Perfect Match – CH 066

Chapter 66 [A Long Chapter]

In Liumingxuan courtyard.

Deng Ruyun was entangled in his kiss, the blood seeping from her veins with his anger. She tried to turn her head away in pain, but he forced her teeth open and penetrated even deeper.

Just then, a voice announced from outside.

“The Old Madam is here.”

The announcement had barely begun when Deng Ruyun instinctively tried to pull herself free from his grasp. Her movements were hurried, and Teng Yue, seeing this, slightly loosened his hold on her lips but stared at her intently.

“Mother’s here. Why are you reacting so strongly?”

Deng Ruyun’s heart skipped a beat at his words, but hearing the footsteps of Old Madam Lin at the door, she finally managed to pull her hand away from Teng Yue’s grasp, but he still held her. She bent down to push him away.

“The Old Madam’s here. Stop making a scene!”

Teng Yue thought to himself that he was not the one causing the chaos. He just stared at her, then suddenly remembered something.

“Mother’s here just in time. I need to ask her clearly what happened at home.”

For no reason, she wanted a divorce!

He turned and stepped to the door, forcefully opening it that had been blown shut by the wind.

Hearing the commotion at Liumingxuan, Old Madam Lin rushed over.

She had just reached the door when Teng Yue suddenly flung it open.

Old Madam Lin immediately saw the two people inside, especially Yunniang. Yunniang’s eyes were filled with anxiety, her lips were slightly swollen, and there were traces of blood on her broken lips.

Seeing the overturned table and broken porcelain scattered on the floor, she felt a surge of anger and scolded Teng Yue.

“You wretched child! If she wants a divorce, then divorce! Why are you tormenting Yunniang?!”

But before she could finish speaking, Teng Yue asked, “So, Mother already knew about Yunniang’s divorce?”

Old Madam Lin naturally knew, but seeing her son’s questioning look, she dared not reveal a single word to him.

She said she knew, “Yunniang told me a couple of days ago.”

But Teng Yue pressed on, “Then Mother agreed? She agreed to Yunniang leaving?”

Teng Yue, speaking, suddenly looked at his mother and asked,

“Or was it Mother’s wish to let Yunniang leave?”

The question, laced with skepticism, filled the entire front porch.

Old Madam Lin stiffened slightly at her son’s abrupt question.

Deng Ruyun quickly spoke up.

“This has nothing to do with the Old Madam; it was my own decision.”

But Teng Yue did not quite believe her and looked at his mother again, asking once more.

“You really did not send Yunniang away, Mother?”

He did not believe Deng Ruyun’s words, and even less did he believe his mother’s actions.

In that instant, Old Madam Lin’s heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions.

She suddenly looked at her son. “Do you, like your sister, think that I, your mother, am a heinous person?”

She asked abruptly, and a silence fell over the three of them.

Teng Yue was unaware of what had happened to Teng Xiao, so Deng Ruyun could only offer a low explanation.

“…General, please do not ask anymore. The divorce was my decision; it has nothing to do with the old lady.”

She clarified again, insisting it was her own will.

But her meaning and her reasons were simply unbelievable to Teng Yue.

Not to mention, she was a master liar; hardly a word of truth came out of her mouth.

Teng Yue did not believe her, but suddenly something occurred to him, and he glanced at the two of them several times.

A gust of wind swept through the corridor, making the doors and windows creak incessantly. The branches in the bushes in the corner of the courtyard swayed, their long twigs constantly snapping against the corridor railings, making unsettling, rattling sounds.

Looking at the two women closest to him, Teng Yue suddenly asked a question.

“Could it be that Mother and Yunniang had already planned this from the very beginning of the marriage?”

The Teng family had helped Yunniang escape from the clutches of her uncle and aunt and Xue Dengguan, while Yunniang had also helped him fend off the forced marriage by Princess Rongle of the Prince Enhua’s Mansion.

This marriage was mutually beneficial, and his gaze swept back and forth between his mother and wife.

“Did you two plan this from the very beginning?”

He had asked the most crucial question.

Old Madam Lin and Deng Ruyun spoke almost simultaneously.

“No…”

“No such thing.”

The two denied it in unison, but Teng Yue felt as if he had touched the edge of the truth.

He looked at his mother and wife with disbelief.

Just then, Tang Zuo hurried in from the outer courtyard.

“General, General Kong has sent an urgent message saying that Minister Huang’s advisor from the capital has arrived and requests your presence for a meeting.”

This interruption broke the stalemate between the three.

The advisor sent by Huang Xiqing was only staying in Xi’an for one day and would return to the capital tomorrow.

Kong Hui had arranged with Teng Yue earlier that morning to wait for the advisor to arrive so they could discuss important matters. Now that the advisor had arrived in the city, Teng Yue was trapped in a deep abyss of despair.

He saw that both his mother and wife denied his questions, and his wife was determined to divorce him.

He felt as if he were being torn apart in several directions by several forces. His heart was filled with anxiety and pain, yet he had no choice but to go see the advisor.

Teng Yue did not press the two further but instead ordered his men to surround Liumingxuan and even cordon off the entire Teng Mansion.

“No one is allowed to enter or leave before I return.”

Old Madam Lin and Deng Ruyun both looked at him. His gaze swept over them, finally settling on Deng Ruyun’s eyes.

“Especially Madam, you are not allowed to go anywhere!”

He glared at her angrily for a few moments. Deng Ruyun felt he wanted to tie her up, but Tang Zuo was waiting for him, so he had no choice but to give her one last glance before turning and quickly leaving.

Teng Yue had the entire Mansion surrounded. Old Madam Lin saw that her son was still acting mad, but there was nothing she could do.

She could only look at Deng Ruyun’s broken lips. “Is Yunniang alright? Has he done anything outrageous?”

Besides biting her, what else could he have done? Even when he bit her, he did not actually bite her mouth until it was a bloody mess…

Deng Ruyun shook her head, looking in the direction he had left, silent.

But then hurried footsteps came from the doorway, and Teng Xiao rushed into Liumingxuan.

“Sister-in-law, why are you leaving?!”

The little girl ran so fast her hair was disheveled, her face filled with anxiety as if half the sky had collapsed.

“Sister-in-law, do not go, do not go!”

She rushed forward and grabbed Deng Ruyun tightly, but when she saw her mother, she asked the same question as Teng Yue.

“Was it Mother…was it Mother who drove Sister-in-law away?!”

Old Madam Lin had already felt a bitter taste in her mouth when she heard Teng Yue’s question, but now Teng Xiao had asked the same question.

Her two children’s first reaction was that their mother was being cruel at home.

Her heart felt as if it were being ripped apart, yet Old Madam Lin smiled.

“Since you siblings both say so, then it is.”

Having said this, she did not want to see her daughter again, closed her eyes, and turned to leave Liumingxuan.

The branches in the courtyard bushes repeatedly whipped against the railing, leaving themselves battered and bruised, with green leaves falling in.

Deng Ruyun could not comfort Old Madam Lin, while Teng Xiao held her hand tightly, her eyes red, her voice hoarse.

“Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, do you not want my brother and me anymore?”

These words brought tears to Deng Ruyun’s eyes.

But everything had been settled in black and white the moment she “married” into the Teng family.

It was already irreversible.

*

At the Huang Mansion.

The night watchman’s drum sounded several times, and darkness enveloped the entire city of Xi’an, blanketing everything in its shadow.

Kong Hui followed Teng Yue out the door.

“Yu Chuan, what’s wrong? You look terrible, and you’ve been so distracted for so long. Did something happen at home?”

Teng Yue did not answer his question, stepping across the threshold with a blank expression.

Kong Hui suspected that Teng Yue had not really listened to what he’d just said, so he repeated himself.

“The Chief Eunuch is causing trouble in the army and using this as a pretext to control the Prince Enhua’s Mansion. The Prince Enhua’s Mansion is becoming increasingly active in Ningxia. I previously estimated there would be some movement within six months, but now it seems it will be within the next month or two. When do you plan to set off for Ningxia?”

Teng Yue had now been promoted to Guerrilla General, commanding troops to guard the Ningxia border. With him stationed there, even if the Prince Enhua’s Mansion were to rebel, they would not be able to cause too much trouble and would not endanger the entire Ningxia border region’s soldiers and civilians.

Therefore, given the current situation, Teng Yue needed to get there quickly.

But when he asked, Teng Yue still did not answer.

Kong Hui was about to say something more, but he waved his hand.

“I am going home first.”

*

Outside Liumingxuan.

It was late at night when Teng Yue returned, only to see his younger sister, Teng Xiao.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her.

Teng Xiao’s eyes were downcast, her voice hoarse.

“I cannot sleep. I came to stay with my sister-in-law. I am afraid she will leave…”

These words brought tears to Teng Yue’s eyes.

He said, “She will not leave. You should go back and get some rest.”

But Teng Xiao moved closer to him.

“Brother, can you talk to my sister-in-law properly and tell her not to leave! Without her, I feel like I cannot go on living…”

Every word pierced Teng Yue’s heart.

His heart ached, and he could only pat his sister’s shoulder to comfort her.

“Do not worry; Brother will not let your sister-in-law leave.”

Hearing this, Teng Xiao nodded repeatedly, relieved. She glanced at Liumingxuan one last time before reluctantly returning to her courtyard.

Teng Yue went into the courtyard.

The room was dark. The maid said the madam had gone to sleep.

Usually, when he came home late, she would leave a small lamp outside his door. Today, Teng Yue pushed open the door and went in; it was pitch black.

She had not even left a lamp for him. Only the soft breathing from inside the room indicated she had not left.

Teng Yue lit the lamp himself. He first went to the inner room door and glanced at her. She lay with her back turned, seemingly asleep.

He silently watched her for a few moments, then changed his clothes, washed his hands, and took a bottle of medicine to sit by the bedside.

The medicine was not made by her. She wanted to leave, and even the medicine she had made herself, which he had insisted on replacing in the room, was switched back.

Teng Yue saw her determination to leave, but he could not agree to it, nor would he believe the reason she had given him earlier.

He picked up some medicine with his index finger and pulled her from the bed.

Her eyes remained closed, her lips swollen and red from where he had bitten them.

The man gently rubbed the medicine from his finger onto her lips, his warm fingertip against her cold lips. After wiping the medicine, he looked at her, then leaned down, unable to resist breathing in her scent, and pressed his lips to hers.

Her eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, but she refused to open her eyes to look at him.

Teng Yue wanted to bite her lips again, but he could not bear to hurt her again, so he hesitated before speaking.

“I know you are not asleep. Now you do not even want to talk to me?”

He asked, and only then did she open her eyes.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Teng Yue immediately lifted her, holding her close to him.

The night was deep; the daytime noise had faded, leaving only the flickering tranquility of the bedside lamp.

Teng Yue no longer felt the uncontrollable anger he had during the day; his helplessness and despair overwhelmed him like the cold waters of an abyss.

He held his wife in his arms, his hand gently stroking her arm, and as before, he habitually nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

His voice was filled with a low pleading.

“Back at the Shen family’s house, did we not agree? If anything happens, you’d tell me first.”

He pressed his cheek against hers as he asked.

“Something must have happened, right? Tell me, tell me secretly; do not tell anyone. I will take care of it for you.”

He could do anything for her; she just needed to tell him, instead of pushing him away like this.

He tightened his arms, pulling her closer.

Before, without her, nothing mattered, but now, even a few days without her by his side felt like an eternity. When he was away on business, the first thing he thought about every morning was whether he could finish his work and get home immediately…

But now that he finally had a chance to come home, she wanted a divorce.

Teng Yue kept nuzzling his nose against her cheek, but she remained unresponsive, like a wooden statue. Helpless, he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

“Yunniang, do not be like this…”

Do not go; do not leave me…

His breath was hot, each breath burning her face and shoulder.

Deng Ruyun sensed him; his arms tightened around her, and his words, muffled by her neck, became increasingly pleading.

“I will do anything you want, just do not go… Even if you do not like me that much, it’s alright. We’ve only been married a year; we have plenty of time to take things slowly…”

These words weighed heavily on Deng Ruyun’s heart, making it hard to breathe.

For a moment, she really wanted to tell him the reason, just like he said.

But if she told him, the contract between her and Old Madam Lin would be shattered, and Teng Yue would definitely not let her leave.

Old Madam Lin was wholeheartedly determined to marry him to a woman from a high-ranking family. If she forced him to stay, Teng Yue would be caught in the middle between his widowed mother and her, and what face would she have left?

Her background was unworthy of him, and that was it.

Even if they were forced together, it would not be a perfect match.

Since that was the case, she really should not force it anymore. He was still holding her, nuzzling his nose against her neck and behind her ear repeatedly until her heart softened.

“…Let’s go to Ningxia, just you, me, and Ah Xiao. Let’s go to Ningxia; is that alright…”

He asked her, “Yunniang, is that alright?”

Deng Ruyun finally spoke.

“General, no.”

The small lamp by the bed flickered.

Teng Yue looked up at her.

“Why?”

Deng Ruyun did not answer immediately but took a bottle of pills from the bedside drawer and placed it in his hand.

Teng Yue looked at it and saw that the bottle had no name, but most of the pills had already been taken.

“What kind of medicine is this?”

Deng Ruyun replied, “It’s a contraceptive pill.”

The flame of the small lamp almost went out in that instant, its light flickering weakly.

Teng Yue stared incredulously at the half-used contraceptive pill, then asked again.

“Why?”

Deng Ruyun spoke softly.

“Because from the moment I married into this family, I never intended to grow old with the General. I do not want the General’s child, nor do I want to be your wife for long. It’s not just because everything here makes me uncomfortable, nor just because I do not particularly like you, but because…”

She paused here, this time looking directly at Teng Yue.

“It’s because I already have someone I love in my heart.”

The flickering firelight caused Teng Yue’s frozen figure to sway.

“Who is it? Sixth Young Master Bai?! You have not known him for very long, have you?”

Deng Ruyun shook her head, saying it was not Physician Bai.

Her gaze calmly settled on Teng Yue’s eyes, and she smiled slightly at him.

“That person is someone I’ve liked since I was very young. I’ve liked him ever since and fell in love, and since that year, I’ve never been able to forget him. He’s always been in my heart, never leaving.”

“General, it’s not that you are not good enough; it’s just that I only like that person, that old friend who grew up with me.”

Teng Yue was stunned, his arms around Deng Ruyun, stiffening.

Deng Ruyun looked at his features, at his sword-like eyebrows, his eagle-like eyes, and the tightly pursed lips beneath his straight nose.

She looked at Teng Yue and said about that man, “Like the general, he also comes from a military family. He started serving in the army at a young age. When I met him, he was just an insignificant junior officer.”

Because of his young age, he could not command his subordinates. Every day, he wore a stern face, honing his horsemanship and archery skills alone on a remote mountain cliff.

She saw him when she went up the mountain with her mother to gather herbs. At first, she thought he was just practicing casually, but unexpectedly, she saw him there for several days in a row.

Her mother said he had been there for more than half a year. Sometimes he would come to hone his skills before dawn. Neither the scorching heat nor the bitter cold could stop him. He diligently trained his body, and she believed he would surely become a great general in the army someday.

She did not believe that someone could have such a temperament at such a young age. She even made a bet with her mother, saying she would come back on any three days to see if he was still there.

Her mother said he would be there, as long as he was not going to war.

Deng Ruyun specifically chose windy, rainy, and foggy days to go to the cliff.

The first two times, he was indeed there, but on the foggy day, her family advised her not to go up the mountain, warning her she might slip and fall in the fog.

She said she was not afraid and asked Xiuniang to carry a herb-gathering basket, and they went up the mountain. The two preferred to wear men’s clothing, as it made gathering herbs much easier.

That day was the same, but the mountain fog was extremely thick. Xiuniang hesitated halfway up, but she insisted on seeing him again, wondering if he would still be there.

However, when she reached the cliff, she heard no sound from him.

The fog made it impossible to see anyone below the cliff. Deng Ruyun pulled Xiuniang along to look, but they could not see him either.

“Ha, I caught him! He did not come today!”

The girl became excited, wanting to immediately go home and tell her mother she had won the bet, but she could not help wondering if he had not come because of the fog or if something else had delayed him.

Could he have slipped and fallen on the mountain path because he could not see clearly? Thinking this, Deng Ruyun called Xiuniang to help her search. Unexpectedly, she did not find the fallen person but instead slipped and tumbled down the hillside.

The roll twisted her ankle.

Xiuniang was startled and tried to carry her, but could not. “Wait here, Miss! I will go home and get help!”

Deng Ruyun was in pain all over and could not move, so she could only urge Xiuniang to hurry.

But the mountain fog was thick, and visibility was poor. With Xiuniang gone, she was alone, and even the slightest sound terrified her.

Just then, the low growl of a tiger suddenly came from the forest.

Deng Ruyun’s hair stood on end, and she heard the next few tiger roars getting closer.

She feared that the tiger would be approaching soon.

She cried out urgently, “Is anyone there? Is anyone there? Can anyone save me?!”

She called out several times, but no one answered. She thought to herself, “This is it.”

She had just taken a bath yesterday. Was she waiting to be the tiger’s meal, all clean and fresh?

She sat on the ground and could not help but cry. But then someone emerged from the thick mountain fog.

He carried a longbow on his back and led a gray horse. His figure was clearly visible in the hazy fog.

Deng Ruyun immediately called out to him.

“Hey, hey, come quickly and save me!”

“It’s because of you that I went up the mountain in this fog!”

Her tone was not very polite, but he did not seem to mind at all and quickly walked to her side.

“Young man, did you hurt your foot?”

Deng Ruyun was not a young man, but she was dressed as a man, and there was no time to explain.

“There are tigers in the mountains! Can you carry me away on your horse? I do not want to be eaten!”

But he said he had also heard the tiger’s roar. “But the horse was frightened by the tiger and was too scared to ride.”

Seeing him shake his head, Deng Ruyun cried even harder.

But he quickly said, “Little brother, do not cry. I will carry you.”

He took off his quiver of arrows, knelt on one knee, and offered her his entire back, turning his head to look at her.

“Come on, I will carry you down the mountain.”

Deng Ruyun hesitated for a moment, then climbed onto his back.

The tiger’s roar came again, seemingly closer.

He stood up, carrying her tightly on his back while also pulling on the frightened horse.

“Hurry, Cangju, let’s go down the mountain.”

His steps were brisk. Though his shoulders were not yet as broad and strong as they would be in his future years, he carried Deng Ruyun steadily.

He was worried she might slip and fall on the rugged mountain path, so he added.

“Hold on tight to my neck.”

Deng Ruyun clung to his back. His back was sweaty from the rapid descent, making the young girl feel strangely awkward. But then, she went along with him, hugging his neck tightly. In the chaos, she accidentally grabbed his prominent Adam’s apple, causing him to cough.

Deng Ruyun’s hand felt hot, and her face flushed.

“I’m…I am sorry.”

He said it was alright, reassuring her, “Do not be nervous; we will be at the foot of the mountain soon.”

That day, he carried her all the way down the mountainside through the thick mountain fog to the path at the foot of the mountain.

When he put her down, his collar was soaked with sweat, but he did not seem to care. Instead, he asked her, “Young man, where do you live? Should I go get your family to come pick you up?”

Deng Ruyun looked at his face. Large beads of sweat rolled down the boy’s forehead, from his prominent brow bone to his eye sockets, then down his high nose and across his tightly pursed lips.

At that moment, the girl’s heart pounded wildly.

She did not say she was not a boy, nor where she lived, nor even her name. She only felt her face burning unbearably, as if she had heatstroke.

She did not even dare look at him again until, “My family just went to get someone. They should be here soon. You…you should go now, should you not?”

He hesitated for a moment. He said he did have other things to do, but he did not leave immediately. Instead, he took a sharp arrow from his quiver and placed it beside her legs.

“Take this; it might be useful for self-defense in case of emergency.”

The little girl looked at the arrow and saw the words engraved on it:

Yue.

Teng Yue.

Actually, she already knew his name…

She lost her bet with her mother, but from then on, she always went to the cliff where he practiced his skills.

She always hid behind a tree, too afraid to show herself. Just a few stolen glances at him made her heart race. She could imagine fainting if she went up to him and spoke to him.

He really did come every day as long as he was not away with the army. His horsemanship and archery skills improved more and more in these deserted mountains. He thought no one saw him, but unbeknownst to him, there was a young girl, just beginning to experience love, watching him all along.

She watched him rise from an unknown soldier, slowly mounting his horse and leading troops, from a Baihu Commander to a commander, then a general guarding the border, and finally a guerrilla general commanding three thousand soldiers defending the frontier!

In Liumingxuan, in a dimly lit room.

Deng Ruyun smiled, concealing everything he could possibly guess.

She looked at him, and she told him.

“The general will never imagine how infatuated I am.”

She spoke of how she was usually the laziest in bed, yet to see him, she would always get up before dawn to go to his training ground.

“I would practice with him, watching him improve his horsemanship and archery, and then after he finished, we would go to the breakfast stall in town.”

He walked ahead, and she followed behind.

She heard him order cold rice cakes, so she ordered a plate too, taking any she could not finish home.

By the dim candlelight beside the bed.

Teng Yue watched as she mentioned that person, a smile involuntarily creeping onto her face. Tears welled in her eyes, yet a light shone through them.

She recounted how she practiced martial arts with him, ate with him, and rode alongside him to the mountain peak at sunset, watching his archery and horsemanship grow ever more skilled, and how she had collected every single arrow engraved with his name, filling an entire basket.

Teng Yue suddenly remembered. He had seen a basket filled with military arrows in the Deng family’s courtyard.

He stared blankly at Deng Ruyun and asked, “…That basket you’ve kept all this time, are those his arrows?”

Deng Ruyun paused, surprised that he remembered.

She looked at him and slowly nodded.

“Yes, I lied to the general back then. That basket was not something my brother bought to play with. Those arrows were mementos he left me from the years we spent together.”

Teng Yue’s throat ached so much he could barely speak.

“Where is he? You were so close to him, you liked him so much, why did he not show up when you were down on your luck?”

Deng Ruyun smiled again.

She said he had left before that, “He was transferred to another place after being promoted, and we lost contact.”

Teng Yue grasped her arm upon hearing this.

“If that’s the case, why do you still think about him?”

Deng Ruyun slowly looked at him.

“But General, he’s the person I’ve liked since childhood. Even though he’s gone, he’s always in my heart.”

She said that before, she was too busy to care for herself. “General, please consider me heartless. Now I have my own business, I have money, and I can go find him. Even if I cannot find him right now, it does not matter.”

She looked at Teng Yue’s face, at the person she had liked for so many years.

“I will keep looking for him. Perhaps one day, he will appear before me…”

The small lamp by the bedside suddenly went out for no apparent reason.

She would keep searching for him until one day, he appeared before her.

The excruciating pain coursing through his body pierced his heart.

Teng Yue could not suppress the pain in his heart. Looking at his wife’s slightly smiling face, he slowly released her.

That night, he left the room where they had been together, disheveled, and left Liumingxuan.

*

A sudden rainstorm fell during the night, and the previously warm weather suddenly turned cold.

In the city’s eastern district.

At dawn, someone knocked on the door of the small courtyard in the east of the city.

Aunt Juan, who had just gotten up to tidy the medicinal herbs in the courtyard, heard the knocking and went to the door, calling for Changxing to open it.

The door opened, and she immediately saw the person standing there.

The man seemed to have been soaked by the rain; his hair was slightly disheveled, with raindrops mixed in.

“General?” Aunt Juan asked in surprise.

Teng Yue then spoke.

“Aunt Juan, I only have one question. Please tell me the truth.”

Aunt Juan’s heart skipped a beat.

A few days ago, Yunniang returned and told them that she had left the Teng family and was divorcing the General, but the hidden reasons behind it must not be revealed to the General.

Hearing Teng Yue say this, Aunt Juan became nervous but could only say, “General, please ask.”

She looked at the man and saw him speak in a hoarse, raspy voice.

“Did Yunniang have someone she always loved before?”

Aunt Juan froze, her gaze fixed on his face.

“…Yes,” she answered.

“Then, how much does she like him?” he could not help but ask another question.

Aunt Juan paused before answering.

“…Very much.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the man stood there in the cool morning breeze, his expression blank, as if his soul had floated away.

After a long while, he said.

“I understand.”

*

At the Teng Mansion.

Someone sat motionless by the bedside all night.

But suddenly, a commotion came from the outer courtyard.

A short while later, Xiuniang rushed into the room, anxious and unsure of what to do.

“Miss, the general has returned, but he… he’s packing his things and is going to Ningxia today.”

A tear suddenly slid down her cheek.

Deng Ruyun nodded slightly.

“That’s good.”

That’s good.

It seemed he was finally believing her, just this once.

However, this was probably the last time.

*

In the small ancestral hall behind Canglang Pavilion.

Old Madam Lin knelt before her husband’s memorial tablet all night.

She also heard the news that Teng Yue had returned from outside. He did not come to the inner courtyard but only packed his belongings in the outer courtyard, preparing to set off.

The moment she heard the news, a huge weight lifted from her heart.

Finally, he had finally admitted it.

She did not know what Yunniang had told him, but as long as he admitted it, as long as he agreed to a divorce, marrying a noblewoman later would not be difficult.

She got up and went to the outer courtyard.

*

In the study in the outer courtyard.

Teng Xiao ran over quickly, almost tripping on the stone steps.

“Brother, you are leaving? What about my sister-in-law? Do you not want her anymore?”

It was not that he did not want her; it was that she never intended to want him.

Teng Yue felt an unbearable pain in his heart. He could not bring himself to tell his sister, but then he saw his mother arrive.

Teng Yue remained silent. Old Madam Lin was shocked to see her son in such a disheveled state.

She had never seen her son so disheveled before, except for that time when he said he had lost his elder brother…

Old Madam Lin was astonished. She stared at Teng Yue for a long time before finally saying,

“A good marriage always emphasizes matching social status. Since you and Yunniang are not a good match, do not force it, and do not overthink it.”

She could not help but remind him.

“If you are on the battlefield, do not think about these things even more. Swords have no eyes; do not let your mind wander!”

But after she finished speaking, she saw Teng Yue lower his head and give a cryptic laugh.

“To die on the battlefield is the destiny of soldiers and generals.”

These words terrified Old Madam Lin.

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

But Teng Yue had already packed his bags for leaving home.

He could not help but glance towards the courtyard gate.

His mother and sister had come, but she did not even want to see him one last time.

He stared at the gate for several moments, but she did not appear.

He could only steel himself. He told Tang Zuo to take his bags, fetch his horse, and head towards the gate.

At the gate, the servants came to see him off. So many people crowded the gate, yet she was nowhere to be seen.

What could Teng Yue say?

He chuckled softly again, but the next moment, he mounted his horse and rode away without looking back.

The sound of hooves faded into the morning breeze.

The crowd dispersed from the gate without a trace. Just then, Deng Ruyun slowly walked to the door and looked in the direction he had left.

I am sorry; I am sorry…

Besides that, she did not know what else to say.

She thought her tears had dried up last night, but now, even so, some were still dripping from the corners of her eyes.

Deng Ruyun raised her hand to wipe them away.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, the familiar sound of a galloping horse’s hooves suddenly reached her ears.

Deng Ruyun thought she was hallucinating.

But the figure of a man galloping from the crossroads suddenly appeared in her sight.

Deng Ruyun froze in surprise, while the man on horseback, seeing her standing at the door looking in the direction he had left, widened his eyes.

She did not completely dislike him, did she?!

He spurred his horse loudly to the door.

Before Deng Ruyun could react, he had already pulled her onto his horse’s back and into his arms. “You are coming to Ningxia with me!”

“Until that person returns, I will still be your husband, whom you swore an oath of marriage to!”