Chapter 26 Face Li Yang's only redeeming quality is this body...
Madam Cui was so angry that her face turned red, and she almost lost all her basic dignity. It took her a long time to calm down before she finally let Li Yun go down.
Li Yunru left, but before she had gone far, she heard the rustling sound of pearls and jade breaking inside the house.
She should have felt a surge of relief, but strangely, she didn't.
On the contrary, a sense of desolation suddenly arose in Li Yunru's heart.
Her mother was Empress Zhenyuan, and her elder sister was Princess Huayang, née Cui…
Regardless of who it is, what their personality is, what their background is, whether they are lowly or noble, what they have done, whether right or wrong, it is all for the sake of the children.
Once you have children, you become completely at the mercy of others.
Um.
A child is a knife, a sharp blade that may stab you at any moment.
Thankfully... she didn't.
Thinking about it this way, she suddenly felt fortunate.
With his mind racing, he hadn't even looked closely at the road before looking up and seeing Yan Ning standing in front of him.
"When...did you arrive?"
Li Yunru's first reaction was panic. Her eyes almost involuntarily turned to look at the house on Cui's side.
Here, the room is not far from Cui's; if the argument gets loud, people can hear it.
All her current actions are nothing more than a gamble using Yan Ning's slight affection for her. However, Yan Ning had already frankly stated that he would not abandon his family for her. If he knew that she was scheming like this, she could not guarantee that he would unconditionally believe in her and stand on her side, as she had told Cui Shi.
uncertain.
So they felt guilty and wanted to cover it up.
"Not long," Yan Ning said gently, extending his hand to her. "Let's go."
"call."
They must not have heard it, otherwise their reaction wouldn't have been so calm.
Li Yunru breathed a sigh of relief and placed her hand on it, but the coldness made her involuntarily pull her hand back.
"My lord's hands are so cold."
Yan Ning's hands were extremely large, enough to completely envelop her. Her slender fingers were like scallion segments, long and beautiful, with prominent knuckles. The veins on the back of her hands and knuckles were clearly visible, exuding strength and vitality. Her hands were always hot, like they were in an oven.
In previous winters, Li Yunru always liked to snuggle in his arms afterward, holding his hands as a warmer. Such moments, when her hands were icy cold and devoid of color, were rare.
Her first thought was of what had just happened.
"Is my lord...?"
She wanted to ask if she had overheard her conversation with Cui, but Yan Ning did not answer. Her beautiful face was expressionless, but she took the initiative to lead the person away and returned to the East Garden.
The man who entered the door pressed her against the door and kissed her.
He kissed her so hard that her body went limp and her tongue went numb. She could barely bear it, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and used him as a support to keep herself from falling.
"Yan Changjun, you..."
The two had not been this intimate for a long time. Since her father passed away and left the capital, even these past two days, when they were in the palace together all day and slept in the same bed, they had not crossed any boundaries.
She once asked him, "Is your insistence on staying because... you've thought about it?"
Yan Ning did not deny this, but said, "Yes, I think of the princess, I miss the princess, and I want to be with the princess. However, Changjun is not a lustful and dissolute man who is ignorant of etiquette. The princess is still in mourning, so I will not do anything."
That's natural.
Li Yunru had never met a more proper young man than her. In the year since their marriage, except for a few times when he was pushed to the limit, he had mostly been dignified and proper. Even when their feelings were deep, he would ask, "Is it alright?"
His serious demeanor only served to highlight Li Yunru's eagerness and directness.
Although she was indeed attracted to his good looks, she still had some pride and a girlish reserve, which often made her blush.
She was both shy and timid, not knowing what to do, so she could only pat his strong chest with her small hands and say in a coquettish and angry voice, "If you want to do it, then do it, why bother with all this!"
At that time, people's handsome faces would have more smiles and less coldness.
It could be said that in the early days, when the two had no feelings for each other, they relied solely on this mundane thing to communicate. As time went on, things gradually improved, but they maintained this habit. It seemed that many things, good and bad, could be completely forgotten once they were in bed.
But there have been so many things going on lately, and I've often been in two different places...
"Princess, shall we...have a child?"
His expression was dazed, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Haven't you always wanted a child? Let's have a child. That way, you and the Yan family will be completely inseparable. Even for the sake of the child, your parents and those aristocratic families will give you some face."
Are they completely inseparable?
Li Yunru almost laughed as she listened.
See? She said it herself: a child is a knife, a constraint...
When she was willing to be with the Yan family and wanted to be with him, he said it wasn't the right time and refused. The two even had a big fight about it and parted on bad terms.
Now she doesn't want to anymore.
He actually brought it up himself.
Li Yunru refused.
“I wanted it in the past, but you wouldn’t give it to me. Now… I don’t want it anymore.”
She said, "What's the difference between this kind of status and respect maintained by a child and a puppet? They're always controlled by others."
Li Yunru looked at him, her face, flushed with passion, gradually returning to normal, and she became serious.
She told everyone, word by word, "Yan Changjun, even though my Li family has fallen on hard times, I, Princess Liyang, have never been reduced to the point where I need to use a child to fight for anything!"
"Actually, you heard it outside the door just now, didn't you?"
Yan Ning feigned ignorance, saying, "I don't know what the princess is talking about."
"Stop pretending!" Li Yunru pushed him away. "We've been husband and wife for a year now. You can't see what I'm thinking, and you don't want to understand. But I can see what you're thinking."
"Liyang".
He called to her, the melody mournful and lingering, full of affection.
Li Yunru forced herself not to look at him, and not to be influenced by his thoughts, and continued, "I made a deal with your mother, Cui Shi. As long as she helps my Li family get away, I will divorce you and leave the Yan family."
"I've been deliberately cold to you these past few days in the palace, including after you returned from Chengen Temple. I need your cooperation to secure support for the Li family before I can use you to make a deal with the Yan family."
She spoke so frankly, without the slightest hesitation.
"My obedience today, all the tenderness and affection I show you, is fake; it's just to increase my own leverage."
Her words were like a dull knife, stabbing me again and again.
Yan Ning did hear it.
He was worried about leaving his mother alone and feared something might happen, so he went to wait for her, thinking that if anything did happen, he could help explain and ease the situation. He never expected to hear those words.
His princess is using him as leverage to threaten his mother.
At that moment, he really wanted to rush into the house and confront her.
However, a last shred of reason kept him from doing so.
If we go in and lay everything out in the open, then... there really won't be any room for maneuver.
He forced himself to pretend he didn't know and tried his best to salvage the situation.
She wants a child, and he can give her one...
However, now she says she doesn't want it anymore. She's so smart, she knows everything, and so she brings it up directly, admitting that everything was her scheme.
He was merely a pawn in her scheme.
Yan Ning found it amusing. She had studied classics since childhood and her chess skills were unparalleled in the world, but she never expected to fall into someone else's trap and become a pawn in their scheme.
He was in a daze, barely able to stand. It took him a long time to regain his senses and find his footing.
Yan Ning chuckled self-deprecatingly and asked, "Princess, you're so frank and direct. Aren't you afraid that if I find out the truth, you'll turn on me and refuse to cooperate?"
"The princess's goal is simply to ensure the safety of the Li family. Your impatience will only ruin the plan."
Li Yunru didn't take it seriously. "If you cooperate, the Yan family will step in, and everyone will be happy. If you don't cooperate, then I'll just have to find someone else."
She looked up at him and smiled too.
"In this Jin Dynasty, there are more than just the Yan family. There are the Xie family, the Wang family, the Huan family... oh, and there is also the Chen family. Chen Erlang has also been quite interested in me. Besides, he is now crippled, so no noble family would be willing to marry him off. I beg you, and I think the Chen family would be very willing to help with this."
Yan Ning scoffed, saying, "The princess often says that aristocratic families are hypocritical and profit-driven. Now, the princess is just an empty shell. What do you think you have that makes these aristocratic families go to such lengths for you, even at the cost of offending the Yan family, as well as the Yang and Xiao families!"
Once the mask is torn off, even the closest of couples can instantly become enemies, wishing they could stab each other with knives.
They both knew where each other's greatest weakness lay!
"The princess relies on nothing more than my favor. Without it, this down-on-her-luck princess is nothing more than an ordinary woman. It's simply wishful thinking!"
This is the young master whom the Yan family has raised with all their might. No matter how upright, polite, and kind he is, if someone actually violates his taboo, the vicious beastly nature of the aristocratic family will emerge.
However, he knew exactly where he hurt her the most, and she hurt him the same way.
Li Yunru remained silent, slowly and methodically removing her clothes until she was left with only a blouse embroidered with gold peony patterns.
She said, "Now, Liyang really has nothing left, but there is still a little. This body is barely presentable. Even a gentleman as upright and honest as you cannot control yourself. I think... other young men from noble families must be even more so."
"Li Yunru!"
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Author's Note: There should be one more chapter before midnight, the promised bonus chapter for reaching 100 followers, but I'm not sure if I can finish it. I'll try my best! Thank you again to everyone who added this to their favorites and helped us reach 100 followers! [heart emoji]
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