Chapter 237: Chapter 222: I Saw Him in Ningzhou
At the same time, at the Hongwen Academy.
Wen Wan, who was in the middle of a painting class, suddenly had a premonition. She got distracted for a moment and didn’t notice that ink from her brush had fallen onto the landscape she had just sketched.
The teacher, who was walking around inspecting, noticed Wen Wan’s odd expression and quietly asked her, "What’s wrong?"
Wen Wan was pulled back to reality by the voice and realized her painting was ruined. She felt guilty for a moment, staring at the large blotch of ink that had spread over it. She looked up at the teacher and said she wasn’t feeling well and wished to leave early.
The teacher saw that she indeed wasn’t quite herself and didn’t force her to stay, allowing her leave and advising her to be careful on the way home.
Wen Wan gathered her things quickly and walked out of the Hongwen Academy gates.
It was still early, so Uncle Lin hadn’t arrived yet. She walked a long way before she could hire a carriage, but she wasn’t heading home; she instructed the driver to head directly to the Hanlin Academy.
It was just after noon, and people at the government office were still busy.
Getting out of the carriage, Wen Wan paid, finding no one outside.
She stood under the scorching sun for nearly half an hour until she finally saw a carriage stop outside the Hanlin Academy. Shortly after, a man wearing the same crimson official dress as Song Wei came out. She guessed that he also worked at the Hanlin Academy, with an official rank similar to her husband’s.
Wen Wan initially wanted to stop him to ask for a message to be passed, but after taking two steps forward, she suddenly stopped.
Thinking about how she had rushed to the Hanlin Academy out of concern, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
The sense of foreboding in her premonition was about something happening after her husband left the Lower Court. It was not the hour yet, so even if she found someone to pass on a message, what could she say?
Could she really have them tell him he might be in danger later after leaving the Lower Court?
Words like a "Jianghu trickster" might not even get a person to help deliver the message. Even if they did, what would it change if her husband knew? The event had not yet happened, and mentioning it in advance would only distract him.
Thinking of this, Wen Wan’s taut nerves relaxed a bit, and the anxiety previously shown on her face gradually faded.
Instead of urgently seeking out Song Wei, she chose a large, lush tree and walked underneath it to stay cool.
The person who went in earlier was an acquaintance of Song Wei. He whispered to others that a pretty young girl was standing outside and looked like she was waiting for someone from the Hanlin Academy, jokingly asking if she was someone’s daughter.
Song Wei happened to overhear his colleague’s words, and having a shared intuition typical of a married couple, his first thought was of Wanwan.
After casually asking his colleague a few questions, Song Wei put down his work and headed towards the front gate.
From a distance, he saw a petite figure standing under the maple tree, wearing a moon-white Hongwen Academy uniform, her long black hair hanging over her shoulders.
She was twenty, the age to be a mother, yet on her, there was no sign of age, only pure, youthful allure.
Approaching her, Song Wei’s steps naturally slowed, with a faint smile playing at his lips.
Wen Wan, feeling bored, was watching ants on the ground when she suddenly noticed the light dimming before her. She looked up and, upon seeing who it was, parted her lips in surprise.
After a long pause, she finally spoke, "Why did you come out, husband?"
Song Wei’s gaze fixed on her sun-flushed face, but instead of answering, he asked, "Have you been waiting long?"
Wen Wan shook her head, smiling with pursed lips, "Not really, just a little while."
"Since you’re here, why didn’t you have someone inform me?"
"I thought you were busy, and I don’t mind waiting a little longer since I have nothing else to do." Wen Wan looked at him, her heart filled with uncontrollable shyness and sweetness.
The afternoon sun slanted, shining on her position. Song Wei gently took her wrist, drawing her into the tree’s shade, and spoke softly, "So, what brings you to see me?"
"It’s nothing, really... I just suddenly wanted to see you." The more Wen Wan spoke, the less she dared to meet his eyes directly.
Song Wei guessed that she might have had a bad premonition during class, prompting her to take leave and come.
Seeing her not speaking further, he didn’t press her, and after pausing, he spoke again, "There’s a teahouse not far from here. I’ll take you there to have tea and snacks. I’ll come to find you after I leave the office."
"Okay."
Wen Wan nodded obediently, following closely behind Song Wei.
When they reached the teahouse, he booked an expensive private room, ordered a pot of tea and two plates of soft, delicious snacks, said a few casual words, and then hurried back to the office.
Wen Wan knew her husband was busy and didn’t expect him to take leave like her and come home early.
After all, her husband needed to support the family.
——
After Song Wei left, Wen Wan sat by the window. On the table were light-colored snacks and fragrant tea. Putting aside the worrying premonition, the afternoon’s time seemed particularly leisurely and pleasant.
It wasn’t long before she fell into deep thought.
This premonition again involved the Young Marquis of the Lu Family.
That child seemed to be naturally at odds with her husband, causing trouble every time they met.
It was a coincidence before, but today the other party sought us out because the painting her husband gave to the Eldest Princess was from his own collection. Lu Yanqing learned that her husband was into collecting and had quite a few good items, so he insisted on forcing him to give one or two as gifts.
Her husband refused, so Lu Yanqing became ruthless and had someone deal with him.
...
Before the formal meeting, Wen Wan already had no good impression of this uncultured aristocratic son and even felt disgusted.
——
Wen Wan didn’t really sit around waiting for her husband to come find her; she timed it perfectly to wait across from the Hanlin Academy just as Song Wei got off work.
Upon seeing him, she disregarded the gazes from the surroundings and directly smiled as she approached.
Song Wei asked, "Didn’t I tell you to wait for me in the teahouse? Why did you come over yourself?"
Wen Wan subtly gestured with her eyes toward Lu Yanqing, who was coming their way with a group, and whispered, "Trouble’s coming, let’s go first. I’ll explain at home."
As she spoke, she lightly tugged on Song Wei’s sleeve, signaling him to walk in the opposite direction.
Lu Yanqing was indeed coming for the antiques. He spotted Song Wei, but his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the person beside Song Wei.
That inexplicable feeling of familiarity appeared again.
Without intending to remain curious, he directly strode over, opening his arms to block their way domineeringly.
Wen Wan instinctively shielded Song Wei behind her, glaring at Lu Yanqing, "What do you want?"
Having seen him enough in premonitions, facing him in person didn’t feel unfamiliar, and the long-held revulsion started to surface.
Yet Lu Yanqing was completely stunned when he clearly saw Wen Wan’s face, forgetting to react.
He resembled, looked so much like her! The young girl looked exactly like the person in the painting in their study.
In the painting, it was the likeness of his mother at the age of fifteen.
If not for a clear mind, Lu Yanqing could almost believe the person from the painting had come to life.
"Who, who are you?"
He looked at Wen Wan with unblinking eyes, softly murmuring a question.
Song Wei furrowed his brows slightly, pulling the petite wife shielding him forward, directly facing Lu Yanqing, "Whatever it is, take it up with me—bullying a young girl, aren’t you ashamed as a man?"
Lu Yanqing completely forgot about the antiques at this point; he only wanted to find out who the young girl hiding behind Song Wei was.
"Move aside!" Lu Yanqing commanded with a cold face.
Song Wei stood firmly, not budging an inch.
At the moment, being outside the government office, everyone passing by was a dignitary, so Lu Yanqing couldn’t do anything to him and could only grit his teeth and shout in a low voice, "I told you to get lost!"
Song Wei looked down at him, "Is this how the Eldest Princess educates you?"
"If you dare mention my mother again, I’ll kill you!" Lu Yanqing exploded, his eyes red, as if wanting to tear Song Wei apart.
Song Wei looked at the true "young brother-in-law" in front of him and felt somewhat disappointed.
He had met Prince Consort Lu and the Eldest Princess; from their behavior, it was easy to see they were people of good character. There was no reason for them to have raised such an unreasonable, wild son.
Lu Yanqing’s disposition resembled neither Prince Consort Lu nor the Eldest Princess; how did he grow up like this?
Clearing the confusion in his heart, Song Wei appeared calm and said, "This is the Hanlin Academy. If you dare make trouble, I can find a way to send you back to the Princess Mansion immediately to have your mother discipline you personally."
Lu Yanqing almost bit through a tooth in anger, but yelling wouldn’t help; he simply shifted his gaze to the person behind Song Wei, pointing, "Then tell me, who is she? Otherwise, we’re not done today!"
"None of your business."
Song Wei’s attitude was very cold.
"Not telling, is it?" Lu Yanqing’s gaze turned sinister, just as he was about to order his men to take action, the young girl peeked out from behind Song Wei and said to him, "I’ve seen you, back in Ningzhou."
The words "Ningzhou" made Lu Yanqing’s face turn pale instantly, his legs weakening uncontrollably, causing him to step back two steps.
Song Wei glanced over at his petite wife in puzzlement, "Wanwan, you’ve seen him?"
Could it have been before they got married? Otherwise, why was he completely unaware?
Wen Wan blushed and said, "Not long after we got married, we went to the town school to see Yuanbao. It was raining that day; you went to the study to buy ink and brush, and I went to get some pastries. Then I saw him when I came to find you."
Lu Yanqing was already bloodless, pointing at Wen Wan, "Shut up! I told you to shut up, did you hear me?"