Xie Yuancheng started mimicking Yu'er's expressions to try and cheer me up, but I turned my face away and ignored him.
"Ying'er~ Look at me! How was I supposed to know my mother-in-law was here? I'll explain to her properly when we get back~"
"No, unless you agree to one condition. It might hurt a little, but you can handle it!"
"Okay~ Ying'er, don't always be angry. You're always so petty. The first time I wanted to ride a horse with you, you wouldn't let me ride with you, and you wouldn't let me help you down."
"Shut up, close your eyes." I saw that he had closed his eyes, so I went over and bit his lower lip, but not very hard.
He was fine, but after taking the initiative, he almost made me fall off the stool. Luckily, I held on tightly to his back, otherwise I would have been half-crippled.
"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng nestled in my arms, like a little boy: "You need to be more proactive in the future, just like you were back in the palace~"
"Get up, you're the one who thinks the most." I tugged at Xie Yuancheng a couple of times before he finally got up.
I was just worried that if someone with ulterior motives saw this, his reputation would be ruined, even though no one came in here. Xie Yuancheng straightened my clothes and went downstairs. It was already past 3:45 PM, almost time to go to the Prime Minister's residence.
"Ying'er is just too cautious." He started rummaging through the carriage again as soon as he got on.
"Yeah, if you're not paying attention, I have to be. I can't let anyone catch me doing anything wrong!"
“We are husband and wife, you are my wife, even if we walk hand in hand in the street, nothing will happen.”
"I know you don't care about anything, but you've forgotten what you said before. If you don't succeed this time, you'll probably be so anxious that you can't eat or sleep."
"No way~ Only Ying'er would flatter me. If it doesn't work out, I'll take you to settle down somewhere else. It's not like Linyang is the only place."
"Don't jinx it. That's where you grew up. Now it's all been turned into a model. Don't say you'll miss it, I will too. We got married in Linyang and had our first child there. If we really leave, I'll still miss it."
Every time I think about the past, my heart aches. I lean on Xie Yuancheng for comfort. I really want to see what our wedding day will look like. It's definitely the decision I've ever made that I regret the most.
"Ying'er~ What are you thinking about? You looked at me with that same look last time, without saying a word~"
"No, not at all~" I can't say that now, I have to wait until he has time to tell him.
"Don't think I don't know. Last time you were in the manor wearing those red clothes from the Western Regions, you glanced at me several times, didn't you?"
"How...how did you know?"
"Do you regret not having a proper wedding ceremony with me back then, or even not loving me on our first day of marriage?"
"Ugh, you always manage to steer the conversation in the wrong direction, always saying things I hate~"
"Then I won't talk about it." Xie Yuancheng pulled me up and made me look into his eyes: "Ying'er, tell me, should I marry you again? It's not an easy thing."
"We've already been married once, and you still want me to marry again? My parents will scold me then."
“It’s nothing. We’re not in the capital. Besides, if we get married again, I’ll just tell everyone that I married Ji Ying. There are plenty of people with the same name.”
"You've gone too far! Are you trying to attract fire by throwing it all at yourself? You already have enemies everywhere, and you still want to provoke them."
"Ying'er~ These are the things I was thinking of. Last time when I had just gotten up, you were touching your torn clothes and looking at them. My heart almost stopped beating."
You know perfectly well that I only love you. How can I stand seeing you looking so pitiful, as if I'm the one who's bullied you?
"It's bullying to begin with; they won't even unbutton your clothes properly, they'll tear them!"
Xie Yuancheng actually stopped talking. I leaned against him and continued to close my eyes to rest. We still had to go to the Prime Minister's residence, and I couldn't let him worry too much.
"Ying'er~ Should I study more?" he suddenly said, startling me so much that I quickly waved my hand.
"No need, you don't need to learn anything." I moved to sit on the other side. I really should have gone back with my mother just now, I regretted it.
Xie Yuancheng sat in the middle and laughed. Every time he saw Yu'er, he felt a sense of familiarity. It turned out that Yu'er was imitating his smile. He would send Yu'er to other places next time.
The carriage circled around for a long time before finally stopping at an inconspicuous place. Xie Yuancheng told me to get off first.
"Ying'er~ We're getting off the carriage now. If Yu'er sees you, he'll definitely say that Mommy is a little lazybones~"
"Go away! All you do is smile at me with that mesmerizing face. Stay away from me!"
"Ying'er, don't be so petty. I'm the best person to you."
Xie Yuancheng is being cheeky today, I'd better ignore him for now, seeing the Prime Minister is more important. I originally thought the door was on this side, but it turns out it's on the other side.
"Only a few people know about the back door here. I shouldn't have brought you here today, but I was worried that you would get too carried away playing with the children and fall somewhere again."
Xie Yuancheng is now more talkative than my mother. He can tell me a whole bunch of things after just a few steps, and I just gladly accept it all, since he's always right anyway.
"Yuancheng, is this the secret room you were talking about?" When we got off the carriage, we noticed that there were people in some places, but we couldn't sense their real appearance.
"Ying'er has been with me for so long that she could guess this. It is true, but not entirely, only part of it."
"It seems I'm still smart, it's just that after following you for so long, everyone only notices you and completely ignores me."
“Yes, when we get to the fork in the road, if Ying’er can find the right way, I will teach you how to use Qimen Dunjia. You won’t need to study for ten years to know the basics.”
"What's the benefit of learning this? Aside from setting traps to confuse people, it doesn't seem to have any other use."
"Yes, I'll tell you all about it when we get back after you pass the first hurdle."
Xie Yuancheng carried the lantern and walked to the other side. There were two forks in the road. He asked me to choose, and I looked at the two similar roads and began to struggle with which one to take.
“Go this way.” I pointed to a slightly off-center path with an extra small leaf: “There’s an inconspicuous leaf here, but if you look closely, you can still tell it.”
The light here is not strong. Although the Prime Minister's residence is not large, I feel like I've been walking for half an hour with Xie Yuancheng and we're still here.
"Alright, let's go outside and talk." Xie Yuancheng shone the lantern into his bright eyes, led me around to two different places, and we actually got out of there.
"Isn't this where we came in? We've been walking for half an hour and we're still in the same place?"
"It's like going in circles. You feel like you've been walking for a long time, but we haven't actually walked that long. It's just your mind giving you an illusion."
"I see. Qimen Dunjia is similar to illusion, isn't it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
