Luo Shuyu really didn't mean to cry, he was just overwhelmed by the scene from his last life. Seeing Li Mingjin now, he couldn't hold back anymore.
In the end, he cried until he started hiccupping. His face was as red as if it had been scorched by the sun in the peak of summer. Not counting their final parting in the previous life, he had never cried in front of Li Mingjin before.
After crying, he felt a little embarrassed. Right now, he and Li Mingjin aren't married yet. Crying like a fool, he worried that he would scare him away. What if this causes Li Mingjin to dislike him? They finally made some progress in their relationship towards the end of their past lives. Thinking to this point, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. He had gotten the chance to get to know the other and try to get along, but he may have just ruined it.
Li Mingjin, with his stern face, was even more at a loss than him. The two faced each other, Luo Shuyu raised his watery eyes to look at the man, and saw that his eyes had no trace of the loathing or disgust he'd expected. With that, his taut heart could relax.
Li Mingjin stared at him: "You, stop crying."
"I just got sand in my eyes." Luo Shuyu argued forcibly: "I didn't want to cry."
"En." Li Mingjin only then started to look at his future Wangfei¹ at this moment. He was pretty good at speaking nonsense with his eyes wide open.
Luo Shuyu's appearance is the most outstanding among the gers that he has ever seen, as long as you ignore his red eyes from crying just now, of course. His hair was very elegantly tied back, with only a plain jade hairpin inserted on the top of his head. His face was round, like peaches and plums, and there seemed to be starlight in his eyes. His chin was raised slightly, looking at Li Mingjin seriously and intently.
No one had ever dared to look at him so directly like this. Li Mingjin's heart squeezed again. It felt like it was beating a little too fast today.
He was just a little unsure as to why Luo Shuyu had cried so hard when he saw him. Could he really be that scary?
Luo Shuyu, who had been reborn, knew that Li Mingjin had never hated him in his last life. At the time, perhaps because of preconceived ideas based on outsider's evaluations, he never tried to be friends with him. It was only after the two of them had a child that he realized that Li Mingjin was different from the rumors. They had similar personalities, but it was a pity that before they had the chance to deepen their feelings, their family was destroyed.
Thankfully, he had been given a second chance. This time, he wanted to get to know Li Mingjin, his husband, again.
It's not easy to come back to life. This time around, he must live his life well. Even if the gods themselves wanted to block his way, he wouldn't allow it.
He looked at Li Mingjin very seriously. He wanted to engrave the image of Li Mingjin in this moment deep within his heart, so that he would never forget it. The gods gave him one more chance, so he must not waste it.
There are still many differences between the Li Mingjin of now, and the Li Mingjin of the future. Why is his face gloomy? Maybe It's just that he doesn't get enough sleep. The contours of his face are a bit darker than others, and eye sockets are more pronounced. His light brown eyes will seem a little darker when looking at people. He takes after his mother, who was married in from the distant Western Territory. In fact, with his sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, he was extraordinarily handsome. Today he is wearing a jade belt around his waist and a pair of white boots on his feet. His posture is very straight, and his stature is larger than the other princes, making him feel very safe in his presence.
In Luo Shuyu's eyes, the current Li Mingjin is excellent in every aspect.
After he calmed down, he took out the letter that he had brought with him when he went out. He sniffled and passed the letter to Li Mingjin: "Here."
Li Mingjin didn't know what he meant by this. Thinking that his future Wangfei was handing him a love letter, his heart pounded even more fiercely, and his face became more tense. Luo Shuyu was afraid that he might think It's a letter full of hurtful words, so he explained: "This is a poem."
Li Mingjin stared at him while thinking about the love poem that was written for him, and asked in a deep voice. "Are you going to the poetry meeting?"
Luo Shuyu shook his head: "No, I heard that someone wanted to plagiarize this poem at the poetry meeting today to get the attention of others. I'm quite fond of this poem and its author. I don't want it to be stolen by others, so I wanted to expose this matter so that no one will be deceived."
Li Mingjin unfolded the paper with disappointment, looked down at the poem, and nodded after reading it. The poem is good, and Wangfei's calligraphy is also good. He asked: "Who is the poet?"
Luo Shuyu remembered that Shen Mingyun called this poet Li Bai, the Immortal Poet.
"His name was Li Bai. I discovered his work when I was collecting books from various places. I don't know which country's the poet is, but his work makes people feel ambitious. I quite liked it. Later, I found out that there were other people like me who found his collections, and that they planned on releasing it at today's meeting, so I wanted to stop it."
"I see." Li Mingjin was a little disappointed that it wasn't a love poem written for him. "I'll go back to the poetry meeting first."
Luo Shuyu reminded him. "Don't mention it yourself."
"En." Li Mingjin lingered for a while. He turned to leave with his guards who had been pretending to be air, walking two steps before quickly returning, he swiftly untied the dagger at his waist and passed it to Luo Shuyu. "Take this."
Luo Shuyu was very surprised when he took the dagger. Li Mingjin had carried it for so many years, and it was rare to see him without it. Why give it to him?
In the end, Li Mingjin left him with a sentence. "Our wedding is set for the eighth month."
Before Luo Shuyu had time to ask about the wedding date, Li Mingjin had already gone back to the meeting with the poem. He was left standing in the gazebo, holding a dagger confusedly. Either way, it doesn't really matter. They'll still have a lot of time to talk in the future.
The wedding date was set much earlier than in his last life. He recalled that last time, they didn't get married until the twelfth lunar month, and that the winter was particularly cold that year. On the night of their wedding, Li Mingjin went back to the new house, but the two didn't share the same bed. One person slept on the bed, and the other on the couch. At the time, Luo Shuyu felt that he was lucky. Thinking back on it now, however, his attitude at the time should have been terrible. He certainly didn't give him a face.
Toying with the dagger in his hand, the corners of Luo Shuyu's mouth were raised slightly. Is this dagger is to express his trust?
Li Mingjin believed him so easily? Why?
Luo Shuyu's emotions had been fluctuating like crazy, from the sorrow at the beginning to the excitement he felt now. It wasn't until Qing Wang, who had been frightened enough to lose his soul, called out to him that he pulled himself out of his drifting thoughts.
"Young Master, are we still going to the poetry meeting?"
Luo Shuyu pressed the dagger against the front of his chest and said. "No, let's go back. Oh, but first, find someone trustworthy to keep an eye on Shen Mingyun."
"Yes." After answering, Qing Wang couldn't restrain his gossip heart: "Young Master, that Third- Third Prince he… " He actually gave him a dagger! What is he trying to do? Looking at him is really too scary! Especially when he looks at people, his eyes are full of viciousness, looking like the King of Hell getting ready to snatch people's souls away.
Luo Shuyu smiled, sending Qing Wang to pay attention about news from the poetry meeting. He was curious as to how Li Mingjin would handle it.
The two made their way back to Ruyi courtyard.
Luo Shuyu has no people that he can use now. In his last life, he had disdained using dirty tricks on others, and thought that it was better to be an honest and above board person. Now, however, he felt it was nothing special. Being honest and fair will only get you killed.
His death wasn't just due to the other princes targeting Li Mingjin, but also because of Shen Mingyun's attitude towards him.
It would be wrong to say that the two of them have some deep-rooted enmity, but Shen Mingyun is a small-minded person that loves to hold grudges. He will seek revenge for the tiniest grievance. He finds fault with normal things and raises a big stink about them. It's said that he comes from a peaceful and open society, with a high-degree of personal freedom and advanced technology, and lacks generosity.
Luo Shuyu carefully recalled the contents of the book. It seemed that the biggest conflict between him and Shen Mingyun should be that matter.
In his last life, after he became the Third Prince's wife, he inevitably had to attend various banquets. One day there was a flower-viewing banquet hosted by some imperial concubine, the next, there would be a garden party hosted by the Empress, and next, there may be a one-month celebration for the newborn baby of some official. As a Wangfei, attending all of these was unavoidable.
He had met Shen Mingyun at one of these banquets. At that time, the people surrounding him were reckless and tore a precious painting he was carrying. It was something that Luo Shuyu had spent the better part of a year trying to get, so he was understandably very angry. He had Qing Wang teach the offending servant a lesson, punishing him with several hits with a board, yet it wasn't too severe, the servant would be able to move freely after lying down for two days, but Shen Mingyun didn't feel the same way. He felt that Luo Shuyu was villainous, and even accused him for abusing his power and not valuing human life. He recalled that in the novel, Shen Mingyun later commented on his and Li Mingjin's deaths with: There is justice in death.
Luo Shuyu's only thought was: What had he done wrong? What had his innocent child done wrong?
Shen Mingyun did many things to keep glory and wealth in his hands, and indirectly hurt far more people than him, so why didn't he realize that the villainous one was himself?
After returning to his courtyard, Qing Quan and the others were still kneeling, and dizzy from the sun.
Luo Shuyu ordered them to pack their belongings and quickly get out of his courtyard.
He was able to let Qing Quan and the others go without hesitation today, because he knew that no one, except for Liu-shi², would be willing to take them in. He didn't need to lift a finger to take revenge, as their life would not be much better.
Liu-shi already had maids that she trusted more, so it was impossible for her to arrange for them to stay in her own courtyard. They would just be sent off elsewhere, where their lives would be worse off. It would be difficult for them to get the chance to raise their status in the future.
They felt sorry for him? No, he is the one who should feel sorry for them.
After they left, Qing Wang cursed them in contempt, feeling sorry for the Young Master from the bottom of his heart.
Luo Shuyu comforted him: "Let's focus on the future."
After thinking about it for a moment, Qing Wang understood what the Young Master meant.
The departure of Qing Quan and the other maids didn't have much of an impact on their day-to-day lives. There were still about four or five servants that stayed behind. They were all young, and accustomed to doing rough work. They used to be under the supervision of Qing Quan, but after she left, that responsibility fell on Qing Wang.
In this life, he must first cultivate servants who were loyal to him.
Compared to the other courtyards, there were indeed not many people in Luo Shuyu's place, but it is enough for now.
As soon as Qing Quan left, Liu-shi brought a group of people over immediately.
Today's Luo Shuyu was very different from the past, and he will soon be the Third Prince's Wangfei. How can there be any trouble at home? Qing Quan wasn't being sensible, she must save face before this matter was finished.
Luo Shuyu didn't know much about others, but he had learned a lot about Liu-shi from what was written in the book. He knew that she was the one holding the key to the storage room with his mother's dowry.
It can be seen just how much trust Luo Renshou put into Liu-shi.
She knows how to be low-key, and understands the principle of preventing money from leaking out. Unfortunately, she never taught her children well in this aspect. After he had entered the Third Prince's courtyard, she gave away his mother's dowry to Luo Shuyǔ and Luo Shuyue. She advised them to keep a low-profile, however they only turned a deaf ear to her words.
Luo Shuyǔ and Luo Shuyue never really interacted with Shen Mingyun very much, only using the ornaments and fabrics from Luo Shuyu's mother's dowry to compete with Shen Mingyun in beauty. However, every time, Shen Mingyun was able to slap them in the face by using the styles provided by the System.
"Shuyu, wh…"
Luo Shuyu was already sitting, awaiting her arrival.
Liu walked in with a smile, and was about to mention the matter of Qing Quan and the other maids, but Luo Shuyu interrupted her, smiling while saying, "Liu-yiniang³, are you here to give me my mother's dowry list and the key to the storage room?"
At that, she became flustered.