Chapter 58 Breaking the Ice: I've Come to Bring My Husband Home~
Who is more important?
Li Yunru couldn't figure out the problem, so she kept putting it off day after day. Yan Ning never returned, only sending Chen Jingsheng back to tell her that the government office was busy and she had stayed there.
He's avoiding her.
The two had had disagreements before, and this wasn't the first time Yan Ning hadn't returned to the manor for such a long time, but this time was different.
She muttered under her breath, "Fine, don't come back then. I'm perfectly fine living alone!"
But her heart was sinking, as if weighed down by something, completely out of her control.
She knew she wasn't entirely at ease, and she was very upset.
This sadness was different from Song Ji's two departures without saying goodbye. When Song Ji left, she was reluctant to let him go and was in great pain at first, but it gradually faded and she was able to accept it. However, the thought of Yan Ning being cold to her again made her heart ache, and it only grew stronger with time, without diminishing at all.
She couldn't accept even a hint of coldness from Yan Ning towards her!
Having figured this out, she didn't hesitate any longer and got up to leave.
Shu Yun was suddenly awakened from her drowsy state, and seeing Li Yunru walking out, she hurriedly followed and asked, "Princess, where are you going!"
"The government office!"
...
The official residence where Yan Ning was on duty was near the imperial city, quite far from the villa. However, it was already late at night, and the roads were not crowded, making it much smoother. The carriage traveled for about half an hour before arriving at the gate.
The door wasn't closed, and she easily entered the inner room.
However, instead of seeing Yan Ning, they first encountered two men dressed in plain blue robes with bird patterns.
She didn't know their identities or which families they came from, but judging from their clothes, she could roughly tell that they weren't of high birth; otherwise, they wouldn't just be minor officials like clerks and attendants.
The official robes of the Jin Dynasty had clear regulations on color and style, which existed before Emperor Ai and were originally intended to distinguish between aristocratic families and commoners. Her father had considered abolishing them during his reign, but to no avail.
This is a symbol of status.
They wouldn't mind giving up a little profit to maintain peace, but if they did, they would be associating with the commoners they despise the most.
The pride of aristocratic families stems from the glory of their centuries-old status and identity. This glory is built upon various marriage alliances between families, creating a complex web of connections that has shaped them into what they are today, making them relatively untouched by corruption.
Both Li Yunru and Princess Ding'an of the previous dynasty paid a heavy price to even remotely gain access to aristocratic families, yet their ultimate fates were remarkably similar: they were both rejected by these families.
They're really shrewd!
...
The two people were coming from this side, so she called out to them and asked them for directions.
The man said, "My lord, he's still busy in the east duty room."
The government office is divided into east and west sides. The east side is the office and duty station, while the west side is where the officials on duty rest. They pass through the main hall in the middle, which is where they are now.
She received the letter, thanked them, and then left. When she arrived at the east duty room, she saw Chen Jingsheng walking towards her with a pot of tea.
"The county magistrate?"
When Chen Jingsheng saw her, he greeted people and was about to call out when Li Yunru put her hand to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
She led Shu Yun closer, her gaze falling on the jade teapot in his hand, and asked, "Is this for my husband?"
Chen Jingsheng replied, "Yes, my lord has finished his tea, so I went to refill it."
"Give it to me." She pointed to the tea in his hand.
Chen Jingsheng handed it to her, and Li Yunru said, "I can handle this. It's getting late, go and rest for a while."
"yes."
The man responded and dared not go too far. He sat down on the veranda, and Shu Yun handed him a piece of cake. The two of them then sat outside and waited.
...
Li Yunru carried the food box she had brought and the pot of tea that Chen Jingsheng had just given her as she walked in. She saw Yan Ning dressed in a plain white brocade robe, hunched over a desk by the window. There was a mountain of documents in front of him, and he would occasionally dip his brush in ink and write something in circles. He was so focused that he didn't even lift his head once.
She walked to his side, put down the food box, and refilled the empty cups with tea. Hearing the noise, he still didn't look up, but simply said, "You don't need to serve me anymore, go and rest."
"Young master knows how to be considerate of his servants, but why doesn't he care about himself? He's still up so late."
“It’s you.”
Yan Ning then looked up from his desk, his face revealing little emotion. She rarely saw Yan Ning like this; it seemed that this time, she had truly angered him.
"Why has the princess come?"
When asked, she remained indifferent, as if casually commenting on the pleasant weather.
“You’ve come to take my husband home.” Li Yunru answered matter-of-factly, immediately moving a stool over and sitting down beside him. Yan Ning tried to avoid her, backing away, but Li Yunru wasn’t annoyed. She was very patient; he continued to dodge, and she continued to chase him, continued to dodge, continued to chase… until there was nowhere left to retreat, she smiled and grabbed his head, making him face her, and commanded, “Don’t hide from me!”
Yan Ning was genuinely amused by her.
How can someone be so domineering? She was clearly in the wrong first, yet she's so self-righteous.
Seeing the smile on his face, Li Yunru knew that his spirits had dissipated somewhat, so she became bolder. She got up from her seat, jumped into his arms, and swayed around his neck with both hands.
Yan Ning had no choice but to put her down, so he reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You've lost weight," he said, frowning slightly.
Li Yunru thought to herself, "How could you recognize this after only three or five days apart?"
She herself didn't feel anything, but she still followed up with him, "Yeah, when you're not here, I can't eat or sleep well, so of course I've lost weight."
"Then why didn't you come sooner?"
At first glance, his words sounded like a question, but upon closer inspection, they also carried a hint of complaint, as if he felt wronged that he had been waiting for him for so long and was only arriving now.
How interesting!
She liked seeing Yan Ning like this; at least she was a living person, with emotions that she could express, unlike a beautiful jade statue that was cold and unapproachable.
So the person deliberately continued to tease, pouting and saying aggrievedly, "I'm afraid you'll still be angry with me."
Yan Ning, do you, Princess Liyang, ever have anything to fear?
If you're afraid, no one is bolder than you. You're incredibly courageous, and you act and speak with a tough attitude. You're reckless no matter what, and you can drive a lot of people crazy.
But she was just trying to comfort him, and Yan Ning was pleased to hear that. He tightened his grip, pulling her closer, and asked in a low voice, "So why aren't you afraid now?"
Li Yunru said, "I am afraid, I am still afraid now, but besides fear, I miss you even more. I miss my husband."
She leaned on his shoulder and said in a soft, low voice, "I want my husband to dine with me, I want my husband to go out and play with me, I want you to comb my hair and do my makeup, I want you to play the zither for me, and I especially want you to hold me in your arms at night, so warm and cozy, and to hear your heartbeat and breathing. It would make me feel so at ease."
“Yan Changjun, your Liyang is so pitiful. She has no relatives, only you. If you don’t want her, she will have nowhere to go.”
Yan Ning didn't know how much of her words were true and how much were false, but he knew that he was completely swayed by her. No matter how much she caused trouble or acted recklessly, if she cried and played the victim, he would give her everything, even his life.
But her!
They are always stubborn and unwilling to give in easily.
He accepted it now that he had done it this way.
He lowered his head, bit her rounded shoulder, and said in a low, helpless voice, "I really lost to you!"
He held her in his arms and promised, "As long as the princess doesn't abandon me, I won't abandon her. Changjun is the princess's family, and nothing will change that."
"I know."
Li Yunru whispered against his neck, her voice gentle yet resolute, "I know my husband is the best husband in the world. He will not abandon me, he will not leave me."
The two had feelings for each other; one was willing to give the other a way out, and the other readily accepted it, and things were fine.
He stopped arguing with people, finished reading the last volume of case files, and returned to his residence with them. The two spent half a day together, and Li Yunru took the initiative to explain what happened that day to him.
"What I said at the time was not my true feeling. I just got angry and my mouth came out before I thought. In my heart, my husband is very important, more important than anyone else... no, as important as my parents and relatives."
Fearing he wouldn't believe her, she even raised her finger, pointing it to the sky with a solemn expression, and swore, "Everything I'm saying now is from the truth. If there's even the slightest falsehood, I will..."
Yan Ning took her hand down and held it in his palm, somewhat displeased, and said, "I didn't say I didn't believe you, why is the princess so serious and making oaths?"
Li Yunru leaned in and snuggled into his arms. His warm body temperature and pounding heartbeat were clearly audible in her ears, each beat resonating deep within her heart.
She recounted in detail to him what had happened in the past few days, including the results of her reflections.
"Ah Sheng and Shu Yun both asked me to think about it. Between you and Song Ji, who is more important to me? Actually, I still can't tell. I've always felt that this isn't a question that can be compared. You are you, and he is he. You are different, just like my parents and relatives. Should I also be asked to compare your importance? It shouldn't be like this."
You are my husband, the one I will spend the rest of my life with, but he is also a very important person to me. He has been by my side since he was a teenager. To me, he is a mentor and a close friend. Whether he is male or female doesn't matter. I recognize him as a person. I can't abandon my childhood friend for you, someone I've only known for a few years. We grew up together, we cried together, we made trouble together, we did so many things together. He and Shuyun are an inseparable part of my life. I don't know if you can understand, but he is like my shadow, inseparable. It would be very painful to forcibly remove this shadow. I don't want that. I have already lost so much, so many important people, little by little. I don't want to end up losing even these few.
Her voice choked with sobs, “I can hardly imagine that all these people have left me, and I only have you, just you. So I have to rely on you to get by. All my joys and sorrows, even my life and death, depend on you alone. If you don’t want me anymore, I will have nothing left. I won’t even have anyone to listen to me or cry with me.”
Yan Ning felt joy upon hearing her candid confession, but even more so, she felt annoyed and heartbroken.
He had never actually doubted her, but he was indeed bothered by that other person's existence. Her words that day were like a sharp knife, ruthlessly cutting open the problem that stood between them, a problem they had deliberately ignored.
So... he wanted to put pressure on her and make her make a choice.
He had also considered what would happen if he lost the bet. What if Liyang chose that person and didn't want him?
These five days were not only a form of punishment for her, but also for him. Like a gambler, he waited anxiously for her to appear, but at this moment, it was even more unbearable than the five days of torment he had endured while Song Ji was still alive.
"I'm sorry, Liyang." He kissed her back and apologized to the person.
Li Yunru shook her head, sniffed, and said in a choked voice, "There's no need to apologize. These are just my own thoughts. My lord can also have his own thoughts and do things as he pleases. Different ideas lead to different outcomes, which is inevitable. Let's just put it out there."
His princess, seemingly illiterate, was actually wise beyond her years. She possessed a deeper understanding and wisdom than those who had read countless books. She was open-minded, far-sighted, and insightful.
However, the more this happened, the more guilty Yan Ning felt. He lowered his head, kissed his loved one's hair, and said, "No, this matter is indeed my fault. I was not considerate enough in my actions. I did not discuss the appointment of the princess's people with her beforehand. But I thought that Mr. Songji was full of talent and should not be ruined because of this."
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Author's note: The next chapter will be released Thursday night at 11 PM.
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