Chapter 282 - 281: In Their Eyes
The room was silent.
No one spoke, and the heartbeat of the person in his arms was clearly audible.
Mu Lianxiao pressed his thin lips against Du Yunluo’s long hair and slowly tightened his grip around her waist.
The words Du Yunluo had just spoken lingered by his ear.
Mu Lianxiao didn’t find anything wrong with the wording, but precisely because it was appropriate, the sadness conveyed in Du Yunluo’s tone tugged at his heart.
Like a solitary leaf falling on a calm water surface, it didn’t stir up a thousand waves like a stone, but gently formed ripples with the breeze.
Alone and unsupported...
Mu Lianxiao’s breath caught for a moment.
It was the first time he saw Du Yunluo like this; the her of the past was always so lively, whether she was laughing, angry, or crying.
Suddenly becoming so fragile, it must be because of unease...
"Yunluo..." Mu Lianxiao softly called her.
Du Yunluo didn’t lift her head, responding with a muffled sound.
The gentle, steady breaths brushed against his chest, even through the fabric, it was still palpable.
A certain warmth arose in his chest.
Mu Lianxiao’s eyes darkened; having just understood the matters between a man and a woman, his body was particularly sensitive. The memory of the morning’s attempt at intimacy flashed briefly through his mind, causing his blood to surge in that instant.
But Mu Lianxiao didn’t move; he suppressed all wandering thoughts and simply held Du Yunluo quietly.
More than physical intimacy, what his Yunluo needed now was a warm embrace.
Being a new bride is not easy, entering a completely unfamiliar home overnight, having to accept so many new faces, is no simple task.
Du Yunluo and Jiang Yunuan are different.
Jiang Yunuan had lived at the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion for several years and was well acquainted with everything there, while Du Yunluo was not the same.
Mu Lianxiao remembered clearly, the first time he met Du Yunluo, her foot was injured, and Mrs. Zhen was fussing over her, though she wasn’t a child, she was still the apple of Mrs. Zhen’s eye.
In Tong City, Mu Lianxiao had seen the Zhen family, whether it was Old Mrs. Hou or her uncle and aunt, their affection for Du Yunluo was evident.
He had heard that the love Du Yunlo received from Du Gongfu and Old Mrs. Xia was even more than that from the Zhen family.
A girl who grew up so spoiled, leaving her familiar maternal home and integrating into an unfamiliar marital home, is not something that happens overnight.
Her feeling of unease is quite normal.
Mu Lianxiao thought so.
The two embraced quietly for a long time, and Du Yunluo finally adjusted from those distressing emotions, looking up at Mu Lianxiao.
Their eyes met, reflecting each other with dark pupils, Du Yunluo had a notion and pecked Mu Lianxiao’s chin, saying with a smile, "Mother said you should show me around the backyard."
Mu Lianxiao pinched her nose, laughing, "As you wish."
The outdoors differed from the indoors, the bleak February wind still felt bone-chilling on the body.
Holding a hand warmer, Du Yunluo followed Mu Lianxiao, strolling around.
Though seemingly aimless, Du Yunluo had her own ideas, slowly making her way to the courtyard where she lived in her later years.
A secluded corner courtyard located in the back of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
Unlike decades later when Du Yunluo lived there, where there were a few maids and elderly to bring some life to the courtyard, now the gate was half-closed with only an old woman sweeping inside.
Mu Lianxiao held Du Yunluo’s hand, explaining, "A few years ago, Aunt Qiao lived here, she refused to stay with grandmother, saying face-to-face with each other only brought tears."
Du Yunluo slowly nodded.
Aunt Qiao was Mu Yuan’an’s concubine. She always treated Madam Wu with respect and harmony, originally residing in Baijie Hall.
When Mu Yuan’an died in battle, Aunt Qiao, having lost her son, quickly fell ill in Baijie Hall. As fate would have it, the Old Marquis also perished on the battlefield.
Aunt Qiao’s gentle nature didn’t allow her to cry openly in front of the Old Madam, so she requested to move here.
She didn’t survive the autumn two years ago.
These were things Du Yunluo had heard in the past, and words were filled with sighs.
"The mama left inside is..." Du Yunluo began to ask.
Mu Lianxiao said, "She used to serve Aunt Qiao, and as for Yu Zhu, she also worked in Aunt Qiao’s quarters."
Du Yunluo was taken aback, she was still contemplating finding an opportunity to inquire about Yu Zhu’s background, and unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, she learned it now.
It made sense; if Yu Zhu hadn’t had the experience of serving a mistress closely, she couldn’t have easily become the big maid in Shaohui Garden.
After leaving the courtyard, they headed towards the ancestral hall.
Standing in front of the ancestral hall, looking at the stack of ancestral tablets inside, Du Yunluo’s emotions were complex.
It was naturally different from what she saw in her past life.
In her previous life, she lived to seventy, watching the people in this mansion become names in the ancestral hall one by one, including Mu Lianxiao’s name among them, which she could spot at a glance.
But now, she couldn’t find it, nor did she want to.
In this life, she wouldn’t let him be placed in the ancestral hall prematurely, just as she wouldn’t let a Chastity Arch be erected in front of the ancestral hall.
"Yunluo," Mu Lianxiao turned his head to look at her, "You’ve been walking all afternoon, how many places can you remember?"
Du Yunluo laughed with twinkling eyes, "I’ll be here for a lifetime, I’ll remember it all eventually. Tell me about the Old Marquis, about Father."
That phrase "for a lifetime" slipped off her tongue and landed in Mu Lianxiao’s heart, it softened instantly.
With bright eyes shining, he began recounting past tales.
Du Yunluo listened intently.
Previously, she was unhappy with this marriage and hadn’t even thought to learn about the Old Marquis or the brothers Mu Yuance.
By the time she realized her heart was fully given to Mu Lianxiao, it was too late to hear him personally talk about his grandfather, father, and uncles in his memories.
When she understood the truth and wanted to look back and sort through old matters, Du Yunluo found she had no one to ask.
Those maids and servants who knew the Old Marquis and the Mu Yuance brothers had been released from the mansion by the Lian Family and Jiang Yunuan over the decades and had passed away one after another.
But now, she could hear Mu Lianxiao tell it himself.
The two talked as they walked, and when they arrived at Baijie Hall, Madam Wu had just woken up from her afternoon nap.
Banqiao led the two inside.
Madam Wu sat cross-legged on the Arhat Bed, smiling, "You’re just in time."
Mu Lianxiao sat down on a chair, "I took Yunluo around the mansion, telling her some tales of grandfather."
"Really?" Madam Wu looked at Du Yunluo, "Why did you ask about the Old Marquis?"
Du Yunluo smiled with her lips pursed, "I heard that the Princely Heir learned martial arts and literacy from the Old Marquis when he was a child."
Madam Wu immediately understood, and laughed, "You want to know what kind of old man taught Lianxiao, right? Ah, the Old Marquis was straightforward, earnest, and resolute, he was never afraid for the sake of the land and its people."
Du Yunluo’s throat tightened, keeping her eyes downcast, not daring to let Madam Wu see her emotions.
That was Madam Wu’s impression of the Old Marquis, and also hers of Mu Lianxiao.
Blood lineage, Mu Lianxiao was indeed brought up in the presence of the Old Marquis.
Du Yunluo also heard the pride in Madam Wu’s words.
She was extremely envious.
She thought, years from now, if her grandchildren or great-grandchildren ask what kind of person Mu Lianxiao was, she hopes to respond the same way.
Her own grandchildren, own great-grandchildren.