Yan Shi then lowered his head and took a worn pouch from his waist, handing it to Li Mianyu.
Though puzzled, she opened it instinctively.
Inside were some silver fragments and a few copper coins. She looked at him blankly, then back up.
Yan Shi’s voice was clear: “Paper, ink, brush, and inkstone are expensive. I can’t afford them.”
Li Mianyu was stunned.
She had never considered this.
Along the way, Yan Shi had prepared rations, so she never worried about money.
She stammered, “Imperial Grandfather…didn’t he give you money?”
Yan Shi quietly looked at her, his voice low: “Time was too tight. There was only enough to summon me back to the palace to find you.”
Li Mianyu couldn’t believe it.
“You mean, all along, I’ve been using your own silver?”
Yan Shi remained silent.
Suddenly red-faced, Li Mianyu hurried to explain, “Aunt Qingling packed me some valuables. You’ve seen them—the gold hairpins and brocade hairpins and jewelry. Maybe we can melt those down.”
She trailed off, embarrassed.
Yan Shi said, “These days, with so many disasters and wars, many refugees—few have such gold, jade, or jewels to spare.”
Li Mianyu understood.
Tears welled in her eyes.
She thought of the coarse clothes that chafed her chest, the hard-to-swallow coarse food, and her disappointment was hard to hide.
She gloomily handed the pouch back to Yan Shi, her mind blank, unable to think clearly.
Once again, she thought of Imperial Grandfather.
If he were here…
Li Mianyu’s thoughts drifted.
But Imperial Grandfather was not here.
Without money, how could she support herself and her Dark Guard?
She began to think about what she could do.
She didn’t know needlework.
Her skills in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting were average at best.
But she could read and write.
Her delicate calligraphy was praised by Imperial Grandfather.
She could write funeral eulogies.
Imperial Grandfather had complimented her on the ones she wrote for her father and mother consorts.
Perhaps she could make money writing funeral texts, but that required many deaths to earn much…
Yan Shi stood up efficiently after taking the pouch, then turned to look at Li Mianyu.
The young Dark Guard glanced toward the small woods behind them, saying nothing but asking with his eyes.
Li Mianyu snapped out of her daze and met his black eyes.
Thinking of something, her face flushed slowly.
She suddenly remembered the paper in the bag on the horse.
She hurried to check and found some paper left—but no brush or ink.
How could she write a letter?
Moreover, that paper was used to change clothes.
If she couldn’t buy paper later, how would she change clothes?
Li Mianyu’s worries deepened.
Feeling dazed, she wandered into the woods.
After freshening herself up, her cheeks rosy from washing, she said to Yan Shi, “When you return, you must build me a small, clean room. It must be neat and tidy. There should always be clean water nearby, and it’s best to have incense burning.”
She spoke softly but firmly, “That’s the minimum requirement.”
Yan Shi glanced at her and nodded in agreement.
Li Mianyu looked at him again but was too shy to say more.
Rarely breaking his silence, Yan Shi finally asked, “How should I address the Princess from now on?”
Li Mianyu thought it a bit late for him to ask such a question, but on reflection, he was taciturn and hadn’t addressed her properly in front of Chen Xiue and her husband all this time.
She said, “I told Chen Xiue and her husband that you’re my brother. From now on, in front of others, you call me Xiao Yu or Yu’er. I call you brother. From today on, I’ll be Yan Yu, and you’re still Yan Shi.”
Yan Shi’s dark eyes fixed on her to confirm, “Xiao Yu? Yan…Yu?”
Li Mianyu pursed her lips and smiled, granting permission to her Dark Guard, “I approve.”
The round trip from Chenjia Village to the nearest Changxing Town by ox cart took at least two hours.
Even if Yan Shi rode a horse there and returned ahead, it still took over an hour.
Yan Shi hadn’t expected it would take so long.
Li Mianyu hadn’t expected it either.
She came here with Yan Shi to Chen Xiue’s place and watched him eagerly, wanting to go with him to town.
Chen Xiue noticed how unwilling the young couple were to part even for a short time.
She pulled Zhu Dacheng aside to talk.
Li Mianyu was full of worry.
She knew following him would delay things, but she hadn’t parted from Yan Shi for the entire month of fleeing.
In this strange place, she did not want to be separated from him…
But she was the Ningguo Princess, a proud princess.
How could she be so timid?
Only one or two hours—she could think about two funeral texts, and the time would pass.
When Li Mianyu lifted her face again, her expression was solemn like a guarding princess.
She patted Yan Shi’s arm, “You go. I will wait here for your return.”
Yan Shi swallowed the words he wanted to say and looked at her, pausing.
“Really?”
Li Mianyu nodded, lowering her voice, “I’m a princess. I never lie.”
Yan Shi was silent for a moment before finally nodding, “I’ll be back.”
Though she spoke so boldly, watching Yan Shi and Zhu Dacheng leave, Li Mianyu still felt reluctant.
She and Chen Xiue stood under the tree at the village entrance, watching Yan Shi’s tall, slender figure on horseback.
She almost wanted to call out to him.
Yan Shi seemed to sense it and turned back to look.
Strangely, though they were far apart, Li Mianyu could still feel his calm, dark eyes on her.
She hurriedly waved and smiled brightly.
Zhu Dacheng drove the ox cart and saw Yan Shi glancing back repeatedly.
He laughed, “Don’t worry, Madam Chen will take good care of Xiao Yu.”
Yan Shi frowned, and kept it up all the way to town.
Arriving, he parted ways with Zhu Dacheng and first went to the Fuya area.
Blending into the crowd, he checked the latest government notices before heading to a clothing shop.
Seeing the array of clothes, Yan Shi touched the pouch at his waist.
His calm eyes scanned the shop and pointed to three sets of fine cloth dresses hanging on display, plus two pairs of layered-soled shoes suitable for walking.
The shopkeeper was a woman in her thirties.
Seeing the boy’s rough cloth robe but handsome, upright bearing, she smiled and greeted him, taking down the three dresses and wrapping them.
“Sir, anything else?”
Yan Shi said nothing, glanced around, and not seeing any dudou (underbelly covers), asked, “No dudou?”
The shopkeeper immediately covered her mouth and laughed, “That kind of item isn’t displayed outside. Sir, please come inside.”
Yan Shi looked at her and followed her into the back room.
While opening drawers, the shopkeeper asked, “Sir, do you know the young lady’s figure? The undergarments must fit properly. We have many sizes here. Please choose as you wish.”
Yan Shi lowered his lashes, his ears quickly reddened, but he remained expressionless and picked three pieces.
He left the shop with the bundled clothes and again checked the pouch in his hand.
Should he take a few assassination jobs?
After Yan Shi and Zhu Dacheng left, Chen Xiue accompanied Li Mianyu toward the village’s edge.
Halfway there, Chen Xiue suddenly rubbed her stomach, her brows furrowed in discomfort.
Li Mianyu noticed and asked worriedly, “Madam Chen, are you not feeling well?”
Chen Xiue blushed and whispered, “I think I’m pregnant again.”
Li Mianyu, still half a girl, was confused, “Pregnant again?”
Chen Xiue looked at the young girl’s puzzled face and smiled, “Here…I mean, having a child again.”
She pointed to her belly softly.
Li Mianyu understood and curiously looked at the woman’s flat stomach, “How do you know?”
Chen Xiue covered her mouth, “Since escaping from the Capital, my monthly cycle hasn’t come. I’ve had two children already, so I know. This means I’m pregnant.”
Li Mianyu suddenly clutched her own belly, cold sweat breaking out, her voice stammering, “Why does missing a period mean being pregnant? Maybe my cycle is irregular?”
Chen Xiue guessed some things were better learned after marriage and just said vaguely for the young girl’s sake, “Da Cheng and I are husband and wife and sleep together. If the cycle is late, it’s probably pregnancy. If a couple doesn’t sleep together, then maybe it’s irregular periods.”
Li Mianyu was shocked, silent for a long time.
Clutching her belly, her mind blurred in chaos, panic, and terror.
Her soul seemed to drift away.
…She hadn’t had her period for so long because she was pregnant.
She thought of Imperial Grandfather with so many concubines and children.
She was confused and bewildered.
She still didn’t understand how a child entered her belly…but she and Yan Shi had slept together every day for over a month while fleeing…
She was going to have a child by her Dark Guard…and she would only be coming of age tomorrow…
What should she say to Cui Yunqi?
Would he even accept this child?
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