Chapter 116 Plum Blossoms 26 Sir, Please Reward Me This Time
"My dear, it's late at night."
In the middle of the night, the spring rain began to fall. Yu Niang coaxed her daughter to sleep, opened the door and saw Fang Yifeng standing in the corridor listening to the sound of the rain.
The rain pelted the copper bells, and the cold sound was accompanied by the rhythmic sound of raindrops. However, there was no leisurely and relaxed expression on Fang Yifeng's face. He frowned and was lost in thought.
Only when Yu Niang came to him did he suddenly come to his senses.
"He is the leader after all. He is much more useful than me."
Yu Niang knew what he was talking about. Now, everyone in the entire Jiangnan Province knew Song Yanze. He single-handedly calculated the entire Jiangnan government and merchants, and solved the rice crisis in Jiangnan with a single-handed conspiracy.
It saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
"You were supposed to marry him. If it weren't for some strange mistake, you wouldn't have married me. I promised you that I would make you happier than being his wife."
"Now it seems..."
Yu Niang raised her hand. She had a plain and gentle face, with soft light between her eyebrows and eyes. But when she raised her hand... she hit him.
"I'm not sleeping late at night, just sitting here with my mind wandering."
"It happened so long ago, and you bring it up again. You clearly know that I don't want to do this, and no one else can force me. I married you because I wanted to marry you, and you just like to imagine things."
Yu Niang turned around and saw an orange old cat walking towards her slowly. Because it didn't like the wet rain, it walked close to the wall and then jumped lightly into Yu Niang's arms.
"No matter what, I will do my best to protect you."
Yu Niang frowned: "You have been acting strange since the day before the dam broke. What happened?"
"There have been some rumors circulating recently that are quite absurd." Yu Niang mentioned it to him hesitantly. "The Sanjiang Dam was blown up, not washed away."
Fang Yifeng looked into Yu Niang's eyes and dodged away. Yu Niang's eyes widened, and everything was said without words.
"Fang Yifeng! You..."
"It's not a pity for me to die alone, but I have to protect you..."
"Ridiculous!" Yu Niang pushed him away, and the old cat jumped out of her arms in fright and ran into the room.
"Fang Yifeng, if you don't dare, you just don't dare. Don't use us mother and daughter as an excuse. As a provincial governor, don't you know what you are shouldering? Besides, if you continue to investigate now, who can you protect?"
As the night progressed, the rain got heavier.
Song Yanze sat on the couch, reviewing his hair, waiting for Jiang Tingyuan to come back. After the disaster relief work was done, the focus was on assigning responsibility afterwards.
Jiang Tingyuan pushed the door open with a cool look on his face, with moisture still on the ends of his hair. He did not hug Song Yanze first, but leaned over the table and came over to kiss him twice before going to change his clothes.
"We can set off back to Huizhou tomorrow, but you just came back, do you want to rest for another day?"
Song Yanze was called by him to get a dry towel. He stood outside the screen, turned his back and handed the towel over, but no one came to take it for a long time.
Jiang Tingyuan was taking off his clothes and washing himself inside, but Song Yanze consciously avoided him and didn't peek at him furtively.
However, it was precisely because of this that he suffered a loss. He did not notice that Jiang Tingyuan suddenly pulled the dry towel and Song Yanze was taken behind the screen.
Jiang Tingyuan's body was still warm from the hot water, his eyebrows and eyes were wet, his straight black eyelashes were wet, and he lowered his head to ask for help.
Song Yanze clicked his tongue, but still smiled as he wiped the wipe for him, suddenly covering his scorching eyes.
"Tomorrow. I have to go back to Beijing soon and can't delay for another day."
Jiang Tingyuan was so sure, he must have had some news. Song Yanze's eyebrows jumped, and then he pursed his lips, hesitating whether to ask.
He had already pushed the Three Courts too far and could no longer interfere in the investigation, so the files from the Neisi Yamen had not been delivered and he did not say much.
But Jiang Tingyuan went to check it, and he took a tougher stance. Jiang Tingyuan took over the things he couldn't check.
"Ask if you want to. There's nothing I can't tell you."
Just as he said this, he moved closer to him naked again, with obvious intentions, asking Song Yanze to help him wipe it. His eyes were full of indecent teasing, and he deliberately wanted to act like a hooligan and make Master Song blush.
Song Yanze shook the towel and helped him wipe his neck, chin, broad shoulders, tight waist and abdomen without changing his expression...
Jiang Tingyuan couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but reach out to pull him, wanting to stick to him. The muscles in his arms tensed and reacted.
Song Yanze glanced down, then looked up at Jiang Tingyuan, pretending not to notice, and rejected his attempt to rub his back, asking him to turn around and wipe his back.
"Have you investigated the collusion between officials and businessmen to force the people to sell their land at a low price?"
Jiang Tingyuan felt his soft and warm hand on his back, and immediately a bunch of inappropriate things ran through his mind. He wiped it with a soft towel, and Song Yanze's hand was light, not because he was thick-skinned and rough.
"It has been presented to the Emperor."
"That dam-breaking incident..."
"We have evidence, but it has only reached the Third Division, and we cannot prove its connection with Lord Li."
Song Yanze suddenly stopped and sighed softly. Jiang Tingyuan immediately turned around, hugged him, lifted him up and sat him on the table, then leaned over to kiss him.
Song Yanze had already showered, his hair was dry, and he was only wearing a single piece of clothing, which was soon stripped to his elbows. Fortunately, Jiang Tingyuan was very angry, and he would definitely catch a cold the next day if he behaved in such a shameless manner.
"Don't sigh, I'll take care of it. None of them can escape."
Song Yanze felt a pain in his chest. He lowered his head and saw a tooth mark on the bright red spot. The candlelight was dim and the water stain was sparkling.
"Don't bite! I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about you."
Song Yanze couldn't stop him. Jiang Tingyuan was very busy, pulling the belt with one hand and holding him with the other. Although Song Yanze rarely refused him, he just couldn't change the habit of holding him in his arms, like protecting his food.
"The Emperor cannot do without Li Heng. He still needs Li Heng to do things for him. He doesn't want you to find out that Li Heng is a member of the Li Heng faction. It would be futile to report it to the Emperor. It would only make you disliked by him for nothing."
Song Yanze put his arms around his neck, hung his long legs around his waist, leaned his head on his shoulder and spoke slowly.
"Don't worry." Jiang Tingyuan didn't like him to be distracted, so he bit his chin punishingly, leaving a circle of wet teeth marks.
"You haven't given me the reward from last time... Master, please give me a reward this time."
Song Yanze grabbed his ears and scolded him with a smile: "You naughty slave."
"You've been busy all day, wouldn't it be nice to rest early?" Song Yanze was not so busy after he finished his work. He just had some paperwork and memorials to deal with, and he would check on their progress of dredging the river from time to time.
He really did it for Jiang Tingyuan's sake, but the stubborn slave didn't appreciate it. He thought his master was going to default on his debt, so he immediately grabbed his belt and put his hand in. His fingers were rough, but very flexible.
Before Song Yanze could react, the soft silk pants, still retaining his body temperature, were thrown into the bathtub.
"you……"
Song Yanze shuddered and grabbed his shoulders tightly. He didn't feel cold when he pressed against him. Instead, his whole body was red and hot.
Jiang Tingyuan had many old scars on his body. Song Yanze would touch them carefully with his fingertips every time. Even if he was teased and tears welled up in his eyes, he would only kiss them gently.
He was very different from before. He was much darker and his skin was rough. When he tensed up, his muscles were hard everywhere and he was so hot that it made his face hot.
"Call my name."
Jiang Tingyuan pinched his cheeks, their lips and tongue entangled, the syllables crushed in between, vaguely speaking with a sound of sucking water.
Jiang Tingyuan couldn't stand his warm touch at all. He liked it very much, but he just couldn't stand his gentle comfort.
This even made him feel that there should be more hardships in the past seven years, otherwise everything he had now would be like a bubble, and he was afraid that he would be woken up one day.
When I opened my eyes, he was no longer there. All around me were smelly, mutilated corpses. All that warmth was an illusion caused by blood flowing from wounds.
"Jiang Tingyuan... um... Jiang Tingyuan..."
Song Yanze touched his neck, feeling the violent movement of his heart, and called him softly. They stuck close to each other, wishing they could use this most primitive and stupid way to stick each other inside their bodies and never separate again.
The toes stretched out and touched the ground, dangling, with water dripping around them. Soon something flowed down the long straight legs and dripped onto the tautly arched instep.
"Don't do it again...I still have to ride tomorrow."
Song Yanze fell into the quilt, his legs trembling unconsciously, frowning and rubbing his legs. Jiang Tingyuan half-opened the gauze curtain with one hand and held the candlestick to change the light with the other.
He didn't want to be in the dark and grope for things, so he put on Song Yanze's loose outer robe, which was much shorter and looked funny. He didn't even fasten his collar properly, so it didn't cover anything.
Song Yanze took a look and turned away. Jiang Tingyuan smiled, the candlelight illuminated his profile. His deep and three-dimensional face looked full of lust, like a young boy who was greedy for pleasure.
He did his best in this matter.
"The carriage was prepared a few days ago. It has cushions, tea, snacks and everything. It's spacious too, so you can lie down and sleep."
Song Yanze was stunned for two seconds, then quickly lifted the quilt and grabbed the corner of it tightly to tell him to get out. Jiang Tingyuan didn't want to get out, but he didn't rush. He first focused on changing the candlestick in his hand, then propped himself up on the bed and reached in to pull the quilt.
"The master's rewards haven't been given out yet."
The slave ate until his mouth was full of oil and was very satisfied. The next day, he looked very proud, and the gloomy and dangerous feeling of the previous few days was swept away. Master Xiao Song, who was so tired that he could not open his eyes, had a face full of suppressed anger. He walked slowly and patted his waist from time to time.
Xuanqing guessed that it was Lord Song who worked day and night to review the documents, and he was immediately in awe.
Huizhou is a full day's journey from here. The carriage is indeed comfortable, and Song Yanze slept almost the entire way. Jiang Tingyuan was originally immersed in the joy of a satisfying meal, but now the closer he got to Huizhou, the more restless he became.
Song Yanze leaned against the window to look at the scenery. Huizhou was also a disaster-stricken area, but now everything was in order and there was no sign of it. The only thing that could be seen was the turbidity of several rivers outside the city.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Jiang Tingyuan rode his horse beside the carriage. His facial expression showed nothing, but Song Yanze glanced at his slightly furrowed brows and slightly turned up corners of his mouth.
"Are you afraid of grandma? Grandma is not as unkind as you think. Besides, she raised you."
Jiang Tingyuan naturally knew that the old lady was not unkind, she had even served as a witness for a pair of sworn brothers' marriage. It's just...
Before the car entered the town, many people gathered on the river bank, knelt down and shouted to the blue sky.
Song Yanze only mentioned to his grandmother that he wanted it back and asked her not to say anything more, but he did not expect to receive such a great gift.
Song Yanze quickly got out of the car to return the greetings, and then went to talk to them, asking about their current life situation one by one. As the crowd gradually dispersed, he saw his grandmother standing outside the crowd, looking at him with a smile.
"grandmother!"
Song Yanze suddenly lost all his calm aura and walked quickly to his grandmother. She smiled and patted the back of his hand, saying "good" several times in a row, smiling from ear to ear.
"I'm fine. I'm in good health. You keep sending supplements and other things home, but I can't use them."
Song Yanze originally wanted to take his grandmother to Kyoto, but the situation was unclear at the time and his own life was uncertain, so he did not want to drag his grandmother down, and his grandmother did not want to leave her hometown.
"Grandma, I brought someone back..."
But his grandmother patted the back of his hand, looked at Jiang Tingyuan who was standing behind the crowd, and said nothing more, just asked them to go home first.
Song Yanze pulled him to the front, looked at the absent-minded Jiang Tingyuan, then looked at his grandmother who didn't look surprised at all, and was full of questions.
After dinner, they were finally able to talk. Grandmother waved her hand and asked them to go down, but Jiang Tingyuan was absent-minded and was about to follow the maids and servants down.
Song Yanze grabbed his hand anxiously and looked at him puzzledly: "Jiang Tingyuan?"
Grandma just drank tea with a faint smile on her face. She glanced at the two people's clasped hands and coughed lightly.
Jiang Tingyuan was about to let go, but Song Yanze grabbed his hand and looked at his grandmother.
"Grandma, he was Tingyan seven years ago. Now he is the one I wholeheartedly want to spend my whole life with."
Song Yanze lifted his robe and was about to kneel, but Jiang Tingyuan grabbed him and knelt down first with a plop.
"I broke my promise...but I can't let go no matter what..."
The grandmother looked at the stunned Song Yanze, then lowered her eyes to look at the stubborn child.
"It's not that you broke your promise. It hasn't been ten years yet, but my grandson's heart and eyes are already full of you."
"He is also a stubborn child. No matter whether your fate is God's will, human will, nature's will, or you forced it, he likes it anyway."
Song Yanze was confused by their behavior. He stared blankly at Jiang Tingyuan who was kneeling on the ground, and then went to look at his grandmother.
"You know, you are both in the officialdom, and you are both men. You have no status in life, and you cannot see the light after death. In the officialdom, you will not have the help of in-laws, and you have no family support."
"I..." Jiang Tingyuan was about to speak when his grandmother interrupted him. "I'm not asking you, because you're the one who can't let go. I'm asking you, Yanze."
"Have you figured it out? Love will fade, and anything can happen over the long years. If the ending is miserable, can you bear it and accept it?"
Song Yanze knelt beside Jiang Tingyuan and took his hand to kneel down to his grandmother together.
"My grandmother said it clearly. But no matter what, I will never regret it in this life."
My grandmother sighed. She was old and had witnessed too many lovers becoming enemies. Even between men and women, there were marriage certificates, responsibilities and families.
And the connection between them is only in her eyes. What can the love as fragile as spider silk withstand?
But... she knew her grandson well, he was stubborn and sincere. She knew Jiang Tingyuan even better, sometimes his desperate efforts to give up everything made her feel incredible.
She used to worry repeatedly, thinking that he was a trouble, and was afraid that he would not be able to resist and use some means to force her grandson in the future...
Now it’s considered complete.
There is no doubt about her sincerity in her youth, but after experiencing so much and meeting so many people, she still remains steadfast in her sincerity and passion. What else can she say?
"I understand. I won't stop you. I'll just treat it as another grandchild for me."
Song Yanze knew this would happen, because his grandmother loved him and sincerely wanted him to be happy. Jiang Tingyuan was stunned, with an incredible look on his face, and he shed tears silently.
"Okay, stop hanging around here. Go back."
The furnishings here have not changed at all, and they are all very familiar with it, but at that time they did not feel that the corridor was so low and the courtyard was so small.
"What are you and your grandmother doing..."
Jiang Tingyuan remained silent, and his eyes were dazed when he looked over, as if he thought he was going to be beheaded, but was let go after just a few words.
Song Yanze thought his expression was funny and stopped.
The yard is still the same, with dim lanterns under the corridor, the moonlight shining on the bamboo grove and banana trees, and a plum tree with faded blossoms in front of the window.
They are all this big now.
Song Yanze held his cheek, tilted his head back and kissed his lips, then chuckled.
"Come back to your senses, husband."
What happened seven years ago, and why are they talking about breaking a promise?
This guy is really good at hiding things, and there are things being hidden from him.
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