After arriving in Wuzhou, Xiao Jinglin took over all affairs as stated in Xiao Jingxi’s letter.
At this time, court officials and Liao envoys had also successively arrived in Wuzhou. Xiao Jinglin left these people to Min Wenqing to handle, while she secretly dispatched men to investigate Xiao Jingxi’s whereabouts.
The Yanbei Prince’s residence had an official mansion in Wuzhou. After coming to Wuzhou, Xiao Jinglin stayed in this mansion. Although Yun Wenting had been following Xiao Jinglin all along, he didn’t follow her to stay at the official mansion but instead lodged at Wuzhou’s postal station. However, during the day, he would go help Xiao Jinglin handle some official business. The paperwork that Xiao Jinglin found most annoying was taken over by Yun Wenting during this period. But to avoid suspicion, he also consciously only handled ordinary matters.
Xiao Jinglin was somewhat at a loss with Yun Wenting. Although he always appeared around her, he only worked without speaking, being very tactful and hardworking without complaint. Even though Xiao Jinglin was initially somewhat angry, she gradually couldn’t muster anger toward Yun Wenting anymore. It could be said that Yun Wenting’s grasp of Xiao Jinglin’s temperament was quite precise.
Until one day, Xiao Jinglin really couldn’t help but say to Yun Wenting: “If you leave now, you can still make it back in time for your wedding.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Wenting only smiled and lowered his head to look at the documents again.
Xiao Jinglin felt somewhat irritated. She walked over and knocked on the thick, plain elm wood desk that Yun Wenting was temporarily using, looking down at him from above: “It’s useless, Yun Wenting. You should hurry up and get lost! Staying here is just wasting time—you can’t possibly change any outcome.”
When Xiao Jinglin was in Yunyang City, influenced by Ren Yaoqi and restrained by the Princess Consort, she was still quite civilized and proper—this was environmental constraint. Now that she was here, spending days mixing with people from the military camp, crude words could naturally come out of her mouth. Though Princess Xiao usually tried not to speak crudely when possible, she could be considered the most refined general in the Yanbei army after Min Wenqing.
Yun Wenting looked up at Xiao Jinglin, then handed her a cup of kuding tea that had been brewed earlier, saying indifferently: “I didn’t intend to change any outcome.”
Xiao Jinglin raised an eyebrow: “Then you’ve purely come to do good deeds during this time?”
Upon hearing this, Yun Wenting looked at Xiao Jinglin and smiled: “No.”
“Then what for?” Xiao Jinglin secretly rolled her eyes.
Yun Wenting thought for a moment: “Because I’m happy.”
Xiao Jinglin: “…”
Xiao Jinglin never knew that Yun Wenting could also leave someone speechless.
“Staying beside someone you like, doing what you can within your ability—isn’t that a pleasant thing?” Yun Wenting asked in return.
Xiao Jinglin was stunned. She didn’t blush or have her heart race because of Yun Wenting’s confession, but instead remembered what Ren Yaoqi had said before. Ren Yaoqi had told her that “besides sacrifice, devotion, and having no regrets, the most important thing about liking someone is that it brings happiness. Otherwise, it’s not liking but obsession.”
Xiao Jinglin couldn’t help but ask: “Yun Wenting, how long have you liked me?”
Yun Wenting wasn’t surprised by Xiao Jinglin’s directness, but this question was really hard to answer. He said somewhat awkwardly: “For a very long time.”
Xiao Jinglin nodded: “Then have you been happy all these years? These years after you left Jiajing Pass.”
Yun Wenting was slightly stunned. This time, he was silent for a long time.
Xiao Jinglin just stood there watching him, not urging him, though her gaze contained a hint of complexity. She didn’t know what kind of answer she wanted to hear.
Yun Wenting thought for a long time before looking up at Xiao Jinglin again: “From the moment I was born, I was designated as the Yun family heir, with too heavy a burden on my shoulders. All these years, I could only do what I should do, not what I wanted to do.” Yun Wenting paused and said quietly, “I thought I was unhappy, but it’s not that there were no moments of joy. Jinglin, my unhappiness was determined by my birth, but all the happy things were related to you.”
Over these years, what Yun Wenting liked to do in his spare time was to collect delicacies from around the world and secretly let people around Xiao Jinglin know about them, because he knew this was what Xiao Jinglin enjoyed. But he didn’t do these things to please Xiao Jinglin or to apologize. He just selfishly wanted to make himself a little happier. All things related to Xiao Jinglin made him feel physically and mentally pleased when he did them.
Xiao Jinglin didn’t speak. She picked up the bowl of kuding tea and took a sip, frowning: “It’s bitter.”
Yun Wenting smiled and glanced at her: “You need to clear your internal heat. Besides, if you taste carefully, it’s not all bitter.”
Xiao Jinglin looked at Yun Wenting, then tilted her head back heroically and gulped down the bowl of tea that had cooled down in several mouthfuls. What a taste—Princess Xiao never had that kind of leisure time.
Yun Wenting looked at her somewhat helplessly yet indulgently, taking the empty bowl from her hands.
After drinking it, Xiao Jinglin thought to herself that this tea was bitter with a sweet aftertaste—it wasn’t completely unpalatable.
However, Xiao Jinglin still said nothing and turned to leave. She still had many things to take care of today.
Yun Wenting watched her leave, then lowered his head to look at the official documents again.
After the matters at hand were temporarily concluded, Yun Wenting spread out a piece of letter paper and began writing. After finishing the letter and sealing it, he called his servant over and gave him some instructions. Yun Wenting had come to Wuzhou alone, following Xiao Jinglin; his servant had only caught up later.
Xiao Jinglin soon learned that Yun Wenting had sent out a letter. She had someone follow it and finally learned that the letter was sent to a Yanbei army garrison for his younger brother, Yun Wenfang.
Since escaping from his wedding and leaving Yunyang City last time, Yun Wenfang had cut off contact with the Yun family. The Yun family elders weren’t very clear about Yun Wenfang’s whereabouts, but Yun Wenting knew.
At the same time, Ren Yaoqi in Yunyang City also received the letter from Xiao Jingxi that Xiao Jinglin had sent back. After reading the letter twice, Ren Yaoqi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was familiar with Xiao Jingxi’s handwriting and was proficient in calligraphy—she could naturally see the same issues that Min Wenqing had noticed.
The atmosphere in the Yun family, however, wasn’t very relaxed.
Previously, when Yun Wenting had someone inform them before leaving Yunyang City, the Yun family elders hadn’t been particularly worried, because Yun Wenting wasn’t like Yun Wenfang after all. As the Yun family heir, Yun Wenting never acted willfully and knew to prioritize the big picture, so the family elders only thought that Yun Wenting had gone somewhere to handle Yun family business as usual.
But when there was still no news of Yun Wenting’s return with only two days left before his wedding, the Yun family had to became anxious. The Yun family began sending people to look for Yun Wenting, but they always came up empty-handed. After all, Yun Wenting had spent several years in military camps at Jiajing Pass—hiding his tracks and evading pursuit wasn’t difficult for him.
On the evening before Yun Wenting’s wedding day, when all the Yun family elders were anxiously distressed, a young master of the Yun family finally returned home. However, it wasn’t the groom, Yun Wenting, who returned, but the Yun family’s wayward son, Yun Wenfang.
This was the first time Yun Wenfang had returned to the Yun family since his marriage.
Yun Wenfang’s father, Elder Master Yun, scolded him upon seeing him: “What are you coming back for?”
Yun Wenfang’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but those originally bright, starry eyes had become increasingly deep and dark, and his entire temperament was different. The Yun family members had to admit that the youngest son, who always caused trouble, had finally grown into a man.
“To get married,” Yun Wenting curved his lips.
As soon as he spoke, he could still anger all the elders to death.
“What marriage are you getting?”
Yun Wenfang’s gaze swept around the main hall, pausing on his nominal wife Lady Meng, then turned away without any emotion, saying carelessly: “Isn’t tomorrow supposed to be marrying that Zhao family girl? If I don’t hurry back, how will she enter the family?”
This time, even Old Madam Yun couldn’t help but frown: “What do you mean?”
Yun Wenfang spoke respectfully to his grandmother: “My elder brother can’t return. It’s just marrying a woman—I’ll marry her for him. Whether marrying one or marrying two makes no difference anyway.”
Upon hearing this, Lady Meng was stunned, feeling both wronged and angry, her eyes immediately reddening.
She had been married into the Yun family for almost a year, and Yun Wenfang hadn’t even shown his face. If she hadn’t already had feelings for Yun Wenfang before, and if the Yun family elders hadn’t all doted on her like a daughter, she would have long since gone back to her maiden family in anger.
Today, learning that Yun Wenfang had returned, she was overjoyed and had changed her clothes three times before coming out, thinking she had finally endured through it all, and her husband was willing to come back. She never expected that Yun Wenfang would only give her a light glance.
That glance from Yun Wenfang was very indifferent, as if he wasn’t looking at his wife but at some dispensable ornament that was also placed in the wrong spot, blocking his view. Lady Meng’s heart, which had just been warmed, was instantly doused with cold water.
And he even said such words that stabbed at her heart.
Old Master Yun was just coming in from outside and hearing these inappropriate words nearly had a fit of anger: “Outrageous! How can marriage be treated as child’s play!”
“Then consider it as marrying for my elder brother? When you had me marry a wife, didn’t you have my elder brother do it on my behalf? He helped me, I help him—isn’t that quite good?” Yun Wenfang smiled.
It was still Old Madam who could remain steady. She stopped Old Master’s rebuke that was about to come out and asked Yun Wenfang: “You mean you want to escort the bride for your elder brother?”
Yun Wenfang curved his lips: “Mm, that’s exactly what I mean. But if you can find someone more suitable than me, then I won’t join in this excitement.”
After Yun Wenfang finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
This wedding was bound to proceed. If Yun Wenting truly didn’t return, the Yun family indeed couldn’t find anyone more suitable than Yun Wenfang to replace Yun Wenting in escorting the bride.
Understanding Yun Wenfang’s meaning, Old Master Yun’s expression also softened somewhat.
Old Madam Yun thought for a moment and finally said, “You prepare first. If your elder brother still doesn’t return by tomorrow, then you’ll escort the bride for him.”
Everyone also agreed.
The Yun family still held some hope for Yun Wenting’s return—after all, Yun Wenting had never made a mistake before.
Upon hearing this, Yun Wenfang only raised an eyebrow and said nothing more.