19
Willows swayed gently along the roadside as the carriage passed through the city gates.
Li Yifang’s expression was somewhat troubled. Ruan Xi hadn’t managed to buy any snacks either; the child’s little hands and the front of his clothes were smeared with dust.
Ruan An wiped the boy down with a soft handkerchief, feeling that something must have happened earlier. A sense of panic gradually rose in her heart—she feared that Li Shuying’s people had come looking for her again.
Just then, Li Yifang lifted the carriage curtain and looked toward the city gates. Furrowing his brows slightly, as if talking to himself, he asked in bewilderment, “Why is he still chasing after us?”
“Who is chasing after us?”
Ruan An’s expression changed, and she asked in a trembling voice.
Ruan Xi leaned his little body toward Li Yifang and also peered outside the carriage curtain. In a soft, milky voice, he said, “It’s that strange uncle from earlier! That’s him! He knocked all my biluo onto the ground and even picked me up.”
The boy was still quite indignant about what had happened, his chubby little face puffing up with anger as he spoke.
Li Yifang replied in a distant tone, “It’s the Marquis of Dingbei, Huo Pingxiao.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Li Yifang saw Ruan An’s expression change dramatically, her face carried alarm and fear.
Beside her, Ruan Xi remained innocent and oblivious. This time, Li Yifang looked more closely and realized that the child’s features bore a striking resemblance to Huo Pingxiao.
A realization dawned on Li Yifang. He asked in disbelief, “Could it be that this child’s father is…?”
Ruan An furrowed her brows and shook her head at Li Yifang, but her expression was not one of denial—rather, she didn’t want Ruan Xi to overhear anything.
“Driver, make the horse go faster!”
“Miss, it’s not that I don’t want to go faster, it’s that this horse is old—it can’t run fast!”
“Please, just make it go as fast as it can. I’ll pay you extra. If it gets injured or dies from running, I’ll pay you for a new horse as well.”
“Sigh, alright then. I’ll try.”
After speaking with the driver, Ruan An immediately pulled Ruan Xi onto her lap, holding the child protectively in her arms, and gently reminded him, “Xi’er, it might get a bit bumpy soon. Hold on tight.”
Ruan Xi obediently nodded his little head.
Ruan An’s heart pounded faster and faster, thundering like a drum. She vaguely felt that Huo Pingxiao might have discovered the child’s secret, but she couldn’t think of how to handle the situation.
She had no idea how to face Huo Pingxiao either, terrified that he might use his power to take the child away directly.
The speeding carriage grew increasingly bumpy. The curtain fluttered left and right in the damp spring breeze. The old horse’s hoarse whinnies sounded shrill and pitiful.
“Whoosh—”
Suddenly, the gentle spring breeze around them turned into a howling gale. Ruan An’s heart skipped a beat.
She looked up and saw a vigorous figure leap from the top of the carriage curtain, soaring through the air and landing squarely in front of their carriage.
The large horse planted its four hooves and stopped right in front of the carriage.
Though the driver reined in the horse in time, Ruan An’s apricot eyes trembled with panic, her pupils shrinking sharply. Still, she didn’t forget to protect the child in her arms.
The driver’s terrified voice came from outside: “This… this officer… we’re just ordinary folks leaving the city… you… you can’t just stop our carriage like this…”
The unfamiliar man before him was imposing and striking, his stature tall and commanding. Yet he remained unmoved by the driver’s words, still blocking their path with his horse.
What was going on? Had Lord Li offended some powerful figure?
“Miss Ruan, come down. We need to talk properly.”
The man’s voice was low and familiar. Ruan An was at a loss—she had never expected Huo Pingxiao to know she was inside this carriage. She thought to ask Li Yifang to look after Ruan Xi for a moment.
Before she could speak, Li Yifang stopped her. “You and Xi’er stay in the carriage. I’ll go out and meet him.”
Huo Pingxiao had already dismounted. When he saw the carriage curtain finally lifted, the person who emerged was not the young woman he wanted to see, but that faithless Prefect of Jingzhao. His sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
Li Yifang, his expression stern, walked up to the man. He was not afraid of Huo Pingxiao’s power; his entire bearing radiated the upright integrity of a government official. He immediately confronted him in a cold voice: “Marquis Huo, though you hold a noble title, you cannot openly stop innocent citizens’ carriages in front of me, the Prefect of Jingzhao who stands up for the people.”
“Stand up for the people?”
Huo Pingxiao let out a derisive laugh, a faint trace of menace lurking at the corners of his eyes and brows. “You were engaged to her, yet you left that young woman stranded in Jiazhou for years. The position the emperor granted you after the imperial examinations two years ago was decent enough, but you never said a word about bringing her from Jiazhou to Chang’an.”
As he spoke, Huo Pingxiao was clearly struggling to suppress his anger.
He was now certain that Li Yifang was the fiancé Ruan An had spoken of. He could well imagine how difficult it had been for that young woman to raise a child all alone.
Perhaps the destruction of her marriage to Li Yifang was inseparable from the accident that had happened between them back then. But even so, Li Yifang was certainly not a man worth entrusting one’s life to.
If he had truly wanted to marry that young woman back then, he should have brought her to Chang’an immediately.
Li Yifang looked confused. He felt that Huo Pingxiao’s accusations were utterly nonsensical—as if the man had misunderstood something.
But even if it was a misunderstanding, Huo Pingxiao had gotten a young woman like Ruan An pregnant, sullied her virtue, and then abandoned her. What right did such a person have to accuse anyone else?
“That’s rich coming from the Marquis, who committed the vile act of taking advantage of an innocent woman and then discarding her.”
“What happened back then was an accident. I was unaware of the truth. Let Miss Ruan come down. I have something to say to her alone.”
Huo Pingxiao spoke in a deep voice, no longer willing to argue with Li Yifang there. He decided to walk straight to the carriage and call Ruan An out.
Li Yifang blocked Huo Pingxiao, who was half a head taller than him, and said firmly, “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Miss Ruan likely does not wish to see you.”
“She is the mother of my child. If I want to see her, you are not qualified to say no.”
With these words, Huo Pingxiao’s lashes lowered with a hint of disdain. The man’s dark, ink-black eyes looked down at Li Yifang as if to say—Don’t make me resort to force.
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Ruan An held Ruan Xi and covered the boy’s little ears with her slender hands.
She didn’t know how much of the men’s conversation her son had heard, but she had heard every word between Huo Pingxiao and Li Yifang.
She feared that if their verbal clash continued, Huo Pingxiao might physically harm Li Yifang.
The truth was, neither of these men had anything to do with this matter. It was her own stubborn decision to give birth to Ruan Xi.
Ruan An hadn’t expected that after her rebirth, things would spiral even further out of control. Everything had gone so wrong, so full of missed connections and misunderstandings.
Since Huo Pingxiao had already discovered the child’s secret, she would have to face him sooner or later.
She could hide for a while, but not forever.
Outside the carriage, the two men remained locked in stalemate. It was only when Ruan An lifted the carriage curtain that they finally stopped arguing.
The moment Ruan An jumped down from the carriage and steadied herself, she felt Huo Pingxiao’s gaze land on her. After carefully setting Ruan Xi down on the ground, the boy immediately hid behind her.
Huo Pingxiao seemed to want to walk toward them.
After a long moment, he still stopped in his tracks.
The way the man looked at the mother and son still couldn’t hide his shock.
The group found a secluded restaurant.
Ruan An finally had a chance to explain the misunderstanding to Li Yifang. The child was also looking up at her with a confused expression, not daring to get close to Huo Pingxiao.
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly felt a warmth around her wrist—it was the man’s rough palm, grasping it and gradually enveloping her soft, delicate skin.
“Come inside with me first.”
Huo Pingxiao said in a low voice and then began pulling Ruan An straight into a private room of the restaurant.
Seeing the young woman’s flustered and uncertain expression, Li Yifang stepped in to stop him. “Let her calm down first.”
Huo Pingxiao turned his head and cast a cold glare at Li Yifang, his voice carrying a chilling edge. “Now that we’re here, you don’t need to follow. This is a matter for the three of us, it has nothing to do with you.”
Ruan Xi blinked his dark, glistening eyes repeatedly, staring straight at the unfamiliar, imposing man before him.
Under the innocent gaze of the child, Huo Pingxiao gradually released the young woman’s wrist and looked at him as well.
This child was well-behaved and quiet. Though his features resembled Huo Pingxiao more, his temperament was more like his mother’s. The occasional expressions he revealed also reminded Huo Pingxiao of that soft, timid young girl in his memory.
Ruan An nodded at the child, signaling him not to worry.
After entering the room with Huo Pingxiao, the young woman was quite at a loss. Ever since his horse had blocked their carriage, her heart had been racing uncontrollably, even trembling with an agitation she couldn’t suppress.
On the way to the restaurant, she had actually thought of a set of explanations, but due to her nervousness, she had forgotten them all.
Huo Pingxiao sat down, looked up at her, and said calmly, “Sit first.”
Ruan An found a circular chair and sat down. Then she saw Ruan Xi trotting in on his little feet, following her into the room.
Old memories gradually surfaced. Ruan An still didn’t understand how Huo Pingxiao had found out about this, but she felt that Ruan Xi shouldn’t be present while she talked to the man. She asked him, “Could he… go and find Lord Li first?”
Huo Pingxiao looked down at Ruan Xi. He didn’t refuse, but he didn’t agree either. He asked, “What is this child’s name?”
Ruan An answered truthfully, “He takes my surname. His name is Ruan Xi.”
“Which Xi?”
He lowered his voice and asked patiently.
“The Xi from Xihe (the Sun Goddess).”
Ruan An replied softly, her long, thick lashes slightly lowered. She assumed Huo Pingxiao had read the Classic of Mountains and Seas, so she didn’t explain the meaning of Xihe to him.
After she learned she was pregnant with Ruan Xi, she had quickly thought of the name. Xihe was the name of the Sun Goddess.
At the time, Ruan An thought: if the child was a boy, she would name him Xi; if a girl, she would name her He.
If it was a boy, he would be like his father—as radiant as a little sun.
If it was a girl, her name, combined with the character “Ping” (peace) in her father’s name, would convey the meaning of peace.
Seeing the boy still staring at him warily, Huo Pingxiao tried to make his tone as gentle as possible and said to him, “Ruan Xi, go out now and find the Lord Li your mother mentioned. I have something to say to your mother alone.”
Ruan Xi’s little feet didn’t move an inch. Only when he saw his own mother nod in his direction did he finally pout his little mouth and reluctantly leave the private room.
“You and Li Yifang…”
Before he could finish the question, Huo Pingxiao saw tears welling up in the young woman’s eyes.
He had seen plenty of women cry, but the way this young woman wept always stirred a sense of compassion in him.
He couldn’t remember the details of that day, but seeing how afraid Ruan An was of him, he wondered if he had caused her some kind of harm back then.
“Miss Ruan, did I…”
Force myself on you.
Before he could utter those four words, Ruan An shook her head and replied, “I don’t really remember much about that night either, but it probably wasn’t what you’re thinking.”
Having said this, Ruan An had largely composed herself.
She didn’t want the man to hear her voice trembling, so she forced herself to speak calmly: “Marquis Huo, you once said that when we met again, you would grant me two wishes. May I ask if those words still hold?”
Upon hearing this, the man’s strong brow furrowed slightly. He could certainly see what Ruan An was driving at, and he said calmly, “But he is my son. There’s no way I’m giving him up.”
Ruan An’s voice rose sharply. She knew that coming from such humble origins, she had no standing to fight him for custody, but she still wanted to try her best.
Her eyes reddened as she gritted her teeth and said, “But I was the one who gave birth to him and raised him. You never lifted a finger from start to finish!”
At this point, Ruan An took a deep breath and continued, “You only spent the time it takes to burn one or two sticks of incense. But I spent years giving birth to him and raising him!”
Hearing the phrase “the time it takes to burn one or two sticks of incense,” Huo Pingxiao’s brow furrowed even deeper.
But for now, he couldn’t afford to debate the duration with Ruan An.
“Miss Ruan, other than taking Ruan Xi, I can agree to any wish you make.”
A mother’s strength lies in her children. Ruan An did not want to endure again the heart-wrenching pain of being separated from her child. In an instant, her soft, gentle features were filled with anger and defiance.
She had learned that Huo Pingxiao had become the Grand Marshal of the court. With his and the Huo family’s power, taking Ruan Xi back would be effortless.
The only reason Huo Pingxiao was willing to speak with her calmly here was because she had once saved his life.
Holding back her tears, Ruan An lowered her voice and choked out, “Marquis Huo, I don’t want any gold or silver. I don’t care about worldly possessions. I only want my child.”
Having said this, Ruan An suddenly rose from her chair. Her slender shoulders trembled.
Seeing her like this, Huo Pingxiao also stood and walked toward her.
When Ruan An looked up, she met his deep, unfathomable eyes. Her heart stopped for a beat, then she quickly averted her gaze.
“I want them too.”
The man’s deep, powerful presence brushed over the top of her head. Ruan An looked up again, staring at him in disbelief.
Was Huo Pingxiao…
still going to fight her for Ruan Xi?
Ruan An’s pale pink lips trembled slightly. To her surprise, the man spoke again in a low voice: “I want both you and that child.”
Both?
What did he mean by that?
Ruan An looked at him in confusion. Huo Pingxiao then asked, “You and Li Yifang… what exactly is going on between you now?”
As he asked, he extended his right hand, his long, defined fingers clearly visible. He wanted to wipe the tears from the weeping young woman’s eyes, but fearing that his action might repulse her, he slowly lowered his hand back down.
“He and I… I saved his mother, so I asked Lord Li to escort Ruan Xi and me back to Jiazhou.”
Ruan An’s emotions had not yet settled, and her words were somewhat jumbled. Remembering the tense standoff between the two men earlier, she added, “Don’t cause trouble for him. He and I are not in the kind of relationship you think. My fiancé…”
Huo Pingxiao furrowed his brow and interrupted her: “I won’t pass judgment on Li Yifang’s private conduct. He is indeed a good official. His transfer is a matter for His Majesty and the Ministry of Personnel. All I manage are the troops of Dali.”
But in her previous life, Ruan An had heard plenty about the methods of his father, Huo Lang.
Huo Pingxiao controlled the military power, while Huo Lang was secretly referred to by palace attendants as the “Shadow Emperor” of the dynasty—he controlled all six ministries. Moreover, the position of Jingzhao Junior Prefect was one that saw frequent rotations.
Ruan An still wanted to say a few more words on Li Yifang’s behalf, but Huo Pingxiao hadn’t forgotten the main issue. He looked her in the eyes and asked seriously, “Miss Ruan, since you and Li Yifang are not settled, have you considered what I just proposed to you?”
Ruan An’s heart trembled. Her slender hands also shook slightly.
“Marquis Huo, do you want me to be a concubine? Or… do you want to find a residence to keep me in, making me a hidden mistress?”
“I don’t take concubines.”
“And I will never be your kept woman.”
Ruan An’s tone was resolute. She thought to herself that if Ruan Xi could live in the Huo family as a legitimate son, it wouldn’t be worse than following her to Jiazhou—provided that the noble lady Huo Pingxiao married in the future could accept Ruan Xi.
Her mind raced as she thought about how she would explain this to Ruan Xi, how she would let him acknowledge another woman as his mother.
As she frowned in thought, her small face turned slightly. Just as she was about to turn and bring up the matter with Huo Pingxiao, the tender skin beneath her eyes was suddenly pressed by the man’s warm fingertips.
“Don’t cry.”
Huo Pingxiao’s eyelids lowered slightly. He moved carefully, his brow furrowed, wiping her tears away, one stroke after another.
“I will not let my child be a bastard or an illegitimate son.”
In truth, he was mostly stunned by the sudden revelation that he had a son. The feeling was complicated, and he was barely managing to remain calm.
As for Ruan An—the woman who had saved him and then given birth to his son—Huo Pingxiao naturally felt guilty. Since she was the mother of his child, he was inevitably tied to her.
Now, all he could do was try to make amends and take responsibility.
“Miss Ruan, will you marry me? I will take you as my wife. Then Ruan Xi will be our legitimate child.”
**