Chapter 21: Going up the mountain to arrange for the wife-master, don’t be afraid, Jiujiu is here…

Boom——

The rain that had been falling for half the night not only didn’t weaken but became more persistent. The sky suddenly brightened, followed immediately by several peals of thunder.

In an instant, the raindrops seemed like the bottom had fallen out of the Milky Way, pouring down in torrents.

A chill seeped through the window cracks, merging with the lingering moisture in the room, making it both wet and cold.

Meng Jun’s small scissors paused, and he froze for a moment before carefully continuing to tie off the thread.

Since Li Ruantang said it was about right, these three words left much room for interpretation.

Moreover, she hadn’t reverted to that cold-hearted nature.

The young man gathered himself and asked slowly, “Then, wife-master, how much do you actually remember?”

The little gray rabbit under his fingertips was still adorably plump. Meng Jun stroked it, feeling a bit regretful that he didn’t have white thread.

He kept his head down, not daring to look much at Li Ruantang sitting opposite him.

“Not much.” Li Ruantang hadn’t planned to hide it from him, so now that the conversation had started, she said straightforwardly, “I only remember that I was investigating a case.”

“As for falling off the cliff, and—” She glanced at Jiujiu, who was keeping his head down, and pressed her lips together before saying, “the matter between us.”

Just as she reached the crucial point, she paused. Meng Jun quietly perked up his ears, nervously stealing glances at her.

Li Ruantang felt a pang in her heart seeing this and quickly added, “I can’t even remember who I am.”

Not remembering other things wasn’t important, but not remembering one’s husband was indeed hurtful to say.

Especially since her little husband was already so sensitive, and they had been stuck together since her memory loss, not to mention before.

A faint blush appeared on Li Ruantang’s face. Perhaps it was as the poems described, as close as glue and lacquer.

For such an important man to her, Li Ruantang couldn’t bring herself to say she didn’t remember anything about him.

This was also why Li Ruantang had chosen to hide it from Jiujiu before.

But as Hu Sanniang said, as wife and husband, they shouldn’t be so distant.

Li Ruantang sighed inwardly and pulled out the letter she had written from under her pillow, handing it to him.

Originally, she had left her jade and a letter to protect him in case something went wrong when she went out today.

Now it seemed she didn’t need to wait for him to discover the letter on his own.

She observed the young man lowering his brows in thought from the corner of her eye. He had just bathed, and with his black hair still damp, he sat at the table, carefully mending her clothes.

Now there were water stains on his cotton clothes, very noticeable. Yet he was oblivious, only clutching the letter paper, silently looking at it.

He didn’t speak, and Li Ruantang felt uneasy.

“Jiujiu, the weather isn’t good today. Get under the covers to warm up.” She reached out to take Jiujiu’s sleeve, thought for a moment, and added, “Your outer clothes are wet too. Let me hang them up for you.”

“Thank you, wife-master.”

The little husband in front of her still lacked energy, and his tone was even more distant.

Li Ruantang slightly clenched her fingers. After he crawled into the covers, wrapping himself up like a small mountain, she carefully said, “Jiujiu, it’s not that you’re unimportant, that’s why I didn’t remember.”

“I know, wife-master. No need to explain.”

Meng Jun gave her a faint smile. He knew that for him, it was better if she didn’t remember, but the disappointment creeping into his heart was like wild grass growing frantically, sprouting countless thoughts.

The young man’s face still bore a smile, but his drooping eyebrows looked pitiful and aggrieved.

Li Ruantang didn’t know why she hadn’t remembered having a husband, but Meng Jun knew all too well.

All of this, all of it, was fake.

And he, to her, was really not important.

Perhaps without this accidental fall off the cliff, she wouldn’t have even remembered his existence at all.

Thinking of how, before the fall, Mother had repeatedly coerced and enticed him to loiter around the Su Qin Wang’s mansion gate, creating so-called chance encounters.

The young man felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Especially when he remembered her apricot eyes sweeping over him coldly, just one glance, that gaze was cold and straightforward, like sharp knife edges, imposing without even speaking.

Naturally, he was afraid of such a woman with a chilling aura. But as he tried to run away, his foot slipped, he lost his balance, and was ‘helpfully’ pushed from behind by a small servant who mistook his intention for wanting to throw himself into her arms.

What should have been a simple lean back became an ungraceful direct fall right in front of her.

Actually, given the distance between them at that time, Li Ruantang could have caught him if she had just reached out her hand.

The young man glanced slightly at the woman who was now preparing her words. At that time, she had avoided him very quickly, probably out of disgust for him.

“Jiujiu?” Li Ruantang was a bit confused. She moved slightly closer to the young man’s side and said in a low voice, “Actually, leaving the jade with you was just in case of the worst.”

“Besides, I promised you we’d return to the capital together, didn’t I?”

“Mm.” The young man responded listlessly, only tightly gripping her skirt. “Wife-master.”

He raised his eyebrows, his voice slightly halting, “Will you dislike me?”

“Being silly again.” Li Ruantang’s smile between her brows had not yet bloomed when Meng Jun suddenly grabbed her wrist. “If, if…”

“Hmm?”

The words he wanted to ask truly couldn’t be said. The young man dejectedly drooped his eyebrows. “Then has wife-master remembered what case she was investigating?”

Seeing that Jiujiu clearly had something bottled up, Li Ruantang thought for a moment, then gently embraced him, covers and all.

“It’s a case about golden pills.”

Her voice came softly and very low, faintly scattered by Meng Jun’s ear, as if an east wind had brushed past a budding peach blossom branch, lightly tinting it pink.

The young man was a bit distracted.

He nestled against Li Ruantang’s shoulder, staring blankly at her lips as they moved with her words.

“…Because this matter involves many high officials in the court, I need to be extremely careful. But now with my memory—”

The gentle voice paused. Li Ruantang looked down, torn between laughter and tears. Sure enough, men don’t like to hear these things. The little husband in her arms had clearly lost focus. Those slender fingers were now curiously placed on her lower lip, lightly and hesitantly pinching it.

“Jiujiu?” She called softly.

Meng Jun, coming back to his senses, froze, then sheepishly withdrew his hand, saying, “Wife-master, please continue. I’m listening.”

He said this, but those beautiful phoenix eyes were fixed tightly on Li Ruantang’s lips.

It seemed softer than his when he touched it.

The young man secretly pinched his own lips again, feeling a bit deflated. The sensation on his fingertips had long since faded, and the comparison was now vague. Besides, if he were to pinch Li Ruantang’s lips again now, wouldn’t she discover that he hadn’t been listening attentively?

“So, I must go to Changshan Gou. The path is dangerous, but if I can investigate clearly, it won’t disappoint my mentor’s teachings.”

“Oh.” Meng Jun nodded seriously. “Since it’s so dangerous, I’ll go to Changshan Gou with wife-master!”

Li Ruantang: “…”

She frowned slightly. “Jiujiu, I’m afraid I can’t protect you fully right now.”

“That’s perfect then, I’ll protect wife-master.” The young man’s eyes lit up, and he said proudly, “This way wife-master won’t be afraid of getting hurt. With me here, I can blow on your wounds to ease the pain.”

With him there, Li Ruantang would suffer less.

“Jiujiu, that’s not the point.”

Li Ruantang smiled helplessly. Just as she was about to speak, Meng Jun in her arms suddenly sat up straight, kneeling in front of her. “I know wife-master’s worries, but since we…”

He pressed his lips together slightly, carelessly tucking the black hair falling by his temples behind his ears. “We are wife and husband, I can’t bear to watch wife-master go into danger alone.”

“And.” The young man’s fingers curled on his knees, the thin blanket gently sliding off his shoulders. He raised his eyes to look steadily at Li Ruantang. “Wife-master’s wounds haven’t healed yet. I, I’m worried.”

Who knows, Hu Sanniang might betray them midway. He had to keep an eye out, otherwise, it would be too late if something went wrong.

“Then let’s do this.”

After all, leaving him and Zhou Fulang at home made Li Ruantang quite uneasy.

She pondered for a moment, finally relenting, “When we go up the mountain later, you follow Young Master Hu.”

“Is Aning going too?”

The young man’s eyes, which had just brightened, suddenly dimmed a bit. Li Ruantang truly thought he wasn’t of much use, preferring to bring Aning instead of him.

Li Ruantang didn’t notice this, only saying, “Yes, originally Zhou Fulang was to keep watch, but his leg condition flared up, so we had to switch to Young Master Hu. He grew up in this area, so he’s very familiar with the terrain.”

She gently rubbed the top of Jiujiu’s head. “Make sure to stay close to Young Master Hu then. If you encounter any danger, just focus on escaping first.”

“Mm-hmm.” The young man nodded happily, but then felt it wasn’t quite right. “What about wife-master?”

“I’ll be with Hu Sanniang, you don’t need to worry.” Li Ruantang smiled slightly, avoiding the main point, “You just need to hide at the entrance of Changshan Gou. If you see Fu family people entering the mountain, just remember how many groups of them came.”

Boom—— Another clap of thunder startled the young man, making him jump.

“Jiujiu.” Li Ruantang couldn’t bear it anymore and was about to persuade him again when she saw her little husband shaking his head like a rattle drum. “Wife-master, don’t worry. Jiujiu isn’t afraid of anything.”

He said he wasn’t afraid, but when the second thunderclap came, those slender fingers suddenly gripped the thin blanket tightly, pulling it over his head.

Finally, he didn’t forget to slightly lift a corner of the blanket, assuring Li Ruantang with a trembling voice, “Wife-wife-master, don’t worry. I’m really not afraid.”

He just wasn’t very used to such loud thunder.

“Alright, alright, Jiujiu isn’t afraid.” Li Ruantang suppressed the smile on her face and reached out her hand. “But it’s too stuffy inside the blanket.”

Those apricot eyes curved slightly, a ripple of light floating in them. “Besides, I’m very afraid of thunder too.”

Huh?

The young man peeked out with both eyes, glancing at her outstretched hand. Li Ruantang wasn’t lying; when she was young, she was indeed terrified of thunder and always needed someone to hold her.

Now she was reaching out her hand…

Meng Jun froze for two or three seconds, then suddenly realized. So she wanted him to hold her?

He tentatively grasped Li Ruantang’s fingertips. Seeing her dark eyes moist, he made up his mind. Well, it’s not like he hadn’t held her before.

Meng Jun pressed his lips together, stretched out his arm, and wrapped it straight around Li Ruantang’s neck.

Li Ruantang, who had originally just wanted to hold his hand to keep him from suffocating, was stunned. Before she could react, she heard the young man nestled against her shoulder say softly, “Wife-master, don’t be afraid. Jiujiu is here.”