Nan Yu Jin moved his lips, but in the end, he said nothing.
Nan Chao Yin turned his head, giving Nan Yu Jin a subtle glance. He was well aware of the situation in Yuzhou Commandery. He had considered countless possibilities before coming here. Even if His Majesty had ordered him to be flogged, even if the ground was stained with Yu Jin's blood, he hadn't felt flustered. But at this moment, he suddenly felt as if things were slipping out of his control.
Why would His Majesty send Yu Jin to Yuzhou Commandery? Did His Majesty not know the current state of Yuzhou Commandery? How could Yu Jin possibly take office as the Prefect of Yuzhou Commandery?
He feared that Nan Yu Jin would die on the way before even reaching Yuzhou Commandery.
But now that things had come to this, he could do nothing more.
"Your subject thanks His Majesty for his grace!"
"Your subject thanks His Majesty for his grace!"
Nan Chao Yin bowed to thank the imperial favor, and Nan Yu Jin bowed to thank the imperial favor.
One knelt, the other prostrated. One's expression was slightly somber, while the other's face was as pale as paper.
Thus, the marriage alliance that had been in motion for nearly a month finally came to an end. However, before this, no one had expected that the one marrying Princess Huian of Dali would be Nan Yu Jin, the legitimate son of Prime Minister Nan. But after hearing His Majesty's oral decree appointing Nan Yu Jin as the Prefect of Yuzhou Commandery, some were filled with regret.
That was the head of a commandery!
A rank equivalent to the second grade.
Nan Yu Jin seemed to have turned misfortune into good fortune!
Nan Yu Jin was carried back to the Nan residence. His Majesty, in his grace, specially bestowed carriages and horses from the palace. The carriages and horses were ostentatious, drawing many curious glances. Thus, the scene of him being carried into the residence by servants was witnessed by the surrounding commoners.
There were two topics of gossip today:
First, Qin Qiancheng was beaten. Second, Nan Yu Jin was beaten!
The former had incurred the displeasure of the Regent; the latter was about to ascend to the pinnacle of life, marrying and getting promoted!
The marriage between Huian and Nan Yu Jin was set for after the New Year, on the twenty-eighth of the first lunar month. Nan Shiying had long known that Ji Hong would not kill Nan Yu Jin, but would seize the opportunity to bestow a marriage. However, she never expected that the person would be so wicked as to want to send Nan Yu Jin and Huian together into the dangerous den of Yuzhou Commandery.
But…
Nan Shiying glanced at Ji Jinmo and sighed, "As expected of the child you brought up!"
Exactly the same kind of cunning and ferocity.
Ji Jinmo: "..."
Please do not associate your nephew's actions with your imperial uncle.
Ji Jinmo held Nan Shiying's small hand and felt that her hand was as white as suet and as tender as a delicate bud. However, because she practiced martial arts, her tiger's mouth had developed some calluses. Ji Jinmo remembered her saying that before she was forced into the bridal sedan, her hands were covered in chilblains and calluses.
But fortunately, it was not her who had suffered all the torment back then.
"What are you thinking about?"
Nan Shiying tugged at her hand, but couldn't pull it free. She simply let him hold it. Seeing his downcast and thoughtful expression, she felt a bit curious.
Ji Jinmo looked up at her and said, "I'm thinking, it's a good thing it wasn't you who suffered back then."
His words were without context, but Nan Shiying understood!
She was stunned. Her long lashes covered the turbulence in her eyes. Wasn't it her? But even now, she couldn't distinguish whether they were two completely unrelated people, or if their souls had long since merged.
She was not like her, nor was she like her former self.
The former her had fought her way to the throne and sat there for decades. She was a ruler who coexisted with heaven, an empress who had massacred all the powerful clans and collateral relatives, firmly holding imperial power.
And now, she clearly felt her own difference.
Perhaps she was an invading soul, or perhaps a merged soul. She couldn't say. As early as when she vowed to slaughter the Nan residence for the death of Granny Wang, she knew that she was not the pure Empress Nan Fengluan.
Although the memories of Nan Shiying in her mind were vague and unclear, the emotions of anger, fear, resentment, and unwillingness that arose from her humiliation and torment back then still entangled and pulled at her like a nightmare, constantly affecting her present self.
Nan Shiying looked down at her hand held by Ji Jinmo and said with a smile, "But how can we distinguish between me and her."
"It's the same, why isn't it me?"
Ji Jinmo was slightly taken aback. He thought Nan Shiying would ignore his感慨, thinking she would pass over it in silence as she had in the past. But when she brought it up, hearing the slight tremor in her throat, he regretted mentioning it. Perhaps those past experiences were not like his own to her; she was not merely a spectator, an outsider.
He suddenly remembered their first meeting. He had agreed to her request to explore her identity and brought her back to the Nan residence. Her reaction upon seeing Granny Wang's fate was vivid.
Anger, despair, sorrow!
Perhaps he had always been mistaken. If one soul was injected into another strange body, and it gained the residual memories of the soul within that body, then was she still a pure outsider soul?
He didn't want to think about these questions. In fact, whether Nan Shiying was a pure soul or a merged soul, he loved only her. The her he met at first, the her he interacted with, the countless aspects she revealed, and everything hidden deep within her soul that she hadn't revealed.
"I understand!"
Ji Jinmo pulled Nan Shiying into his arms and whispered, "I am very grateful to Nan Chao Yin. If not for him, you wouldn't have come. Therefore, I will tear him to pieces to repay his kindness in bringing you here."
Nan Shiying suddenly smiled.
She raised her head and looked at the man's tall nose, at the reflection of herself in his eyes.
Her reflection in his eyes shone brightly.
Never before had Nan Shiying felt such an urge to surrender her body and soul. She grabbed Ji Jinmo's lapel, tilted her head slightly, and under Ji Jinmo's astonished gaze, kissed his lips.
Ji Jinmo was stunned for a full second. When he came to his senses, he cupped the back of Nan Shiying's head, as if wanting to engulf her entire being into his own body, deepening the kiss.
As their lips parted after a kiss that seemed to last an eternity, their eyes were already hazy.
Ji Jinmo only regretted that it was in the study and not in the Xinyuan Pavilion.
Looking at the man's unsatisfied annoyance and grievance, Nan Shiying flipped over and straddled his thighs. She placed one hand on his neck and the other on his shoulder. Lowering her head, she brought her crimson lips to his ear and said in a bewitching voice, "My lord, do you want to come to Xinyuan Pavilion tonight for a candlelit talk?"
Ji Jinmo's throat bobbed. He felt something steaming and roaring within him. He abruptly raised his head, his gaze so deep it was like a black hole, seeming capable of drawing everything into it and devouring it.
Nan Shiying suddenly regretted her actions. She released Ji Jinmo's neck and turned to jump off him. But as her buttocks left his thighs, her waist was embraced by a pair of powerful arms. Ji Jinmo pressed down forcefully, pinning her fiercely against him.
The angry dragon was raising its tall, firm head. Even through their clothes, Nan Shiying could feel his soaring spirit and undying soul.
Nan Shiying trembled all over, regretting it down to her very bones.