Inside the carriage on the way back to Yan Manor, Yan Shouyi picked up a soft gold-threaded cushion and tried to place it behind Yan Jingshuang’s neck.
But Yan Jingshuang avoided it.
“Eldest Brother, I’m not tired.”
Yan Shouyi rubbed the soft cushion. “When I saw you walk out of Ning Manor earlier, you seemed to have become much more exhausted all of a sudden.”
A trace of heartache flashed in Yan Shouyi’s eyes. “Jingshuang, you already knew about it three days ago. Why didn’t you tell your elder brother sooner? With your elder brother here, with Father here, we absolutely wouldn’t have let the Ning family get off so easily today!”
Yan Jingshuang smiled. In front of her family, her smile carried a little more warmth. “Eldest Brother, I personally broke off the engagement with the Ning family, and I have every right to do so. I was the injured party, after all. Besides……”
Yan Jingshuang paused, a trace of bitterness flashing through her eyes. “Besides, I’m a woman. If a woman from Yan Manor makes a scene like this once, the people in the imperial capital won’t care. But if you and Father make the matter too big, who knows what kind of mud those people will sling at you.”
Yan Shouyi’s hand holding the cushion paused. After a moment, his fingers slowly tightened, his expression complicated. “Jingshuang, just wait. Days like these won’t last much longer. Your elder brother will hold up the Yan family. Sooner or later, we’ll be able to return to the imperial capital.”
Looking at the fighting spirit that had ignited in Yan Shouyi’s eyes, Yan Jingshuang suddenly remembered something the comments had said.
【Later, the entire Yan family was charged with the grave crime of treason. That big brother of the Yan family…… tsk, tsk, tsk, his ending was absolutely tragic. He was torn apart by five horses! I wonder if this virtual novel world can recreate that. Even if it can, I wouldn’t dare watch it. Such a handsome young man, and they did something so bloody to him……】
Yan Jingshuang’s heart jolted. Her lips trembled faintly, and her body suddenly turned cold. Without realizing it, she hugged her own arms tightly.
Seeing her face turn pale, Yan Shouyi frowned and asked with concern, “Jingshuang, did you catch a chill just now?”
Yan Jingshuang avoided his gaze. What the comments had said about the Yan family’s future was far too shocking. She did not want Yan Shouyi to worry as well, and she was afraid he might notice something strange, so she quickly changed the subject.
“Didn’t you take an interest in Li Cheng earlier?”
Yan Shouyi’s attention was indeed diverted. “Yes. I noticed when Li Cheng came in. You exchanged a glance with him, and he immediately avoided your eyes. On top of that, he deliberately arrived late today. Clearly, he didn’t want to get involved in the matter between you and Ning Mo. But……”
“But why did he hesitate for only a moment before straightforwardly telling the truth as soon as I revealed that he had also seen everything?” Yan Jingshuang finished for him.
Yan Shouyi nodded. “You and Li Cheng definitely don’t have any personal relationship. Even if his strange illness meant he had to confess, he could have delayed for a while longer or used some tactful wording. The Li family has to tell the truth, but you know that language itself is profound. The same truth can be expressed in many different ways. That way, he might not have had to offend the Ning family.”
By Li Cheng’s generation, the Li family had already declined somewhat. They were no longer as aggressive as their ancestors and instead followed the middle path, paying particular attention to offending neither side.
Moreover, Li Cheng’s father worked under the Ning family. With Li Cheng giving such a testimony, his family’s prospects in officialdom would inevitably become much more difficult.
Although the Yan family had military merits to its name, it possessed no actual authority. When it came to the appointment and transfer of officials in Hangzhou, even a powerful outsider could not overcome the local powers. They could not help the Li family’s political prospects. Besides, their father was upright by nature and would disdain doing such things.
Thus, Li Cheng helping Yan Jingshuang had essentially been asking for trouble. He had originally intended to avoid her.
Yan Jingshuang picked up the teapot from the small table, turned the two inverted white porcelain cups upright, and filled both with hot tea. She picked up one of the cups and warmed her hands around it.
” Although the Li family kept a low profile in this generation, every single one of its descendants ultimately remembered their ancestral teachings.”
‘Even if one is afflicted with a strange illness, it is a gift from heaven and a lesson in propriety. One must guard one’s true heart, and one’s words must always be sincere.’
The ancestors of the Li family really had all been upright and honorable people who strictly observed propriety.
From the bullet comments, Yan Jingshuang had learned that although Li Cheng was moderate in his conduct, he was someone who remembered his ancestral teachings and could still hold fast to his principles.
Li Cheng had avoided her gaze earlier because he had assumed she had not seen him that day. He had wanted to protect himself and avoid getting involved in the matter between her and Ning Mo.
But Li Cheng was not a bad person either. Yan Jingshuang was confident that once she revealed that Li Cheng had also witnessed what happened, although he would have his own concerns, he would not go against his conscience and hide. He would still choose to tell the truth honestly.
Speaking of it, the Li family’s setting of ‘being unable to lie’ was an absurd one by real-world standards. But the original novel was a melodramatic, heart-wrenching romance, and logic was not something the author cared much about. She had heard that the author, Xuemo, had created this setting so that Li Cheng could have certain moments that particularly tugged at readers’ heartstrings.
Since Yan Jingshuang knew about Li Cheng’s setting, and the people in this world already believed in the Li family’s peculiar condition, she had chosen the simplest and fastest method of exposing Ning Mo’s actions.
After listening, Yan Shouyi’s eyes showed a hint of satisfaction.
“Now that you’ve put it that way, that kid isn’t bad. I’ll help you get to know him better another day.”
Yan Jingshuang froze. In the next instant, she understood what Yan Shouyi meant. Her face turned even paler, and she hurriedly shook her head, strongly resisting the idea.
“No.”
Yan Shouyi said, “Of course. You just broke off your engagement with Ning Mo, so it’s not appropriate to discuss this kind of thing right now. I only mean that your elder brother can start looking around for you.”
Yan Jingshuang continued shaking her head rapidly. “Regardless, Li Cheng is out of the question.”
Yan Shouyi was puzzled. “Do you dislike him?”
Given the Yan family’s current circumstances, they would not pay too much attention to family status. They valued character more, and Li Cheng’s character was at least decent.
Yan Jingshuang still shook her head and lowered her eyes. “At any rate, it is absolutely impossible between the two of us.”
Just as Yan Shouyi was puzzling over it himself, Yan Jingshuang saw the green comment that had been following her all along.
【Hahahahaha, what kind of insane logic is Big Brother Yan operating on? He actually wants to pair Yan Jingshuang with the third male protagonist!】
That’s right. Li Cheng was the third male protagonist in the original novel. Later, after interacting with Ming Chuxue, he gradually fell in love with her. But knowing that Ming Chuxue and Ning Mo were trapped in a deeply agonizing love-hate relationship, he slowly stepped back to the sidelines and secretly loved her throughout the entire novel.
By design, Li Cheng’s inability to lie prevented him from expressing his feelings or approaching Ming Chuxue, leaving him with no choice but to silently guard her from the shadows.
It was only much later that Ming Chuxue discovered that this man, who had appeared distant toward her on the surface, had actually done so many things for her. She was deeply moved, but unfortunately, by then she had already fallen hopelessly in love with Ning Mo and had no way to repay Li Cheng’s feelings.
Now that Yan Jingshuang had finally managed to distance herself from the male and female protagonists, she had no intention of getting dragged back into the original novel’s melodramatic, heart-wrenching plot.
Moreover, the fate of Yan Jingshuang and her family in the novel had ultimately been caused by her infatuation with Ning Mo. If she became entangled with several of the original novel’s main characters again, Yan Jingshuang was afraid that her family’s fate would once again take a turn for the worse.
Yan Jingshuang’s gaze hardened. She absolutely would not repeat the same mistake.
At that moment, the gray fog that had obscured her vision completely dispersed, leaving only clarity behind.
Just then, a golden comment floated across her eyes.
【Female Supporting Character Debuff removed.】
Yan Jingshuang froze in place, still caught off guard, as Yan Shouyi sighed softly at her side.
“Ah, if only Yán[1]颜 – Countenance; Prestige jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3447206_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3447206_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Heqing[2]鹤卿 – Noble Crane jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3447206_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3447206_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); could become my brother-in-law. He’d definitely be able to crush Ning Mo’s arrogance.”
The moment the name ‘Yán Heqing’ was mentioned, Yan[3]燕 – Swallow, as in the bird jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3447206_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3447206_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Jingshuang’s expression became even more dazed. Because the comments before her were, for once, remarkably unanimous.
【Yán Heqing, ahhhh!!!】
【Ahhhhh, Yán Heqing!!!】
Even Yan Jingshuang, who had always chased after Ning Mo and Ning Mo alone, could not help but freeze for a moment when she heard the name.
Yan Shouyi couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. Yán Heqing truly was the immortal-like figure in the hearts of all the women in Great Liang.
Were it anyone else, Yan Shouyi might have felt unconvinced, but Yán Heqing was different.
As people often said, ‘The noble crane of the Yán family possesses a heart like a purple lingzhi[4]symbolizes nobility and lofty virtue jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3447206_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3447206_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and a body like water and clouds[5]signifies an unattached, serene, and divine presence jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3447206_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3447206_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. His brilliant radiance stands unrivaled, his intellect crowns the age, and he is without equal across the realm.’
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