Chapter 70 "You'd better swear an oath to me, that I'll behave properly..."
Yu An paused, looking at Ji Jinghe with a similar sense of helplessness.
Could it be that Zhuo'er said something to him?
"Grandpa, it's cold outside, let's go inside and talk," she said hurriedly.
Li Baozhong snorted, glared at Ji Jinghe, and pulled Yu An into the room first.
Yu An glanced back at Ji Jinghe, raised her chin, and gestured for him to come over.
Although Li Baozhong was old, he was in good health and took very steady steps. Yu An was being led by him, and her steps couldn't even keep up with his for a while.
"Old woman, come quick and see who's come to our house!"
There were many herbs drying in the courtyard, and the deeper you went, the stronger the smell of herbs became.
Years have passed, but the structure of the courtyard remains unchanged. The scene from my deepest memory overlaps with the scene before me, and an indescribable feeling wells up in my heart.
A commotion came from the main house entrance. The thick curtain was lifted, and a thin, slow-moving old woman appeared before them. Their eyes met for only a moment before the old woman burst into tears.
"Yu Niang..."
Moved to tears, Yu'an also shed tears.
“Grandmother.” She stepped forward and hugged her, tears streaming down her face.
More than a decade has passed, and everything has changed. All the old friends are gone, except for a few who still remember the past.
"Good child, why are you back?" Chen held her cold hands tightly, wrapping them again and again.
Yu An smiled and said, "Jing He came to do some business, so I came along to see you all."
"Has Zhuo'er arrived home yet? Have you and your siblings seen each other?"
“Old woman, are you out of your mind? Zhuo’er has been gone for months. How could the siblings not see each other?” Li Baozhong said.
Ms. Chen nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I'm confused, I can't think things through."
Fine wrinkles covered her face, and when Yu'an saw them, a wave of bitterness welled up in her heart, as if it wanted to devour her.
"Stop talking, stop talking, come inside quickly, it's so cold outside, your hands are cold..."
Yu An disregarded everything else and followed Madam Chen into the house.
Li Baozhong followed a few steps behind, then looked back and saw the person standing still. He glanced at him impatiently and said, "Come on, what are you standing there for?"
Ji Jinghe responded and quickly stepped forward to lift the curtain. Li Baozhong not only didn't appreciate it, but also scolded, "You lifted the curtain so high, do you want all the cold air outside to get into the room?"
Ji Jinghe: ...
"I wanted to make it easier for you to come in."
"I may be old, but I'm not crippled. Can't I lift it myself?" Li Baozhong scoffed before slowly stepping through the door.
Seeing that the old man was only paying attention to Yu'an in the room, Ji Jinghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The old man and his wife asked their granddaughter about everything, inside and out. Only when they heard that she was alright did they gradually relax and then turn their attention to Ji Jinghe, who was standing in the corner.
Li Baozhong: "He's tall and burly, looks all respectable, but he can't even speak the local dialect?"
Chen slapped him, glared at him, and then smiled at Ji Jinghe, "Child, please sit down."
Ji Jinghe nodded slightly and sat down on a stool near his feet.
Madam Chen asked Ji Jinghe many questions, and quickly ordered the servants to bring out the food. The family sat down together and enjoyed a pleasant meal.
"Your arrival was so sudden that neither your grandfather nor I were prepared. Tomorrow, I'll have someone prepare some delicious food for you."
Chen placed a piece of food on Yu'an's plate. "Your taste hasn't changed over the years, has it?"
Yu An shook her head: "No."
"What about Jinghe?"
There are no dietary restrictions.
Yu-an: "He doesn't eat spicy food."
Ji Jinghe: ...
Li Baozhong glared at him, "A grown man like you, just say what you don't want to eat. You have to make your wife ask. You're a disgrace to people from the capital. Didn't you say you were a top scholar who passed all three levels of the imperial examination? I don't see it."
That's a rather harsh statement.
Yu'an: "Grandfather, he was just too embarrassed to ask, afraid of troubling you."
Li Baozhong: "You don't need to defend him. Your grandmother and I have heard a lot about him from Zhuo'er. As your support, we still have a lot of questions to ask him."
Now it's the Ji family who should feel guilty, not the Li family.
Yu An was speechless. She glanced at Ji Jinghe, who was hanging his head, and couldn't say anything either.
Luckily, we were almost finished eating, otherwise we might have gotten really angry.
"After we finish eating, I have something to ask you. You can stay here."
Li Baozhong put a mouthful of food in his mouth, then took a sip of warm wine, and slammed the wine cup onto the table without any hesitation.
Ji Jinghe picked up the wine pot and dutifully poured the old man another cup.
Chen didn't say anything to persuade her, which was considered as tacit agreement. She secretly patted Yu'an's knee and gestured for her to eat more.
After the meal, Madam Chen took Yu'an to their future residence. While tidying up the house with Baozhu, she asked her about her recent plans.
Yu'an left half of what he said unsaid, mixing truth with falsehood, which made it less likely to arouse suspicion in the two elderly people.
I thought it would be noisy next door, but I couldn't hear anything through the thick walls.
They didn't actually argue, because Ji Jinghe didn't dare to talk back to his elders.
Li Baozhong sat upright in his seat, while Ji Jinghe stood below him, his expression not pleasant.
"Yu Niang handled her father's affairs herself. As her husband, you didn't help when things went wrong, and you didn't say a word when the case was overturned. I just don't understand. With your cowardly attitude, how could Yu Niang possibly want you?"
"If you ask me, you two should just get a divorce."
Ji Jinghe didn't hide anything and frankly said, "She brought up divorce, but I didn't want it."
"You don't want to? What right do you have to not want to? Hasn't your family always looked down on us? Such a good opportunity is being offered to you, and you don't want it? You still have the nerve to refuse?"
Li Baozhong has been practicing medicine for decades and usually values health preservation. He rarely gets angry, but seeing Ji Jinghe's dead state, he couldn't help but throw his cane away several times.
“Speak!” he shouted.
"I like her."
Ji Jinghe said, "I want to be with her."
These words instantly ignited the old man's anger. He picked up his cane, got up, walked over, and slammed it hard on the old man's leg.
"Is this how you get together? Your wife is in trouble, and you don't even help her. Is this how you show your affection? Is this how you show your affection?"
Li Baozhong was exasperated. "When her father married her mother, he was at least a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, or at the very least, a man with a promising future. Tell me, how could Yu Niang have fallen for someone like you? You're not even half a finger better than her father."
He looked up at the unchanging face. "What, you're not convinced?"
"No."
Li Baozhong slapped his leg hard a few more times, but the man in front of him didn't make a sound.
Logically speaking, he shouldn't have intervened; the Ji family should have been disciplined by their own elders. But he did it anyway, deliberately testing his capabilities and sincerity.
Are you convinced now?
I'm convinced.
Li Baozhong pointed at him and said, "Let me tell you, no matter how high a position you hold in the capital, to me, you're just my granddaughter's husband. You deserve to be taught a lesson."
"Since you've said you like Yu Niang, then swear an oath to me and let me see your resolve."
...
Ji Jinghe and Yu An were not in the same room, so she didn't have a chance to ask what they had talked about last night.
When they ate breakfast early in the morning, Li Baozhong's attitude towards Ji Jinghe remained unchanged, leading one to guess that the meeting yesterday had ended on bad terms.
She hasn't been back for a long time, and now that the Chu family has turned their fortunes around, Li Baozhong's idea is to have Yu'an buy some things and take her relatives in Jiangling to visit.
Yu An did not refuse, and Ji Jinghe went along as well.
With him around, Yu'an didn't have to worry too much. Before she could even speak, he had already prepared everything for her visit.
After visiting each household, the next day had passed, and I even stayed at my aunt's house for lunch.
Ji Jinghe was more capable than she had imagined, and compared to her, he seemed more like a relative of the Li family.
Was it the result of my maternal grandfather's scolding?
As Yu An was sitting in the car, about to leave with Ji Jinghe, Wei Ji handed her a message.
They said they found a small workshop near the iron mine and discovered that the iron mine belonged to a private businessman.
Although the identity of this private businessman has not yet been determined, it has already fallen within the scope of the investigation.
"Stay home as much as possible during this period. If you need anything, just ask Su Mu to take care of it."
Ji Jinghe instructed, "The Shen family will definitely be on guard. Things might get better after I figure out the iron mine situation. Just hold on for a few more days."
"Okay," Yu An replied.
I wanted to ask about yesterday's events again, but the words wouldn't come out.
There's no need to think about it further.
Things are different now. Ji Jinghe carries an imperial decree and can command and dispatch all the yamen runners in the prefectural government without needing the prefect or magistrate of the state government to intervene.
After staying at home for about two or three more days, Li Baozhong and Ji Jinghe sat in the study playing chess. After about two or three games, Ji Jinghe was temporarily called away by Wei Ji.
"Alright, official business is more important, I won't hold it against you."
Ji Jinghe bowed solemnly to Li Baozhong and then left.
Following his figure, Yu'an looked away after the door was tightly closed and continued inserting the needle.
With the two elderly people present, Ji Jinghe had no choice but to keep the situation a secret for the time being.
Wei Ji led over a horse. "Sir, it's just catching a minor transport leader. You don't need to go yourself, do you?"
"No need." He mounted his horse. "Let's go."
He still wanted to take a look, just to put his mind at ease.
The iron mine is about fifty miles from Jiangling City. Half an hour later, when it was completely dark, the night was like a large blanket, tightly enveloping people.
Ji Jinghe looked up at the moon and calmed himself down.
It won't be long before something happens.
Wei Ji: "Sir, everything is arranged. We've surrounded them from both the front and back; there won't be any problems."
"Tell the brothers to keep their breath and not be careless. Try to leave some alive, or they might fight to the death."
Wei Ji: "Yes."
Hidden in the tall grass on both sides of the woods, the air was cold and damp. After another quarter of an hour, before any movement could be heard, the hem of his robe was already wet.
"Watch out, there's an open flame."
The crowd bowed down and took up their sword hilts.
After a careful count, there were a total of twenty people on the other side. The one wearing the brocade robe was the leader in charge of the team. The iron mine entrance was still lit up. In less than half a quarter of an hour, the cart was loaded with wooden boxes, and the people led the horses, moving very slowly.
Before the lead horse had gone far, the carriages behind it were already close behind.
Swords and blades are drawn, poised to strike.
The torch was waved, a long whistle blew, and the troops set off.
In a flash, a fierce battle ensued. Ji Jinghe charged ahead, and the guards, seeing this, were even more inspired and followed his example, charging forward.
"Brothers, capture him alive!" Wei Ji shouted.
In the blink of an eye, the other side was at a disadvantage. Just as it was about to end, someone lit the car's explosives.
"Sir, watch out behind you!"
Ji Jinghe looked back and realized there was no time to put out the fire rope. Seeing the leader preparing to perish together with him, Ji Jinghe leaped down to protect him. A violent explosion rang out beside him, and the iron tools in the wooden box were blown out one by one, hitting him.
"uncle!"
Ji Jinghe gasped for breath and tried to turn over, but a sharp pain shot through his arm.
With Wei Ji's help, he got up and looked at the leader being escorted away at his feet, and he felt relieved.
"Take him back to the county government office and have someone keep a close watch on him, making sure there are no mistakes."
"yes."
Just after midnight, Yu'an was about to go to sleep when a commotion came from outside the mansion gate.
Baozhu: "Is it perhaps an old man?"
Ji Jinghe did not say he wouldn't come back before he left.
"Go open the door."
As Yu An spoke, she put her shoes and clothes back on.
The knocking on the door grew more urgent, and Yu'an couldn't help but feel uneasy.
The lights in the main house were still on when Yu'an came out, and Chen also came out wearing her clothes.
"Jinghe is back?"
"It should be."
As soon as Baozhu opened the door, Ji Jinghe quickly stepped inside. Yu'an looked at him from a distance and noticed that the lining of his sapphire blue shirt was soaked with blood and turned black.
"Are you injured?"
Ji Jinghe didn't reply, but instead looked at Madam Chen, who was standing at the door, and said, "Grandmother, it's late now, you should go back and rest."
"You silly child, you're injured, how can we sleep?" Chen pulled him and turned to go into the house. "Quickly ask your maternal grandfather to take a look at you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Baozhong put on his shoes and got out of bed.
"Where did this injury come from?"
Ji Jinghe did not answer. His original intention was to simply wash it and apply some wound medicine, and then call the doctor to take a look tomorrow.
"Jinghe, don't worry. Most of the doctors in Jiangling City are your maternal grandfather's students. It's better to have your maternal grandfather examine you than to have them do it for you, so you don't have to go through all that trouble." As she spoke, Madam Chen turned and fetched her medicine chest.
Li Baozhong: "It hasn't even happened yet, and you're already injured?"
Ji Jinghe: ...
Yu An's expression was also not good. "Where did you go? How did you get hurt?"
"Catch the bandits."
Bandits?
When his collar was loosened, his pristine white undergarment was stained with blood, revealing large, festering wounds. The strong smell of blood and gunpowder immediately filled the nostrils.
"Bandits use explosives?" Li Baozhong questioned.
Chen: "Stop asking irrelevant questions, get him treated quickly!"
"You old woman, whose side are you on?"
"I'll side with whoever pities me, okay?"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Ji Jinghe listened to the two old men bickering without uttering a sound, even as tweezers picked at the dirt on his wound and wine was rubbed on it.
After working for a full half hour, Yu'an's body ached from watching all the work, and she was covered in sweat.
After it was finally over, Yu'an escorted the person back to their room.
"Tell me the truth, did you go to the iron mine?"
Ji Jinghe: "Yes, we arrested two people."
"They arrested two people and you've been arrested like this?"
He wasn't a reckless person. When Wei Ji brought him back just now, she saw it clearly. If the battle was that fierce, he wouldn't have been the only one to suffer such serious injuries, while Wei Ji and the others were unharmed.
After thinking it over, I realized it was this person in front of me who acted impulsively.
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Author's Note: I've started a new pre-order for "Your Heart Is Not Stone," a story of forced marriage, both protagonists being virgins, a happy ending, and a "wife-chasing-after-the-death" scenario. Please add it to your favorites... [Please!]
The text is as follows:
Everyone says that Deng Yuelan met a good stepmother who didn't mind that she had been kidnapped for many years and even found her a glorious marriage, marrying her to He Wenqing, the son of the current princess.
Little did she know, she had a husband outside the marriage.
To make her give up, her kind-hearted stepmother burned down her house in the countryside, erased her official register, and wiped away all traces of her life outside... Coupled with her husband's disappearance and the invisible pressure from her family, Deng Yuelan had no choice but to agree to the marriage.
In less than a year, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for the He family.
Serving her parents-in-law and managing the household, Deng Yuelan, who grew up in the countryside, was beautiful and virtuous, and became a well-liked daughter-in-law praised by everyone. There was not a single fault to be found in her. Unfortunately, after only a year, her husband, who usually pretended to be loving, brought his old lover home and planned to take her as a concubine.
This was the last straw, and Deng Yuelan finally decided to divorce him...
*
Prince Yan, Li Yanzhou, was a man of both literary and military prowess, a beautiful and talented man who was banished to the mortal realm but was aloof by nature and did not marry for a long time. Due to the machinations of a spy in the army, he was wounded and disappeared for half a year.
The first thing he did upon returning to the capital was to send someone to Tanzhou to fetch his gentle wife from the countryside. However, when he went back to look for her, he received the news that she had perished in a fire.
Undeterred, he ordered his men to search far and wide, but to no avail. Unexpectedly, the niece-in-law who bowed to him at the banquet bore the very face he had longed for day and night…
*
When Deng Yuelan saw that face clearly, her legs went weak.
The man's initially delighted expression turned increasingly grim, and he crushed the jade cup in his hand...
"I had no idea where my virtuous wife was staying. It turns out she's become my niece-in-law... Moon Lady, how dare you?"
*
One night, an old woman was forced to kneel on the ground with a sword pressed against her. Looking at the cold-blooded man sitting on the throne, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and confess honestly.
"The girl's two children are the prince's..."
Warning: 1v1, not a wish-fulfillment novel with a strong female lead, the male lead has no "white moonlight" (ideal love interest), and neither the male nor female lead is a perfect character. Please do not read if you mind these things.
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