The sound of rain outside was still falling, but it was much quieter.
Yi Ning held Yu Ge'er's hand and taught him to draw. Yu Ge'er was concentrating on the paper. Suddenly he looked up and asked her childishly, "Auntie, do you think my drawing is good?"
Yi Ning kissed his soft face and said, "Brother Yu is the best painter."
Yuger felt so itchy and numb from her kiss that he rubbed his face against her clothes and leaned in her arms to paint more attentively.
The child had become incredibly affectionate with her over the past few days, even last night insisting on sleeping with her. Luo Yihui, feeling both amused and annoyed, lectured him, "...Don't come back in the middle of the night making a fuss! I'll beat you up if you disturb your aunt's sleep."
Yu Ge'er thought about it again and again and decided not to go back to sleep with her.
Lin Hairu was shelling peanuts for them, removing the red skin. Each peanut was plump, white, and tender, appearing tempting. These peanuts were freshly dug and tastier than the dried kind, and Yining really enjoyed them.
But now she had no interest in any of this. She looked towards the corridor. Her elder sister went to invite Zhao Mingzhu. When she heard that Lu Jiaxue was coming, Zhao Mingzhu immediately went to the front hall.
The maids over there, accompanied by Luo Yihui, approached with umbrellas in hand, and folded them under the corridor. Luo Yihui stepped inside and said to Lin Hairu, "...It is indeed Commander Lu who has come. He said he was passing through here on his inspection tour. My uncle has a banquet in the main house and asked everyone to come over."
Yi Ning suddenly asked, "Didn't he come here to see Miss Mingzhu?"
Luo Yihui smiled and shook her head. "He only knew Mingzhu was here when I brought her there. He heard that we took good care of Mingzhu and even sent her some precious mountain delicacies. She's currently talking to her uncle in the main room and has given Yiyu and Yixiu gifts."
Lin Hairu put the peeled peanuts into a small dish, patted the peanut crumbs on his hands, and said with a smile, "I've been curious about what this Governor Lu is like. There are so many fantastic stories about him, about killing his brothers and seizing the position of marquis. I thought he had three heads and six arms! Yining, go change your clothes and come with me." Lin Hairu thought for a moment and said to Ruixiang, "Go to Concubine Guo's place and call Xuan'er as well."
The baby in her belly was fine, and she had a bad memory, so she had long forgotten about Xuan Ge'er's revenge.
Yi Ning picked up a few peanuts and chewed them, the sweet smell spreading throughout the air. She said, "Don't bother with that. This dress is quite nice."
Lu Jiaxue was particularly good at judging people; it was practically a gift. If you dressed up again and went to see him, he would be able to tell at a glance how you treated him.
She didn't want to change into any clothes and let Lu Jiaxue see it and think that they valued him very much!
Lin Hairu didn't force her. Anyway, she thought Yi Ning looked good in whatever she wore.
The main house could only be reached through the bamboo forest outside the bamboo garden and past the inkstone pool. The rain was still drizzling on the way. Xuezhi held an umbrella for Yining as she walked slowly down the street. Lu Jiaxue's guards stood outside the flower hall. Before Yining even entered the flower hall, she saw Lu Jiaxue sitting upright in the hall, separated by the rain and the bamboo branches planted in the hall.
He was tall, his sharpness and aloofness softened considerably now that he was over thirty. He wore a robe with a right-side opening. He had fought on the battlefield for years, and his posture was always straight and dignified. His handsome features were deep-set, with a slightly raised brow ridge. He looked familiar yet strangely unfamiliar.
It was as if this person had only appeared in her dream.
In the distance came the noisy voices of her uncle and aunt, the patter of a maid arranging saucers, and the occasional low, murmured response. Yining suddenly didn't know how to approach him, and when she finally faced him, she still wanted to turn and run.
During all the years Yi Ning had been making hairpins, she had been pondering a single question: Why did her eldest sister-in-law say that Lu Jiaxue had killed her? Every day, as she knelt before the Buddha and chanted sutras, she recited not only for her husband, Lu Jiaran, who had died young, but also for her younger siblings, who had died young, because they had all perished at the hands of Lu Jiaxue's indifference and greed.
But when Yi Ning thought about Lu Jiaxue's youth and the times when he laughed and teased her, she still didn't quite understand.
He said to Yining, "You're not good at making couplets, but your handwriting is not good either. You can't even compare to me."
The lady asked the daughters-in-law to hand-copy Buddhist scriptures. She asked her personal maid to do it, but she was discovered by him. Lu Jiaxue snatched the pen from her hand and said, "Come on, I'll help you write a few chapters. I think your maid can't copy them all, but your handwriting is too ugly. It will be embarrassing for me if you show it to others."
Or maybe it was when he caught her playing with the little girl later. He stared at Yi Ning and sighed, "When I married you, I thought I was marrying someone dignified and virtuous. It wasn't long after I married you that you were exposed... Why are you so virtuous in front of outsiders?"
Yi Ning glared at him and said coldly: "If you don't like me, I'll go back!"
She asked the maid to move his bedding to the study and did not allow him to go back to his room to sleep.
Lu Jiaxue patiently slept in the study for three days, curled up in the recliner until his back and waist ached. Later, he came over with Baisuo and said with a smile, "I'm here to play with you. Please don't let me sleep in the study anymore. The guards at home are laughing at me!"
Yi Ning's heart was filled with tingling at that moment. She wondered how this handsome young man could be so beautiful, and his smile seemed to hook people's hearts. She felt that this was truly happy. Although he joked with her every day and was not doing his job, he was really good to her.
Later, she fell off a cliff and died. Ningyuan Marquis's mansion was in turmoil. He walked into the mansion, blood-drenched sword in hand. His expression was numb and cold, and he wore armor that reeked of iron. His followers were all so well-trained. That was the first time Yi Ning had seen Lu Jiaxue like this. She wondered if this was the Lu Jiaxue she knew. This was clearly... this was clearly a completely different person!
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