Why would she ask that?!
Had he done something wrong, made Jiang Nong feel he didn’t love her?
Heaven could bear witness—his love for Jiang Nong was far more than just “a little” love.
Just seeing her filled him with uncontrollable joy.
Yu Lingxin engaged in a deep self-reflection over Jiang Nong’s question, examining it from his own perspective and then from hers, leaving no angle unexplored. He found nothing amiss—it was likely just a spontaneous question born from the moment.
He asked in return: “Is it that you see me every day and find me annoying, so you’re saying this hoping I’ll take the hint and stop bothering you?”
Jiang Nong quickly kissed his cheek, worried she’d said something wrong and made him feel unwanted. She hurried to explain: “That’s not what I meant. I just feel that… well…” She thought for a moment. “I just feel that people get tired of doing the same thing over and over—especially doing something that gets no reward.”
It was a somewhat melancholic thing to say. At its root, she was a little pessimistic about this relationship—or perhaps still doubtful of Yu Lingxin’s love.
Yu Lingxin felt that, at its root, the problem was still his. He still hadn’t made Jiang Nong feel that his love was solid, that it would last.
He didn’t much like verbal promises, and he knew that no matter how solemnly he swore by heaven, Jiang Nong wouldn’t trust him any more for it. He spun in a circle on the bluestone path with her on his back—an unexpected move that made her cling to him instinctively.
He hitched her up higher and smiled: “I’m not tired. I sleep a lot every day—why would I be tired?” His voice softened, almost pleading. “Jiang Nong, if you think I’m not getting enough in return, then just love me a little more. Love me for a lifetime. Say you love me every morning and every night.”
Jiang Nong had worried that his answer would be too formal or too heavy. She wanted to know, but she also didn’t want a response so weighty it would burden her. Humans were strange creatures like that—
Curious about the answer, but hoping it wouldn’t be too much to carry.
Like a cat that must push a perfectly placed cup off the table—it could break or it could not. And knowing full well it would be scolded if it broke, it still has to try.
But even if Jiang Nong—this little cat—broke a hundred cups, Yu Lingxin wouldn’t scold her. Because she was the owner.
And Yu Lingxin would only reflect on what he’d done wrong that made Cat Majesty bored enough to push cups off the table. Perhaps he hadn’t given her enough love and time to keep her company. So if a cup broke, ultimately, it was still his fault.
Jiang Nong felt lighter because of his answer. She climbed up his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his—she felt this was warmer and more intimate than a kiss—and whispered in his ear: “I love you so much~”
Even in the dim moonlight, Jiang Nong could see his ears turn suddenly crimson.
How amusing.
Jiang Nong had thought someone as thick-skinned as Yu Lingxin wouldn’t be shy—but just one “I love you” made his ears this red?
Did he really love her that much?
Once Yu Lingxin became shy, Jiang Nong no longer was. Their shyness rose and fell in tandem.
She kept murmuring in his ear: “I like you, I love you, I like you, I love you…”
She kept going until his hands started to tremble and his head dropped low—and only then did she stop, for the sake of her own safety.
Jiang Nong’s anxiety hadn’t really subsided. The more clearly she saw how much Yu Lingxin loved her—how deep his love was, like an unfathomable pool where even a boulder thrown in barely stirred the surface—the more anxious she became.
She had nothing equal to give in return. She couldn’t give him more than he gave her, which made her feel she always owed him.
This left her unable to stand confidently before him, unable to toy with him and exploit his love as she had when she’d deliberately tried not to like him.
The more Yu Lingxin loved her, the safer and more content she felt—but also the more lost. Sometimes she even wished they were just a married couple by arrangement, respectful and distant, so no one owed anyone anything. A little give and take, life flowing smoothly—then she wouldn’t have to worry.
The night was deep. Jiang Nong lay still in his arms, eyes wide open, staring at the layered canopy. She didn’t dare move, afraid of waking him—because she knew if she stirred, he would notice. She could only take a strand of hair from each of them and slowly count whose had more, whose had less, by how much.
She couldn’t sleep. Her head ached terribly. Eventually, she wiped her tears with the strand of hair in her hands.
If she cried, it would be better not to make a sound. She didn’t want to make Yu Lingxin worry—so she stayed silent.
She just couldn’t figure out how to be even better to Yu Lingxin. He had died for her across two lifetimes, and her heart ached with a dull, heavy pain. No one had ever taught her what to do when someone was so good to her that she couldn’t repay it.
She thought about it half the night, and finally came up with a not-so-clever solution.
She knew it wasn’t clever—but she had no other choice.
Yu Lingxin thought that perhaps his little moment of coaxing had touched Jiang Nong’s heart. She grew even gentler, more accommodating, more docile. If Yu Lingxin said east, she wouldn’t go west. If he said west, she wouldn’t go east. Apart from matters of principle, Jiang Nong obeyed him completely.
If Lü Chengcheng were still alive, he would have been deeply gratified—tearfully kowtowing to the ancestors of the Yu Ling clan, exclaiming that His Majesty had finally restored the husband’s authority.
Yu Lingxin, on one hand, felt that Jiang Nong loved him deeply—and on the other, felt an uneasy sense that something was wrong.
This continued for three days. In that time, he even sent Yuan Lian and Chao Ning back—no, he escorted them back.
He provided Yuan Lian with a generous dowry and granted her the title of Commandery Princess, formalizing a marriage alliance between the two kingdoms, binding them in friendship.
As for why he no longer insisted that Chao Ning remain chaste for Jiang Nong—it was because his own love and marriage were now so blissful that he’d granted amnesty to the entire realm, including his wife’s former brother-in-law.
Partly to win his wife’s favor, and partly to get Chao Ning and Yuan Lian out of his sight as quickly as possible—he found the two of them deeply inauspicious. The diplomatic aspect was secondary.
Chao Ning’s weak, incompetent older brother Chao Ji had ascended the throne. In the life before last, he’d been deposed and confined; in the last life, deposed and confined; and in this life, once again deposed and confined. Give him ten more lifetimes, and he would still kneel weeping at the palace gates, forehead bloodied, crying: “Father, what crime have I committed?”
Yu Lingxin was very satisfied with Chao Ji as a ruler—loyal, righteous, benevolent, and filial—and nothing more. He hoped Chao Ji would keep up the good work and produce an heir equally to his liking, generation after generation.
Jiang Nong feared that war would harm the people and wanted to let them recover in peace. Yu Lingxin naturally listened to her, striving to keep the five kingdoms at peace for at least twenty years. But sitting idle and waiting for fate wasn’t in his nature. No war would be ideal—but if war came, he had to ensure he would always stand undefeated.
Yu Lingxin had thought that Jiang Nong’s gentleness over the past few days was partly for show in front of Chao Ning—presenting a united marital front was a common diplomatic gesture. But after Chao Ning left, her compliance didn’t ease—it reached a level that actually frightened him.
If a gentle kiss on the forehead woke him in the morning, that made for a wonderful day. If Jiang Nong helped him dress and comb his hair, he could take that as sweet marital intimacy. But if at night she not only helped him change but also fetched water to wash his feet with her own hands—then Yu Lingxin would have to kneel and beg her to stop torturing him. What had he done wrong? Did she no longer love him and was determined to become a model wife?
Jiang Nong met his gaze, unsure what she’d done wrong. She fidgeted with her fingers: “Did I do something wrong? Why are you reacting so strongly? I just wanted to be good to you.”
Only then did Yu Lingxin understand—the knot between them had never really healed.
Perhaps it had already shown itself the night they’d first confessed their feelings, but he hadn’t paid it much mind. When she racked her brain peeling shrimp and peaches and sewing clothes for him, he’d taken it as an expression of love—until the symptoms grew worse.
He’d noticed her carefulness around him before. He’d thought she just needed time to adjust, that eventually she’d go back to being her old self—getting angry and hitting him, telling him he was annoying when he hovered around her.
But time hadn’t eased her—it had only made her more tense.
What was he supposed to do?
This was a problem none of his lifetimes had ever touched. Yu Lingxin was afraid he wouldn’t handle it well.
He didn’t speak. Jiang Nong’s heart was in turmoil too. She didn’t want the silence to stretch any further—or worse, she feared he’d ask a question that would make what she was doing feel humiliating. So she leaned in, kissed his lips, and fumbled with his belt.
Yu Lingxin’s mind was just as tangled, nearly overgrown with worry. He carefully steadied her waist, took her hand, and gently cupped her face: “If there’s something you don’t understand, or something you’re unhappy about, tell me. I’ll think of something too. Don’t just bottle it up. Why do you want to be better to me? And why did you choose to do it this way?”
Jiang Nong bit her lip and stayed silent, resisting.
She always said Yu Lingxin’s mouth was harder than iron when it came to hiding things—but she was no different. A crow perched on a pig’s back, commenting on how black it was.
Yu Lingxin could summon tears on command. His eyes reddened instantly, taking on a softer, pitiful look. He rested his face on her shoulder, his voice wet with emotion, and called her softly: “Sister, what did I do wrong? The way you’re acting scares me a little. You won’t tell me anything.”
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