The rain outside the window was still falling, and it turned from a heavy rain to a gentle drizzle, but it showed no intention of stopping.

Tan Ting looked at the ripples in the wine glass and thought of the Spring Banquet following Li Chengyun's words.

That day, my aunt took it upon herself to show him another woman, so she was separated in the library.

When he realized something was wrong and went to his aunt to find out, her aunt told him that she would remarry for him. She had already told Xiang Yi about this, and she also said that she would compensate Xiang Yi for 100 acres of land.

When he heard this, he panicked, and directly asked his aunt Yizhen if she wanted those fields and accepted the matter.

When my aunt said she didn't want it, her mind seemed to wander around before returning to its original position.

At that time, Zhengji happened to run over and told him that Yizhen was locked up in the bookstore.

He did not delve further into this matter.

But now that I think about it...

the spiciness in the wine smeared his eyes, and Tan Ting thought of his wife's temperament.

With her temperament, she would definitely not want the property, but this did not mean that she would not agree to leave.

On the contrary, with her pride, she might not need her aunt's persuasion or threats before she would agree and get together with him...

Thinking of this, the wine glass in Tan Ting's hand trembled. The light reflected in the wine was broken for a moment.

Just at this time, someone asked questions outside. Li Chengyun went over to look around and came back and called him.

"Yuan Zhi, Miss Cheng is taking shelter here."

She said that there were a few drunkards in the private room next to Miss Cheng and they were making a lot of noise. It was inappropriate for a woman like her to be there. She thought that they were shallow. Sit for a while and wait for the rain to stop before leaving.

They are all disciples of aristocratic clans, and they still know each other.

In particular, the Tan family and the Lin family are related by marriage, and the former eldest daughter of the Lin family, Lin Xu's sister, is currently married to Cheng Yunxian's father, Cheng Luo, as her stepmother, but she doesn't go out much on weekdays.

But at that time, when Lin Ge married his daughter, the Lin Mansion accompanied her with a dowry worth one hundred and eighty cents, and she is still often talked about after dinner.

Tan Ting could not refuse, but he was really not in the mood to socialize with others today, so he only exchanged salutes with Cheng Yunxian.

He was stuck in his own thoughts.

Cheng Yunxian glanced at him lightly, first said a few words to Li Chengyun, and then asked Tan Ting.

"I wonder if the book Yun Xian gave to Mrs. Tan last time is an authentic ancient book? If it is a fake, Yun Xian would be embarrassed."

She said with a smile, "Yun Xian really wants to learn some seal cutting skills. I wonder if Mrs. Tan has time to give Yun Xian some advice?"

Tan Ting became more energetic after hearing her talk about Xiang Yi.

But thinking about his wife's recent affairs, which he didn't even know, he politely refused.

"Zhuo Jing has been a little busy lately, don't blame Miss Cheng."

His voice was as muffled as a restaurant under the rain.

Cheng Yun said it was okay, but his eyes fell on Tan Ting and he said suddenly.

She said it was a pity.

"At the spring banquet of the Lin Mansion, Yun Xian saw Mrs. Tan from a distance and felt close to her. However, Mrs. Tan was following Mrs. Lin at that time. It seemed that Mrs. Lin had said something to Mrs. Tan. Madam nodded in agreement and went to the direction of the bookstore. She didn't see Madam Tan after Yun Xian. "

She seemed to say it casually, and then talked to Li Chengyun about the Qiuyang County Lord. Growing up in Beijing, Qiuyang County Lord and Cheng Yunxian were quite familiar with each other.

Li Chengyun and Cheng Yunxian said a few words, and the rain stopped after a while.

Cheng Yunxian didn't stay for a moment. He bowed and thanked Tan Ting and Li Chengyun, turned around and left.

From the time she came in to the time she left, it took less than a cup of tea, but Tan Ting felt a little confused after hearing her seemingly unintentional words.

According to Miss Cheng's description, after hearing her aunt's advice to leave, his wife went to the bookstore without any resistance.

So, she actually knew that he looked at someone for no reason that day, but she didn't tell him a word...

Tan Ting brought the remaining four empty wine glasses in front of her face, along with the ones before Five cups were filled in one breath, and one cup after another was poured into the throat.

The bitter wine entered his throat, making half of his heart feel hot.

Li Chengyun was frightened by him and wanted to persuade him to stop, but he pushed him down in front of the wine table.

Fortunately, Tan Ting didn't embarrass him. He drank five drinks before letting him drink one.

Li Chengyun was not drunk, but he saw something was wrong in Tan Ting's eyes.

"What's wrong with Yuan Zhi? Stop drinking. Stop drinking. Go home quickly. We'll talk about anything tomorrow."

Li Chengyun stepped forward to help him.

I thought that with his drinking energy, he probably wouldn't be able to persuade her to leave.

Unexpectedly, he stood up obediently.

Li Chengyun quickly signaled to Xiao Guan, "Send your uncle home quickly."

Xiao Guan hurriedly stepped forward, but Li Chengyun saw Tan Ting raise his head and glance at him.

"If I don't go home, I'll go to your house."

Li Chengyun: "..."

He made this request, and Li Chengyun had no choice but to agree, so he had to order Xiao Guan.

"Then go and tell your wife that your uncle is going to my house tonight, so she shouldn't worry." After

he said this, Tan Ting snorted and called Xiao Guan.

"There's no need to tell her," Tan Ting paused slightly, his voice a little hoarse, "She won't worry."

After saying that, the smell of alcohol was lingering around him.

Li Chengyun glanced at Xiao Guan, "Did your uncle quarrel with his wife?"

Xiao Guan shook his head, "That's not true."

"What's that?" Li Chengyun asked Xiao Guan in a low voice, "Your uncle was not like this before. Where has he ever drunk such a boring drink before? How on earth..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Tan Ting.

"Why are you nagging more and more?"

Li Chengyun: "..."

He could only shut up, called a carriage, and took his old friend back to his home.

In the teahouse next door, there was a person who had left long ago. Through the crack of the window, he watched the Li family's carriage creaking away.

Cheng Yunxian watched as the Li family's carriage disappeared into the night, then slowly turned around and sat on the chair.

The maid Lu You came over and asked her.

"Is this really okay, girl?"

You Qi Luyou thought of the broken letter that she had secretly sent out. The letter was picked up from her master, and it was something that the master could not burn after reading it.

Lu You thought of the master's gloomy and stern look, and felt a little worried for Cheng Yunxian.

"What will happen if the girl's affair with Mr. Tan's family doesn't work out, but he finds out about it?"

Cheng Yunxian glanced at the restaurant opposite, thinking of Tan Ting's words when he mentioned Xiang Yi, and what he would drink tonight of wine.

"I think it's probably possible."

She said, looked at Lu You, and laughed again, a bit sad.

"If it really didn't work out as you said and he found out about it, then what? Could he still beat me to death... He forced me to do this... ."

Tan Ting did not go home that night, and it happened to be a holiday the next day, so he did not need to go to the office. Li Chengyun asked someone not to call him and let him have a good sleep.

But for some reason, he got up early in the morning.

He was no longer drunk and was about to leave.

Li Chengyun hurried over, not yet dressed, "Where are you going this morning? Go home?"

He was much more normal today, and he didn't say anything weird anymore.

He just said something in a hoarse voice.

"Go to Lin Mansion."

What are you going to Lin Mansion for?

Before Li Chengyun had time to ask, Tan Ting got on the horse.

He guessed it himself, or Cheng Yunxian said it, but he couldn't count.

But if you ask your aunt, you will naturally know.

He hadn't been to the Lin family for some days. Mrs. Lin was a little surprised to arrive at the house so early today.

Mrs. Lin had just put breakfast in the courtyard, and when she saw him coming, she asked someone to add bowls and chopsticks.

His cousin saluted him, and Tan Ting realized that his uncle Lin Xu was not at home.

He asked and heard his aunt say.

"Your uncle has gone to another courtyard in the suburbs of Beijing. He always feels that the capital is too boring, and he is too tired to go to the Yamen to deal with political affairs every day. He has to go there when there is a holiday."

Tan Ting then remembered that this was indeed the case. Actually, my uncle Lin Xu often leaves the capital to rest in a courtyard on the outskirts of the capital.

Tan Ting was speechless, but he couldn't help but think of the person he sent to investigate the person who assassinated him two days ago, and received a piece of unclear news.

According to some of the evidence and testimonies they found, the person who wanted to kill him at that time had a strong background, and was probably from a wealthy family in Beijing.

There are many aristocratic families in the capital, but if they can be called big families and their clans are in the capital all year round, there are only two.

Cheng family, and Lin family.

...

The news has not been clear, Tan Ting will not alert the snake, and he is not here today for this matter.

He didn't want to stay for dinner. Seeing that he looked worried, Mrs. Lin stopped eating and asked him to go to the study in the inner courtyard to talk.

"What's the matter with coming here so early?" She looked her nephew up and down, "Didn't you go home last night? Did you go drinking?"

Her nephew had never been like this, and Mrs. Lin was very surprised.

Tan Ting didn't answer her, just asked.

"What aunt said to me at the spring banquet that day, did she tell Yizhen?"

Mrs. Lin was still a little angry when she mentioned this matter, and she glanced at her nephew.

"Exactly."

Tan Ting was about to ask something when his aunt spoke first.

"That daughter of the Xiang family understands better than you. Although she doesn't want the fertile land I gave her, she has no intention of entangled with you. She is willing to get together with you. You said..."

Mrs. Lin didn't finish her words. , Tan Ting was stunned, his whole body paused, only his lower lip trembled slightly.

Mrs. Lin couldn't help but look at him a few more times, and sighed when she thought of his previous intentions towards Mr. Xiang.

"Actually, Mrs. Xiang is right to do this. In the current situation of the world, your marriage is as if it was forced together. Only if you are well-matched like me and your uncle, can it last long."

She wanted to persuade her a few more words, but Seeing Tan Ting stand up, he bowed to her, then turned around and walked out.

Mrs. Lin wanted to call him, but she thought about it and did not.

He had to figure this out for himself.

The old house of the Tan family in Beijing.

Tan Ting didn't come back last night. Xiao Guan sent someone to deliver a letter, but today he took a bath and still didn't come back.

Xiang Yi asked the people below.

"Do you know where the uncle has gone?"

The people below didn't know. Xiang Yi couldn't help it. He took care of the director first, then sat under the window and continued to make the unfinished summer clothes for him.

Not long after I picked up the needle and thread, I heard footsteps in the courtyard.

The familiar footsteps of a man came to the door from time to time. Xiang Yi turned around and saw him opening the curtain and walking in.

The moment their eyes met, the room fell silent.

Only then did Xiang Yi notice that his clothes were a little wrinkled and his eyes were blue. The way he looked at her was different from usual, as if he was pressing tightly on her eyes.

She didn't know what was wrong and asked.

"Where did you go, uncle? Why did you come back?"

Her voice was no different from the other day. It was gentle and gentle, but in Tan Ting's ears, it felt as cold as ice water.

He looked at her silently for a few breaths before speaking.

"I went to the Lin family."

In fact, she had never thought about spending the rest of her life with him, and he already knew that she wanted to get back together with him.

He just looked at him, standing still and looking at her.

It's just that when he said he went to the Lin family, it meant something else to Xiang Yi's ears.

Xiang Yi thought of the words "Chang Ming Lin" on the broken letter and nodded silently.

It had not been a day since he had been close to the Lin family...

She didn't speak, and the room became quiet again.

Tan Ting looked at his silent wife sitting under the window, and his mind couldn't help but flash. The scenes of the past few days suddenly appeared before his eyes. emerge.

When she was in Qinghuang, something happened when she first learned to ride a horse. He galloped forward and got on her horse, fearing that she would be afraid and hold her in his arms. However, she tightened her body and even wanted to pull with him. Keep a distance;

when Gu Yansheng's whereabouts were leaked, she would rather write a letter of divorce for him and run at night to report the news to Gu Yansheng, rather than let him help;

he thought that they would always be husband and wife, and did not want to spend the rest of their lives with her. Separating the two places, he took her away from Qingkan to Beijing.

These days in the capital, he thought they were no longer the same as before.

But looking at it now, this is just what he thought.

He went to Gyeonggi to appease the candidates, and while sending letters home, he also wrote a letter to her alone. She just had someone send a message, and she didn't even care about the letter he wrote to her alone, nor did she think about replying to it.

She never told him about her affairs, she just kept them in her heart, but she would rather go to Gu Yansheng than come to him.

So when her aunt mentioned having a good time together, she immediately agreed.

Even her aunt praised her for being able to think clearly. How clear must that be...

Tan Ting suddenly felt a little funny.

She understands so well because she has never liked him at all.

Tan Ting looked at his wife with her head lowered and didn't speak for a long time.

But Xiang Yi thought of something else at this time and said something.

"Uncle, I want to take Ning Ning out of Beijing to see a doctor in the future, and I have to live outside for a while."

As soon as she said this, she saw the old man smiled, very lightly, and asked her.

"I wonder if Yizhen is coming back?"

As soon as he said this, Xiang Yi looked at him in surprise.

She didn't know what he meant, and she didn't respond for a while.

But he looked at her and said again.

"You're not coming back, are you?"

He said, nodding to himself and his voice became hoarse.

"At least let's be husband and wife. I'll prepare another five hundred acres of fertile land for you. From now on..."

He couldn't continue, but Xiang Yi was stunned for a long time after hearing this. He didn't know what he was doing. What are you talking about.

"Master, what do you mean?"

Tan Ting looked away from her, shook his head and said it didn't mean anything.

"I was just thinking that when you got married, I didn't give you any extra money, which made you feel wronged. Now that you are leaving, these are the things I should compensate you for. Five hundred acres of fertile land is not much, so just take it. ..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiang Yi's cold voice was heard.

"I don't need it."

Xiang Yi looked at the man in front of the door and finally clarified something in his words.

He went to the Lin Mansion to figure it out and end the marriage with her, right?

Xiang Yi's nose felt sore and he turned his head without looking at him again.

"I understand what you mean. It's just that Xiang Yi doesn't want the Tan family's things. He just needs to take away my own things."

After she finished speaking, she got up and down from the small kang under the window. Tan Ting couldn't help but look at it again. When he saw her, he immediately called Qiao Yun and Chun Bamboo to come in.

Her voice was a little hoarse for some reason, but she was still tense and gave instructions to the two of them.

"Help me pack all my things."

Qiao Yun was stunned and asked Chun Bamboo.

"Madam, is it everything?"

Xiang Yi nodded.

When Tan Ting saw that she had finished speaking, he asked the two maids to pack the things, but she herself walked to the seal-engraving desk and packed them up without even a moment's pause.

Xiang Yi never put odds and ends on the desk in the past, but now there are many odds and ends.

After she put all these things away, she saw a box of jade beside her.

This box of jade was not a vulgar item, and it was something she couldn't even afford with the money she had saved up for many years.

She took one last look at the box of jade stones, saw one missing, and pursed her lips.

She held the box of jade in front of Tan Ting and placed it on the table next to him.

She spoke in a hoarse voice.

"These are all uncle's things, so Xiang Yi keeps them. It's just that Xiang Yi has touched one of the jade pieces, so he can't return it as it is. He will sell the money another day and return it to the uncle. Please don't dislike it... .."

After she finished speaking, she was about to leave. She didn't want to turn around and be grabbed by the wrist.

The force was so great that she looked up in surprise and saw the man's eyes trembling slightly, his voice low and low, staring at her closely and speaking a few words through his teeth.

"Who told you to pay it back?"

The two maids were frightened by this scene. Qiao Yun wanted to step forward, but was hurriedly pulled down by Chun Bamboo.

The room fell silent for a moment, leaving only Tan Ting and Xiang Yi.

The force in his palm was so heavy that Xiang Yi's wrist hurt, but he still said something.

"Since we are leaving, the accounts must be settled..."

Before he could finish, he heard the man speak.

"Then you don't have to leave!"

Xiang Yi was surprised and inexplicable after hearing this. Her nose became more and more sore, and her eyes also became sore.

"Didn't the uncle ask me to leave?"

she asked, but it was Tan Ting's turn to be shocked and angry. The palm of his hand holding her wrist became harder, but he didn't notice it at all.

He just stared at the person in front of him.

"Xiang Yizhen, you are being unreasonable, who asked you to leave?"

Xiang Yi was confused by what he said. He was the one who suddenly asked her to leave, and now he asked her if she was being unreasonable.

Xiang Yi pursed her lips and said nothing for a moment, but the force of his palm was so strong that her wrist almost broke.

Pain and some indescribable emotions rushed to her eyes.

Her eyes burned, and she suddenly shed a line of tears.

The moment the tears fell down, Tan Ting suddenly let go of her hand, picked her up, and placed her directly on the tea table on the kang.

And he leaned forward, completely trapping her on the tea table, so trapped that she couldn't go there, and she was at eye level with him.

Xiang Yi didn't know what he was doing, but it was as inexplicably tough as when he suddenly broke her lips that day.

She thought of that day, and then of today, and the more she tried to control her tears, the more her tears fell unsatisfactorily.

"What do you want to do, uncle?"

Her eyes were so red that tears fell down again.

Tan Ting's heart trembled when he saw her. He had never seen her like this, so he couldn't help but stretched out his fingers and wiped her tears with his fingertips.

The two of them were silent for a moment, and the room was quiet, but something seemed to be broken, quietly falling apart.

Tan Ting thought of what she had done these days and couldn't help but say another sentence.

"Are you still crying? You said you didn't want me, so I already know it..."

Xiang Yi was stunned for a moment after hearing this, but still frowned at him.

"But when will I no longer want you? It's just that the world is difficult, and there are many things caught in the middle. I don't know what to do..."

"The world is difficult, but it's not that bad at all. There are still many things, tell me, can't I do it for you?"

He said this suddenly.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but glance at him, but didn't speak for a while.

Tan Ting saw her hesitation at a glance, and the coffee table squeaked loudly as he clasped it tightly.

He almost laughed angrily, "Are you still unwilling to say it? You would rather tell Gu Yansheng than me!"

"Is he your husband, or am I your husband?!"

The man's eyes turned red, Xiang Yi Being so close to him, how could we not know how angry he was?

She thought about the sudden and complicated matters, but it was already here, and she had to tell him before she could verify it.

She was silent for a moment, thinking about the Lin family, and gave the man a serious look.

"Master, do you really want to listen?"

Tan Ting responded immediately and looked into her eyes.

"Listen, tell me every word you say to Gu Yansheng!"

Xiang Yi didn't know why he was bothering his sworn brother, but he nodded anyway.

"Okay, I'll just tell you everything."

After she said this, Tan Ting's heart suddenly settled down.

The couple, today, are finally able to be honest with each other.

He still trapped her on the tea table on the kang.

Xiang Yi wanted to come down after such a weird gesture, but Tan Ting didn't agree to her request.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but be angry for a moment, but couldn't leave his arms.

She asked helplessly, "Where do you want me to start?"

Tan Ting stared at her.

"Tell me first, is it true that you are leaving to take Ning Ning to see a doctor, or is it a lie?"

...

The birds outside the eaves had just been scared away, flapping their wings and flying high.

But this time, when the room gradually settled down, it fell back again.

Someone in the room was talking little by little, and birds were chirping gently on the eaves, in this late spring and early summer scene.