Chapter 13 makes it clear that he has feelings for you.
Yan Ning was unaware of her thoughts. Seeing her so agitated, he assumed she was upset that he hadn't told Emperor Qi Xuan the truth. He bowed his head and explained, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have kept it from you and even tricked you into going to live in the countryside. I wanted you to stay away from trouble, but I overlooked the relationship between you, His Majesty, and the Empress."
He kissed her eyes, then slowly moved down to her nose, mouth, and neck, finally resting his head on her shoulder, saying weakly, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, Princess, please forgive me?"
"Then you should step forward and persuade the aristocratic families to continue supporting my father and my Li family. If my father really has an accident one day, support my brother to ascend the throne."
Yan Ning refused without even thinking: "Liyang, you know this is impossible."
"Then we have nothing to talk about."
Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, Li Yunru pushed him away and said, "Go away, I don't want to see you again."
She knew that this was not entirely Yan Ning's fault; it was the result of political maneuvering. No one can fight against rules that have been established for hundreds of years on their own. It was expected that they would be swallowed up and destroyed if they tried to force it. However, when she thought that the Yan family had contributed to all of this, and that her father's life was stained with a drop of blood from the Yan family, she could not accept it.
They also did not want to become victims of the Yan family's exchange of interests after their defeat.
He made his choice at that time.
Now, she has made her choice.
"I will give you a divorce agreement, and from now on, we will have nothing to do with each other in terms of marriage, funerals, or any other matters."
"What did you say!"
"Divorce!" Li Yunru repeated, but before she could finish speaking, her lips were covered by someone's.
He tore at her forcefully until he smelled blood, then stopped, staring at her menacingly, and threatened, "Princess, recognize your current status. You have no right to say those words!"
Li Yunru had never seen Yan Ning like this before; he was gloomy and deep, like a cold and venomous snake trapped in a damp and cold place.
His gaze and words were laced with deadly poison; if she resisted even slightly, a mere touch would cause her to bleed instantly.
Before she could recover from the shock, Yan Ning released her and said, "Stay in the palace for a few days and keep Emperor Xuan and the Empress company. I will come to take you back to Jiankang afterward."
This was an order, not a discussion. After saying this, he released her, got up, and left.
...
When Empress Zhenyuan returned, Yan Ning had already left. Only her daughter was in the palace. She stood there blankly, as if she had lost her soul.
"What's wrong with the princess?" Empress Zhenyuan asked.
The palace maid said, "This servant doesn't know. After the prince consort came and left, this is how it is."
"well."
Having heard this, she had a rough idea of what had happened, and ordered, "Bring up the princess's favorite side dishes and desserts."
After saying that, she walked over, sat down next to Li Yunru, took her hand, and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did you have some kind of conflict with the Prince Consort? Can you tell your mother about it?"
The familiar voice and scent relaxed Li Yunru. She immediately threw herself into Empress Zhenyuan's arms, crying, "Mother, Yan Changjun, Yan Changjun was mean to me and threatened me!"
"What did he threaten you with?" Empress Zhenyuan asked.
Li Yunru said, "He told me to recognize my current identity, that I have no right to choose."
Empress Zhenyuan frowned slightly: "Why would he say that?"
Li Yunru paused for a moment, then said hesitantly, "I brought up the matter of divorce with him."
Empress Zhenyuan laughed upon hearing this. She stroked the man's hair and said, "Silly child, you deserve it!"
"Mother, why are you siding with outsiders?!"
Empress Zhenyuan shook her head, "Your Majesty is not showing favoritism towards outsiders; she is simply stating the facts."
"Where is the truth? I am your daughter!"
"Yan Changjun is my son-in-law!" Empress Zhenyuan said. "As the saying goes, a son-in-law is like half a son, so he is not an outsider."
"you!"
Li Yunru said angrily, "If you keep doing this, I'm not talking to you anymore."
Empress Zhenyuan laughed, "Silly child."
She asked, "Why did Yan Sanlang come to the capital?"
"For me."
When scions of prominent families reach a certain age, the court will send officials to select them for official positions.
Unlike those from poor families who need to study hard for more than ten or even decades and then take the imperial examination to obtain an official position, they do not need to.
The higher their social standing, the higher their official rank. With the Yan family's status, Yan Ning could freely choose from the three provinces if he wanted to enter the court, and no one would object. His two elder brothers, Yan Jun and Yan An, were in the same situation. One served as an official in the Secretariat, and the other in the Ministry of Justice. Although they did not have the title of prime minister, they acted as prime ministers. Xiao Yuanshan was just a puppet prime minister.
When Emperor Qi Xuan was alive, he would delegate power to others and still retain some real power. But once Xiao Yuanshan ascended the throne, the powerful families would completely seize control of important departments, and he would truly become a tool for the powerful families to protect their own interests, a complete puppet, like a puppet in a puppet show, without his own thoughts or rights, and the string that controls his own destiny would always be in the hands of others...
Yan Ning could have followed in the footsteps of his two elder brothers and taken an important position in the court, but he disliked officialdom, which is why he has not yet entered officialdom.
If one does not enter officialdom, there is naturally no need to live in the capital, let alone come to the capital.
So this appearance... is for her, at least from this timeline's perspective, that's the case.
Empress Zhenyuan nodded, "Yes, he came for you."
"Think about it, people could have been living a carefree life in Jiankang, but because of you they had to travel a long way to the capital. And all that hardship is rewarded with a word of divorce from you. How can anyone feel about that?"
"But……"
Empress Zhenyuan held her shoulders, staring intently at her, and said with utmost seriousness, "Ruilin'er, your mother knows what you are thinking, but this has nothing to do with Yan Ning, nothing to do with the Yan family. Your father will not regret today, and neither will your mother. Your indulgence and willfulness, and your taking your anger out on others, shows that you have underestimated your father and your mother."
Li Yunru's resolve began to waver, and she asked weakly, "Then what should I do?"
Empress Zhenyuan said, "Have you forgotten what your mother told you last night? Love requires bowing your head. He came all this way to bow his head for you. Can you also set aside your princess pride for him, for your father and mother?"
She told Li Yunru, "The fact that he was able to catch up with you so quickly proves that he is not completely uninterested in you, as he claims. Whether you are just playing around or genuinely want to spend your life with him, you should make good use of this. Ruilin'er, showing weakness does not mean that you are going against your own heart; it is just assessing the situation. People need to learn to adapt to their environment."
Li Yunru lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before weakly saying, "Daughter understands."
...
News of Yan Sanlang's journey to the capital for Princess Liyang spread like wildfire. As soon as Yan Ning returned from the palace, an invitation arrived at his door.
He was the son-in-law of the Wang family of Langya and the Huan family of Longkang.
As the eldest son of the Yan family, Yan Ning often traveled among the aristocratic families. Although he was not in Jiankang, he still corresponded with them and their relationship was quite close. Wang Wulang, in particular, was a close friend of his.
But he had no interest in socializing these things, so he declined. However, the two men were not giving up and sent letters for several days in a row, and finally came to his door in person to invite him one last time.
Yan Ning had no choice but to follow the two men to Lan Chun Pavilion.
The two men were having a great time with their beautiful concubines and maids, while Yan Ning had no interest in them and just kept drinking alone.
Huan Dalang advised, "There are so many beautiful women in the world, but Liyang is just one of them. Why should you be so troubled, Lord Chang?"
They had all heard about Princess Liyang's outburst at the Chen and Lu families. If she were a concubine kept outside the home, such a personality could be considered lively and interesting. However, as a principal wife, she had no dignified or elegant demeanor and only caused trouble for her master's family, which was a different matter.
Therefore, no one in the circle liked Liyang. However, whenever Yan Ning mentioned the princess, he would forbid others from saying anything. So, over time, everyone wisely stopped mentioning it. But today, seeing how attached he was to love, they couldn't bear it and added a few words.
“I told you before, you can’t spoil a girl. The more you spoil her, the more she’ll take advantage of you, become spoiled and arrogant, and dare to talk back to her husband. Look at this…”
Yan Ning remained silent with a gloomy face, but her attitude was clearly somewhat displeased. The hand holding the cup tightened considerably, her knuckles turning white and protruding, and the wine in the cup swayed in sync with her emotions.
Wang Wulang sensed something was wrong and pulled Huan Da back just in time.
"Stop talking, come on, drink, drink!"
He took the initiative to raise his glass, and the other two didn't say anything more, thus the dispute was barely resolved.
Yan Ning's expression softened somewhat.
After several rounds of drinks, the topic came up again. Wang Wulang said, "Zilu's words are harsh, but they are not without reason. Do you remember the Geng family son before? He also married a shrewish woman as his wife. She made a scene before, but today she is obedient to him."
He drank and chatted, displaying a charming and romantic demeanor. It didn't seem like he was giving any serious advice, but rather offering words of admonition as a friend.
"Sometimes you have to give a young woman a nudge before she'll know her place."
Huan Dalang agreed, saying, "Changjun, you spoil her too much, it makes her lawless!"
Yan Ning had drunk too much and was in a daze. He only felt extremely hot and didn't hear what the two of them were saying. He opened his clothes and exposed his collar, and mumbled, "Do you think there is still any room for maneuver in Emperor Xuan's matter?"
"Are you crazy, Yan Changjun?"
The two were shocked, looking as if facing a formidable enemy. Yan Ning also realized that he had been confused.
He waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, I was just talking nonsense, don't worry about it."
When a person can no longer bear it, their consciousness begins to wander, and they start to see double.
"No more drinking, no more drinking."
He stumbled to his feet and respectfully declined, saying, "You all continue eating; I won't keep you company."
Huan Dalang tried to stop him, but Wang Wulang stopped him and said to Yan Ning, "I have set up a private room here. You may go and rest for a while, and we can meet again later."
After he finished speaking, he called the maidservant beside him forward and instructed her, "Take Young Master Yan to rest and serve him well. If there is any mistake, I will hold you responsible."
...
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