Ties of Love, Ruan Wan

As soon as Ruan Wan stepped out with a basin on her head, she vaguely saw a figure walking towards the bamboo house in the heavy rain.

Ruan Wan stood in the rain for a while, watching as the figure drew closer and closer—it was Liang Kun returning.

Liang Kun also saw Ruan Wan, ran up to her, and asked, "Young Madam, what are you doing standing in the rain?"

Ruan Wan said, "Uncle Liang, you've been gone for too long. Qian Yuan and I were worried about you."

Liang Kun pulled a large carp from his raincoat and laughed, "The rain was so heavy that even the pheasants and ducks hid, so I ran to the river and caught a fish."

Ruan Wan sighed, "Skipping a meal or two is nothing, Uncle Liang. Don't take the risk of doing something like this next time, Qian Yuan will worry."

Liang Kun smiled and said, "Okay, Madam, I'll be more careful next time."

Ruan Wan was almost immune to being called "Young Madam" all the time.

Liang Kun carried the fish towards the kitchen. "Young Madam, is this the kitchen?"

Ruan Wan followed and said, "You're all soaked. Go upstairs and change your clothes. Also, go see Qian Yuan. He's worried about you."

Liang Kun looked at his soaking wet clothes and felt quite uncomfortable, so he handed the fish and a bag of raspberries to Ruan Wan and went upstairs.

Lou Qianyuan thought it was Ruan Wan returning. "The rain is too heavy, isn't the wooden basin useless? Uncle Liang will probably be back soon."

"Young Master, it's me."

Lou Qianyuan looked up and saw that it was Liang Kun who had entered. He then looked behind him and asked, "Where's Wan'er?"

"The young mistress is preparing lunch in the kitchen."

Liang Kun took off his raincoat and hung it outside, then closed the door, took out a clean set of clothes from his bundle, and quickly changed into them.

Liang Kun glanced outside and asked in a low voice, "Excuse my impertinence, but may I ask which family the young mistress belongs to, and when the young master got married?"

Lou Qianyuan knew that it must have been the experiences along the way that made Liang Kun suspicious of Ruan Wan.

The woman who could marry Lou Qianyuan must be a lady from a prominent family, but Ruan Wan seems to have lived in this mountain since she was a child.

Lou Qianyuan smiled and said, "Wan'er is the eldest daughter of the Ruan family, the Minister of Personnel, and also the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Mo. She was lost many years ago and was only found a few years ago. Last year, His Majesty personally bestowed the marriage upon her. Uncle Liang, why are you asking about this?"

Liang Kun nodded. No wonder Ruan Wan sometimes didn't act like a young lady from a noble family. She knew medicine and cooking, so she remained calm in the face of danger. The day she killed the second brother by herself, she was no ordinary person, which made Liang Kun suspicious.

Liang Kun laughed and said, "I just feel that the young mistress is too resourceful, unlike a pampered young lady from the capital."

"Right? Wan'er is no ordinary person. She saved Changfeng's life in this very bamboo house."

"Seventh Prince, how could the young mistress be involved with the Seventh Prince?"

Lou Qianyuan then realized he had misspoke and quickly said, "That was when Wan'er was very young. Changfeng was assassinated by Zhang Lucheng's men and his life was hanging by a thread. He escaped here and was saved by Wan'er. It was because of this opportunity that the Ruan family found Wan'er."

Liang Kun nodded. "Our young mistress is truly blessed; she managed to encounter something like this."

Lou Qianyuan was sweating profusely, wondering how he would deal with Liang Kun when he got back.

Just then, the door opened, and Ruan Wan walked in carrying a clay pot. "It's so much more convenient at home; we have all the pots and pans we need."

Most importantly, the firewood she left in the kitchen a few years ago is still there, although it's a bit rotten, it's still usable.

Otherwise, starting a fire would be a huge hassle during this heavy rain.

The three of them tasted salt for the first time in a long time, and a five-pound carp was eaten clean by the three of them.

This heavy rain did cool down the sweltering summer day quite a bit. The mosquito-repelling plants that were planted around the area were left unattended and grew wildly, spreading everywhere.

It wasn't hot there, and there were no mosquitoes, so Lou Qianyuan slept much more soundly at night.

Ruan Wan suggested that Liang Kun squeeze into a room with them, but Liang Kun refused and slept in the kitchen instead.

Just as Liang Kun had said, the rain kept falling without stopping, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but never ceasing.

The room was constantly ticking. For the first few nights, Lou Qianyuan was fine because he was too tired and weak, so he slept well. But later on, the noise made it impossible for him to sleep.

Ruan Wan then asked Liang Kun to cut some banana leaves while he went out to find food.

Liang Kun also set several traps in the mountains, and always managed to bring back some rabbits and pheasants, so there was no shortage of food.

Ruan Wan braved the rain to climb to the roof and used banana leaves to plug the leaks. Liang Kun was originally going to go up there himself.

Ruan Wan laughed and said, "This roof is quite old; you might collapse if you go up on it."

Liang Kun then helped hold the ladder from the ground.

The raincoat offered no protection against the rain, and the rain stung my face when it hit.

Unable to secure the banana leaves to the roof, Ruan Wan tied two banana leaves together by the veins and draped them over the roof like a shawl.

After the rooftop was completely covered with banana leaves, Ruan Wan stood on the ladder and looked at the distant sky. It was pitch black all around, so it seemed that the rain was covering a very large area.

Even in her previous life, Ruan Wan had never seen such heavy rain.

Back in the room, the water had stopped dripping, and I was finally free from sleeping in a damp room.

Ruan Wan took off her raincoat, but it did not protect her from the rain at all. Ruan Wan was soaked to the bone. Her clothes clung to her body, revealing her graceful curves. Her wet long hair clung to the tall lady's neck.

Liang Kun quickly closed his eyes, left the room, and closed the door behind him. "Young Madam, please change your clothes quickly, lest you catch a cold."

Ruan Wan also felt soaked and very uncomfortable. She immediately untied her belt and belatedly realized that Lou Qianyuan was still in the room.

Ruan Wan immediately covered herself with her clothes. When she looked at Lou Qianyuan, he had a red face and was staring at her blankly.

Ruan Wan glared at him. "Have you looked enough?"

Lou Qianyuan immediately turned his head away, stammering, "I...I didn't see anything."

Ruan Wan was too careless. She spent too much time alone in a room with Lou Qianyuan and was completely unprepared for him.

After Ruan Wan changed her clothes and dried her hair with a towel, Lou Qianyuan's face was still red. As soon as he saw Ruan Wan, Lou Qianyuan lowered his head and dared not look at her at all.

Ruan Wan now truly believed what Lou Qianyuan said: that he was a virgin.

Seeing him like this, and remembering what Liang Kun had said, Ruan Wan decided to have a good talk with Lou Qianyuan.

Ruan Wan sat down by the window and said, "Qian Yuan, we need to have a serious talk."

Lou Qianyuan heard Ruan Wan's serious tone and looked up at her, only to see her looking at him with a solemn expression.

Ruan Wan said, "You are the only son in your family, and you're twenty-two this year. There are men around you who are already quite grown up and have several children. You are also the only son of the Lou family. You need to seriously consider settling down and not focusing your attention on me."

Lou Qianyuan didn't speak, he just looked at Ruan Wan.

Ruan Wan continued, "In the past, you could use Princess Chang Le as an excuse, but now that Chang Le has married into the Chu Kingdom, you have no reason to delay any longer."

In such an era, it was impossible not to start a family, especially for scions of prominent families like Lou Qianyuan, who relied on bloodline inheritance.

After a long while, Lou Qianyuan still couldn't say a word. Ruan Wan wondered if it was too hurtful of her to say these things when someone was sick.

Just as Ruan Wan was filled with regret, Lou Qianyuan suddenly spoke up, "Did you plan to run away after sending me to the capital?"

Lou Qianyuan had guessed her thoughts immediately, so Ruan Wan could only laugh awkwardly, "I was talking about your own business, why did you bring me into this?"

Lou Qianyuan countered, "Then why did you run away? Why didn't you wait for someone to come and propose marriage like the girls in the capital, instead of following your parents' wishes and the matchmaker's words?"

Ruan Wan was speechless for a moment. She always felt that her soul did not belong to this era. She did not agree with these practices, so she would resist.

At this moment, however, she used the rules and principles of ancient times to persuade Lou Qianyuan.

The two remained silent for a moment, and did not exchange a single word until they went to bed that night.

As Ruan Wan lay on the bamboo couch, Lou Qianyuan's words were still echoing in her mind.

It seems that in the past ten years or so since she came into this world, Ruan Wan has been acting on her gut feeling. She has neither particularly resisted nor rebelled against ancient feudal ideas, nor has she identified with them.

Just like Ruan Wan today, she possesses the body of an ancient noblewoman but the soul of a modern person, the two subtly intertwined.

Ruan Wan decided to think carefully about what path she should take in the future.

Suddenly, Ruan Wan realized something was wrong. She had clearly wanted Lou Qianyuan to give up his obsession with her, so why was she reflecting on her own actions in the end?

Ruan Wan looked up at Lou Qianyuan on the bed, who had already fallen asleep and was fast asleep.

At this time, the capital city was in complete chaos. The continuous heavy rains had caused the water levels of the Wudu River and the Bian River to rise sharply, and some low-lying areas had already been flooded.

In many towns along the Yangtze River in southern China, people were displaced. The disaster came too suddenly; no one expected such heavy rain this year.

The emperor and his ministers discussed the matter in the imperial study for several days, but still could not come up with a solution.

Inside the Seventh Prince's residence, Linglong sat by the bed waiting again, while Bingqing trimmed the lamp wick and covered the lamp with the lampshade.

"Princess, it seems His Highness will not be able to return today. The disaster in Jiangnan is severe, and His Highness is busy handling state affairs. Let's rest early."

Linglong looked at the continuous rain outside the window and said, "The midnight snack is getting a bit cold, let's reheat it."

Bingqing wanted to persuade her again, but thinking of her master's personality, she obediently went to heat up the late-night snack.

No sooner had Bingqing left than a figure climbed in through the window. Linglong immediately pulled out a dagger from under her pillow and held it to her chest.

The man knelt before Linglong. Only when he looked up did Linglong feel relieved. She threw the dagger onto the bed and sat down. "Why are you here so late? Has the matter been resolved?"

This person was none other than Zhu You. Zhu You did not answer Linglong's question, but instead looked at Linglong angrily, "Why didn't the princess tell me that the person I was to kill was the young master of the Lou family?"

"So that's what it was about," Linglong said dismissively. "With your methods, you wouldn't leave any trace, would you?"

"Lou Qianyuan isn't dead, and the woman you wanted to kill also escaped. Most importantly, they recognized me."

Linglong jumped out of bed in excitement. "What?! You actually let them get away!"

"The princess did not tell me their exact information. There were more than two of them; there was also a middle-aged man with extensive experience and high martial arts skills accompanying them."

Linglong had a splitting headache and held her head for a long time before it eased somewhat. Once she calmed down, she said to Zhu You, "Leave Great Xia immediately and do not appear in Xia Kingdom for the time being."

Zhu You stood up and walked towards the window. Before leaving, he turned back to Linglong and said, "I will report this matter truthfully to the Fourth Prince. Princess, please take care of yourself."

Zhu You was caught in the rainy night. Linglong gritted her teeth and pounded the bed, silently screaming, "How could Ruan Wan be so lucky?"

At this moment, Bingqing returned. She immediately noticed her mistress's unusual behavior, but still spoke up, "Princess, His Highness sent word that he's staying in the palace today and won't be returning."

Linglong's eyes turned sinister. Since she couldn't kill her, she had no choice but to implement the second plan.