Li Rusong stared blankly at Xiao Jingnan, then at Li Wanming. He wanted to say something, but Yuan Jinqiu quietly tugged at his sleeve and pulled him aside.
"Your mother has just been beaten with twenty court rods. Aren't you going to check on her?"
Li Rusong came to his senses. "Check on her! Of course I have to. My dear mother..."
Just as Chuntao called out "Son-in-law...", she was grabbed by Lu Ping and Wu Yao.
"I heard Aunt Song and Sister Liu prepared a lot of delicious food today. Come on, quickly take us to have a look."
"Right, right. I've been out all day. I'm starving!"
Lu Ping and Wu Yao dragged the confused Chuntao and the others away. In an instant, only Li Wanming and Xiao Jingnan were left on the whole street.
"I..."
Xiao Jingnan wanted to explain, but didn't know how to start.
He didn't know how to tell her that he had pleaded with the queen mother in the palace for the imperial decree to marry her, even though he knew she didn't want to marry into a noble family.
He didn't know how to explain that he and the entire prince's mansion had deliberately deceived her for two years...
Even a white lie was still a lie.
Moreover, at the very beginning, his lie was only for his own benefit and could hardly be called kind.
What should he say?
Should he say, "I was about to die, so I had to marry a wife. That's why I ended up marrying you by chance"?
Xiao Jingnan couldn't bring himself to say it.
He could only stand there, looking calm on the surface but actually extremely panicked inside.
He was really afraid that Li Wanming would fly into a rage and say, "You think you can marry me just because you're a liar? In your dreams!"
However, Li Wanming said nothing.
She just stared at him intently for a long time. Suddenly, she gave a charming smile and said, "Oh, so you're the Prince of Ning's heir."
Xiao Jingnan was stunned. "Who else did you think I was?"
"A bandit!"
Li Wanming patted her chest as if relieved. "Thank goodness. It's just a unlucky heir. It's not that bad."
She had been thinking about some really scary things these past two days!
Bandits, enemy spies, swindlers, womanizers...
She would come up with a possibility and then rule it out, only to come up with another one. She had assigned countless identities and origins to Xiao Jingnan's family. She felt that none of them seemed right, but each of them had a bit of a connection.
In the end, it turned out he was just an heir...
It had to be said that this was already the best outcome.
After hearing her words, Xiao Jingnan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It seems that being the Prince of Ning's heir is indeed not bad."
He had been extremely nervous on his way back from the palace, speculating about Li Wanming's various reactions after learning his identity.
Sadness? Anger? Astonishment? Indifference?
Would she scold him for being a liar and vow never to marry him?
Would she be heartbroken and leave him forever, wandering the world alone?
Thank goodness.
She just said "It's not that bad."
This was much better than he had expected.
Xiao Jingnan felt much more relaxed.
However, before he could fully relax, Li Wanming's expression suddenly changed.
Her eyes suddenly turned cold. A mocking smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her tone suddenly became extremely cold. "Aren't you going to explain, Your Highness the Heir?"
Xiao Jingnan's heart tightened suddenly. "I didn't mean to deceive you..."
Li Wanming stared at him coldly, saying nothing. The mocking look on the corner of her mouth became even stronger.
Not meaning to deceive, but having deceived for two years...
If he had meant to deceive, wouldn't he have been making a fool of her?
This was too much!
When Li Wanming first heard the truth, she was only glad that he wasn't a bandit. Now that she had relaxed, she remembered Xiao Jingnan's deception. The long-delayed anger suddenly burned brightly in her heart.
She was going to hear what kind of story this noble and eloquent Prince of Ning's heir could come up with this time.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Jingnan knew that he had to tell her all the facts this time.
He hesitated for a long time and finally said, "You should have heard of me... the Prince of Ning's heir who couldn't find a wife in the capital."
His voice was a bit deep as he slowly told the whole story.
"I've been in poor health since I was a child and often got sick. Later, a wandering Taoist came to the capital and gave me a prophecy, saying that if I didn't get married before I was twenty, I would die a violent death and not have a good end."
"My father has been fighting on the battlefield all year round and is used to life and death. He didn't believe in such superstitions at first. But..."
His tone suddenly became a bit heavy. He took two breaths before saying, "But my three elder brothers all died on the battlefield. My mother cried day and night. I'm the only son left in the Xiao family. He couldn't afford to take the risk."
Li Wanming had just been looking at him coldly, but she didn't expect him to tell such a heavy past.
She hadn't been in the capital for a long time and wasn't in the noble social circle, so she didn't know anything about the Xiao family losing three sons in succession. Seeing Xiao Jingnan's sad tone at this moment, she couldn't help but be a bit moved. She opened her eyes wide and silently listened to him.
"Father was very anxious and started searching for eligible girls all over the capital. But maybe the wandering Taoist was really right. My marriage was extremely unlucky. After two years of negotiations, there was still no progress..."
"Fortunately, the wandering Taoist came to the capital again and said that my fate was different and I needed a girl with a strong birth chart to suppress it. My mother was overjoyed and ordered people to collect the birth charts of all the eligible girls in the city. That's how they found you."
Li Wanming lowered her head slightly.
If that was the case, it seemed reasonable for the Prince of Ning's mansion to find her.
After all, in Min, her birth chart was well-known for being strong... so strong that she had withstood thirteen bandit strongholds, causing them to be wiped out by the officers and soldiers...
Xiao Jingnan didn't notice the change in her expression and continued, "But my mother didn't dare to send someone to propose marriage rashly again for fear that you would refuse. She wanted to go to the palace to ask the emperor to arrange the marriage. But..." He turned to look at Li Wanming intently. "I disagreed."
"You disagreed?" Li Wanming suddenly raised her head.
What did he mean?
Did he mean... he didn't take a fancy to her?
The anger in Li Wanming's heart flared up again.
But Xiao Jingnan turned his head away, looking even more sorrowful. "I thought that if I was really doomed to be a lone star, why should I harm another innocent girl?"
Oh...
So that was it.
Li Wanming suddenly felt that she had been petty. Her face couldn't help but feel a bit hot.
These thoughts in her mind changed in an instant. Xiao Jingnan didn't notice at all.
He was immersed in the past. His voice was low and gentle, as if he was telling a distant story.
"As a result, I had the biggest argument with my mother in my life. In the end, I couldn't persuade her, so I decided to run away from home."
"Ah!"
Li Wanming suddenly remembered something. "So... that day..."
"Yes, the day I ran away from home was the day when the imperial examination results were announced."