20demayo Chapter 220 Taking a Break
Chapter 220 Taking a Break
Exhausted and feeling dizzy from motion sickness, Li Xiaonuan took a thorough shower in her room and fell asleep immediately. Now that she was in the capital, no longer worried about her upcoming trip, she slept soundly.
Li Xiaonuan was asleep, but Wei Yu still had to continue his unfinished work. After dinner, he waited for Prince Jing's arrival in the main hall of the front courtyard. The two discussed things for most of the night before parting ways.
Prince Jing returned to his Prince Jing's residence through the secret passage, while Wei Yu sneaked into Li Xiaonuan's courtyard under the cover of night. He didn't know why he had sneaked in; in any case, he was now standing in front of Li Xiaonuan's room.
After hesitating for a moment, he still sneaked into Li Xiaonuan's room. Recalling the scene he'd witnessed that afternoon, Wei Yu's eyes reddened. He felt a pang of fear, afraid that Li Xiaonuan might one day become like that person. Therefore, his thoughts wandered.
He thought to himself, "Should I make Li Xiaonuan mine and keep her by my side so she won't covet other men?" But this thought was ruthlessly nipped in the bud by Wei Yu.
He thought of his mother, and then of the unhappiness his father's absurdity had brought to his family. Standing by Li Xiaonuan's bedside for a long time, Wei Yu did not reach out to lift the curtain.
He was afraid that once he lifted the lid, he would never be able to stop.
Those who practice martial arts possess eyesight unmatched by ordinary people. Wei Yu quietly watched the figure lying on the bed inside the tent, fast asleep, clutching a thin blanket. From the gentle, rhythmic breathing, it was clear that the person on the bed had fallen into a deep sleep.
Wei Yu stood straight, feeling somewhat nervous. He tried to calm the restless energy within him, telling himself not to be troubled by what had happened that afternoon. His blood-red eyes, hidden in the darkness, receded several times only to redden again.
Once again loosening his clenched fists, Wei Yu dared not stay in Li Xiaonuan's room any longer. He quickly left Li Xiaonuan's room and, taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness, swiftly disappeared around the street corner.
The next day, as dawn broke, Li Xiaonuan awoke from her deep sleep. A good night's rest made her feel reborn. She moved her limbs and stretched, then realized her whole body was tingling and aching.
Indeed, after being jostled around in a carriage for over a month, even a strong person would find it unbearable. After a good sleep, the motion sickness seemed to have disappeared. Li Xiaonuan rolled around in bed a few times before getting up to wash.
That's the good thing about having servants to wait on you; whatever you need, they'll have it all prepared in advance. When Li Xiaonuan enjoyed all this service, she simply regarded the servants as service personnel.
She had little sense of class, so she was quite uncomfortable with the sense of superiority that came from ordering servants around.
When Li Xiaonuan opened the door after washing up, she realized how late she had gotten up. She asked a servant and learned that it was already late afternoon, which was around 9 a.m. in her previous life.
Based on that calculation, Li Xiaonuan probably slept for eleven hours. No wonder she felt so energetic.
The servants brought Li Xiaonuan breakfast: a bowl of fragrant millet porridge, two milky-white steamed buns, two scallion pancakes, and a few small dishes of pickled vegetables. Li Xiaonuan ate her fill with satisfaction before leisurely going to Zhou Liufeng's courtyard to see him.
Li Xiaonuan was exhausted last night and ignored Zhou Liufei and Wei Yu. She wondered if the two of them had gotten into any trouble.
The villa of Prince Jing's residence was neither particularly large nor small. Li Xiaonuan, wearing the padded jacket prepared for her by Madam Su, walked around the courtyard and soon felt hot.
Li Xiaonuan still maintains her peasant girl attire, wearing coarse cotton clothes. She has never worn the two silk dresses that Su Shi prepared for her.
In Prince Jing's villa, Li Xiaonuan looked just like a peasant girl who had come from the estate to deliver vegetables and grains. But the maids around her, in terms of their clothes, appearance, and mannerisms, all exuded a more aristocratic air than she did.
But the maids obediently followed her orders. Not for any other reason than that Prince Jing had instructed them not to neglect this incredibly rustic guest, or they would all be sold off.
Wherever Li Xiaonuan goes, she attracts a lot of attention. The reason is simply because Li Xiaonuan is too obsessed with and fond of ancient architecture. She can walk around a corridor a dozen or twenty times.
Moreover, Li Xiaonuan's attire was completely out of place with everything around her, so how could she not attract attention? Even now, she didn't know how to style her hair in complicated ways; she simply tied all her hair back and then tied it into a bun with a hair tie, which looked quite strange.
Although she felt quite uncomfortable being stared at by the unsuspecting servants, Li Xiaonuan still carefully examined the layout of all the buildings along the way to Zhou Liufeng's courtyard. She felt very satisfied with this.
By the time Li Xiaonuan arrived at Zhou Liufeng's courtyard, it was already noon. The two maids who were with Li Xiaonuan asked her if she wanted to have lunch with Zhou Liufeng. Li Xiaonuan agreed without hesitation.
Seeing that Li Xiaonuan's face was flushed as she walked, and that she was still enthusiastically discussing the architectural layouts with him, Zhou Liufeng also became interested in describing the strange buildings he had seen to her.
After lunch, Li Xiaonuan took her leave. Zhou Liufeng's injuries were recovering well. Moreover, he had previous experience with injuries and knew some precautions. This made Li Xiaonuan even more at ease.
Now that Zhou Liufeng no longer needed her attention, all she needed to do was figure out how to deal with the Empress's faction. Otherwise, her entire family wouldn't escape the Empress's wrath either. The fate of the official's family she had witnessed yesterday had served as a stark wake-up call for Li Xiaonuan, a time when she was only focused on escaping the situation.
Having finally managed to steal most of a day of leisure, Li Xiaonuan was now troubled again. Although the Empress's family was full of incriminating evidence, if the Emperor wanted to protect them, who could possibly shake their power?
Do we really need to change the emperor to get rid of that scourge?
At that moment, Li Xiaonuan thought of Zhao Wangchuan. If they joined forces with Prince Jing and the Wei family, could Zhao Wangchuan force the current emperor to abdicate and establish his own dynasty? Thinking about this, Li Xiaonuan suddenly felt that this method was feasible.
After all, everyone in the capital knows that Wei Lu and her son are the true legitimate descendants. If Wei Lu and her son were to return as victims, inciting those conservative and old-fashioned people to denounce the Empress's family, it wouldn't be difficult for Prince Jing and his group to create enough conflict points to drag the Empress's family into the mess.
However, none of this can be accomplished by Li Xiaonuan's mere imagination. She needs to discuss it with Prince Jing and Zhao Wangchuan before she can determine its feasibility.