Repeatedly broken branches

Upon arriving at Ding Xun's residence, he presented Xie Huai with a piece of jade wrapped tightly in a silk handkerchief. Xie Huai examined it for a long time, confirming that the raw stone was pure and of the highest quality.

Ding Xun chuckled and said, "I told you I wouldn't lie to you, Xie Huai. You wait here. Little Spoon and I have something to do. We'll come out and find you later!"

He was already impatient.

Xie Huai gave the silver note to Ding Xun and carefully put away the jade. He glanced at Xiao Mu with concern, and she nodded slightly, giving him a reassuring look. But how could he be at ease?

He could only stand there dumbfounded as Ding Xun led her into the inner room.

He quietly followed them, hiding behind a pillar in front of the door, holding his breath, and listening to every move inside.

Ding Xun reached out to lift Xiao Mu's veil, "Little Spoon, things have come to this point, why are you still wearing this cumbersome thing?"

"Because of me, I'm nervous and shy."

Xiao Mu tried hard to suppress her fear. She knew that the more flustered she was, the more likely something bad would happen, so she couldn't be afraid. She could only grit her teeth and endure this disgusting person.

Ding Xun frowned and said in an unhappy tone, "What's there to be ashamed of now? I'll draw the curtains, it'll be dark and you won't be able to see anything, what are you afraid of?"

Xiao Mu thought for a moment and said, "Because I feel the pace is too fast. Can't we chat for a while? That way I won't be so nervous."

Ding Xun had no choice but to go along with her and sat down, saying impatiently, "Then what do you want to talk about? I'll talk to you."

Do you... eat cilantro?

Ding Xun shook his head. "I won't eat it. I don't think this kind of thing is edible."

"You're wrong. This is delicious. You can try it sometime; it will definitely surprise you!"

"Okay, okay." Ding Xun rubbed his hands eagerly. "We're done talking, is that okay now?"

Xiao Mu frowned, blinked innocently, and asked softly, "What? Do you want some cilantro? I'll go buy you a bunch!" She stood up, ready to run away.

"Wait, wait!" Ding Xun called out to her, his voice now a few octaves deeper. "What are you talking about? I want to sleep with you, why are you telling me all this nonsense?"

Xiao Mu took a few steps back, forcing a smile. "It's still early, why should I sleep? I can only sleep after dark, otherwise I can't sleep..."

Ding Xun squinted, a smirk playing on his lips, and slowly approached her, his voice lewd as he said, "No rush, no rush, let me teach you how to sleep... I guarantee you'll sleep soundly, and you'll want to do it again and again..."

Xiao Mu took a few steps back, shook her head, and said, "But it's still early. How about... you write another poem for me? I want to hear you write more poems!"

"Let's talk about it after we've had some sleep!" Ding Xun moved closer and closer, until Xiao Mu's back was almost pressed against the door. He looked at Xiao Mu with a wicked grin and said, "Don't struggle. Be good and it'll be over soon. Will you listen to me?"

Xiao Mu's heart jumped. She nervously swallowed, wondering if this person could disappear from her sight. Ding Xun pounced on her.

Caught off guard, Xiao Mu was pulled out of the door by a tremendous force. It was Xie Huai, who opened the door at the last moment and pulled her out.

Without a second thought, Xie Huai grabbed her and ran outside. For a moment, she even forgot to breathe. She could only follow Xie Huai as they ran like the wind out of the house, through the corridor, the garden, and finally out of the mansion.

She watched as the pig-headed man, who had been chasing them for a short while, stopped panting heavily, and she was secretly overjoyed. That pig-headed man definitely wouldn't be able to catch up with them. Luckily, Xie Huai suddenly appeared, otherwise she would have been devoured by the pig.

Ding Xun knew he had been tricked, but he couldn't catch up with them. He could only stomp his feet in anger. How infuriating!

"so close."

The two ran into an alley and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. If they had run any longer, they would have died there.

"Luckily, I was quick-witted and nimble-fingered."

Xie Huai raised the corners of his mouth smugly and took out the red jade and waved it in front of her.

Xiao Mu looked at him with lingering fear and asked worriedly, "Won't he come to the shop and cause trouble?"

Xie Huai gritted his teeth and said, "He dares? I'll tear him to pieces and feed him to Zhuzhu."

"Zhuzhu! By the way, you left Zhuzhu in the Western Regions?"

Xie Huai nodded. "My master is taking care of it for me. What's wrong? Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah, you also said you'd give me a cat, you lied to me."

"I'm not lying to you, but I can't give it to you right now. I'll bring it to you when I return to the Western Regions!"

Xiao Mu blinked. "Alright then, considering our excellent teamwork today, I'll... let you off the hook. Go back and work on your things. I need to go back too, it's getting late."

Xie Huai glanced at it and said casually, "Okay, be careful on the road."

"See you next time."

Xie Huai stared at her retreating figure for a while before reluctantly turning his gaze away. He coldly laughed and said, "What are you thinking about now, Xie Huai? She's already a married woman. What are you still fantasizing about?"

Feelings can be overwhelming, and sometimes even the person themselves can't control them. Even if they try their best to restrain themselves, it's all in vain.

……

Yu Yanjing seemed unaware that she had secretly slipped out, and he didn't come for dinner. For some reason, a sense of unease welled up in her heart.

You came in to clear away the leftovers that Xiao Mu had finished eating, only to find that she hadn't touched her chopsticks at all.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Aren't you hungry after being out all day?"

A hint of sadness flickered in Xiao Mu's eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt incredibly sad, and it seemed that only Yu Yanjing's presence could ease her pain.

She stood up and looked at You beside her, saying, "I'm going to see Yu Yanjing for a bit. Don't come with me. I'll be right back."

You nodded and silently removed the untouched food.

Upon arriving at the palace where Yu Yanjing resided, Xiao Mu hesitated again about whether to go in, though she didn't know why she was hesitant.

Wei Lan saw her and stepped forward to ask, "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

It was as if she was surprised by her arrival, as if she were asking, "Why did you come?" and seemed reluctant to have come herself.

Xiao Mu said without changing her expression, "I came to see him. Is he very busy?" Her gaze fell on Yu Yanjing's tightly closed door.

“No.” Wei Lan’s eyes flickered a few times, then she paused and said, “Your Majesty is quite busy, so… so…”

"So what?" Xiao Mu was puzzled. Wei Lan was so proper in her work, so why did she speak so hesitantly?

"You should go see for yourself; the Emperor is inside reading memorials."

Wei Lan left in a hurry, as if she had something on her mind.

Xiao Mu became even more uneasy, and some bad thoughts welled up in her mind. With a nervous heart, she pushed open Yu Yanjing's door.

Yu Yanjing was already overwhelmed by countless memorials. When he saw that the person who came was Xiao Mu, he was first surprised, and then he couldn't hide his excitement.

He put down the memorial in his hand, looked up at her, and said wearily, "Why did you come? I was planning to come see you after I finished reading these."

"These?" Xiao Mu glanced at the mountain of memorials. "It will be three days before you finish reading them all, right?"

Yu Yanjing smiled. "Are you upset that I haven't visited you in so long? What have you been doing all day? Have you been incredibly boring? I'm so sorry, I've been really busy... I haven't had time to spend with you. You're not angry, are you?"

Xiao Mu lowered her eyes, feeling very guilty. She had been playing outside all day and had almost been taken advantage of by some idiot, but Yu Yanjing thought she was lonely and bored and even blamed himself for it. How could she do this? How could she deceive such a good and thoughtful husband?

But Yu Yanjing will be angry if he finds out.

"Your Majesty, this is freshly made almond milk from the Imperial Kitchen. Please have some; you haven't eaten all day... No matter how thorny the affairs of the court are, you should take care of your health!"

Wei Lan pleaded desperately outside the door, but dared not come in, because Yu Yanjing wouldn't let her in; if she did, he would surely get angry.

A cold glint flashed in Yu Yanjing's eyes, and he couldn't help but panic. He didn't even dare to look at Xiao Mu.

Xiao Mu raised an eyebrow slightly. "You haven't eaten all day? Why is that? Are things at court causing you a lot of trouble?"

He had never seriously devoted himself to the court before. He did not want to be the emperor because he knew that he had climbed to the throne step by step over the corpses of his nine brothers. Therefore, Shen Ruoxuan was in charge of many things.

Now that Shen Ruoxuan's mother is gone, there is no one to take care of his family affairs, so he cannot go to the palace often. Yu Yanjing should also learn to handle some things on his own.

He had never realized that seemingly ordinary little things could be so troublesome, such as how to reasonably allocate a sum of money so that everyone would benefit, and how to reward meritorious officials and punish those who had committed offenses. He couldn't think of a reasonable solution.

"fine."

Yu Yanjing chose to shoulder everything himself, wanting Xiao Mu to think of him as someone carefree and always radiant.

"I don't care if there's anything wrong or not, you have to eat. I'll watch you eat, and you're not allowed to look at these things until you finish, understand?" Xiao Mu snatched the memorial that Yu Yanjing hadn't finished reading from his hand and casually tossed it aside.

Then she opened the door and let Wei Lan bring in the bowl of almond milk.

"Drink!"

Xiao Mu placed the almond milk in front of Yu Yanjing and watched him intently, like a parent watching a child eat, never letting her guard down for a moment.

"Okay." Yu Yanjing smiled slightly, picked up the bowl, scooped a spoonful into his mouth. Although it wasn't very tasty, he hadn't eaten anything all day, and eating something warm made him feel a little better.

Xiao Mu's gaze fell on Yu Yanjing's four fingers wrapped in gauze. She only then realized that he was injured and all four fingers were wrapped in gauze.

A sharp pain shot through her heart. She gently grasped Yu Yanjing's wrist, pulled his fingers close to her face, and examined them closely for a long time. Her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "What happened to your hand?"

Yu Yanjing quickly withdrew his hand and said calmly, "It's nothing, I just accidentally scratched myself, it'll be fine in a few days." To cover something up, he kept stuffing almond milk into his mouth.

Xiao Mu finally felt relieved. So this is what it means to love someone: to get so anxious when you see them get even a little bit hurt?

Wei Lan frowned, wanting to speak but not daring to, asking what she had done about an accidental scratch.

It was clear that the jade pen she was making for the Empress overnight had been constantly cut by the carving knife. Her once beautiful hands were now covered in cuts, except for her thumb.

If the Empress were to remove the bandages, she would be able to see the Emperor's fingers, which were badly injured.

The Emperor doted on the Empress and knew that making a good pen was not easy. It was too late to order one from Jiangnan, so he spent a long time reading books on pen making and decided to make it himself. Wei Lan suggested that they could ask someone from the palace pen-making bureau to make it, but the Emperor disagreed, saying that the first pen he was to give her had to be made by him personally. So he didn't sleep all night.

Even when he was carving the tuberose on that pen, a smile would unconsciously appear on his face. Wei Lan had never seen the Emperor so persistent about anything, nor did she know that the Emperor could smile so gently.

As soon as the jade pen was finished, the Emperor went to the morning court session. It was delivered to the Empress by someone else. She only knew that the Emperor was quick to buy it, but she didn't know that the Emperor had stayed up all night to make it to make her happy.

The Emperor refused to say anything, but Wei Lan couldn't help herself.

Why do you do something but not want anyone to know?

"Is Your Majesty very tired lately? Why did you fall asleep right after eating?"

Looking at Yu Yanjing, who was fast asleep slumped over the table, Xiao Mu felt a pang of heartache. Was he very tired? Did he not even have time to sleep?

Wei Lan's heart skipped a beat. It was more than just being tired. The Emperor was already exhausted after attending the celebration banquet, yet he still helped the Empress copy more than three volumes of scriptures, and even had to imitate the Empress's handwriting when copying them.

Not wanting the Empress to know that he was the one who copied them, he didn't sleep all night. The next day was the morning court session, and he hadn't slept for two nights. Even an iron body would not be able to withstand it.

Wei Lan nodded, wanting to tell Xiao Mu, but fearing that Yu Yanjing would be angry if he knew, she chose to keep it a secret.

"His Majesty has been busy with state affairs lately, so he rarely rests. Your Majesty need not worry."

Xiao Mu's heart was in turmoil. Yu Yanjing was so tired, but she couldn't help him at all, not even with the affairs of the harem.

Because no one taught her how to be a matriarch from a young age, unlike Shen Shanshan's family, she wasn't raised as a housekeeper's wife from childhood. Her father felt sorry for her because she lost her mother at a young age, so he was quite lenient with her in everything. She suddenly felt extremely incompetent. As a woman, she couldn't interfere in politics. Otherwise, she really wanted to help Yu Yanjing share some of the burden.

After spending some time with Yu Yanjing, Xiao Mu went back, unsure how to face him in this state.

She felt bad seeing him like this. She couldn't help, so she didn't want to get in his way. With her here, Yu Yanjing had to take care of his own emotions and handle official business. Even anyone would be overwhelmed if he was in two places at once.

"Your Majesty, you're finally back! Should we reheat the food that was torn down for you?"

You followed behind Xiao Mu and asked.

Xiao Mu waved her hand weakly. Although her stomach was empty, she couldn't eat anything. How could she possibly eat anything?

Originally, I was going to tell Yu Yanjing about Xiaoshao and Ruan Cifeng's wedding plans, but since he was so busy, I figured I might as well handle it myself and also get some experience with my own abilities.

She drafted a list of things to prepare overnight. The dowry alone would fill several carts, and there would be several boxes of clothes for Xiao Shao to wear after the wedding. She wanted to make her get married in a grand and glorious way. As for the house outside the palace, she would consider it a wedding gift for Xiao Shao.

Moonlight spilled onto the desk by the window, and Xiao Mu held the bracelet that Yu Yanjing had given her, rubbing it over and over again.

Even though they live close by, they can't be together every day. Although she misses him, she's afraid of bothering him. Is this really how life should be after marriage? Why does she feel like she's not as close as other people, like family?

She really overthinks things. Even though she knows Yu Yanjing is like this because he's busy, she just can't get over it and doesn't know what she's worrying about.