When Madam Zhang was talking with Xu Rong for most of the time, the Duke of England returned.
The audience was rather quick. Madam Zhang was surprised and eagerly went out to greet him, only to find out that because it was the Lantern Festival, the Emperor was considerate of his old minister. After the meeting between the emperor and his minister, the Duke of Yingguo was allowed to go home to celebrate the festival. He was also given five days off. On the 20th, when all the government offices had opened their seals, the Duke would then formally attend court to report on his achievements.
Along with the Duke of England, the Emperor also bestowed upon them the Lantern Festival gifts.
The Duke and Duchess of England wanted to meet and talk, and Xu Rong and the others would be in the way if they stayed any longer. So they went to the guest courtyard that Madam Zhang had prepared for them. Before long, the imperial Lantern Festival dumplings were delivered, and everyone got two.
After learning from Madam Zhang that the Marquis of Ji'an's residence was relatively safe, Xu Rong was no longer in a hurry to send someone back to report. After finishing the Lantern Festival, she decided to close the door and rest for a while.
Xiao Xin suddenly squeezed in through the crack in the door.
Xu Rong was surprised but couldn't help but laugh: "—If you want to come in, you can just say so."
He just keeps doing this, like a little kid, not even afraid of getting slapped in the face by a door.
Xiao Xinren entered safely, but Xu Rong waited for a moment without hearing him speak.
She turned around casually: "Xuancheng, if you have nothing else to do, feel free to sit down. I need to rest."
Xiao Xincai reached out and pulled her.
He controlled his strength, but he didn't control his gaze.
Xu Rong: "..."
She gradually lost her composure. Did she not know why Xiao Xin was making such a fuss? She did know.
She and Xiao Xin had known each other for a short but not long time, only three years, but they had experienced a lot together. As Madam Zhang said, they had been through life and death together, and many things did not need to be said to be understood.
Xiao Xin's lips moved slightly: "You—"
Xu Rong almost told him to shut up.
She knew what he was going to say, and because she knew, she was afraid.
Yes, it's no longer just a simple worry, but also a fear, and perhaps even more so.
Fortunately, Xiao Xin stopped on his own before she could stop him.
But his eyelashes blinked rapidly, and then, as if he had made up his mind, he tried again: "The old lady just said that you—"
Xu Rong took a step back.
She dared not look at his face, her gaze lowered in avoidance.
I panicked.
I wanted him to shut up and leave, but... I was also waiting for him to finish speaking.
She was caught between two conflicting feelings and couldn't decide which one she truly wanted to choose.
Things spiraled out of control without her realizing it. She knew it, she was afraid, but what lay hidden behind that fear, why her feelings towards him had changed, she... knew too.
Unable to make a choice, Xiao Xin gave her the answer: a third option—neither finish speaking nor leave.
He didn't know what Xu Rong was thinking, but her step back hurt him. He thought that after so many things, things were different between them, but it turned out that he was still forcing her.
He was speechless halfway through, unable to continue speaking, yet unwilling to leave.
Xu Rong waited for a while until her heartbeat gradually calmed down. She couldn't help but turn her head back and secretly glance at him.
Xiao Xin looked like he was struggling.
He was actually struggling too.
Has he not made up his mind yet?
"Thank goodness I haven't figured it out yet!" Xu Rong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pushed him away, saying, "I need to rest, don't bother me."
I didn't dare ask him to sit down.
Xiao Xin's eyes darkened, and he said, "Oh."
He turned and left.
**
When Xu Rong woke up, she still felt unsettled.
In reality, she didn't sleep much. Her mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts. One moment she was thinking about the Xiao family, the Duke of Ying's mansion, and then Xiao Xin's career and family affairs. She wondered how she could balance things between these different groups. After thinking about all that, she felt like she was wasting her time. If she left, none of that would matter to her anymore. But as she turned over, she remembered that snowy night when Xiao Xin called her back in a hoarse voice...
She felt a mix of emotions, and when she got up, her head was buzzing. She felt that it would have been better not to take a nap at all.
With about an hour and a half left before the banquet, Xu Rong opened the door and stood there in a daze for a while in an attempt to wake himself up.
The guest house was not large, but the layout of the houses was reasonable. There were three small main rooms in front and side rooms on both sides. Xu Rong lived in the side room on the left. When he opened the door, he saw that the door of the opposite side room was closed, but the door of the main room was open. After a while, Lin Ding and Madam Wei came out from inside.
"Sister Yu, look, is this a pomegranate tree?" Lin Ding asked, pointing to a tree below the steps.
In the dead of winter, the tree had lost all its leaves, leaving only bare branches. After examining it for a moment, Mrs. Wei nodded and said, "Hmm."
“Sister Yu, I remember you used to love eating pomegranates. Let’s grow one, no, two in our yard.” Lin Ding planned enthusiastically.
Ms. Wei smiled and said, "Okay."
“Sister Yu, I remember you like flowers. I’ll ask Brother Zhang to help me find a good house in the capital. We can buy it and I’ll build you a garden. You can plant whatever flowers you like,” Lin Ding said.
Mrs. Wei's eyes lit up when she heard this, but she hesitated and shook her head: "That must be very expensive, right? Forget it, I don't need any big house. It's enough for our family to be together peacefully."
"I have money!" Lin Ding patted his chest. "Sister Yu, don't worry, you don't need to worry about the money. You don't know how easy it is to make money in Annan."
Lady Wei was stunned: "Bao'er, weren't you going to fight in the war? How come you're talking about making money again?"
“Yes, money comes from war,” Lin Ding laughed. “Annam’s minerals and timber are good businesses. We have royal orders to keep us busy, otherwise, those daring and fearless people would go from Annam to Southeast Asia and the West, which would be extremely profitable.”
Xu Rong listened intently.
She had no experience in foreign trade, but she had some basic knowledge—the current dynasty was similar to the Ming dynasty. In the real history of the Ming dynasty, although it was mostly under a maritime ban due to various political and military needs, and only Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean are well-known, in reality, the maritime ban was never truly eradicated during the Ming dynasty, whether it was lifted or not, and many officials secretly participated in it.
That's a long story, so let's leave that aside for now. But judging from Lin Ding's tone, it's clear that regardless of whether he can be granted a title, he has already amassed a substantial fortune.
“Those things are at the very back of the army and haven’t arrived yet,” Lin Ding explained. “It’s not just mine, but also my godfather’s and the others’. You’ll see them when they arrive, and then you’ll know.”
Mrs. Wei nodded, puzzled. She didn't understand these things and couldn't imagine the amount out of thin air. She just felt relieved that the family's future was settled. "That's good. But Bao'er, this money is hard-earned, so you can't spend it recklessly. I'll just have a small flower garden."
"Sister Yu, I'll listen to you. Whatever you want, that's what I'll do." Lin Ding said decisively, then imagined, "I'll buy Xiao Bao lots of books and build him a courtyard as a study, with five rooms."
When the topic of spending money on her son came up, Mrs. Wei didn't hesitate and nodded, "Okay."
“And jewelry, clothes,” Lin Ding continued, “I just saw that Sister Zhang and Sister Zhang Er were dressed in bright and colorful clothes. Sister Yu, you would definitely look good in them too.”
“She’s a lady, dressed so elegantly, why all this fancy stuff?” Madam Wei gently scolded him.
"You're my wife too," Lin Ding said dismissively. "What others wear, you wear too."
Ms. Wei's cheeks flushed slightly, and she couldn't help but smile, raising her hand to brush a strand of hair behind her back.
“Sister Yu, you look exactly the same as when I left, you haven’t changed at all.” Lin Ding stared at her intently. “I recognized you the moment you got out of the car.”
Mrs. Wei's face turned even redder: "What are you saying? Xiao Bao is already so big, I'm already old."
"No, I'm the one who's old," Lin Ding said, raising his hand to touch his face. "The sun in that godforsaken place, Annam, is so strong it's peeled off a layer of my skin."
Mrs. Wei felt sorry for him and quickly said, "Let me see, where is it?"
“It’s all healed by now, but it’s gotten thicker—” Lin Ding said, still bending down to show her, pointing to her face and then her neck.
This falls into the category of "do not look at what is improper," so Xu Rong politely stepped back into the house.
I couldn't help but mutter to myself, no wonder the master had a famous saying: middle-aged people falling in love is like an old house catching fire.
Her nominal in-laws were chatting endlessly in the cold wind, staring at a bare pomegranate tree, not glancing in her direction once, completely unaware that she was even there.
wrong.
As Xu Rong retreated, he suddenly noticed a figure flash in the window of the opposite room.
This courtyard was specifically for their family; no one else would live there. Clearly, Xiao Xin had moved to the opposite courtyard after she had driven him away.
It turned out she wasn't the only one watching.
Through the paper window, Xu Rong couldn't see his expression clearly, but she could sense from her intuition that he seemed to be looking in her direction as well.
"..."
Although she knew that Xiao Xin couldn't see her expression clearly, Xu Rong still carefully hid further inside.
At the same time, I felt a little panicked.
However, before she could think much about it, a maid from the Duke of England's mansion came in and reported to her: "Grandma, the eldest aunt has returned. The old lady sent me to invite you over."
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