Chapter 16 If you say one more word, I'll kiss you.
Li Yunru alternated between lucidity and despair, losing track of time. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, she was released. Exhausted, she only managed a hazy glance at Yan Ning before collapsing into a deep sleep.
It was late at night when she woke up. Yan Ning was beside her, leaning on one arm and looking at her. Li Yunru opened her eyes and met his dark and bright eyes.
Are you alright?
She naturally leaned closer and snuggled into his arms. Yan Ning took the opportunity to pull her close, encircling her completely in his embrace. The size difference between them meant there wasn't a single gap between them.
"With the princess here, how could anything happen to me?" he said with a smile.
"You still dare to talk!"
His words made her thoughts drift back to the daytime. The two of them were always fooling around, but they had never been so unrestrained and absurd. Thinking of that scene, her face flushed, and she scolded, "It's all your fault!"
If he had just stayed quietly in the manor or entered the palace, things wouldn't have come to this. Today, she sensed something and arrived just in time, but what about tomorrow? If she's not by his side and knows nothing, what will happen then...?
Yan Ning did not deny this; it was indeed his oversight this time.
He lowered his head, kissed her forehead, and said, "It is my fault for causing the princess worry."
Today's events had terrified her, but now that he was alright, she was relieved. She had no intention of arguing with him about who was right and who was wrong. She took his hand, rolled up the sleeve of her undergarment, and revealed a strong and powerful arm.
Before she woke up, the doctor came to examine her and treated her. There were no visible wounds, only layers of bandages.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
She gently placed her hand on the strips of cloth, stroking them little by little.
Yan Ning said, "It doesn't hurt."
"Nonsense, how could it not hurt!"
That wound was so deep, it was covered in blood...
"Fool!" she murmured, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"Don't cry."
Yan Ning wiped away her tears, "It really doesn't hurt!"
To prove the truth of his words, he tried to raise his arm, but the slightest tug revealed his true identity. The wound was pulled, causing him to hiss in pain and furrow his brow.
"He made a stupid mistake again!"
Li Yunru cried even harder, “Do you even know what these hands of yours are for? They’re for reading, for playing the zither, for writing. They’re the result of countless sums of money spent on servants to take care of you. How can you treat them like this!”
"If something really happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to your mother?"
She disliked Cui, but she also didn't want her to see a crippled son; that would be too cruel for a mother.
"I know what I'm doing."
Li Yunru spat, crying and cursing, "What sense of propriety? Is your sense of propriety just about getting yourself all hurt?"
"That was a last resort."
People were constantly pressuring him, and he was already in a state of delirium. If it weren't for that... the consequences would have been unimaginable.
He would rather be injured and scolded by her than get into trouble.
Before Li Yunru could refute him, Yan Ning anticipated her reaction and interrupted her, half-teasing and half-threatening, "If the princess cries again and says one more word, I'll kiss you."
"..."
"You filthy scoundrel!"
Yan Ning lowered his head and kissed her lips.
"you……"
Yan Ning smiled and said matter-of-factly, "I said, if the princess says it again, I'll kiss you."
"flow……"
She wanted to yell, "You filthy scoundrel!"
But when she met his eyes, which held a sly smile, she swallowed her words and changed the subject, asking, "Is there anything to eat? I'm so hungry!"
She had been tormented since noon and hadn't eaten a single grain of rice. Now her stomach was empty, and she was protesting.
Yan Ning looked knowing and said, "I had already had it prepared."
He called out to the door, "Serve the meal!" Soon after, several servants came in, and the aroma of food wafted into the inner room through the screen.
But Li Yunru didn't want to move. With her sobs still lingering, she said listlessly, "Oh dear, I can't get up at all. What should I do?"
Seeing her affected manner, Yan Ning smiled even more and said in agreement, "Then shall I serve the princess her meal?"
Li Yunru's star-like eyes blinked, a smile on her face, as she said in a pretentious tone, "Since you're so proactive, then this princess will give you the chance. But you'd better serve me well, or else..."
Her dark, bright eyes darted over him, her slender, white fingers pointing to his heart. She said in a drawn-out tone, "That will come at a price."
Yan Ning smiled, her phoenix eyes crinkling, and replied with a soft "Mm".
He got out of bed, went to the table, glanced at the food, picked up the lacquered plate with one hand, cleaned the dishes and sent them into the inner room, then sat down by the bed.
Li Yunru leaned lazily against the edge of the bed, letting him feed her. She enjoyed Yan Ning's way of serving her.
It's not that when he treats her like a servant, it's only then that he's not the unattainable, romantic figure admired by the world, but her one and only lover, willingly submitting to her and belonging solely to her.
Only she could see him like this!
...
After eating and drinking her fill, she lay there wearily. Yan Ning took a handkerchief and wiped away the remaining food residue from the corner of her mouth, asking, "Is the princess satisfied with my service?"
"It's passable," Li Yunru said casually, propping her head up with her hand. "Let's see how they perform later."
Seeing her arrogant and pretentious demeanor, Yan Ning's smile never faded. He rubbed her face and asked, "So, are we still getting a divorce?"
Li Yunru remained silent.
"It seems the princess is unwilling to forgive me."
He was referring to the matter of Emperor Qi Xuan, which he had kept from her.
Although Li Yunru was a bit thick-skinned, she wasn't stupid. Seeing his intimate actions but with a serious tone, she immediately knew what he meant.
She looked up at him, but remained silent for a long time. She was not only concerned about this matter, but also wanted to ask him if he had really agreed to the Chen family's conditions, and whether what Lady Lu said was true or false.
Li Yunru had always considered herself a free-spirited and easygoing person with clear likes and dislikes, but at this moment she realized that she was not as free-spirited as she thought. She also felt panic, feared the answer, and feared that things would not turn out the way she wanted. So even though she had a thousand words to say, in the end she could only say one sentence: "This is the last time."
"Um."
Yan Ning responded, stroking her soft, delicate hand with his large one, and said firmly, "It won't happen again next time."
...
The next morning, Shu Yun came to report on the matter she had investigated the day before. Before Li Yunru could give any instructions, the servants of the mansion announced that Wang Wulang had married into the family.
"He dares to come here!"
Li Yunru gritted her teeth in resentment, then stood up with a hiss and said, "Let's go, let's go meet him!"
...
Wang Wulang bypassed her and went directly to find Yan Ning, who was led to the study by a servant.
When Li Yunru arrived, the two were talking. Wang Wulang said, "My half-sister is outrageous and has done such a shameful thing, which has wronged Changjun. Don't worry, the family has already made plans for this. Soon, we will send her to live with the Dong family in Hedong. Yesterday's matter ends here and no one else will know about it or affect Changjun's reputation."
Yan Ning's expression was calm, showing no emotional fluctuations. He simply stirred his teacup and said, "Brother Renchuan shouldn't have told me about this."
"???"
Before Wang Wulang could understand what was going on, Yan Ning spoke up, beckoning her inside and asking her to sit down beside him.
He rarely showed such intimacy with her in public. In fact, she had never been part of his circle of friends in the past year, and she only knew about these people through Shu Yun's connections.
She expressed her dissatisfaction, but Yan Ning said it was his habit and he didn't like the women in his family getting involved with his friends.
In aristocratic families, the principal wife not only bears a title, but also has to deal with her husband's various social interactions and social relationships. The two should have a high degree of overlap in all aspects of worldly life. Therefore, Li Yunru always felt that Yan Ning was just going through the motions and never thought about a long-term relationship with her.
Although this saved her a lot of trouble, it also created a sense of separation, and she felt conflicted.
But no matter what, Yan Ning has never wavered on this point, and today is a rare exception.
He pulled her down to sit, poured her a cup of tea, and said, "What happened yesterday was truly an unjust grievance for the princess. If you are so kind as to apologize to my wife, Brother Renchuan, please do so."
Li Yunru immediately ordered the news to be blocked. The rumors about Yan Ning's disheveled appearance at the brothel did not spread, but the story of Princess Liyang making a scene at Lanchun Pavilion to catch her husband spread throughout the capital. Everyone in the capital was talking about it, saying that Princess Liyang, Li Yunru, was a jealous woman who controlled her husband so strictly that she had to make such a big fuss over such a small matter.
She is indeed the victim whose reputation has been damaged.
You should apologize to her.
Wang Wulang naturally refused. If he respected Li Yunru even a little, he wouldn't have been so rude, visiting directly past his wife at home.
He was shocked upon hearing this and jumped up from his seat, shouting, "Changjun, are you crazy?"
What kind of logic is it for a young master from a prestigious family to apologize to a young woman?
Yan Ning ignored him and sat there calmly, not allowing any dissent against her words.
Both men were outstanding members of their families and had a decent relationship, so they originally intended this to be just a formality. However, they did not expect Yan Ning to be so troubled, and Wang Wulang was unwilling to lower himself. The two sides were at an impasse, and the atmosphere in the study was tense.
In the end, it was Wang Wulang who was the first to admit defeat.
He reluctantly bowed and apologized to Li Yunru, saying, "My half-sister at home is outrageous, causing the princess to bear a bad reputation. I am truly sorry."
She dared to accept anyone's worship.
Li Yunru did not immediately wake him up, but instead questioned him: "Is it true that Fifth Brother was unaware of the matter concerning the Wang woman?"
Wang Wulang's hand trembled slightly, but he quickly recovered and replied, "The Wang family has many members, not to mention a half-sister from a collateral branch. I have never seen this sister before."
A concubine's daughter with no support can freely enter and leave the Wang family's gates and even enter the Lanchun Pavilion with ease, using those filthy things. Who would believe that she has no one behind her?
It's just a case of "when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked"—once the deed is exposed, they're dragged out to take the blame.
The young master from a prestigious family is a charming but fickle man; he treats even his own people no differently.
He persisted, but Li Yunru still didn't get the answer she wanted.
...
Wang Wulang was there to go through the proper procedures to maintain the relationship between the two families, so it wasn't good to make things too difficult. Since there was no result, it was eventually left at that.
However, Yan Ning, unusually, spoke up and pleaded for Wang's daughter.
He said, "The matter is over, so let bygones be bygones. As for marrying into Hedong, Renchuan, why don't you reconsider?"
The words were spoken.
Both Li Yunru and Wang Wulang looked at Yan Ning simultaneously.
One of them had shock in his eyes, and his eyes were blazing with anger.
The other one... had an eager glint in his eyes.
A note from the author:
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Ah! Writing about the female supporting character is really heartbreaking. She's not a bad person, just a pitiful person with no other choice. Perhaps she used the wrong methods and did the wrong things, but her ending shouldn't be like this. So, the author has decided to write a separate book for her. The male lead hasn't been decided yet, and there might not even be a male lead, but the ending will definitely be happy, waaaaaaah! I'll start writing this book as soon as it's finished. The synopsis is already posted; feel free to add it to your favorites if you're interested! [Sprinkling flowers]
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