Chapter 57
Upon hearing the words "Lingnan," Li Huijue's heart skipped a beat, as if she knew who it referred to.
While still hesitating whether to see her, the question slipped out: "Where is she?"
A moment later, the guards brought a handsome young man to Li Huijue.
The moment their eyes met, the handsome young man's eyes welled up with tears. "Congratulations, Your Highness, on marrying the one you love."
Li Huijue moved a few steps closer to her, but then, remembering her current status, she unconsciously took a few steps back.
His tone was somewhat bitter, "Why did you go through all this trouble, traveling from Lingnan to Chang'an?"
The visitor was none other than Liu Chanyu, the daughter of the commander of Lingnan.
Ever since those few nights of wild passion they had in Lingnan, their youthful bond has remained strong, making it impossible for them to simply let go of it.
"Thank you for going to the Northwest, which has relieved my father of his worries."
"I heard you were injured. Have you recovered yet?"
Liu Chanyu took a few steps closer to Li Huijue, smiled slightly, but there were tears in her eyes. "Thank you for your concern, Brother Huijue. I'm much better now."
When the King of Qin entered Chang'an, the vassal kings launched a surprise attack on the northwest rear.
When Liu Chanyu, a woman, disregarded her own safety and led 30,000 troops to support the Northwest, Li Huijue was deeply grateful.
Hearing that she was injured, I was extremely worried.
The single phrase "Brother Huijue" caused Li Huijue's hard-won decision to vanish abruptly.
She responded softly, "Yu'er, are you alright?"
He strode towards Liu Chanyu and reached out to wipe away her tears.
Liu Chanyu tilted her head away, saying, "Brother Huijue, I'm already content with those few nights."
"I've come today to tell you that you have a Crown Princess, and Yu'er is also getting married."
Li Huijue's hand was outstretched in mid-air, but upon hearing this, she slowly withdrew it.
Thinking again that he had already married someone else, he knew he couldn't have any other thoughts, so he replied bitterly, "Then I congratulate you too."
"You must be tired from your long journey. I will have someone take you to your seat."
Seeing Li Huijue about to leave, Liu Chanyu took advantage of the fact that no one was around and hugged him tightly from behind.
Suppressed tears streamed down her face again. "Brother Huijue, please let Yu'er hug you again."
"From now on, I fear we will never meet again in this lifetime."
"You are Yu'er's first man, and Yu'er will never forget you in her life."
After saying that, he took out a jade pendant from his pocket and put it into Li Huijue's hand.
After releasing Li Huijue, he left without looking back.
Li Huijue felt a dull ache in her heart. She stood there, frozen in place, still in the same position as when Liu Chanyu left, clutching the jade pendant tightly.
He clenched his fists until they turned white before whispering, "Yu'er, take care."
*
The Crown Prince's wedding was celebrated with a three-day court recess.
Ning Shiyu disliked crowds that had nothing to do with him, so he returned to the princess's residence early.
Feeling the emptiness of the bedroom, he moved to the study.
Looking at the piles of documents on his desk, he saw either unfinished official business or accounts from various shops that he needed to review.
He looked dejected and didn't want to turn the pages.
Seeing Zhuang Xing come in to brew tea for him, he asked with dissatisfaction, "When will the letter from Lingyang arrive?"
Mu Li left the manor today to take care of other errands.
Zhuang Xing, who was serving him, replied with a bewildered look, "Master, didn't Uncle Jiu's letter just arrive a couple of days ago?"
Seeing that he was not as bright as Mu Li, Ning Shiyu became irritated and immediately kicked Zhuang Xing out.
As soon as Zhuang Xing stepped out of the study, he saw Mu Li returning to report.
"The master's temperament is becoming more and more unpredictable. Uncle Jiu just sent a letter two days ago."
"He just asked again when he would arrive."
Mu Li instantly understood, "What Master wants is not Uncle Jiu's letter, but Dongyue's."
Seeing that Mu Li seemed to know his master's mind like the back of his hand, Zhuang Xing was filled with envy.
"Okay, you know."
"Go in and serve them."
When Mu Li entered, Ning Shiyu was lying on the back of a chair with his eyes closed, resting, while the water on the tea stove gurgled.
Mu Li took the gilded bronze teapot from the tea stove and poured it into the purple clay teapot.
Then pour the tea into a tortoiseshell teacup for Ning Shiyu.
He placed the dish in front of him and said softly, "Master, I have already helped Miss Liu board the passenger ship."
“Miss Liu looks very sad. I was worried that something might happen to her and her maid on the way, so I sent a guard to escort them.”
Li Huijue was worried about Liu Chanyu, who had grown up alone in the southern border and was unfamiliar with Chang'an.
He then sent a message to Ning Shiyu, instructing him to send Liu Chanyu onto the passenger ship.
He trusted no one but Ning Shiyu in this matter.
It's not advisable for anyone close to Li Huijue to handle this matter, as it could easily create discord if the Xie family found out.
Ning Shiyu had been in Lingnan for so long, and he was aware of Li Huijue and Liu Chanyu's affairs.
Ning Shiyu then slowly opened his eyes and asked abruptly, "If I married someone else, would she be very sad?"
Mu Li knew he was asking about Fu'er, and replied seriously, "Yes."
“When you were sick, Fu’er would stay by your side and cry all day long as you didn’t wake up.”
"Let's not even talk about the young master marrying someone else."
The two things seemed unrelated, but Mu Li accurately grasped their master's thoughts.
Only then did I dare to take up the conversation.
Ning Shiyu smiled slightly, a tear sliding down her cheek as she murmured, "I can't bear to see her so heartbroken."
Songtao Garden.
As the year draws to a close, Uncle Jiu had a lot of New Year's goods purchased for him.
Although there weren't many people staying at Songtao Garden, he still planned to give them a proper New Year's Eve.
In the past, although their master did not like to celebrate the New Year, he would not mistreat his subordinates.
Even though his master is not in Lingyang this year, he still cannot mistreat them.
When Ayu returned with her servant after shopping, she handed the shopping list to Uncle Jiu and reported, "Uncle Jiu, Miss Fu'er said that you should stop sending things over there."
"Her mother has already prepared the New Year's goods."
"Will I still be delivering charcoal to Ruyi Street tomorrow?"
Uncle Jiu took the order, chuckled, and said, "Deliver it."
"Remember, whatever we buy, we should also send a portion to the girl."
"This is what our master instructed."
Ah Yu quickly agreed, "I'll remember."
Looking at the room full of New Year's goods—chicken, duck, fish, meat, grain, and oil—Fu'er was at a loss.
Seeing that she was staring blankly at these things, Man'er put the hot water bottle in her hand into Fu'er's cold hands.
"I can see that the people below are just focused on doing their jobs."
"It's no use telling them, I'll just put it in the kitchen first."
"It's evening, how about Father and Brother move these things back home?"
The kitchen on Ruyi Street was small, just enough to cook for a few people in the shop.
If they have a large family, then they might not have enough free time.
During the Lunar New Year, this large family will definitely spend the holiday at home.
Fu'er nodded, then said, "Sister, am I being too greedy?"
“When he was alive, all he wanted was that house.”
"Now he has returned to Chang'an, and the house has been given to me."
"But I find it too empty."
Man'er pulled the much thinner body closer to her, patted her head as she used to when they were children, and sighed, "So, what you really want is the house?"
"Or do you want him as your person?"
Fu'er's expression froze instantly. She looked blankly at her sister, unsure how to answer.
Half a day later, she said dejectedly, "I can't afford him."
Man'er felt heartbroken. Over the past few days, she had come to understand her younger sister's feelings.
He advised, "If you can't afford it, why don't you just forget about him?"
The thought of forgetting Ning Shiyu felt like a piece of flesh had been ripped out of Fu'er's heart.
It sounds easy, but it's impossible to do.
She nestled in Man'er's arms, sobbing softly.
Man'er hugged Fu'er tightly, her own face covered in tears.
The shopkeepers weren't the only ones who noticed that Fu'er's condition had changed recently.
Wen and Luo Linchun had also noticed Fu'er's abnormality long ago.
I didn't take it to heart in the past, thinking that things would get better after a while.
However, as the year draws to a close, the situation is getting increasingly serious.
That night, Luo Linchun tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, when Wen kicked him in the buttocks.
Luo Linchun barely fell to the ground.
He was furious. "It's still as fierce as in previous years. Can't you be a little gentler?"
"My old bones can't take any more kicks from you."
After saying that, he simply stopped sleeping, put on his cotton-padded coat, sat down at the table, and started smoking his pipe.
Ms. Wen also sat up, saying, "Seeing my precious child getting thinner and thinner every day makes my heart ache."
"You never let me have a moment's peace, you're like a pancake being cooked on this bed."
Both of them let out a long sigh when they talked about Fu'er.
Wen wiped away her tears of heartache. "My dear husband, you know, my Fu'er seems carefree, but he's actually a stubborn person."
She said she was just his girl, but in reality, she had never truly let go of her.
“Even a good child like Zhu Ping couldn’t win her heart.”
"During the day, she would make incense indoors, and whenever she stopped, she would stare blankly at the things the young master had bought for her."
"It's also my fault. I shouldn't have sent her to the young master's side back then."
After taking a couple of sips, Luo Linchun lost interest and stomped the cigarette out.
"I will forget about it someday. I will never agree to let my Fu'er become that man's concubine."
"She'll figure it out someday."
"But I'm worried about something else."
Ms. Wen's heart tightened. "What is it?"
"Someone saw Xu Yuan return today."
*
Using the information on the pawn ticket from the pawnshop, the guard from Linyi finally managed to find the fisherman's family in a fishing village in Lin'an who had adopted the young master.
However, the people had already left and the house had collapsed.
After asking around, they finally asked the fisherman's uncle, an old man with a hunched back.
After hearing Lin Yi explain the reason, the old man immediately chased them away, saying, "A group of people came to ask the same thing last time, and they're here again so soon."
"Get out of here now."
Linyi guessed that the group of people from the previous group must be the old lady from Ning's hometown.
He hurriedly explained, "Uncle, this is our first time here."
"As long as you tell us where this family is, we can discuss any amount of payment you want."
I thought that if I mentioned silver, the old man would reveal some information.
Unexpectedly, he not only refused to let go, but also picked up farm tools from his home and began to chase people away.
Seeing how agitated he was, Lin Yi threatened, "Senior, I've said all I can say. You won't get anything out of me here."
"Then let's go to the government office and check the household registration there. We're not afraid we won't find the person."
After saying this, Lin Yi left the fishing village with another guard.
As they neared the edge of the fishing village, the guard asked, "Brother Lin, that old man might really be unaware of the situation. What should we do next?"
Lin Yi laughed and said, "His reaction was so strong, he must know where that family is."
“If I’m not mistaken, he will go and deliver the message. We just need to stick close to him.”
That night, the two of them stayed behind his house.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking.
The old man then set off in his oxcart.
The two from Linyi, being fast runners, followed closely behind.
Two days later, Linyi rushed back to Songtao Garden with a happy expression.
He strode into Uncle Jiu's accounting office and said, "Uncle Jiu, we've found the young master."
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