“Nothing is more important than you. Jinglin told me you looked unwell, and I thought you might be sick,” Shen Du said.
Zhu Yan suddenly felt a strange sensation in her heart upon hearing this. “Are you concerned about me?”
Shen Du blinked twice. “I’m just worried that if you die, there’ll be no one to cook for me.”
“…” Zhu Yan’s lips twitched. This man had no sense of occasion when it came to retorts. Was it so difficult to say something nice?
Her enthusiasm doused by a bucket of cold water, Zhu Yan’s expression dimmed as her thoughts returned to the case.
Noticing this, Shen Du sat back down on the bed as Zhu Yan remained silent with her head lowered. “What exactly happened?”
At this question, Zhu Yan could no longer contain her inner distress. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes as she grabbed Shen Du’s arm, pleading, “Let’s go back. Let’s stop investigating. I just want my family to be safe. I don’t need the truth anymore.”
Shen Du had never seen Zhu Yan so distraught before. It startled him, and he quickly embraced her. “What happened? Tell me.”
Between sobs, Zhu Yan explained, “We found other clues on the two corpses in the morgue, and these clues are related to the two cases in the capital. This was all planned from the beginning. They were deliberately putting on a show for us. They’re intimidating us. This is their warning.”
Zhu Yan spoke in a state of collapse, almost incoherently, but Shen Du still grasped the meaning.
“If you don’t want to go back, you can stay. I’m returning to the capital. The case is important, but so is family. Upholding justice and righting wrongs in the world – these are nothing compared to the lives and happiness of the family. If I insist on continuing, I’ll have lost the original purpose and intention of my investigation.”
“You want to go back just because of this? Have you decided to bow to them?”
“Isn’t this enough?”
Zhu Yan looked at Shen Du with surprise.
“In the capital, my third sister and brother-in-law were already targeted by them once. Fortunately, we arrived in time to save their lives. If I continue investigating here and they harm my family, what then?”
Shen Du placed his hands on Zhu Yan’s shoulders, comforting her earnestly, “Don’t think so pessimistically. With your husband here, I won’t let anyone get hurt.”
Zhu Yan appreciated Shen Du’s consolation, but worry still lingered in her heart.
“Although you have strength and status, we’re far from the capital. If something happens to them, we’d be powerless to help. Moreover, so much time has passed, and there’s been no news from Chang’an. I don’t even know if Lai Zhi has done anything to my family.”
“Nothing will happen,” Shen Du said, pulling Zhu Yan into his embrace. It was rare to see her rely on him like this, and he felt somewhat gratified. After a moment’s thought, he continued,
“Before we came to Gannan Dao, I had already sent people to secretly observe Lai Zhi’s movements and protect the Zhu family’s peace. Everything is still under control. You don’t need to worry.”
Zhu Yan’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t expected Shen Du to have arranged everything in secret. Did he have the ability to foresee the future?
Thinking of this, Zhu Yan suddenly broke free from Shen Du’s embrace, pouting in displeasure, “Are we not on the same side? Why did you arrange all this in secret without ever telling me?”
“Isn’t telling you now a better way to show my importance?” Shen Du replied calmly, his expression inscrutable.
Zhu Yan pouted even more. “I think you’re just deliberately toying with me. You didn’t inform me about such an important matter, letting me worry for so long. Did you enjoy seeing me anxious and worried?”
Hearing this, Shen Du lowered his gaze and smiled, raising his hand to gently flick Zhu Yan’s fair cheek with two fingers. “What are you thinking? How could you misunderstand my good intentions like this?”
“Then what was your intention?” Zhu Yan persisted.
Shen Du seemed somewhat exasperated, but the smile curling at his lips was natural, clearly indicating his inner joy at the moment.
“We met when we were young. When everyone in the palace avoided me, you approached me voluntarily and kept encouraging me without giving up. I’ve never forgotten these things. So, everything I’m doing today is just a repayment for those times.”
“Oh…” Zhu Yan nodded in sudden realization. “So that’s it. I was wondering why your attitude towards me had changed so much over this long time. It turns out you’ve always felt indebted to me and wanted to repay the kindness.”
Shen Du’s expression froze, his facial muscles twitching. He had only wanted to tell this woman that everything he did was because of her, but she truly interpreted these actions as repaying a debt, even comparing his kindness to her with this. She didn’t understand romance at all.
He was a man who cared about face, and having said things this way, the woman still didn’t understand. Did he have to explicitly say “This Prime Minister likes you” for her to comprehend?
Seeing Shen Du’s strange expression, Zhu Yan became confused again.
Had she said something wrong? Why did this man’s face change so suddenly?
“What’s wrong? Everything was fine just now, but now your face has darkened again. Lately, talking to you always feels odd. You get angry for no reason as if I’ve done something wrong.”
“You don’t think you’ve done anything wrong?” Shen Du suddenly asked.
Zhu Yan was stunned. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. Blinking her eyes, she looked at Shen Du in bewilderment.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you this question. Well, since we’ve cleared things up, why don’t you tell me what exactly I said wrong?”
Shen Du frowned. Wasn’t this woman supposed to be exceptionally intelligent? Why couldn’t she grasp the simple meaning behind his words?
“Nothing. You did nothing wrong. I’m the wrong one. I shouldn’t have thought so deeply about the issue and the situation.”
Shen Du spoke coldly, his displeasure evident on his face.
Zhu Yan pursed her lips, muttering under her breath, “If you don’t want to say it, then don’t. Why the black face…”
The muttering reached Shen Du’s ears, and he let out a light chuckle. He wanted to explain everything clearly to the woman, but he also wanted to see her pouting and getting angry. It was quite a dilemma.
But regardless, the woman’s worries had been alleviated, which put his mind at ease.
“By the way, I have some more things to tell you,” Shen Du suddenly said.
Zhu Yan immediately sat up straight, like an obedient child, her eyes bright and focused on him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m afraid of not listening to you carefully and then misunderstanding your meaning, making you sulk again. This way, I can listen more attentively.”
Shen Du was at a loss for words. This woman’s strange reasoning had left him speechless.