du Ning's threats to her, she bit her lip. Would he bother with a little girl like her?
Until the banquet was over, she realized that if she didn't say it, she would miss the chance, so she followed him from a distance, and finally caught up with him after he left the gate of the prefectural government.
"General!" Du Ruo panted.
Yan Heng heard a woman's voice. He turned around and saw it was Du Ruo. His face remained calm. "Miss Du, what's the matter?"
"I want you to give it to your family..."
As she spoke, she suddenly realized that she didn't know Ji Yunchan's last name, and she felt that her previous hatred was unreasonable. She could only hesitate and wait for Yan Heng to speak mercifully.
"Ji Yunchan?"
Yan Heng spoke, not knowing what this girl was up to.
"So her name is Ji Yunchan. What a beautiful name, it suits her." Du Ruo was halfway through her words when she saw Yan Heng frowning. She realized what she was saying and quickly stopped talking. She turned to the business: "I shouldn't have treated her like that indiscriminately on the street that day. My brother also scolded me when he got home..."
When she said this, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Yan Heng thought it was something, that she could do anything else but not a message. Moreover, she wanted to apologize but asked someone to deliver a message. What was going on in this girl's mind?
He refused outright: "Go and tell her yourself some other day."
After saying that, he turned around and mounted his horse.
Du Ruo took two steps after her and said, "Then I'll go to her house another day and apologize to her."
"Whatever you want." Yan Heng ignored him, pulled the reins, and left.
......
Ji Yunchan had the carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley. When she got off, she saw Yan Heng leaving the prefectural government office.
Just as she was about to go forward, she saw Du Tongzhi's sister chasing out and talking to Yan Heng.
Ji Yunchan paused.
The lantern of the prefectural government was right behind them, emitting a warm yellow light. The two of them stood there against the light, very close to each other, like a perfect couple.
"She's pretty, but a bit temperamental, that's about it."
Ji Yunchan stood there alone, and her mind unconsciously reflected what Yan Heng said to her when he described his desire to get married.
A cramp in her abdomen came over her, and Ji Yunchan's face turned pale.
The hand warmer fell from his hand and landed silently in the thick snow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
