Purpose
Shangguan Zeyu wore a white robe embroidered with emerald maple leaves. His long hair was tied up high with a dark blue ribbon. His eyebrows were still long, black, and reached straight to his temples. His eyes were still clear and sharp, but now they revealed weariness and bitterness. His nose was, of course, still beautiful, as were his ever-present rosy lips.
He stood there quietly, like a creature from outer space.
Jiang Yan was so shocked that she stood there stunned for a moment.
She had imagined countless times what it would be like to bump into Shangguan Zeyu by chance, but she never thought they would meet again in this way.
What should she say?
Saying "long time no see"? She felt it wasn't appropriate since they weren't close friends who had just met.
Saying "What are you doing here?" is a rhetorical question, even though the answer is obvious.
But they can't just stand there staring at each other like that, can they?
Jiang Yan racked her brains, but her mind just wouldn't process anything. She didn't know what to say or do.
Shangguan Zeyu had been looking at her with a sad and resentful gaze. When he saw that she had no intention of speaking, he sighed slightly and said.
"Isn't Ruyi going to say anything?"
Jiang Yan then feigned composure and asked, "When did you arrive?"
"Doesn't Ruyi understand?" Shangguan Zeyu's voice was calm, but to Jiang Yan, it sounded like he was questioning her.
Jiang Yan took a deep breath and said, "You want to take me back?"
Shangguan Zeyu didn't say anything, but just stared at her with his unusually bright eyes.
Jiang Yan felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Don't blame me for escaping from the palace. I'm just an ordinary person, I don't want to die."
Upon hearing this, a complex emotion flashed quickly across Shangguan Zeyu's eyes: "Is that all?"
Jiang Yan glanced at him with lingering fear, and then said, "It's come to this, I have nothing to explain. I'm just afraid of dying, and I don't want to die for no reason."
Shangguan Zeyu's eyes were instantly filled with sorrow and pain. He couldn't help but take a step closer to her: "Is that all? Don't you have anyone else in your heart...?"
Others?
Jiang Yan couldn't figure out who he was referring to, so after thinking for a moment, she said, "Everyone is fine, so I don't need to worry about them."
Shangguan Zeyu couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He smiled slightly for a moment, then his eyes suddenly turned icy as he looked at her: "You really are as cold as ice and as hard as iron!" Without another word, he walked past her and into the house in front of him.
Jiang Yan wasn't sure if he came alone or with soldiers, so she stood there for a while before turning around and going back.
Huang Ying is already serving Shangguan Zeyu.
Shangguan Zeyu's face was extremely pale, as if he had encountered something that had angered him greatly. He sat upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought.
Jiang Yan glanced at Huang Ying secretly, exchanged a knowing look with her, and then quietly walked over.
"...Your Highness? Are you hungry? I'll have someone prepare a meal for you."
Shangguan Zeyu, still with a cold face, glanced at her and said, "Ruyi, you still know how to care whether I'm hungry?" His tone was mocking and full of dissatisfaction.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Your Highness, please wait a moment." He then planned to find someone to cook for him.
At this moment, Shangguan Zeyu said, "Stop!"
Jiang Yan reluctantly stopped and looked back at him.
His complexion was a little better than before, but his eyes were still so cold that they sent chills down one's spine.
"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
"I have something to tell you."
Jiang Yan subconsciously looked at Huang Ying. Huang Ying looked at her bewildered, then turned to Shangguan Zeyu: "Your Highness, you can say whatever you want after you've had dinner." With that, she turned to leave again without looking back.
Shangguan Zeyu did not try to persuade her to stay, but said indifferently, "Your husband, whom you are about to marry, is still in the capital. Doesn't Ruyi plan to go back and visit him?"
Jiang Yan's right foot, which had just stepped out, suddenly froze in place.
"What's his name again? Chen Run? A renowned scholar in the capital, a dragon among men known to everyone in the Great Zhou. Does Ruyi really not care whether he lives or dies?"
Jiang Yan once again genuinely felt that Shangguan Zeyu was terrifying.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly turned to look at him: "That was just a last resort, not what Your Highness thinks!"
"What do you mean?" Shangguan Zeyu suddenly looked at her angrily.
Jiang Yan didn't know how to explain for a moment. She couldn't very well say that she was forced, because that would ruin Chen Run's reputation! Besides, even if she was forced, it was because Chen Run thought she was "Liu Ruyi" and just wanted to be with the person she loved and keep the person she loved.
While Jiang Yan was pondering, Shangguan Zeyu kept a close eye on her. Seeing that she had been thinking for a long time without saying a word, he sneered: "Could it be that the rumors are true? Ruyi, you really don't want anything, you just want to marry Chen Run?"
No!
"Why is that?"
But Jiang Yan didn't know how to explain it to him, so she fell silent again.
Shangguan Zeyu's anger surged to its peak. He angrily slammed the blue teacup he was holding in his right hand onto the table: "Since Ruyi knows I'm here to take you back, pack your things, we're leaving tomorrow morning!" Then he stood up, said nothing more, and left the house.
Watching his angry retreating figure, Jiang Yan wanted to shout at him several times, telling him, "I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back!!"
But she was ultimately afraid of death and dared not confront Shangguan Zeyu directly, especially since he was currently furious.
"Sister, what do we do now?"
Jiang Yan gazed in the direction Shangguan Zeyu had left, sighed weakly, and said, "I don't know either!"
Shangguan Zeyu's words were definitely not spoken in anger, nor were they meant to tease her. He would definitely come to pick her up early tomorrow morning, and he had certainly made thorough preparations to prevent her from escaping again. So at this moment, she was truly like a turtle in a jar, just waiting for him to catch her and take her back.
Jiang Yan couldn't bear to give up the shop she had worked so hard to build up. After discussing it with Huang Ying, they decided that she would go back, but the shop would continue to operate.
They decided to let the four embroiderers who sold clothes manage the shop, and have them keep good accounts and send the revenue figures to the capital every six months.
Jiang Yan wasn't worried at all that the embroiderers would embezzle the money, because the address she left was the Prince Duan's Mansion in the capital.
After giving all the instructions and tidying up, Jiang Yan, Huang Ying, and the embroiderers sat down together for a meal and drank some yellow wine, thus bringing their trip to Taizi Town to a perfect end.
Jiang Yan sat dazedly in the courtyard, gazing at the Big Dipper gradually brightening in the night sky, and murmured, "I can't escape! I still couldn't escape!!"
Huang Ying stood behind her, also gazing at the bright stars in the night sky, and said, "Perhaps this is fate, don't you think, sister?"
Jiang Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What kind of fate is this? A karmic entanglement?"
Huang Ying looked at her, pondered for a moment, and said, "Sister, do you think the prince came to arrest you because he wanted to cut off your head?"
Jiang Yan remained silent.
In fact, from the moment Jiang Yan first saw Shangguan Zeyu today, she knew that Shangguan Zeyu's purpose in coming here was not to punish her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said so much nonsense to her.
Huang Ying: "Sister, when we go back this time, how will you treat the Prince's kindness to you?"
Jiang Yan smiled bitterly, "How can I deal with him? He's a prince, high and mighty, and he also has a princess and other women. What can I do?"
Huang Ying: "Sister, didn't you tell me that I should take the initiative to pursue what I like? Why are you still so passive?"
Was she passive? She simply felt that his feelings weren't enough for her to risk her life or become ruthless for the sake of this affection.
"Let's take it one step at a time, I can't say for sure."
Time quickly passed to the second day. Shangguan Zeyu arrived very early, so early that Jiang Yan and Huang Ying were still asleep.
He pounded on the door knocker outside, making the dogs, cats, cows, and chickens in the house bark and squawk incessantly. Jiang Yan and Huang Ying were awakened, as were the embroiderers living in the house.
Jiang Yan groggily squeezed open his eyes a crack, glanced out the window at the pitch blackness, and said with dissatisfaction, "Are you crazy?! Why aren't you sleeping this early in the morning? Are you looking for a scolding?"
Then, a distant commotion reached her ears, followed by a knock on her dormitory door.
Jiang Yan was now completely unable to sleep, and angrily shouted, "Who is it?"
"Sister, the Prince has arrived."
"What?" Jiang Yan exclaimed in surprise, then glanced uncertainly out the window, "It's still dark!" But her feet were already on the ground, and she hurriedly started putting on her shoes.
Huang Ying said anxiously, "The prince arrived very early and has already had a conflict with the embroiderer!"
"Oh my god! Didn't you tell those people that he's someone you can't mess with?" Jiang Yan exclaimed in alarm as she hastily put on her clothes.
"Sister, you'd better hurry up and go see for yourself!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan immediately sensed something was terribly wrong. Without even bothering to fix her hair, she hastily washed her face, opened the door, and ran over with Huang Ying.
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