Upon hearing this, the mother-in-law was visibly stunned. After a long while, a reproachful look appeared on her wrinkled face as she said, "You child, what nonsense are you talking about? How could such a thing happen!"
In an instant, Chang Lili's composure, which she had maintained for several days, collapsed. She looked pained and broke free from her mother-in-law's embrace.
Those books about mechanical arts were kept in the cabinet. She could still clearly remember the contents of the books. She was someone who disliked reading so much, but looking at the limited content about mechanical arts recorded in these books that she had gone through so much trouble to find, she felt happy.
"Is that so, Mother-in-law..." She stopped speaking, realizing she shouldn't have told her mother-in-law, and then added hastily, "No...no...no..."
With a strength that seemed to come from nowhere, the old woman's withered hands grabbed Chang Lili's hand, which was scratching at her head, and stared into her reddened eyes, saying, "Child, what is it? Tell your mother, or I'll be so anxious and upset!"
Chang Lili seemed utterly exhausted. She forced a bitter smile: "I'm sorry... Mother-in-law..."
"Why are you apologizing for nothing? Tell me what happened!" the mother-in-law said anxiously.
Chang Lili let out a long breath, as if she had made a major decision, and said, "If you want to learn mechanical arts, you must go through a mechanical array, but if you go, you may not be able to come back."
When she heard Meng Yuxiu say that even a genius of mechanical arts had died in a mechanical array, she gave up the idea of taking a desperate gamble, put away all the things related to mechanical arts, and worked hard every day to forge, trying to forget about the incident.
But the more she tried to forget, the clearer these things became. The urge to learn mechanical arts became increasingly clear and uncontrollable when she swung the hammer, heated the iron block until it was red-hot, put the forged iron sheet into the cold water, and when she returned to the yard exhausted and closed her eyes to try to sleep.
Gradually, she became unable to concentrate on forging iron, which resulted in her often accidentally injuring her hands.
But she was really unwilling to accept it. She was an extremely competitive person, and once she set her mind on something, she would never forget it.
If she were to go like that, she would feel guilty towards her mother-in-law. If she could get her mother-in-law's consent and support, she would dare to take the plunge.
The mother-in-law's face stiffened slightly, the worry on her face disappeared, and her usually gentle and kind face turned cold.
She immediately let go of Chang Lili's hand, stood up and looked at Chang Lili angrily for a while, then left without saying a word.
Chang Lili rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on, and regretted her decision. This was an outcome she had anticipated.
Of course, the mother-in-law wouldn't agree to this, since it involved risking her life.
Chang Lili always knew that she had only one wish: to live a peaceful and harmonious life.
She sighed, suppressing her longing for mechanical arts, glanced at the house, and told herself that her current life was good enough.
After tidying up, she buried her head in the quilt. She was very tired, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter what. After some time, she drifted into a light sleep, and in her dream, she was studying mechanical arts with a book in hand.
In the following days, her mother-in-law also ignored Chang Lili, which hurt Chang Lili somewhat.
To Chang Lili's dismay, Meng Yuxiu was still angry about the osmanthus crystal cake incident and had stopped coming to see her.
These days, she's been coming home earlier, and as soon as she gets back, she starts pestering her mother-in-law. But her mother-in-law, who always goes along with her, is really angry this time. She keeps a straight face and ignores her no matter what.
"These are apple shortbreads that the kitchen recently learned from the palace. They smell amazing! I heard the apples were brought from a very far place, which is why we don't have any here!" Chang Lili said with a smile, holding a plate and offering the delicate and sweet pastries with both hands.
The old woman didn't even glance at it, busy with her work, and said expressionlessly, "I'm old, my teeth aren't good, I can't eat these sweet things."
But how could Chang Lili not know whether her teeth were good or not, and whether she could eat these things? It was clearly a case of disrespect and contempt for her.
Chang Lili could only hold a plate of apple pastries, looking disheveled in the wind.
After being repeatedly met with indifference, my mother-in-law still didn't calm down.
As dusk settled and stars climbed into the night sky, Chang Lili felt troubled. She lit a lamp and sat alone under a tree in the courtyard, enjoying the night breeze.
She felt deeply disappointed. Meng Yuxiu didn't come to see her, and she couldn't tell Lu Ming about these things, so she could only grieve alone.
People are always like this: you know there are things you shouldn't do, but you can't get rid of the thought in your mind, and it only gets stronger.
She looked down at her hands; on her slender fingers, old wounds had not yet healed, and new ones had appeared.
She was still thinking about mechanical arts, and even though she knew she shouldn't think about it anymore, the desire to learn it became clearer and clearer.
The night breeze was slightly cool. Chang Lili didn't know how long she had been sitting, but she felt a slight coolness on her face. Unconsciously, tears streamed down her face.
After her initial surprise, she hurriedly reached out to wipe the tears from her face, but somehow, the more she wiped, the more tears she shed.
Suddenly, a force struck her, and Chang Lili was startled. When she came to her senses, she found herself in a warm and firm embrace.
A slightly deep voice came from above, tinged with both affection and reproach: "What's wrong? If I don't come to find you, don't you know to come to me?"
Chang Lili paused for a moment, her face already streaked with tears, and more tears fell. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and an indescribable sadness and grievance overwhelmed her.
She hugged Meng Yuxiu back, sobbing uncontrollably.
Meng Yuxiu didn't speak, but simply held the trembling body in his arms tighter and sighed.
In the quiet, Chang Lili, exhausted from crying, lingered in Meng Yuxiu's arms for a while before struggling out somewhat embarrassed.
Meng Yuxiu looked at her tenderly, his calloused fingers wiping away the tears on her face, and said softly, "Are you crying so sadly because you can't get into the Light Attack Department?"
Chang Lili frowned, worry creeping up her brows, her voice still trembling with sobs: "Am I being selfish? I actually thought that as long as I got my mother-in-law's approval, I could just go ahead and do it. She's so old, what will she do without me? She only has me left."
“Isn’t there still me?” Meng Yuxiu suddenly said, his voice tinged with laughter.
Chang Lili suddenly looked up and met a pair of warm, spring-like eyes, and instantly fell into them.
She stared blankly at Meng Yuxiu, feeling that he was as handsome as a figure in a painting. The sharp features of his face were softened by his smile, and the contrast was breathtakingly beautiful.
"You...you..." She blushed and couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.
Meng Yuxiu suddenly leaned closer to her, a knowing smile on his face: "We've already pledged our lives to each other. Didn't you also ask me to take care of your mother-in-law? I've already come to regard her as my own family."
Chang Lili looked as if her soul had been taken away, appearing dazed, with only her face growing increasingly red.
As the handsome face in front of her drew closer, Chang Lili was at a loss for how to react; her mind went completely blank.
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