Unforgettable Emperor's Favor Chapter 14.2

Published at 3rd of May 2023 06:38:56 AM

14. Night Talk (2)

But Yu Qingjia didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with this. Her long hair was scattered behind her back, she diligently climbed onto the bed and spread the quilts for the both of them, then casually gathered a handful of her hair and turned back to Murong Yan and smiled brightly, “It's okay now.”

Murong Yan stood outside the bed curtain, unable to move for a long time. After a while, he said in a stiff tone, “You go inside first.”

When Yu Qingjia was young and couldn't sleep, she often slept with her mother or Bai Zhi, so she had no objection to sleeping inside herself. Madam Yu and Bai Zhi were afraid that she would catch a cold, so they always let her sleep inside the bed as well. So she rolled to the innermost part with a grunt and had already lifted the quilts herself and settled in.

She then lay flat on her back and looked up at the completely unfamiliar roof above, seemingly sighing and lamenting, “I can finally sleep peacefully. I haven't slept with anyone for a long time, and now It felt like I'm back to when I was a child and I went to look for my mother, to tell me bedtime stories.”

Murong Yan didn't want to be compared to her mother, so he coldly said, “Shut up.”

“Oh.” Yu Qingjia shut up resentfully. Soon, the lights blew out and the room instantly fell into darkness. It was only after a while that she felt the other side of the bed sink in slightly.

The vixen really doesn't like to have physical contact with others, and the distance between them could almost fit another person. Yu Qingjia is really worried the she might fall down the bed in the middle of the night. She closed her eyes, not knowing if it was because she mentioned her mother, but the more she tried to sleep, the harder it was for her to do so. Fragments of her memory flashed through her mind in a chaotic manner. It was the image of her mother embracing her while sighing sorrowfully, there is also one where her mother was seriously ill in bed, and the sadness that was brought during her last remaining days.

She started overthinking about everything. She remembered her life in Yanzhou and the inexplicable and vicious assassins who chased after them on the road, and her heart became even heavier.

Right now she had a safe place to stay, but what about her father? She wanted to know if her father and Bai Zhi were safe, whether they were injured, or even where they were at the moment.

Yu Qingjia stretched out a hand from under the quilt and quietly explored the river-like dividing line between the two of them on the bed. She wanted to gently tug at Murong Yan's sleeve, but she felt for a long time and she couldn't find his quilt corner. She could only stretch her arm to probe further out. She just raised her hand slightly, when her slender wrist was fiercely gripped and she was caught unprepared.

“What are you doing?”

It seemed like Yu Qingjia completely misunderstood Murong Yan's intention and thought that he wanted to talk to her, so she immediately propped herself up in surprise and said to him, “Vixen, you can't sleep too?”

Murong Yan continued to hold on to Yu Qingjia's wrist, not knowing what to do for a moment.

'Why can't this fool understand human language? Did I say that I wanted to talk to her?'

“Vixen, what do you think father and the others are doing now?”

Murong Yan looked for an opportunity to let go of her hand, and casually said, “They, ah, will be fine.”

Yu Qingjia was so angry that she withdrew her hand and sat up from the bed with the blanket, “How can you be so cold! Father is so kind to you, and this is how you repay him?”

Murong Yan took advantage of the situation to loosen the strength in his hands, and inwardly took a sigh of relief. As for her words he did not bother, as long as the spies could not find him in the Yu family caravan, they would not dare to kill Yu Wenjun. After all He was still an official of the court, and he is a scholar and hermit with a strong reputation. In fact, right now it was Yu Qingjia who was in a dangerous situation, but this poor fool still doesn't know anything.

Yu Qingjia truly felt that her father is blind to be fascinated by such a vicious and unfeeling concubine. Her father even showed contempt towards Yu Qingjia because of her, but this vixen does not appreciate it at all! And now even when her father is in danger, this vixen can just flip over it lightly. She felt that she was unworthy of her father, and even more unworthy for herself. Did she actually lose to such a pampered and jaded concubine?    

But then she thought that the vixen has a very good literary talent, is proficient in both riding and archery, and even had the talent for music. She and the vixen are in the same class, but she still can't beat her on anything. She suddenly felt an unspeakable sadness in her heart. Not only was she going to be surpassed by her reborn cousin and the system, but she also had to be surpassed by this vixen.

Yu Qingjia hugged her knees and sighed for a while. She then suddenly felt a strong desire to confide in her. For the first time, she wanted to know the story of the vixen. She was hostile to her at the beginning, but after a long time, even she could see that the origin of this vixen was very unusual. A person who's proficient in calligraphy, scripture collection, martial arts, riding and archery, astronomy and even music, why would she be reduced to such a state?

Yu Qingjia then asked, “Vixen, why did your family fall?”

“Our family has not fallen.”

Yu Qingjia said “Oh” knowingly, she thought of many cases of Madams and sisters-in-law who were in charge of the family and thus did not allow the other ladies to overshadow them. So she suddenly developed a strong pity for the vixen. Because of that pity, she even lightened her voice, “So what was your family like?”

Murong Yan was so disturbed by Yu Qingjia that he couldn't sleep, so he thought about it, and casually came up with a story, “My high ancestor was a great official in the dynasty. He had a high position so everyone treated him in extreme regard, but my grandfather, he was an official in his early years, but he did not continue for long. When it came down to my father and brothers, our family rarely held any proper positions.”

Yu Qingjia had already outlined a general story. Political changes are quite frequent nowadays, and people are often demoted or even removed from office because they offend someone powerful. It turned out that the vixen's ancestors were also a family of officials, but it only declined in the later generations, and there was no proper official on the court.

Yu Qingjia reassured him, “Don't worry, although the court is quite nepotistic now, but as long as your family has a wise and capable person in their later generation, it can always recover.”

Murong Yan chuckled lightly, really stupid and cute. In fact, he also did not lie to her, his high ancestor's generation did work in the court, the official position is indeed very high, he was the prime minister after all. His grandfather was also the Grand Secretary in his early days, but later he stopped being an official, because he became the emperor himself.

He's afraid that only Yu Qingjia will come over and foolishly comfort him about it.

Yu Qingjia did not know that the other person beside her was already holding back his laughter inside, and her inability to see in the darkness gave rise to an urge to confide in secrets. So she hugged her knees tighter and sat for a while, then suddenly asked, “Do you know Murong Yan, the Prince of Langya?”

(T/N: I don't know if you have noticed, but I actually used he/she or her/him pronouns interchangeably when Murong Yan was brought into the story. I just want you all to know that it was on purpose. I used He/Him when it was talking about Murong Yan himself, his actions, reactions, and when his name is being used. However, everytime he was addressed as 'Vixen', 'Jing Huan' or 'Concubine' in the story, I used Her/She. This was to show a distinction and in a way make you guys aware that he's still, in the point of view of others, a woman. I've been doing this since chapter 1. Just please note *cough*.)

Chapter end