Chapter 102: Precognitive Dream (Qin Lie)
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Not bad, even when he's away on campaign, in the quiet of the night, he can't help but smile when he thinks of the times they were angry together.
But all of this is predicated on not thinking about the turning point of the dream, which actually lies in the cause of Hui Niang's death.
Even if we don't mention that Hui Niang's suicide was entirely for him, or that the princess's brother, the seventh prince, was the culprit who killed Hui Niang, there are still many things we can't think about in detail.
He used to think that he had given Hui Niang enough status and respect.
Hui Niang was the granddaughter-in-law chosen by her grandmother, a person of exceptional character and virtue.
She is not only gentle and virtuous, but also a skilled homemaker.
Whether it was showing filial piety to elders, educating children, handling social obligations, or managing household affairs, everyone in the household praised him, and he never had any worries.
They have been married for several years and have never argued or quarreled. In this respect, they are truly a loving couple.
But when he met the princess, he was surprised to realize that he had never felt any emotional turmoil or joy for Hui Niang.
They never argued or bickered, but they also never flirted or teased each other intimately.
He wouldn't be annoyed that she had arranged a marriage with someone else before marrying him, nor would he be angry that she advised him to go to Aunt Liu's place.
She was always considerate and thoughtful, so he took it for granted.
He felt sorry for the princess's difficult pregnancy and suffering during childbirth.
Hui Niang also gave birth to a son and a daughter for him. At that time, he was not away fighting. When he returned, she said that when a woman is pregnant, a man should know how to do things. So he followed her advice and stayed in the study or at Aunt Liu's place, and rarely went to her room.
Therefore, I have never seen her hardships, let alone felt sorry for or loved her.
When she gave birth, he naturally hoped that both she and the baby would be safe and sound, and that she would not suffer any more pain.
But deep down she clearly felt that bearing and raising children was a wife's duty.
Just like the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the marriage of men and women, these are simply the laws of the world and do not require special pity.
He was very satisfied with Huiniang and hoped to grow old with her, not wanting any more changes to happen.
Hui Niang passed away suddenly, and he wasn't even at home. How could he not be heartbroken and saddened by this unexpected turn of events?
Upon receiving the letter, he rushed back from the border and, seeing Shuo'er and Yinrong, felt an overwhelming sorrow in his heart.
Even in his most heartbroken moments, he was keenly aware that the pain would eventually pass, and that he would have a new wife who would, like Hui Niang, take care of his elders and manage the household.
Less than three months after Hui Niang's death, many people openly and secretly inquired about marrying their daughters into the family. Qin Lie, mindful that his two children were still young and that he was often away from home, inadvertently delayed his remarriage. In the eyes of others, this was already considered a sign of his deep affection and loyalty towards Hui Niang.
This world has such low expectations of men.
As for marriage, people sometimes value it extremely highly, and sometimes they value it very lightly.
Therefore, even though they were separated by a blood feud, he secretly kept her in the princess's mansion as his own concubine.
But it was this very confinement that made him experience what it meant to be utterly despondent and to feel like he was being pierced by a thousand arrows.
This very forbidden possession caused him sleepless nights and difficulty eating.
She poisoned him, and in the instant she resolutely turned away, his mouth was filled with the taste of blood. Amidst his anger and resentment, he already had a vague premonition...
Despite her poisoning him and betraying him, he still wanted her back by his side.
He couldn't even bear to kill her; back when his mother sent someone to assassinate her, he did everything he could to save her life.
In fact, since then, he has had to admit the fact that he had been deliberately ignoring all along.
He liked her, not just for her beauty and body, or perhaps for much more than that.
He told her that he could give her anything except children and a formal title.
This also includes his feelings that he finds difficult to express verbally.
But when he said those words, she had already been punished accordingly, and the Great Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, with her father about to become emperor.
Now, Hui Niang has not avenged her great grudge, and she knows that the princess has been pretending to be a snake with her all along, and even went so far as to poison her to leave. Under such circumstances, is she really going to offer up her true heart that is destined to be ignored?
What a joke! After witnessing her poisoning him and escaping in his dream, how could he be so foolish as to still have even a shred of genuine affection for her?!
In the past, I could only deceive myself by deliberately avoiding thinking about it, but now that the wound has been exposed, I can see that the flesh underneath is already mangled and rotten.
Qin Lie grew increasingly resentful, both angry and angry. He got up and stormed off, but before he reached the door, someone grabbed him from behind.
Seeing his expression change and turn cold, Lingyi was filled with regret. She shouldn't have thought that because Zhen Shi was on good terms with her and the old lady liked Huan'er, she felt that she had grown up and dared to argue with him in a bad mood.
Qin Lie stopped, looked down at her clasped fingers around his waist, and coldly rebuked, "Let go!"
"General, don't go!" Lingyi hugged him even tighter.
What a joke! Does she think she's so weak she can hold him back? He can easily shake her off with a single movement!
Qin Lie thought this to himself, but hesitated to take any action.
After waiting for a moment, Lingyi finally came up with a reason and stammered, "General, please don't be offended. I only said this because I was just jealous. I had no intention of disrespecting you or my late wife."
He turned around, staring intently at her, and asked, "What are you jealous of?"
Lingyi stammered, "Jealousy... The late Madam was virtuous, and everyone in the Prince's mansion liked her, but I couldn't win the Princess's favor."
Although it was still clumsy, it was the most innocuous yet plausible reason she could come up with after racking her brains.
As expected, Qin Lie wasn't fooled. His expression remained icy. "Little liar."
Despite saying this, he didn't leave. Instead, he picked her up and put her back on the bed. He then took a towel from beside the pillow and wiped the dust off her feet, scoffing, "Which princess runs barefoot on the ground like you?"
Lingyi, who had been anxious just now, quickly withdrew her foot and shrank back into the blankets on the inside of the bed.
He didn't stop him, his face still cold, and he took off his outer garment and lay down on the outside of the bed.
The two lay in bed for a long time, but neither could fall asleep.
Qin Lie cursed himself inwardly for being so weak. He knew that seeing her would only make him anxious and restless, yet he had returned early, exhausted from his journey, and was easily angered by her few words. Before, at the Princess's residence, if he was unhappy, he could simply turn away and leave, out of sight, out of mind. But now, at the Prince's residence, he couldn't escape. Several times, he should have punished her properly, but upon seeing her, he unconsciously softened and gave in.
Lingyi was worried about Zhuozhou and Jizhou, one in the south and one in the north, with high mountains and long roads. She feared that she would never see her sixteenth sister and her brother, the Crown Prince, again in this life.
But then I thought, even if they are still in the capital, how can I possibly get there?
Then I thought that they were still in contact, but my fifteenth sister and Aunt Liu Cui were now even more unknown, their fates unknown.
As she thought about it, her eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly turned over and bit the corner of the blanket to keep from crying out loud.
Tears had just fallen when she was turned around, Qin Lie's gaze fixed on her wet eyes, "Are you this sad and upset?"
Knowing that he disliked her family, Lingyi explained in a low voice, "We grew up together and have such a long-standing relationship. It's hard not to feel sad when I hear this for the first time. If the general doesn't like it, I won't dare to think about it anymore."
Qin Lie had no reason to believe her later words. He kept thinking about the phrase, "We grew up together and have such a long-standing friendship."
As expected, she remained incorrigible and dared to confess her childhood sweetheart relationship with Xie Yu right in front of him.
He immediately snorted coldly, "Hui Niang and I are also a loving couple, deeply devoted to each other."
These orders were already known to them, and they had no choice but to accept them.
But now he was lying next to her, and they had just made love that afternoon. Hearing him say this, she was taken aback and wanted to say something in agreement, but she felt a surge of anger and found him repulsive, so she turned away again.
She shed tears for other men in his bed, and poured out her heart to him about other men.
He hasn't even paid back the full amount, and she dares to give him the cold shoulder?!
Yes, yes, when she met someone else, she was naturally captivated by him, and nothing else mattered to her.
Thinking of this, Qin Lie stared at her thin back, wishing he could stare two holes through it.
Lingyi's eyes were red and hadn't calmed down when he turned her back to normal.
He asked fiercely, "Liu Lingyi, now that I've given you the title and the child, what else are you dissatisfied with?"
Lingyi was puzzled, but dared not disobey, so she lowered her eyes and answered obediently, "If the general has shown me mercy, I will naturally be satisfied with everything."
He would rather she had a big fight with him than this, which made him furious for no reason.
He was a general, and he knew best how to attack the enemy's weaknesses. Her weakness was her child, and he knew it all too well. But the threatening words were on the tip of his tongue when he remembered her words of pity for the concubine, and he couldn't utter a single word. His anger had nowhere to go, and it made his eyes red. He simply leaned in and bit her lip.
Lingyi didn't understand. Just now he was reminiscing about his deceased wife and was full of anger, so why did he suddenly come over and kiss her?
She felt uncomfortable and struggled, but he stopped her after a few tries. Instead, the struggle fueled his anger. He pulled her close, holding her tightly as if he wanted to embed her into his body. He leaned down and made loud noises while eating her, his hands roaming freely under her clothes.
A moment later, when he sat up, her face was already flushed, her eyes were filled with spring water, and she was breathing softly in a daze.
Sure enough, she was still the most obedient and lovable one, never making him angry.
He had thought she was being petty, but then he remembered how she had remained calm and composed throughout his dream when he deliberately showed off his armor to her. Wasn't that even more frustrating? He slowly began to savor the moment, and most of his frustration vanished, replaced by a sweet warmth in his heart.
Some words stuck in his throat; he wanted to ask but dared not, yet he was unwilling not to ask. He had always been bold and decisive, never before so hesitant and indecisive, even to the very end still feeling timid. The words that came out were only a complaint: "I was gone for more than forty days, and you're already angry with me as soon as I got back."
When Lingyi heard his aggrieved tone, she thought she had misheard. She also felt that he was the one who accused her first, and that she was even more aggrieved than him.
"It's obvious you've been bullying me ever since you came back..."
He chuckled softly and affectionately rubbed her nose against his, "Okay, okay, it was me who bullied you."
As they were talking, he suddenly slammed into her, and Lingyi gasped, involuntarily arching her back. Before she fell, he caught her in his arms.
Leaning close to her ear, he sighed wickedly and flirtatiously, "I'm afraid I'll have to bully her even more. What will the princess do then?"
Once he started causing trouble, it never stopped. When Lingyi woke up the next day, it was already time to go to the old lady's place.
Qin Lie sat half-upright on the bed, watching her hurriedly tie her sash, almost in tears. He smiled and said, "Grandmother asked you to go before to protect you and Huan'er. Now that I'm back, Grandmother loves me and knows that our separation is like a warm new beginning, so she will definitely not let you go again."
In the past, even palace servants were not allowed to walk quickly on the palace roads in the deep palace, and princesses were even more required to be dignified and composed.
Today, Lingyi rushed to the old lady's place, only to be stopped at the door by Granny Qian. Although her words were tactful, they conveyed a similar meaning to what Qin Lie had said. Lingyi tried to pretend she didn't understand, but her face burned with embarrassment, and the heat only subsided when she was almost back at Hanmoxuan.
Seeing Hanmoxuan reminded me of the many inappropriate things I did last night.
She forced herself to be vigilant, not to let her guard down just because things were going well for her, and not to act impulsively or say things she shouldn't, especially not to clash with Qin Lie again.
Having made up her mind, she immediately lost her composure when she stepped into the courtyard and saw Qin Lie lifting Huan'er up and down repeatedly. She shouted, "What are you doing?!" as she rushed over, snatched Huan'er away, and carefully examined him to see if he was injured anywhere.
Qin Lie said from the side, "What's there to be nervous about? I'll take care of things."
Although Huan'er was unharmed, Lingyi was still annoyed: "Such a young child is easily frightened even if he is not injured."
But Huan'er didn't give her any face. Her cheeks were flushed, and she giggled, clearly enjoying flying around in Qin Lie's hands.
Qin Lie couldn't help but feel smug, "My son, Qin Lie's son, is certainly not a coward!"
But he didn't treat Huan'er as a son at all; he clearly treated him as a plaything.
Every day, the wet nurse would take Huan'er to Lingyi's room, and Qin Lie would stay in the backyard if he had nothing to do.
When father and son spend too much time together, trouble is bound to happen. If Lingyi finds Huan'er handsome, Qin Lie's first reaction upon seeing him is clearly that he finds him amusing. He'll childishly tie a horsehair around Huan'er's face and then blow on him to blind him. Once, he even dipped chopsticks in wine and tried to feed it to Huan'er, only to be stopped by Lingyi. He then argued that he was training Huan'er's alcohol tolerance from a young age, which nearly brought Lingyi to tears before he swore he would never do it again.
.
Life went on like this, "with some close calls but no real dangers," and soon it would be Huan'er's 100-day celebration.
Lingyi's drunken words, which she thought were meant to make half the world celebrate Huan'er's 100-day celebration, turned out to be true.
Riding the wave of two complete victories in half a year, Qin Lie sent out invitations widely. Needless to say, the three prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Dingbei, and the four prefectures already under their control, all the other prefectures north of the Yangtze River sent either their own people or their families to offer congratulations. Even the capital and the Song family, who had not received invitations, sent representatives, their gifts all extremely valuable, and the gift-givers were all eloquent persuaders, doing everything in their power to win them over.
The people sent by the Seventh Prince were tied up and thrown out of Jizhou by Qin Lie's men before they even entered the palace, while the Song family's retainers were invited to a private conversation.
The retainer suppressed his doubts. Since he had come with the utmost sincerity, he would not hide or deceive anyone he could answer. Half an hour later, Qin Lie said leisurely, "Your young master is about the same age as me. I have a virtuous wife and young children by my side, while your young master is childless and without heirs. Instead of advising me here, you should go back and advise your young master to marry and have children as soon as possible, lest the Song family's great cause be left without an heir. Wouldn't all this be doing the work for someone else?"
The retainer was furious upon hearing this: "Our general is sincerely cooperating with the Qin family? Why is General Qin being so harsh?"
Qin Lie sneered: "The Song family and my Qin family are nothing more than subjects of the Han Dynasty. General Song brought the youngest son of the late Crown Prince to Zhuozhou, and now he has the audacity to claim that he can share the world equally with our Qin family. He is nothing more than trying to use one tiger to devour another, to kill one by one, so that we and the Seventh Prince can fight to the death, and he can reap the benefits. He dares to show off such a petty trick in front of me!"
The disciple quickly defended himself, saying that General Song had no such intention, and could even send troops to help the Qin family take control of the capital, so that the Qin and Song families could rule across the river from then on.
The Song family is only this much good. Qin Lie was too lazy to listen anymore and ordered his men to tie him up and throw him out of Jizhou.
Both groups were expelled, but all the gifts were left behind.
With military pay tight, Qin Lie was unwilling to waste a single penny. He picked out a few of the most appealing items and headed towards the inner courtyard.
[Author's Note]
Many people say they only read the side stories and not the main text. What kind of heretical cultivation is that? [doge][doge]
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