Chapter 472 – I want to drive away your loneliness (1)
Ning Mingjie brought her onto the boat to hand her over to one of Great Song’s officials. He said that he wanted her to go the Great Song’s capital first. Pengxin nodded. She knew about the agreement between her king father and Ning Mingjie. There wasn’t anything bad about going to Great Song by herself. It would give her the opportunity to acclimate to the place sooner and be more comfortable when they got married in the future.
The person that came to pick up her was also very attractive. Unlike Ning Mingjie’s devastating beauty, this person had a kingly aura with a pair of peach blossom eyes. When he smiled, he looked like an old fox.
“Your Highness, this one is Ning Yuxuan, Great Song’s Marquis Moyu. This one came here to welcome and escort you back to the capital.”
Pengxin didn’t know why, but she felt fearful of this person. This person gave off a dangerous feeling as if anyone that got too close to him would become a p.a.w.n in his scheming.
And so, she hid behind Ning Mingjie.
Ning Mingjie turned his head and looked at her in amus.e.m.e.nt. “Princess Pengxin, you’re usually so fearless. Why are you scared of the marquis?”
“I want to stay with you.” Pengxin pouted.
Ning Mingjie paused, but soon after, he slowly pushed her forward. “Go to the capital first.”
Pengxin, who was carrying her large sword on her shoulder, didn’t have any of her usual imposing manners as she stood trembling in front of Ning Yuxuan. She heard the man say, “My humble wife is resting on the boat. Princess Pengxin, if you’re bored, you can go visit her.”
Pengxin nodded and broke into a run. Following the directions of the people on the boat, she ran to the room of the famous Nie Sangyu.
When Pengxin entered the room, Nie Sangyu was still deeply asleep. This woman looked very beautiful in her sleeping state. Pengxin’s lips curled. She picked up a nearby mirror to look at herself, then she looked at the person on the bed… Fine, she couldn’t outcompete this woman in beauty.
However, this woman obviously looked very weak. Her martial arts skills definitely wouldn’t be as good as her own. Ning Mingjie was a commander, so only a highly skilled warrior would be a suitable partner for him. With her impressive sword, she would be able to kill his enemies for him and protective him well. What was wrong with that?
Dryly laughing, Pengxin still felt a bit dejected. She went back to staring at the woman on the bed.
Nie Sangyu had woken up, but she was only blankly looking at her. Pengxin couldn’t resist touching her own face. Could it be that Nie Sangyu thought she looked pretty good too?
The marquis entered the room. Startled, she immediately moved aside. But, his previous strong aura that warned people of keeping their distance from him was gone. Right now, he seemed as gentle and soft was water. When he was feeding the person on the bed medicine, he couldn’t be any gentler.
After Pengxin had watched on in amazement for a while, she was even more eager to marry Ning Mingjie. Surely, all people from Great Song were cold to outsiders and warm to their loved ones?
—
“This is the Southern Courtyard. In the past, when General Ning came to the capital, he would stay here.”
Once they arrived in the capital, she was settled down in Marquis Moyu’s estate. Looking at the courtyard before her, Pengxin felt there was something strange, so she asked, “Doesn’t Ning Mingjie have a residence of his own in the capital? Why am I staying here?”
Steward Qian answered, “Your Highness, since you’re going to marry into Ning Residence, you naturally can’t live there while unwed. Once the general comes back, he’ll come here and escort you over to his residence on the wedding day.”
Pengxin didn’t know about this country’s wedding customs. Carrying her three-ring sword on her shoulder, she agreeably settled down in the place that Ning Mingjie had once stayed in while she waited for his return.
While she was waiting, she heard many things about his history from the lips of servant girls.
“A senior monk once said that General Ning is fated to live a life where he can only have concubines. It’s not advisable for him to marry a main wife.” Two gossiping servant girls were sitting on a flight of stairs. “The general has already married two t.i.tled ladies. One of them was s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the previous third prince before the marriage was even consummated. The second marriage lasted a year, but then his wife was s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the deposed emperor. The general is destined to not have wife, ah.”
Hearing these words, Pengxin sighed. Did the imperial family have a grudge against Ning Mingjie? How could they have stolen his wife twice?
After having listened to enough gossip, Pengxin walked out and stopped in front of the servant girls. With her sword on her shoulder, she said, “That’s okay. I won’t be s.n.a.t.c.hed away by anyone. I’ll definitely marry him and be a good wife to him.”
The two servant girls were so scared by the sight of the sword that even their faces trembled. They repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy. They promised to never gossip about their superiors again.
Pengxin didn’t understand why their reaction was so extreme, but their words made her feel sympathetic for Ning Mingjie. She would definitely treat him well.
—
She waited, then waited some more. By the time he finally returned to the capital, Pengxin didn’t care anymore about the wedding custom of not seeing the groom before the wedding day. She flitted over to Ning Residence to look for him.
However, when she got there, Changshan said his master had gone up a mountain to see someone he had known for a long time.
Pengxin thought; he had too many people in his past. Curling her lip, she asked for directions and went to look for Ning Mingjie.
—
On the top of this mountain, there wasn’t anything else except numerous graves. Pengxin looked around for a long time before she finally saw Ning Mingjie’s figure. He was too eye-catching. Even if he was in a large crowd of people, she would be able to immediately find him.
He had come here to pay respects. He had swept the area around a grave and was leaning on the tombstone and drinking wine. There were trees all around them, Pengxin took a few steps forward and secretly watched him.
The words “Ning Gancao, maiden last name Liu” was carved on the gravestone. This was his late wife’s grave? No, that couldn’t be right. His wives had both been s.n.a.t.c.hed away by members of the imperial family. Then, who was this person?
Ning Mingjie seemed shrouded in loneliness. Pengxin felt distressed by this sight. But, there was so much about his past that she didn’t know. Where would she even start? She felt a bit annoyed. Why couldn’t she have met him sooner?