"Father Emperor, Empress Mother, Little Yanyan has returned!"
Little Yanyan knelt excitedly on the ground to pay her respects.
Qin Yi repeatedly nodded, continuously uttering words of praise.
Su Pan’er hurriedly helped Little Yanyan up, her eyes brimming with excited tears.
"Yanyan, how could you have been gone for so many years, you’ve been sorely missed by your Empress Mother. You child, not even coming to visit your Father Emperor and Empress Mother..."
"Empress Mother..."
Little Yanyan threw herself into her embrace: "Yanyan missed Father Emperor, Empress Mother, and missed the brothers and sisters so much that my heart ached! It’s all that rascal pig’s fault, promising each ti to return but always backing out. It made it impossible for to co ho. How detestable!"
She vehently denounced the rascal pig.
"Really? Where is that rascal pig now?"
To tell the truth, Su Pan’er actually missed the rascal pig after not seeing it for a long ti.
"It? Right now, that creature is probably off to so woman’s tender land again!"
Little Yanyan ground her teeth, obviously quite resentful: "Never mind, let’s not talk about it right now. This is Little Sugar Bean, right? And these are... Huanhuan and Ah Mann?" She asked one by one about her younger siblings.
Little Sugar Bean, Huanhuan, and Ah Mann stepped forward, all three of them bowing in unison.
Huanhuan and Ah Mann seed sowhat awkward as it had been too long since they’d last seen Yanyan. Little Sugar Bean, however, was clearly very happy: "Imperial Sister, you are so bad! Going out to have fun and not even taking with you, forcing to endure the tornt of this pair of treasures every day, living a life full of hardships. How bitter my days have been!"
"Second Imperial Sister is so bad, talking bad about us the mont Big Imperial Sister returns! Humph, I won’t play with you anymore!"
Huanhuan pouted, feigning anger.
"Oh, look, our Third Imperial Sister surely knows how to talk."
Little Sugar Bean imdiately chid in, making everyone laugh together.
"Empress Mother, today Yanyan has returned and has brought you all a huge surprise!" Little Yanyan turned around and gave a mischievous smile.
A big surprise indeed, but as for being delightful...
"Where does this joy co from?"
"Empress Mother, Father Emperor, please wait just a mont."
Saying this, Little Yanyan turned and dashed out of the grand hall. Before long, she returned, bringing another figure with her.
"You, you are..."
Su Pan’er was stunned, glancing back at Qin Yi, both saw surprise in each other’s eyes.
The person’s skin was dark and glistening, and when he smiled, he revealed a set of bright white teeth. Approaching closer, he then knelt on one knee.
"I, Lui Muyi, pay my respects to His Majesty and the Empress."
"It really is you, Big Brother Lui, how could you... how did you end up like this..."
Su Pan’er could hardly believe her own eyes!
The Lui Muyi before her had completely transford. Although he was dressed in a court robe, his skin shone with an oily sheen, his hair was disheveled, his face line with several new wrinkles, and his hands cracked and weathered, a picture of hardship endured.
Facing Su Pan’er’s questions, he rely laughed heartily: "Your Majesty, Empress, I have fortunately fulfilled my mission out at sea, successfully discovering the overseas country ntioned by the Empress Mother, t those fair-skinned, high-nosed foreigners, and traded with them, exchanging many fine goods. I have already drawn up a detailed list of the events, which I will now present to His Majesty and Empress Mother for review."
With that, he made a gesture of invitation with his hand.
The eunuch behind hurried forward, presenting a tray. Lui Muyi lifted the tray above his head and personally brought it before Qin Yi and Su Pan’er.
"Big Brother Lui, thank you for your hard work."
Qin Yi expressed his sincere admiration.
Back then, Lui Muyi, ignoring the fact that Su Xian’er had just beco pregnant, insisted on taking to the sea to travel the Mariti Silk Road. Along with him, aside from Qin Yi, there were also several other court officials.
Lui Muyi, neither servile nor overbearing, clasped his fists in salute.
"To accept the ruler’s money and share the ruler’s worries is the least I can do as your subject."
"Good, such a fitting thing to do,"
Qin Yi praised repeatedly, not slowing down the movent of his hands, he flipped open the list. The words written in minute writing brush strokes were densely packed on the fine paper, a thick stack piled onto the tray, dizzying to look at.
Su Pan’er briefly scanned through it a few tis, then directly pushed the list towards Qin Yi.
"Big Brother Lui, before you entered the palace, did you manage to visit ho?"
Lui Muyi was startled, hesitated slightly, then shook his head, "I have not..." He wanted to add sothing more, but couldn’t utter another word.
Su Pan’er glanced at Little Yanyan who appeared sowhat nervous by her side, and then at Qin Yi, who pretended to be earnestly reviewing the list but occasionally sneaking glances at her. She finally let out a sigh.
"Big Brother Lui, let His Majesty take his ti with this list. You haven’t been ho for many years, so why not take this opportunity to do so? Your father hasn’t been in good health over the years, and he has been eagerly awaiting your return."
Once the Empress spoke, Lui Muyi, even if reluctant to leave, had to stand up, express gratitude, and then retreat.
As soon as Lui Muyi left the palace, Su Pan’er signaled to Little Yanyan, "Yan Yan, co here."
"Is there sothing you need, Empress Mother?"
"It’s nothing much, I just wanted to ask you how you and Lord Lui ca to be together."
Lui Muyi strolled slowly out of the palace gate, unable to help looking back, through countless palace walls, it seed he saw that woman trapped in the rear courtyard of the deep palace.
Originally, his departure was to avoid the turmoil, to find so peace for himself. And over these years, whenever he faced insurmountable challenges abroad, he would recall her face, all the monts they had shared.
He thought he would never forget her in this lifeti.
However, as ti went on, he found himself thinking of her less and less, even her appearance began to blur in his mory.
Not until he thought he had completely forgotten her, did he steer his rchant ship back to Great Zhou. But when he saw once more that figure he thought he had forgotten, he understood that all his efforts were in vain!
He hadn’t forgotten her; he had rely buried her in the depths of his mory.
It wasn’t that he didn’t rember how she looked; with just a glance, he could keenly notice every single change in her, even the slight changes to the tips of her hair, all of which he held close to his heart.
He had never forgotten!
Yet that figure had never belonged to him.
Such revelation twisted in his heart like a knife, excruciating and inescapable.
After a long while, he unclenched his tightly held fists, and began to stagger towards the road back ho.
Over the years, although Lui Muyi hadn’t returned for so ti, the Lui Family’s Mansion, supported by Lui Ming, was not only undiminished but even more majestic and magnificent.
The coachman seed to understand him well, moving languidly, gradually approaching that mansion resembling a cage.
When the carriage stopped, he mustered the courage and finally lifted the curtain.
Looking up, he saw at the entrance of the Lui Family’s Mansion, a familiar and delicate figure leaning against the door, her skirt hem fluttering, billowing in the wind.
——
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