Someone handed a handkerchief to Luo Shenyuan. He took it, wiped the blood from his hand, and casually handed it back. He asked young Master Ting, “Do you like watching monkeys?”
Young Master Ting recognized Luo Shenyuan, though they weren’t very familiar. With tears still on his face, he nodded, “Monkeys are fun…”
“Next time, don’t get too close to them, and don’t feed them from your hand,” Luo Shenyuan advised him. Then he stood up, and the guards prepared to leave with him.
“Do you like monkeys too?” young Master Ting quickly asked.
Luo Shenyuan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “I don’t particularly like anything.”
Young Master Ting looked at him, puzzled. Yining also watched him from a distance. Even though he now held an official title and wielded power, it seemed as if he had nothing at all. At this moment, a person wearing an official robe crossed the stone steps and knelt before him on one knee: “My Lord, Vice Minister Liu from the Ministry of Justice has sent someone to invite you…”
He whispered some instructions to this person, then looked up to see Yining standing at the bottom of the stone steps not far away.
Yining suddenly didn’t know how to face him.
She took a deep breath and asked someone to take young Master Ting back to the guest room for the old lady to watch over him to prevent any more trouble. Then she walked towards Luo Shenyuan: “Third Brother, is your hand alright?”
She approached Luo Shenyuan, and no guards stopped her. Yining took his injured right hand to look at it. The monkey had left a deep scratch mark.
Luo Shenyuan let her hold his hand without speaking. Yining couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Everything about this person used to be so familiar to her, but now he was becoming increasingly unfathomable. She thought for a moment and continued, “Third Brother, this wound looks quite serious. You can’t just ignore it. Let me treat it for you…”
Yining put down his hand and took out a handkerchief, intending to wrap it simply.
Unexpectedly, her hand was suddenly gripped by his. Luo Shenyuan’s right hand was curled due to the injury, but his grip was very strong, like an iron clamp.
Yining looked up at him. It was still that extremely handsome face with a straight nose. She almost suddenly crashed into Luo Shenyuan’s eyes, deep as an ancient pond, and heard his voice, restrained but with a hint of indifference: “Yining, what do you want to do?”
“If you don’t like me if you detest me—you should stay far away from me,” Luo Shenyuan continued. “Otherwise, what happened that night will happen again. I won’t just be your Third Brother anymore.”
Yining felt flustered under his gaze and tugged at her hand.
“How could I detest you—” Yining avoided his gaze, which had a burning intensity. Her feelings towards Luo Shenyuan were too complex—pity, and dependence. She trusted Luo Shenyuan implicitly, but as she gradually understood his true thoughts and what he had done regarding her, she began to avoid him a little.
This was just like when she was young, perhaps it was her self-protection. Without a mother as a child, she never mentioned her mother in front of others, treating her stepmother with respect as if she were her birth mother. When her stepsister disliked her, she deliberately ignored the dislike and told herself that her sister treated everyone the same way, and then got along with her sister. What else could she do? She did want to point at her sister and scold her regardless of the consequences, but her stepmother certainly loved her daughter more than her. Without anyone to protect her, how could she dare to rebuke her sister?
When a teacher who taught the Spring and Autumn Annals came to their home and liked her more than her sister, often praising her to her father, her stepmother’s gaze towards her became cold. She even distanced herself from this teacher.
When Luo Shenyuan suddenly kissed her that day, she was very afraid, or perhaps it was fear of the unknown. She was still trembling for a long time after he left.
She was still lost in thought when Luo Shenyuan approached Yining, his tone low: “Are you afraid?”
Of course, she was afraid—don’t come any closer!
“Third Brother, I don’t know how to say this…” She closed her eyes. She could handle other matters cleanly and efficiently, but only in this kind of situation was she slow and hesitant.
“I’ve never disliked you, but you… you shouldn’t be like this.”
She seemed very afraid, almost unable to stand steady. He had sensed it last time too.
This was an unknown side of Yining, actually quite adorable.
“If you get close to me again in the future, I won’t be like before… Do you understand?” Luo Shenyuan continued.
Yining shook her head, not knowing why she suddenly felt like crying. She felt that being forced to cry like this was shameful, she even looked down on herself, but her body seemed to have its own will. Without realizing it, a sourness spread through her eyes, and her vision became blurry.
Luo Shenyuan was very surprised, then stepped back a few paces, seeming to realize he shouldn’t have pressured her like this. He should take it slow, step by step. He sighed and said, “Alright, let’s sit down and talk.”
She turned her head to look at the distant green mountains and waters. From halfway up the mountain, the wheat fields that hadn’t been harvested yet were lush green. There were farmers driving ox carts, and naked children bathing in the river. Wisps of smoke rose diagonally, and faintly, the loud voice of a farm woman calling her children home could be heard. Indeed, it was almost noon.
She turned back to look at Luo Shenyuan. He had wrapped his right hand himself with a strip of white silk. Holding the teacup with his right hand, he said, seemingly self-mockingly, “Don’t be afraid. No matter what, I’m still your Third Brother.”
“I know,” she said quietly. Then she picked up the teapot. Luo Shenyuan was also about to reach for it. She pulled the teapot to her side, not letting it go to his side.
Luo Shenyuan raised an eyebrow, then suddenly smiled: “Yining, I was going to pour tea for you!”
Yining coughed to cover her embarrassment, drank her tea in one gulp, then stood up and curtseyed, saying, “Since Third Brother has no other business, Yining will take her leave now.”
“Wait.” His fingers tapped the stone table. “I haven’t finished speaking.”
Yining could only sit back down. She saw Luo Shenyuan deep in thought for a long time: “I’ve heard about what happened at the palace banquet that day,” he said. “Your father’s concerns are not without reason. Whether it’s the Empress wanting you to marry the Third Prince, or the Emperor possibly having other thoughts, neither is good for you. The Third Prince is weak and indulges in irrelevant pursuits. He definitely can’t be propped up. The struggle for the throne is always a matter of life and death, and the Third Prince doesn’t have even a tenth of the Emperor’s patience from back then. I don’t have much hope for him. As for the latter… The Emperor isn’t considered muddleheaded. I don’t think he would do anything too outrageous. But now that words have been spoken, if they’re not properly explained away when someone settles accounts in the future, or if the Emperor one day decides to purge the noble families, the crime of deceiving the Emperor will be unavoidable.”
Emperors are the most heartless. Today you help him conquer the world, and he treats you as a favored minister. But the day you threaten him, he will eliminate you without hesitation.
“I understand. Father is also thinking about this now,” Yining said. They all understood, but their thoughts weren’t as incisive as Luo Shenyuan’s.
Wei Ling’s rash action to save her that day had left a big hidden danger—deceiving the Emperor. If not properly resolved, this hidden danger will always be a knife in their hearts.
“You have no other choice now but to hastily agree to a marriage. I hear your grandmother even has her eye on some Second Young Master He,” Luo Shenyuan said with a faint smile.
For him, these so-called promising young men who had just passed the provincial exams and hadn’t even set foot in officialdom were not worth considering.
“With me here, why should you settle for these people?”
After a moment’s pause, Luo Shenyuan looked up at her, his tone unexpectedly gentle: “Yining, how about I marry you?”
Yining’s eyes widened in surprise.
His tone wasn’t forceful, but in the mountain breeze, it sounded very determined.
The dazzling sunlight gilded half of Luo Shenyuan’s body, while the other half was in shadow, outlining his solid contours. She suddenly felt her heart pounding like a drum.
“You—how can this be!” Yining hadn’t expected him to say this so suddenly. She opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. The shock in her heart was no less than that night.
“Isn’t marrying me good?” A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I’m a Jinshi of both exams, soon to be appointed as Vice Minister of Works, third rank. Isn’t that much better than the likes of Second Young Master He?”
Of course, it was much better. The man before her was the future Chief Grand Secretary—comparing Second Young Master He to him was truly an insult.
The person she had tried so hard to please years ago, expressing satisfaction with her efforts over the years, now said he wanted to marry her.
Seven years ago, she could never have imagined such a day!
But after seven years of sibling affection, she had long regarded Luo Shenyuan as an elder brother. He taught her to read and write, protected her, and saved her in times of danger. All this was the behavior of an elder brother in her heart. Even if it was unavoidable, how could she marry him? And after marrying him, how could she treat him as a husband?
Luo Shenyuan saw Yining’s face alternating between red and white, seemingly very hesitant.
He continued: “I also want to help you avoid this calamity. If you rashly marry someone else, what if he’s a person of poor character? How would you know if he takes concubines or keeps mistresses? But you know my temperament. If you really… can’t get over it in your heart, then I’ll still be your Third Brother, and we’ll continue to interact as siblings until you’re willing to accept me. Or until you meet someone you like…” He paused, his tone extremely slow as he said, “Then we can discuss it at that time.”
Yining felt these words sounded somewhat familiar.
What Luo Shenyuan said indeed made sense. It wasn’t good for her to marry hastily. No matter how bad Third Brother might be, he was still her Third Brother and wouldn’t harm her. But wasn’t it too much trouble for him to use his marriage to help her? After all, marriage wasn’t a trifling matter. He would eventually marry his true wife. Moreover, they had originally grown up together as siblings. Even if they told others they had been engaged since childhood because she was raised in the Luo family, how could they explain it clearly to Lin Hairu, Wei Ling, and others?
Firstly, she had strong sibling feelings for Third Brother, and secondly, she wasn’t so selfish as to use someone else’s marriage to secure her safety.
“Third Brother, what if you… regret it in the future?” Yining finally calmed down. She thought for a moment and continued to ask, “What if others find out the truth and use it to harm you, hindering your official career?”
Luo Shenyuan walked in front of her, leaned down to look at her, and said, “Yining, I have my plans. None of this will happen. Don’t worry unnecessarily.”
The mountain breeze blew again. The weather was still a bit stuffy. The cicadas in the surrounding forest were chirping loudly, like a pounding heartbeat.
He looked at her for a long time, his lips slightly pursed, and gently repeated, “Let me marry you. Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”
If he married her, who would dare to look down on her in the future? Who would dare say she hadn’t married well? As soon as she entered the household, she would have the title of a third-rank official’s wife waiting for her. How many people in the world could achieve that?