Chapter 56: Quietly Running Away – Will it Succeed This Time?

These two had even agreed to listen to zither playing? Wen Zhaoyin was truly despicable. Meng Huan glared over, feeling quite displeased.

Wen Zhaoyin started explaining again, “It was Father who said to listen to Xie Yunjin’s zither playing together. It wasn’t specifically for me to listen to. Huan Huan…”

She felt that her attitude towards Xie Yunjin was already very obvious, so why was he still saying these confusing words? What benefit would it bring him?

Xie Yunjin was even more angry after hearing this. He quickly said with a smile, “Cousin is truly not simple. What you said today is completely different from what you said yesterday!”

After saying that, he made an angry gesture and was the first to leave, his movements swift and decisive. Those who didn’t know would really think he had suffered a lot of grievances.

“You!” Meng Huan stared, not knowing what to say for a moment. He was indeed somewhat angered.

Reason clearly told him that since he had discovered the truth and the deception, he should decisively extricate himself and leave. Emotionally, he shouldn’t be lingering.

But after hearing it, he was still angry, even inexplicably angry when seeing the two of them standing a little close together!

Wen Zhaoyin quickly pulled him, not caring whether he was really struggling or pretending, and half-pushed, half-coaxed him into her arms. “There’s some wind today. You just came out of confinement and didn’t wear more clothes.”

“You should also wear a head cloth. It may not be cold now, but the wind can still give you a headache.”

She held his hand and looked around. “Do you want to sit here for a while or go back to the room?”

Meng Huan just watched her talk the entire time, not responding at all until she asked where to go. He then said in a low voice, “Go back!”

He didn’t want to stay in the garden at all. Staying here would remind him of how Wen Zhaoyin and Xie Yunjin were sitting and standing, chatting and laughing, which made him very unhappy.

Halfway there, he originally wanted to rebuke her for not coming for a few days, but when it came to his lips, it turned into asking her why she didn’t come to see Wen You. After asking, even Meng Huan himself wanted to hit himself.

Wasn’t he being a masochist?

As if he couldn’t leave her.

However, Wen Zhaoyin didn’t look down on his behavior at all. Instead, she honestly said, “Actually, every day after you fell asleep, I would go see You’er. You just didn’t know.”

Go back every day? Then why didn’t the nanny say so when he asked? Okay, okay, she must have told them to keep it from him…

Meng Huan thought that this woman still had some conscience. At least she didn’t neglect the child and went to see him every day.

No! What was he thinking?! Why was he making excuses for her actions? No, if he stayed in the Wen family like this, he didn’t know what he would become. He had to hurry and find an opportunity to leave this place!

“Mm.” He responded in a low voice and walked silently without speaking further.

Instead, Wen Zhaoyin started saying, “Wen Shu said she wanted to see Wen You. I was afraid you still wouldn’t want to see me, so I told her to come later. Since I’m sending you back today, why don’t we have Pei Lan call her over?”

That child wanted to see Wen You? Meng Huan raised his head, but unexpectedly met her inquiring gaze and quickly lowered his head again.

“Mm, have her come.”

After answering, he thought for a bit and continued with his head lowered, “How could there be an opportunity for me to refuse to see you? It’s only you who wouldn’t want to see me.”

She was a bit surprised to hear that. She wanted to see his current expression, but he had his head lowered now and she couldn’t see his face at all, so she had to give up. She thought he must be feeling a bit down now.

It was her fault too. She should have explained to him earlier, and the incident a few days ago wouldn’t have happened.

He had accompanied her through thick and thin. He was no longer a shadow or substitute for someone else. He had a place in her heart.

“Huan Huan, I’m willing to see you. Even if I see you every day, I’d be willing to.”

Both of them were smart enough not to mention what happened a few days ago, as if it had never occurred. Their state of interaction also gradually became harmonious on this walk.

Wen Shu arrived even faster than them. She didn’t enter the room and stood with the young man at the courtyard entrance. As soon as she saw the two of them, she directly pounced over.

Although she had a good relationship with Wen Zhaoyin and her daughter, she didn’t dare to be too presumptuous. Instead, she was more playful with Meng Huan. The nearly nine-year-old girl tightly hugged her mother’s concubine and wouldn’t let go.

“I haven’t seen you for nearly two months,” she expressed her dissatisfaction.

As the eldest legitimate daughter, according to customs, Wen Shu was not allowed to see the men in the family who were about to give birth or had just given birth. So, starting from the days when Meng Huan was about to give birth, she was restricted from coming over.

Afterwards, she had to rush to prepare for the child scholar examination and didn’t come to see him immediately after his confinement ended.

“Guess how I did on the exam?!” She raised her head, her eyes full of anticipation as she looked up, hoping he could guess correctly.

Meng Huan didn’t expect to have to guess exam results. He had been away from this for a while and was a bit confused about how to guess.

So after thinking for a bit, he said, “Um, first place. I guess Wen Shu got first place!”

The latter shook her head vigorously, telling him to guess again. He hardened his scalp and guessed from second to fifth place, but still didn’t guess correctly.

Meng Huan thought this child usually studied quite well, so what happened that she didn’t even make it into the top five? It wouldn’t be good for him to guess further back…

Seeing him not saying anything, Wen Shu quickly said, “It’s sixth place!”

As they spoke, they had already arrived at the west wing. Wen Zhaoyin opened the door while saying, “She ranked sixth in the entire imperial city. The number of participants this time was about five thousand. Sixth place is already very good.”

After hearing the denominator and numerator, Meng Huan suddenly felt impressed. He kept praising Wen Shu and personally showed Wen You to her.

“Little brother is so cute. Look, he’s holding my finger and won’t let go!”

Meng Huan, holding Wen You, corrected, “Just call him brother. Calling him ‘shu’ brother feels awkward.”

He couldn’t do much else, but he could at least change a small form of address, right? He didn’t want his child to be locked in by the rules and frameworks of the female-dominant world before he could even remember.

Wen Shu was a bit surprised. She slightly turned her face to glance at her mother. Seeing that she didn’t object, she called him brother again.

Children had short attention spans. After a while, Wen You let go of Wen Shu and started playing with Meng Huan’s collar by himself.

Although Wen Shu treasured this younger brother, she was also restraining herself. Seeing that he was unwilling to play with her, she didn’t force it and took the initiative to say that she had unfinished schoolwork and had to go back first.

She originally wanted to stay for a meal, but for some reason, Meng Huan and Wen Zhaoyin coincidentally both didn’t agree, so she could only return to her own small courtyard.

——

Meng Huan and Wen Zhaoyin had nothing else to do together.

The reason for letting Wen Shu leave was very simple. It was because he thought of it.

Although he wanted to leave, he hadn’t left yet. In the last two months of pregnancy, he couldn’t do it at all. After giving birth, his body was recovering during the confinement period. Adding it up, it meant he had been abstinent for more than three months.

Usually, when he was alone, he didn’t think about it much. However, today, being held and hugged by Wen Zhaoyin, he inevitably had some thoughts.

In the future, when he went out, he would definitely have to find a woman willing to use birth control. After all, drinking contraceptive soup all the time was bad for the body.

It would probably take a long time to find a suitable person. Since he was staying in the Wen family now, he might as well make do with it to avoid going without for a long time after leaving.

However, when he reached the most critical moment after fumbling around, he amazingly discovered that he couldn’t do it.

Hmm? The medical books didn’t mention this either. What exactly was going on?

“No, hurry and call a doctor to check on me. My little brother has gone through menstruation and giving birth. It can’t fail at the critical moment!” Meng Huan looked terrified as he poked at his treasure that was like a wilted cucumber.

He clearly still had feelings. He didn’t notice any abnormalities just now, but when he really needed to use it, why did it fail to rise up as if it was missing a bone?!

Wen Zhaoyin lay there at ease, not in a hurry to get dressed. Instead, she smiled and asked him, “Don’t you know? Men can’t do it for three to six months after giving birth.”

What? Can’t do it for three to six months?

Meng Huan’s eyes widened. He blinked several times before reacting. “You knew from the beginning but didn’t tell me. You just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, right?”

She was too infuriating. She clearly knew he couldn’t do it but let him mistakenly think he could. Then he worked hard for half a day, and just when he was about to take the stage, he found out that all his efforts were in vain!

Seeing him a bit angry, Wen Zhaoyin quickly pulled him to her side to appease him. “You were so proactive, so I thought you had exceptional talent and had recovered in just a month.”

What? She thought? Why did he feel that her words were full of sarcasm?

“You’re bullying me too much!” He unwillingly fell into her arms. Both of them were stuck at the critical moment and couldn’t proceed, feeling a bit regretful.

Especially Meng Huan. This matter was part of his immature plan.

He had planned to tie her up after Wen Zhaoyin fell asleep and then quietly run away. If she woke up and found him gone, she would definitely send people to look for him immediately.

But if she couldn’t move and he instructed the servants to stand far away and not disturb them, he could delay for a bit of time.

Even though it was just a bit of time, it would be enough for him to go out and find a place to hide.

The two of them hadn’t slept in the same bed for several months. He wanted to use doing it as an excuse to keep her here, making it seem natural. Now that there was nothing to do, if he abruptly said he wanted her to stay, wouldn’t it seem too sudden?

Wen Zhaoyin saw that he wasn’t speaking and thought he was still immersed in the sadness of his inability. She raised her hand to pull back the covers, wrapping them together, and comforted, “Don’t worry. This is normal. It’ll be fine after another two months.”

Wait another two months? How could he wait that long? Meng Huan didn’t say anything, but he silently complained in his heart.

“Huan Huan.”

“Don’t be sad. Whether we do it or not, I’ll accompany you, okay?”

Eh! She took the initiative to sleep together? Meng Huan suppressed the joy in his eyes. After thinking for a bit, he shyly nodded in agreement. “Alright then.”

Then the next day, he secretly used old clothes to twist hemp ropes. Sending someone out to buy this would easily arouse suspicion, and it wasn’t certain if it would be sturdy. It was safer for him to make it himself.

On the evening of the third day, he quietly dismissed the servants, saying that he wanted to sleep in and told them to come serve him a bit later in the morning.

Pei Lan was assigned the task of personally going to buy pastries. Reportedly, that store was crowded with people every day, and the average person had to queue for two hours.

After arranging everything, that night, while Wen Zhaoyin was fast asleep, he tied her up tightly and used several handkerchiefs stacked together to seal her mouth. While she felt uncomfortable but hadn’t woken up yet, he quickly bolted the door from the inside and jumped out from the small window.

Wang Fu had been waiting by the window with a bundle on his back. Seeing him come out, without a word, he led him away. They walked with their heads down the entire way, and no one noticed anything unusual.