After they finished talking about Xiao Yingchu, Liu Yiyi couldn't help but exclaim.
"Really? Really? Is this for real? She's really decided to become a female teacher? She really said she'll devote herself to academic research for the rest of her life and never marry?"
"Wow, that's so unrestrained..."
Li Wanming was getting dizzy from her excitement. She said crossly, "It's all fake. As soon as she gets to Qingzhou, she'll take in a dozen or twenty young lovers. I'll give you half of them then!"
"Hehe, that's not a bad idea..." Liu Yiyi grinned stupidly for a while, then still sighed with emotion, "Alas, I really didn't expect that the eldest daughter of the Xiao family would be so tough and determined to never marry. But being able to do what she wants for a lifetime, her life is complete."
Liu Yiyi propped her chin and looked out of the window. The envy in her eyes was almost overflowing.
She was truly envious.
Because Pei Yanqi had been promoted again - to the right deputy censor-in-chief of the Censorate, responsible for supervising all officials and correcting dereliction of duty. It was a position of high power and great responsibility.
This also meant that after she married him, she couldn't show herself in public anymore and manage the Liu family's shops.
She had to be like all the official's wives, confined herself within the courtyard, put on the cumbersome wide-sleeved silk dresses, maintain a dignified and proper image, manage the household for him, and take charge of the kitchen.
"Didn't you say he'll resign from office after ten years?" Li Wanming squeezed her cold fingers and comforted her, "After he resigns, you two can travel everywhere, visit mountains and rivers. Wouldn't that be better?"
"What about you, Wanming?" Liu Yiyi suddenly turned her head. Her almond eyes reflected Li Wanming's stunned face, "What are your plans for the future?"
"Me?" Li Wanming's expression dimmed. She forced a smile, "I'll just be a good princess of the heir apparent."
A princess of the heir apparent, and then a princess.
A wife, and then a mother.
This was the path she would take in the future.
Xiao Jingnan was the heir apparent of the Prince of Ning and would become the Prince of Ning in the future. His title was hereditary. He didn't have the option to resign from office.
And as his wife, Li Wanming was the princess of the heir apparent and also a first-rank imperial concubine. She couldn't throw away her responsibilities and go traveling.
This was glory and wealth, but also a cage.
Liu Yiyi still had a "ten-year agreement" to look forward to, but what about her? Her ties with this prosperous and wealthy imperial city would probably last for generations...
...
It was already twilight when they returned to the Prince of Ning's Mansion.
The palace lanterns under the eaves were lit, shining on the unmelted snow in the corner.
Xiao Jingnan was standing on the steps. His crow-blue brocade robe made his figure look even more slender.
"Why are you standing in the wind?" Li Wanming rushed forward in three steps and tightened his robe. She chided him, "You didn't even wear a cloak. What if you catch a cold?"
Xiao Jingnan smiled with the corners of his lips. The lights in his eyes were like stars, "Your second elder sister has left?"
"Yes, she has." Li Wanming tucked in his collar, "She said she's going to see the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River and the lone smoke in the desert..."
"What about you? Do you want to see them?"
"Me..." Li Wanming's voice was full of melancholy, "Let's talk about it when you're sent to a post outside the capital in the future."
She held his arm and walked into the mansion, "If you're sent to a post outside the capital in the future, you should ask the emperor for a good place... Well, preferably in the south. I like places with beautiful mountains and rivers, just like my hometown..."
Before she could finish her words, she sighed, "Alas, it's just a fantasy."
Xiao Jingnan's status was not that of an ordinary court official - he was the first vassal king of the Great Sheng Dynasty. This status was too heavy. Wherever he was sent, there would be a risk of rebellion.
No emperor would dare to send such a person to be a provincial governor.
When he had to be sent away from the capital, it must be because there was war on the border again and people would be in great distress... In that case, Li Wanming would rather stay in the capital with him honestly for a lifetime and never go anywhere.
"What if I said it's not just a fantasy?" Xiao Jingnan asked slowly.
"Not just... what?" Li Wanming suddenly stopped and stared blankly at him, "What do you mean?"
Xiao Jingnan slowly took out a bright red silk official document from his bosom.
"The southern border has just been pacified. The emperor needs someone to guard the Lingxi area... I've already asked the emperor for an order and will leave for the southern border to take up my post soon."
"Ah?" Li Wanming snatched the official document from his hand. Her fingertips were trembling with excitement, "You're going to the southern border! You said you wanted to go, and the emperor agreed? Why didn't Feng Xiao fight you for such a good opportunity so far away from the emperor?"
Although Feng Xiao and Xiao Jingnan were both close ministers of the emperor, Xiao Jingnan was the Prince of Ning. His status was much higher than Feng Xiao's. Sending such a person to the border would pose a greater risk of separatist rule.
From Zhao Yanke's point of view, it would be safer to send Feng Xiao.
Xiao Jingnan smiled, "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly either."
"At that time, the emperor waved his hand and stamped the imperial seal directly."
"He said that if someone was determined to rebel, keeping him under his nose would be useless. Which of the rebellions that bloodbathed the imperial palace in the previous dynasties didn't start right under the emperor's feet?"
"Moreover -" he suddenly chuckled, "Fang Zhi has been diagnosed with a pregnancy. Feng Xiao would never leave the capital for anything."
"What? Fang Zhi is pregnant!"
Li Wanming was even more surprised. She stared and murmured, "No wonder... When I went to the Duke's Mansion to see her last time, she was listless and had no appetite. Her spirit was also not very good... Why didn't she tell me?"
"Feng Xiao said that his silly wife didn't even know she was pregnant. She thought she had overeaten during the Chinese New Year. It wasn't until the imperial doctor was summoned the day before yesterday that they found out she was two months pregnant."
Li Wanming pressed the official document tightly against her chest. The gilded patterns seemed to transmit a slight warmth through the fabric.
She looked up, her eyes filled with unbelievable joy, "So such a good thing has fallen to you?"
Xiao Jingnan put his arm around her and walked back slowly, "You've always wanted to go back to Min. This time we'll take a water route. We'll go to Min first, stay in Tangli for a while, and then go to Lingxi County to take up my post. I really want to see how beautiful the green mountains and black-tiled bamboo buildings you've talked about are."
Li Wanming was so happy that her heart was about to jump out. She seemed to have smelled the moisture of the great river and seen the mountain paths she had run barefoot on as a child -
Her small town, her green mountains and clear waters, her hometown. Was she finally going back?
Xiao Jingnan's voice was gentle, "After we get to Lingxi, whether you want to open a shop or run an academy, it's all up to you. As you said, it's so far away from the emperor that the rules in the capital won't apply to us..."
Li Wanming's eyes were shining brightly, like two burning flames.
She didn't care that the maids were there. She put her arms around Xiao Jingnan's neck and kissed him hard, "You're so good. I like you the most!"
Xiao Jingnan was stunned for a moment, then tightened his arms and held her even closer, "I like you the most too."
"Really?"
"The green mountains remain unchanged, and the green waters flow forever... I'll never let you down in this lifetime."