Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 423 Lingering
Xie Yuyan hadn't seen Yu Chen for a long time, and now that he was holding her in his arms, he was naturally overjoyed.

"Where are the dried fish?!"

Mother Yu said, "I'll go get it right away."

Xie Yuyan carried Yu Chen into the house and looked her over carefully. Not only had she not lost weight, but she seemed to have gained some weight. As a result, her face looked rounder, which made her look a bit more naive.

Yu Chen reached out and grabbed her arm, as if afraid she would run away in the blink of an eye.

It has been barking incessantly since the beginning, as if it were muttering complaints.

"Alright, alright, it's not that we don't want to take you with us, it's just that we're constantly on the move and have nowhere to stay. There's no place for you to stay."

"I bought you a new blanket."

"You can sleep on it from now on."

Perhaps because Xie Yuyan had talked so much, Yu Chen actually stopped.

Mother Yu brought over a porcelain jar, and Xie Yuyan took out a dried fish from it and handed it to the cat.

"Try it," Xie Yuyan said. "I dried them all myself."

The cat sniffed the food, then began to eat it, taking it from Xie Yuyan's hand.

Soon, a small dried fish was gone. It licked its lips, still looking like a greedy cat.

Wang Yan looked at Xie Yuyan. The first thing he noticed about her was the cat in her arms, because her gaze was exceptionally gentle when she looked at the cat.

She was like that when she was little, and as she grew up, she became more decisive and sharp. She usually used that calm demeanor to bury all her emotions, and she would only relax a little when Tanuki was by her side.

Like now.

His eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, and a smile played on his lips.

As long as he could keep looking at her like this, nothing else mattered.

When Xie Yuyan looked up, she met Wang Yan's gaze. She saw his eyes, which were clear and focused, and seemed to be covered with a layer of moisture, making them gentler than usual.

For Xie Yuyan, the feeling of liking someone was vague until she was with Wang Yan, when it became real and clear.

From getting used to being alone to liking having him around, I rationally and soberly watched myself fall into this trap step by step.

“I’m not afraid of traveling,” Wang Yan said. “Is there any place for me to stay?”

These are the words she spoke to Yu Chen.

Xie Yuyan said, "Isn't the Prime Minister's residence big enough for him to live in?"

Wang Yan looked at the cat: "She also has a place to stay in the Wang family. My wife should prepare something for her as well."

Xie Yuyan pointed at the cat: "If Wang Lang becomes like this, I'll treat him the same way I would treat the cat..."

At this point, Xie Yuyan felt something was amiss, because the cat was currently lying on her lap. This unintentional thought caused her cheeks to flush slightly, and a blush immediately spread across her face.

Following her evasive gaze, Wang Yan also glimpsed her thoughts, and his heartstrings were also tugged. Some hidden scenes in his heart began to uncontrollably... to wander into his mind.

The room fell silent for a moment.

But it was even more tender than before.

Mother Yu looked at the two people in front of her.

Who could have imagined that the two smartest people in the world would speak like children? The most pitiful one was her, who tried her best to close her ears, and even if she accidentally heard something, she told herself not to take it to heart, so as not to ruin the image of the two men in her heart, especially Lord Wang.

The cat, having eaten its fill, nestled in Xie Yuyan's arms, leisurely licking its paws. Since meeting Xie Yuyan, Yu Chen hadn't glanced at Wang Yan again, and now she comfortably half-closed her eyes.

Wang Yan took out the knot she had made from his bosom and handed her a jade pendant.

Xie Yuyan looked over and saw that both items were gifts from her; she had assumed he had already worn them.

“I haven’t strung the jade pendant on the cord yet,” Wang Yan said. “Since you’re doing it all yourself, how can I leave it to someone else? So I’ll have to trouble you.”

Xie Yuyan reached out and picked up the tassel. She had prepared the clasp in advance, intending to use it to hang the jade pendant. It wasn't difficult to make it. In the end, all Wang Yan wanted was for her to make it by hand.

How could she not know what he was thinking?
Xie Yuyan threaded the jade pendant under the lamplight, trying her best to make each knot neat and tidy, since it would hang down at her waist, and if it was messy, it would inevitably be a laughing stock. Finally, she tied the jade pendant, cut the thread, and handed it to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan reached out to take it, but instead of taking the knot directly, he grabbed her hand.

A warm palm held her fingers in its own.

“This is a token from my wife,” Wang Yan said. “I will carry it with me every day.”

Xie Yuyan nodded.

Wang Yan smiled and said, "Then it's settled. Even if you return to the Xie family, the marriage contract attached to you will not count."

Xie Yuyan said, "Of course it doesn't count."

She is about to appear in public, and her true identity will soon be revealed. If she returns to being Xie Wenjing, the marriage contract with Prince Huai may fall on her.

But as long as she doesn't want to, no one can force her; she'll always find a way to escape.

Yang Xiaoshan's voice came from outside the door.

"Madam, the meal is ready."

Xie Yuyan instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Wang Yan gripped it even tighter.

"Understood."

Xie Yuyan responded, and the next moment Wang Yan pulled her hand over, and then she felt a warmth on the back of her hand as his lips landed on it.

Like a butterfly, it suddenly landed on me and stayed there for a long time without leaving.

Xie Yuyan almost cried out in surprise.

Yang Xiaoshan heard the old lady's voice inside the house, but the door remained closed. He couldn't help but look at Mama Yu, who shook her head, indicating that Yang Xiaoshan should not disturb her.

Actually, this should have been said by Yu's mother, but when the two of them were alone, Yu's mother interrupted them many times. If this happened every time, it would inevitably make people feel annoyed.

But we can't go without food, so... let's all share the burden.

The door finally opened, and the cat-like creature squeezed out first. Then, in front of everyone, it stretched and showed a satisfied expression.

When Wang Yan came out, he already had a jade pendant at his waist.

The tassels were blown by the wind, and some scattered on Xie Yuyan's skirt. Wang Yan was pleased to see this, so he took a few steps forward and let them entangle themselves as they pleased.

……

The Empress Dowager saw the reliquary the next day.

She couldn't help but be a little surprised: "There really is such a thing."

Madam Gao nodded: "Master took it to Jingxuan to see, and after Jingxuan saw it, he went crazy again and kept bowing to the relic box."

"However, there are some differences between this reliquary and what Jingxuan described."

Madam Gao tried her best to calm down, but in fact she didn't sleep all night. Later, she simply got up and guarded the relic box.

Lady Gao pointed out the difference to the Empress Dowager.

“Jingxuan saw the Buddha appear in the lotus flower. In fact… when the reliquary was made, a porcelain Buddha statue was indeed sculpted, but it was inside the reliquary.”

“I think it’s precisely because of the difference that Jingxuan saw the Buddha’s manifestation.”

The Empress Dowager examined the reliquary carefully, and it seemed that what Madam Gao said made some sense.

Madam Gao rose and bowed to the Empress Dowager again: "There is one more thing we would like to ask Your Majesty for help with."

The Empress Dowager nodded, which was taken as her consent.

Madam Gao said, "We want to keep this reliquary in Bianjing, and the Shen family will build a pagoda for it."

The Empress Dowager said, "This is a good thing."

Madam Gao looked troubled: "But... the lady who made the reliquary said that it was agreed beforehand that the reliquary would be donated to Baode Temple in Daming Prefecture. If that lady could donate the reliquary to Yunqi Temple instead... we could also get our wish."