The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 134

Li Mingwei was not from far away, but it was still rare for her to visit. Since today was originally Tang Jue's day off, he invited Yang Jingyuan and Zhong Liangyu over, and had the kitchen make a table full of good food to welcome her.

It hadn't snowed much these past two days, so the roads weren't too thickly covered. But since Li Mingwei was with them, they still didn't dare walk too fast. By the time they reached the county town, it was around noon.

Liu Yizhu led them the whole way to the small courtyard. He had originally planned to put their things down first before going out to eat, but as soon as they entered, they saw three smiling faces.

"Sister-in-law!"

"Brother Dong and Sister Chunhua came too. Come in and sit, come in and sit."

They had all seen each other at Liu Yizhu’s wedding, so they were familiar and didn’t stand on ceremony.

Tang Jue had the servants take their luggage away and led them directly to the dining room, "The food is already prepared, just waiting for you all."

Seeing the dishes on the table, Dong Shan laughed. "Isn't this too polite, Brother Tang?"

Tang Jue familiarly put his arm around Dong Shan's shoulder as if they were close brothers. "This is how it should be!"

He ushered everyone to sit. "Hurry and sit!"

Zhong Liangyu sat on Liu Yizhu's other side and whispered, "What's wrong?"

From the moment they entered, he could tell something was off. After greeting them, he hadn't said another word.

Glancing at the similarly silent Li Mingwei, he tentatively asked, "Did you and sister-in-law have a fight?"

Liu Yizhu didn't want to answer this question. Picking up his chopsticks, he said, "Let's eat."

Zhong Liangyu didn't really understand marital matters either. Seeing that Liu Yizhu didn't want to talk about it, he stopped asking and silently ate.

Li Mingwei didn't have much of an appetite. She ate a little and sat with them for a short while before going to the back to tidy up. Wang Chunhua hurried to follow her.

After traveling together for so long, even a blind person could see something was wrong.

As she helped Li Mingwei organize things, she nagged her, "What's going on with you two? Did you fight?"

"No."

"You think I'll believe that!" Wang Chunhua glared at her lightly. These two hadn't exchanged a single word the whole way. Even if they didn't fight, they were at least sulking.

Li Mingwei made a face at her. She hugged Wang Chunhua's waist and snuggled against her back as she gradually fell asleep.

Wang Chunhua had been talking but didn't get a response. Only then did she turn back to see Li Mingwei had closed her eyes. Carefully removing her arms, she went to the bed to grab a blanket and covered her before quietly leaving.

After eating, Liu Yizhu told Tang Jue he was going out and went alone to send Dong Shan and the others to the city gate.

"Please go see my mother when you have time, Sister Chunhua. She's home alone and we're worried about her."

"Alright, don't worry." Wang Chunhua hesitated for a moment before continuing carefully, "Your sister-in-law and I will help look after things at home. You two should reconcile and stop sulking. You came to recuperate after all. Don't let it affect your health."

"She's a bit older than you but has a childish temperament. If she said something you didn't like hearing, don't take it to heart."

"She didn't..."

Wang Chunhua raised her hand to stop him. "That's enough. She told me everything already. You don't need to cover for her. It's getting late, we should go first. You should head back soon too."

"Yes."

Liu Yizhu bowed to bid them farewell. Dong Shan patted him on the shoulder and turned to follow Wang Chunhua.

When Li Mingwei hazily awoke, she asked the maid outside and learned she was home alone. After washing her face with warm water to wake herself up, she wandered around the yard for a bit.

The residence wasn't very big, only three sections with a small garden. Now in winter, there wasn't much of a view, just two recently pruned little willow trees with some green left.

She sat in the pavilion in the garden for a while. Just as she was about to call out to two passing maids to chat, they walked right by as if they didn't see her.

Li Mingwei glared. Were the servants here really so ill-mannered? Even if she was dressed more simply, she was still a guest. Did they not even need to greet her?

With a sigh, she thought, where did Liu Yizhu go? She asked someone before finding him in the garden. Seeing her sitting on the stone bench resting her cheek in her palm, spacing out, he frowned and strode over.

"Aren't you cold? It's windy in the garden."

Hearing his voice, Li Mingwei looked back at him. "You're back. Did Sister and the others leave?"

"Mm. I sent them to the city gate." Liu Yizhu helped her stand. "Let's go back to the room."

"Okay."

The winter days were cold and the sky darkened early. After dinner, Liu Yizhu washed up and lit two candles. Sitting on the bed, he started reading again. He always slept late while Li Mingwei didn't wait for him and fell asleep on her own.

In the middle of the night, Li Mingwei gently rolled over and reached out only to touch the still icy bedding beside her. Drawing back her hand, it took her a moment before struggling to open her eyes. The candle flame was half blocked by Liu Yizhu's figure, flickering with the movements of his writing brush.

She couldn't tell what time it was now. In a hoarse voice she softly called out, "Aren't you sleeping yet?"

Liu Yizhu looked back to see her squinting at him. Putting down his brush on the inkstone, he moved the candle stand slightly. "Was I disturbing you with my writing? Or was the candlelight bothering you?"

"Neither."

"Then why did you wake up?"

Li Mingwei scooted further into the bed and lifted the quilt, softly urging, "Sleep, it’s very late."

Liu Yizhu glanced at his unfinished essay and shook his head, refusing, "You sleep first. I still have some more to write. I’ll be quieter and won’t disturb you."

"Can't you write tomorrow instead?"

"I can but..."

He didn't urgently need to hand this assignment in. He was just in the habit of completing his schoolwork first before having time to do anything else.

"Then come sleep."

Li Mingwei directly flipped open the quilt, revealing half of her body. Liu Yizhu hurriedly covered her back up, "Alright, sleep. Let me tidy up the desk first. You wrap yourself tightly in the quilt."

After putting everything away, he blew out the candles and got into bed. Li Mingwei instantly burrowed into his embrace but he gently pushed her away, "Wait a moment, I’m still cold."

"Hugging will make you warm."

"You..." With the bed so small, he had nowhere to dodge her persistent hold. Helpless, he embraced her tightly and tucked the quilt around her. "Sleep."

"You're not mad anymore?"

Her muffled voice came from under the quilt. Liu Yizhu paused. "I wasn't mad."

"Liar!"

"Really." After hesitating a bit, he said, "I just feel like you don't need me that much."

As long as someone was with her, it seemed not to matter much whether it was him or not.

"I..."

She wanted him to accompany her too, it wasn't that she didn't. If her adoptive father was still here or if there was someone else at home, then she wouldn't need to worry about her mother-in-law either.

In the county town, she had Master Tang looking after her. Nothing would happen.