Chapter 375 Return to Daxuan
…………Return to the ancient version ending, unrelated to the modern version ending, can be continued to chapter 346………………
When Shen Ning opened her eyes, she was dazed for a moment. Looking at the shaking ceiling, it took her a while for her thoughts to gradually become clear.
Shouldn't she have died in Beihai Prefecture?
She remembered that she took her last breath in Xiao Nanchen's arms. The moment her consciousness sank into the endless darkness, she heard Xiao Nanchen's heart-wrenching cry... Then where is she now?
At this moment, she suddenly remembered that as her consciousness drifted, a voice seemed to ring in her ears, saying something about the completion of merit and the promise of rebirth...
"Hey, are you awake?"
The girl's crisp voice rang out: "Miss, Miss, the girl is awake."
Only then did Shen Ning realize that she was lying in a wobbly carriage.
She moved, struggled to sit up, and then was horrified to find that the clothes she was wearing... were actually modern.
"I……"
She looked at the master and servant opposite her: "Why am I here?"
The lady, who was born with a distinctive appearance, looked at her with a puzzled look: "Don't you remember it yourself?"
Shen Ning shook her head.
The maidservant next to her immediately said, "My young lady found you in the river. You were floating on the water. If it weren't for my young lady, you would have drowned."
In the river?
Shen Ning hesitated and said, "Excuse me, is there a mirror?"
The young lady raised her chin, and the maid took out a mirror from the small table next to her and handed it to her. Shen Ning reached out to take it, slowly put it in front of her eyes, and then she was shocked to see that it was her face in modern times.
But she didn't look haggard and weak like she did in her twenties when she was seriously ill. She looked to be around twenty years old, with some baby fat still on her cheeks and her face full of collagen, without any of the skinny look of the later stages of the illness.
But what is going on?
She looked at the master and servant opposite her: "Excuse me, where is this place?"
The young lady looked at her with a strange look in her eyes. "Are you a slave who escaped from some family? You're dressed so strangely... If you're a slave, don't be afraid. Our Great Xuan Dynasty has abolished slavery and doesn't allow slavery... Oh, yes, this is Yunzhou. Where are you from?"
Yunzhou?
It’s still thousands of miles away from the capital!
Shen Ning asked again: "What year is Jing Yong this year?"
The young lady looked at her with an even stranger expression: "The second year of Jingyong, you don't even know this?"
The second year of Jingyong, so, it has been two years!
The carriage continued to move forward, and Shen Ning also knew the identities of the master and servant opposite.
This young lady's name is Cui Yuru. She is the owner of a business in Chenghe County, Lingnan, 300 miles away from Yunzhou. She came to Yunzhou City to seek refuge with her fiancé.
Six years ago, her fiancé went to Beijing to take the imperial examination but failed, so he stayed in the capital to study at the Imperial College. He passed the imperial examination last spring and became a Jinshi. Three months ago, he went to Yunzhou to serve as a county magistrate.
For the past six years, Cui Yuru has been supporting her fiancé in the capital. Even when something unexpected happened at home and her parents died, she took on the burden of the family alone and never stopped going to the capital to support him.
After receiving the news that her fiancé had taken office in Yunzhou, she began to sell her property so that she could reunite with him.
In fact, there was not much family property left after all these years. In the past few years, the government was in chaos and the army was rampant. In order to protect the family property, she even ran a pig farm during that time, but she finally made it through.
The master and servant, along with some servants and guards, headed for Yunzhou. When they were resting by a river to enjoy the scenery, they discovered a sunken lemon in the water. Cui Yuru was kind-hearted, so she rescued the person and brought him to her carriage.
Shen Ning didn't understand why she returned to Daxuan in her youthful appearance, but being able to come back was simply a great fortune for her.
After all, who can be like her, dying and coming back to life again...it's very exciting.
However, Yunzhou was too far from the capital, and she didn't know anyone here, so she could only wait until she entered the city and find a post station to send a letter to the capital.
But now her appearance is different from the body she used before. How can she explain it and how can she make people believe that she is Queen Shen Ning?
If she said this outside, she would probably be chopped to death before she could even see Xiao Nanchen.
Hearing Shen Ning say that her family is in Beijing, Cui Yuru was a little surprised: "Are you from Beijing?"
Chen Ning nodded, and then made up an excuse that she and her family went on a long trip and accidentally fell into the water... Cui Yuru didn't think much about it, and immediately agreed to wait until Yunzhou City sent someone to deliver the letter for her.
Afterwards, Cui Yuru took out another set of her own clothes and asked Shen Ning to change into them: "Your clothes are really strange, so you should wear mine first."
Shen Ning thanked him and started to change her clothes.
The carriage was full of girls, so she didn't care much and changed into them directly, inside and out.
A day later, the carriage drove into Yunzhou City.
After entering the city, Shen Ning immediately sent a letter to the capital. Ordinary letters could not be delivered to the palace, so she sent a letter to the Xie family and Hua Yingxue respectively.
Of course, she didn't say in the letter that she had faked her own death, but she used the excuse that she was an old friend of Shen Ning and she had something important to see them about.
After delivering the letter, she moved into the inn with Cui Yuru and her servant.
She was penniless and had to continue to eat and stay before getting a reply. She felt a little embarrassed. Shen Ning tactfully said that she would thank her family doubly after contacting them.
Cui Yuru was used to dealing with people in business, so she said casually: "It didn't cost much money. It's fate that we met. Don't think too much."
As she spoke, she laughed and joked, "Now my husband Li has become the county magistrate. When we get married, I will be the county magistrate's wife. Why would I care about such a small matter?"
Shen Ning smiled and said, "Master Li is truly fortunate to have met Miss Cui."
Supporting for six years and waiting for six years, not everyone can do it.
Cui Yuru was very pleased: "That's also because I have good taste..."
The next day after checking into the inn, Cui Yuru dressed up carefully and prepared to meet her fiancé.
After all, they hadn't seen each other for six years, so it was impossible not to feel nervous, especially since her poor and simple fiancé was now a county magistrate, and she had worked hard in business over the years, and even raised pigs, being nicknamed the Pig-Raising Xishi... Cui Yuru felt a little uneasy.
Thinking that Chen Ning was from Beijing and should be knowledgeable, Cui Yuru asked Chen Ning to go with her, and Chen Ning naturally agreed.
But when they arrived at the county government office, Shen Ning felt something was wrong.
According to Cui Yuru, she had sent a letter to her fiancé in advance and told him that they would meet today, but there was no one waiting to greet him outside the county government office?
Originally, in Shen Ning's opinion, since his fiancée whom he had not seen for six years had arrived, it was wrong for County Magistrate Li not to take the initiative to rush to the inn to pick her up early. However, Cui Yuru said that Li Lang was busy with affairs, and that a noble from the capital had visited Yunzhou recently, and the officials of the entire Yunzhou city were busy, so it was understandable.
But no matter how busy I am, I can always arrange someone to pick me up, right?
But now, there was no one in front of the county government gate except the guards.
Cui Yuru looked at the majestic stone lions and the vermilion gate and couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She turned her head and asked Shen Ning in a low voice: "What should we do?"
Shen Ning actually had some premonition in her heart, she smiled and said: "I'll go ask."
Patting Cui Yuru's hand, Shen Ning took a few steps forward and politely said to the yamen runner, "Big brother, please pass on the message that the relatives of County Magistrate Li have arrived."
The yamen runner saw Cui Yuru shrinking a little and had originally planned to expel her, but after hearing Shen Ning's conversation and seeing her smiling and neither humble nor arrogant appearance, he immediately changed his mind.
"Ladies, please wait a moment."
As they walked inside to pass on the message, the yamen runners felt a little puzzled: If the master had relatives coming, they would definitely have made arrangements in advance, but they hadn't heard anything.
A moment later, the bailiff came out with a cold expression: "Please wait a moment, someone will come out shortly."
Cui Yuru hadn't noticed anything was wrong yet. She just looked at the government office in front of her, her eyes shining: "What a magnificent sight! Li Lang must be quite impressive now."
Shen Ning moved her lips and spoke hesitantly: "People will change after not seeing each other for a few years."
Cui Yuru stroked her hair a little nervously, then turned to ask Chen Ning, "Do I look old?"
Shen Ning laughed: "Miss, at the age of 24, you are as beautiful as a flower. There is no way that you can be considered old."
"That's good. Ningning, look at my outfit. Compared to the women you've seen in Beijing, isn't it too tacky?"
Shen Ning said truthfully: "It's generous and decent, I think it's very good."
Cui Yuru felt relieved.
At this time, an old man with a small mustache walked out of the yamen, dressed like a legal advisor. When he saw Shen Ning and the other two, he immediately came over and bowed to Shen Ning with a respectful expression: "But Miss Cui?"
Cui Yuru blushed suddenly.
Shen Ning was speechless. She stood one step behind Cui Yuru. Could she be the young lady of the host family? The old man's eyesight was not very good.
She gestured, "This is my young lady."
The old man quickly bowed to Cui Yuru and said, "Miss Cui, I am Master Li's advisor. Master Li is too busy to come out and ask me to come out and see you."
Cui Yuru hurriedly said it was okay, Shen Ning secretly pulled her sleeve, and Cui Yuru immediately stopped talking.
Shen Ning asked, "Master Li is too busy to spare time. How will you, Master, arrange for my young lady to be settled?"
"this……"
The old man gestured to the side: "Let's talk for a moment."
At this time, Cui Yuru finally realized something was wrong.
She often dealt with people and was not stupid. It was just that she had not thought about it before and was too excited to notice anything wrong. At this moment, seeing that the master had no intention of welcoming her in and instead led her to the side, Cui Yuru realized something.
She remembered Shen Ning's subtle reminder just now: people will change in six years.
When they reached the nearby tree, the lawyer took out a stack of silver notes and presented them to Cui Yuru with both hands. "Miss Cui, my master has spent a total of 315 taels of silver on you over the past six years. Here are 700 taels... My master said that you will never forget your kindness, so I will repay you double."
Cui Yuru's face suddenly turned pale. "Double return, what does that mean?"
The lawyer coughed lightly and said gently, "Miss Cui, the prefect, Lord Liu, intends to marry his daughter to Lord Li. With such great love from the superior, how could Lord Li dare to refuse... I have no choice but to let Miss Cui down. I hope Miss Cui understands how difficult it is for him."
He handed the banknote to Cui Yuru and advised, "Seven hundred taels is not a small sum. Miss Cui, use this money to build a family business and find a good son-in-law. Isn't it the best of both worlds..."
Cui Yuru's face instantly lost all color, as if she had been struck hard. "Best of both worlds...Best of both worlds? Is that what he meant?"
The lawyer laughed dryly, "Isn't that true? If Miss Cui can figure this out, that would be a great thing. From now on, we will treat you like a real sister and give you a dowry when you get married. What do you think, Miss Cui?"
Cui Yuru suddenly laughed.
She was clearly smiling, but there was sadness in her eyes.
It's not that she hadn't heard that most unfaithful people are scholars, and it's not that no one has reminded her, but she had never doubted it, nor had she ever thought that Li Linshuang, who would blush and call her sister, would change his mind.
It was clear that not long ago they were still expressing their longing for each other in letters and sharing their true feelings with each other, but now, he asked her to have the best of both worlds.
"Very good, really very good..."
The lawyer laughed dryly and said stiffly, "Then please accept this banknote, Miss Cui, and return the marriage certificate."
Cui Yuru looked at the banknotes handed to her, her whole body trembling. Shen Ning thought she would cry, but she didn't.
Cui Yuru suddenly looked up: "I can agree to his request and return the marriage certificate, but I want him to tell me in person."
She pulled the corners of her mouth, her smile uglier than crying: "After six years of love, he doesn't even dare to see me?"
The lawyer frowned and said, "This... My master is busy with official duties. He is currently at the prefectural residence accompanying the master from the capital. He really can't spare time."
"Besides, if we can end it respectably, why bother with a face-to-face confrontation? Miss Cui, don't you agree?"
Cui Yuru finally laughed out loud, tears in her eyes: "So, he doesn't even want to see me. Okay, okay..."
She reached out and grabbed the banknote from the legal advisor's hand, and stuffed it into Chuntao, the maid beside her. Chuntao glared at the legal advisor with red eyes.
"I don't blame others, I blame myself for being too stupid, I blame myself for not listening to others, I blame myself for trusting that six years of love was stronger than gold, but I didn't expect people's hearts to change so easily, I don't blame others..."
Shen Ning supported Cui Yuru, frowning but not knowing how to comfort her.
Along the way, Cui Yuru didn't say a word, just sat silently in the carriage. But the moment she entered the inn, she screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood, and then fell down with a bang.
Shen Ning was shocked and quickly caught the person. Together with Chun Tao, she helped the person to the bed. Chun Tao cried anxiously: "Miss, Miss, please don't scare me, Miss."
Shen Ning put his hand on Cui Yuru's wrist, frowning, and asked Chuntao to get paper and pen: "I'll write the prescription, and you go get the medicine."
Chuntao quickly wiped her tears and went outside to find paper and pen, but Cui Yuru took her hand back, closed her eyes and said nothing, just tears streaming down her face.
Chen Ning knew that being in such a state of rage and grief would damage one's internal organs. If one wasn't careful, this situation could be fatal. She whispered to him in a consoling tone, "For a heartless person, are you even going to risk your own life? It's not worth it to be heartbroken for someone like that."
Cui Yuru closed her eyes and just shook her head: "You don't understand, you don't understand. He and I depend on each other for survival. My parents are gone, and all these years, only thinking of Li Lang has given me the energy to struggle to survive... Now he has changed his heart."
"How could he change his mind..."
"I saved his life, I'm already his... We agreed to be together through thick and thin, how could he change his mind?"
Cui Yuru refused to take the medicine, clearly wanting to die.
Shen Ning didn't force it in. She knew that no one could save someone who was determined to die...
She whispered to Cui Yuru, "I'll go to the prefect's residence to look for him and bring him to you. You take the medicine first, okay?"
Cui Yuru opened her eyes and looked at her straight in the eye: "Really?"
Shen Ning nodded: "Seriously."
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