Luo Shenyuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Mother, do you think I've ever wronged her in the slightest since she was little?"
Even now, he was keeping silent and making plans in secret, hoping that everything would be smooth and easy.
Lin Hairu knew that her stepson was always taciturn and rarely spoke his mind. She had forced him to say this.
"and you……"
"The Sun family will probably come to cancel the engagement in a few days." Luo Shenyuan closed his eyes and endured it. He said, "I once plotted against Sun Congwan... She never knew it. Now that my position in the court is stable, I'm not afraid anymore." He rarely said this to Lin Hairu. "Their family will probably come to cancel the engagement in a few days. It won't make a big fuss, but it won't look good either."
Lin Hairu was a little surprised: "You... why are you plotting against her? The young lady from the Sun family likes you so much..."
"If she knew what I did, she wouldn't like it or dislike it anymore." Luo Shenyuan looked at the warm light floating in the night sky and remembered what she had said to him about the young lady of the Sun family.
"If Yi Ning...if she doesn't have any other feelings for you..." Lin Hairu's voice didn't even soften as she spoke of this. "What are you going to do?"
Luo Shenyuan turned around when he heard this, and the night made his back look particularly lonely.
He said lightly: "I don't know." He didn't know what he would do, he could only expect that this situation would never happen.
Lin Hairu rarely heard Luo Shenyuan say these four words; he was resolute in everything he did. She looked at the expressionless profile of her son and suddenly understood what he meant. It wasn't that he didn't know what to do, but rather that he was exercising a subtle restraint.
She felt a chill in her throat and suddenly couldn't say anything.
*
Yining leaned against the pillow on the carriage, silent.
A teacup was handed to her, and Cheng Lang whispered, "I remember you like fruit tea... There's a stove here to heat water."
Her expression remained grim, but she said nothing. Her jade-white face was lost in the darkness.
Yi Ning took his water but didn't drink it. He held it in his hand and asked, "Do you know why he suddenly sent troops?" Wei Ling had fought on the battlefield for many years and was definitely not a reckless person.
Cheng Lang sat down beside her, thought for a moment, and said, "There were often horse markets at the border, and the Waqir would trade their cattle and sheep for goods. This was a good way to stabilize the border and a good way for the generals stationed at the border to make money. Because of the constant conflicts with the Waqir, the horse markets were always unstable. Wei Ling ordered the horse markets closed... But the Waqir couldn't exchange anything, so they went to the nearby villages to rob, burning and killing people, leaving corpses everywhere. Wei Ling was furious when he heard this and decided to send troops... but they ambushed him in Pingyuan Fort."
"Has the imperial court sent reinforcements?" Yining asked again.
Cheng Lang said, "There are over 150,000 troops stationed in the Xuanfu area, and the governor has already sent his deputy general. There's no need for the court to send more troops."
She nodded silently after hearing this.
Cheng Lang felt at peace watching her expression. He leaned against her and said, "I remember when I was little, you always liked to take me to read."
Yi Ning raised her head and sighed, knowing he was trying to distract her. "Back then, I didn't study much, but I thought studying was good, and I thought you should know something. Luckily, you're smart too."
Cheng Lang's handsome face was very close to hers, but he still had the familiar expression from his childhood. Yi Ning smiled, patted his shoulder and said, "You are quite promising."
Cheng Lang pursed his lips and smiled. He had taken the imperial examination because he remembered her words. He hadn't thought it was good before, but after she praised him, a sense of relief slowly seeped in.
Yining felt that Cheng Lang was like a child in front of her and was no longer so restrained.
His voice suddenly lowered: "It turned out that I didn't know it was you. Mingzhu and Shenyu had hurt you... I won't let them go!"
Yi Ning shook her head, not knowing how Shen Yu was doing now... She didn't like him, but she felt that the punishment was enough. She said, "If something really happened to my father, the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion must not make any more enemies, do you understand?" Because of Shen Yu's incident, Zhongqinbo and the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion had already fallen out.
Cheng Lang smiled quickly as if he was afraid of her blaming him: "I know everything. I won't do anything rash."
As the two of them spoke like this, the light from the lantern in the car was dim and extremely dark, and everything was quiet.
After Cheng Lang stopped talking, he could hear her breathing beside him in the darkness, even feel the warmth and petiteness of her body. His mouth suddenly felt dry, and the carriage was indeed a little cramped. And yet she was so close... The scene he had imagined in his dream kept resurfacing, and he could only suppress it by silently reciting the Tao Te Ching.
Yi Ning didn't know this. She slowly reached out to take the cup beside her, and the jade bracelet on her wrist rubbed against the back of Cheng Lang's hand.
Cheng Lang lowered his head, his voice a little hoarse: "Yining, let me pour you some water."
I took the cup from her hand, and our fingers touched again without us noticing.
Yi Ning was so preoccupied with Wei Ling's affairs that she didn't notice him at all. It wasn't until the carriage slowly stopped and the driver outside said, "Miss, we've arrived at the Duke of Ying's mansion."
She nodded, her expression became serious, she stood up and walked out, and was helped down from the carriage by the maid.
Cheng Lang put down the small teacup in his palm and got off the carriage.
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