Chapter 197 The Grand Finale
"Sticky and chewy!"
Xie Yanzhi's heart jumped instantly, and he quickly walked towards the swing.
If Nuonuo chooses Xiao Huaiyi, then Shen Qingnian will not give him another chance.
He wasn't sure if Nuonuo would choose him, so the safest thing to do right now was to not let him say it.
So Xie Yanzhi walked over quickly, interrupting Nuonuo before she could finish speaking.
Shen Qingnian turned around and saw him, a hint of surprise flashing across her face.
I don't know when he arrived, or how much of what we just said he overheard.
Upon seeing Xie Yanzhi, Shen Nuonuo immediately jumped down from Shen Qingnian's arms, rushed over, hugged his neck, and cried out, "Uncle Xie!"
Xie Yanzhi picked up the little guy and looked at Shen Qingnian with a questioning expression.
He's standing right here, how dare she say he's dead!
Shen Qingnian looked at him without feeling guilty.
She had always planned to never have anything to do with him again, so saying he was dead would save Nuonuo from asking questions later.
"Mommy, I want Uncle Xie to be my daddy."
Shen Nuonuo stroked Xie Yanzhi's face with her small hand and suddenly spoke.
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingnian's eyelashes trembled, and she looked at the two people in front of her with a complicated expression.
Xie Yanzhi looked at Shen Qingnian and saw that she just lowered her eyes and didn't say anything.
He turned around and looked at her, saying, "Nuonuo, I am you..."
"Thank you, Yanzhi!" Shen Qingnian stopped him in time.
She hadn't figured out how to tell Nuonuo about it yet, and she didn't want to admit that Nuonuo was Xie Yanzhi's child.
"Now that the young master's injuries have healed, please leave my courtyard as soon as possible."
After saying that, she picked up Nuonuo and walked towards her room.
Xie Yanzhi watched her retreating figure, his fingers clenched, and replied in her direction, "Okay."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingnian paused for a moment, but ultimately lifted the curtain and went into her room.
The next day, Xie Yanzhi indeed moved Yuan Qing out of the shop and took a boat back to the capital.
Shen Qingnian glanced at the empty octagonal chair, her heart filled with indescribable emotions, but after a moment, she calmed herself down.
Xie Yanzhi left, and no one bothered her to live her life anymore.
Half a month later, Xie Yanzhi sat behind his desk at Guanlan Residence, holding a letter in his hand, and slammed it heavily on the table: "Shen Qingnian!"
She has such audacity! She really thinks he's dead!
Yuan Qing glanced at the letter, which was covered in dark drawings of a woman and a man. It was a letter that the young master had written to his master.
Suzhou, Longfeng Teahouse.
Shen Qingnian sat by the window, sipping tea and waiting for Li Xiucai.
The shopkeeper, Mr. Liu, insisted that she come to meet his nephew, saying that his nephew was a scholar who had met her by chance that day, and that he had asked Mr. Liu to mediate.
Shen Qingnian initially refused, but later she thought that perhaps she could have a fake marriage with Li Xiucai.
Then she would provide him with some financial assistance to help him pass the imperial examinations in the capital, and Li Xiucai would stay in the capital.
She stayed in Suzhou, and the two no longer had any contact.
In this way, she would have a husband in public, and Nuonuo would have a father, and others would not gossip about the two of them behind their backs.
Thinking this, I suddenly felt someone sit down in front of me.
“Li Xiucai…” Shen Qingnian said as she turned her head, only to see Xie Yanzhi scrutinizing her with a livid face.
He had only been gone for half a month when she secretly came to meet other men, which made Xie Yanzhi very angry.
"It's you?" A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Qingnian's eyes when she saw him.
After all, Xie Yanzhi had only left half a month ago, and the round trip from Suzhou to the capital by water would take at least a month.
"Why can't it be me?" Xie Yanzhi saw her expression. Was she upset that he had arrived too quickly and ruined her plans?
A fast horse delivering an urgent message over 800 li is naturally much faster than a boat!
"Where is Scholar Li? What did you do to him?" Shen Qingnian asked, frowning.
At this hour, Scholar Li should have arrived.
Xie Yanzhi was displeased by her concern for others, but he said calmly:
"I'm going back."
Just now, the scholar Li was stopped downstairs by his men. Before the men could even approach him, the scholar Li glanced at him and fled in panic.
Xie Yanzhi scoffed inwardly. How dare someone like that try to get involved with him!
Seeing that Shen Qingnian was still asking about that coward, he really should let her see that cowardly person with her own eyes.
"Am I, a dignified governor, not even as good as a mere scholar?"
"Can't you be a little more obedient when I'm not around?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Qingnian's eyes: "The Governor?"
"Um."
"From now on, I'll stay in Suzhou and stay with you and Nuonuo," Xie Yanzhi said, then sipped his tea.
Shen Qingnian then realized that the reason he had agreed to leave so easily last time was because he had such a plan in mind.
Seeing Shen Qingnian's expression that day, Xie Yanzhi thought he needed some time to get her to accept him.
Constantly traveling between the two places is definitely not a viable option.
So as soon as he returned to the capital, he went to the palace to see the emperor and requested an imperial decree to serve as the governor of Suzhou.
Just as Shen Qingnian was about to speak, Yuan Qing brought Nuonuo over.
As soon as Shen Nuonuo saw him, she happily rushed into his arms and said, "Daddy!"
On the way here, Uncle Yuanqing had already told him that Uncle Xie was his father.
It's just that her father had angered her mother in the past, and her mother had never forgiven him, so she lied to her and said that her father was dead.
Shen Nuonuo was very happy that her father was still alive.
What made him even happier was that Uncle Xie was his father.
When Shen Qingnian heard Shen Nuonuo call Xie Yanzhi "father," she was startled.
Nuonuo turned to Shen Qingnian and said, "Mother, please forgive Father."
"Father is so handsome and skilled in martial arts, he can protect me and Mother!"
As Shen Nuonuo spoke, she became more and more satisfied with Xie Yanzhi.
Shen Qingnian looked at the two of them without saying a word for a long time.
Later, everyone knew that Governor Xie would go to Su's Spice Shop every day after his shift, presumably because he had taken a liking to Lady Su.
However, Madam Su's expression was always unpleasant whenever she saw Lord Xie.
On one occasion, when Lord Xie brought his betrothal gifts to the shop, Lady Su chased him and his belongings out of the shop.
Unexpectedly, Lord Xie came over as usual the next day, acting as if nothing had happened.
That day, a familiar figure appeared at the door.
Shen Qingnian looked up and saw Xiao Huaiyi standing in front of the shop, smiling at her, then turning her gaze to the father and son beside her who were writing intently.
Shen Qingnian walked to the door and said, "Young Master Xiao, it's been a long time."
Xiao Huaiyi nodded: "Madam Su, I've come to say goodbye."
"Farewell?"
Xiao Huaiyi explained, "His Majesty has bestowed a marriage upon me and the second young lady of Doctor Zhang's family. I am returning to the capital today, and I stopped by to visit you."
As Xiao Huaiyi spoke, he kept staring at Shen Qingnian, trying to see something in her eyes.
But Shen Qingnian remained calm, showing no sign of anxiety or distress. Instead, she smiled gently and said to him, "Then congratulations, Young Master Xiao."
Is he good to you?
Shen Qingnian turned around and happened to meet Xie Yanzhi's gaze.
Shen Qingnian turned around and nodded.
At this moment, Xie Yanzhi came forward, cupped his hands and said, "Huaiyi, thank you for taking care of them, mother and son, over the past few years."
Xiao Huaiyi waved his hand: "As long as the governor cherishes the people in front of him, that's enough."
Xie Yanzhi and Shen Qingnian then escorted Xiao Huaiyi to the ferry to board a boat.
As Xiao Huaiyi watched the two figures gradually disappear into the distance from the boat, a bitter feeling welled up in his heart.
In fact, from the day Nuonuo ran towards Xie Yanzhi, Xiao Huaiyi had a premonition that he and Miss Shen would probably never have another chance.
Moreover, he had visited Chengxi three years ago, and the Shen family said that a young master from the capital had taken Madam Shen away.
At that moment, he realized that he had always been a step behind.
If Miss Shen were to speak up and ask him to stay today, he would do everything in his power to refuse the marriage for her sake.
But in the end, he and she missed each other.
He had no choice but to return to the capital to accept the arranged marriage, and from then on, he would have nothing to do with romance, only to support the Xiao family.
Xiao Huaiyi stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the picturesque sunset before him. From now on, the scenery here would no longer concern him.
Another year has passed in the blink of an eye.
A sudden downpour began, and Xie Yanzhi, dressed in official robes, rushed into the courtyard, where he saw Shen Qingnian braving the rain to collect the spices that had been drying.
He quickly went up to help.
After the two hurriedly put away the spices, Xie Yanzhi saw the letter on the table.
It has the unique symbol of the Jingnan Marquis's residence.
"Is it a letter from Second Aunt?" Xie Yanzhi asked as he wiped Shen Qingnian's hair with a towel.
"Um."
In her letter, my aunt said that since the Second Master woke up, he had made her the mistress of the house, and she was now living a very comfortable life in the mansion.
Xie Zhao's cousin got married half a month ago; he married Liu Hao's sister, Liu Shangshu's daughter.
She also said that the old lady and the others were very happy to hear about Nuonuo's situation and hoped that she would take Nuonuo back to see her as soon as possible.
At the end of the letter, the aunt mentioned that her mother had been taken to the Jingnan Marquis's residence by Xie Yanzhi four years ago, where she was carefully cared for by the people there.
Now, he is sometimes lucid and sometimes not, and when he is awake, he always calls out Shen Qingnian's name.
Xie Yanzhi also took care of the Jiang family and her incompetent father, Shen Changyin.
Shen Qingnian suddenly hugged Xie Yanzhi.
Xie Yanzhi trembled, realizing what Shen Qingnian was doing, and his heart softened instantly.
After so long, this was the first time Shen Qingnian had taken the initiative to hug him.
It seems she has forgiven him.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Shen Qingnian clinging tightly to him.
Shen Qingnian shook her head.
Why didn't you tell me about my mother's matter?
Shen Qingnian said softly.
"I'm afraid you'll misunderstand me."
Shen Qingnian understood that Xie Yanzhi was afraid she would misunderstand that he was holding his mother hostage at the Jingnan Marquis's residence in order to force her to return.
"What have you done to Shen Changyin?"
Xie Yanzhi said casually, "Back then, he said he wanted to talk to you, so I had no choice but to grant his wish. I made him go to your grave every day and talk for a full hour before he was allowed to leave."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingnian looked at Xie Yanzhi with a slight smile and asked, "When shall we depart?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Yanzhi's face lit up with surprise: "You're willing to go back with me?"
Shen Qingnian smiled and said, "You've invited so many people to persuade me, don't you want me to go back with you?"
Xie Yanzhi's term in Suzhou has expired, and he must leave Suzhou.
In addition, Xie Songyan had already written to Xie Yanzhi, asking him to return and inherit the title of Marquis, and he wanted to go back to Jiangnan to see the Yang family.
Shen Qingnian then asked, "When you go back, will you still find me a gentle and dignified matriarch?"
“When we return to the capital, I will bring you into the family with great pomp and circumstance, and you will be the mistress of the house.”
"Then you can't restrain me, I'm the shopkeeper's wife."
"You can open as many shops as you want."
Xie Yanzhi hugged Shen Qingnian tightly and placed a kiss on her forehead...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
