Li Chengjing was still holding Cheng Yujin’s hand. His other hand was probing her forehead as he asked in a low voice, “Do you still have a headache?”
Yesterday, it was unavoidable for Cheng Yujin to drink some alcohol. When she woke up this morning, she had a headache, but it was not serious and would not affect her activities today. Cheng Yujin shook her head and replied, “I’m not fragile porcelain; how can I be so delicate? The headache has long since subsided.”
The two of them were whispering to each other, making others even more dumbfounded and shocked. Finally, Cheng Min smiled and took the initiative to say: “Crown Prince and Crown Princess are really intimate. We old couples are no match of young couples, and it is very joyful to see the strong affection between newlyweds.”
These words were full of teasing. Cheng Yujin’s cheeks slightly reddened, and she was too embarrassed to speak. It was Li Chengjing who responded with a smile: “She is not good at drinking. Once she drinks alcohol, she will always have a headache the next day. Yesterday was the Grand Assembly, and she drank plenty of alcohol. If I don’t watch her well, she definitely will just say she is fine.”
Everyone burst into laughter. Cheng Min looked at Cheng Yujin and said, “Crown Princess has always been like that since she was a child. No matter what happens, she always keeps everything to herself and pretends to be okay in front of adults. Now, she finally has someone to take care of her.”
Men’s faces seemed to be thicker by nature. Cheng Yujin couldn’t just respond with a smile like Li Chengjing, so she could only bow her head under Cheng Min’s teasing gaze.
Seeing this familiar sight, Old Madam Cheng sighed. She remembered that when Li Chengjing was still living in Yichun Marquis Manor, he often reminded Cheng Yujin to drink more water or tea. At that time, Old Madam Cheng had an impression of seeing a married couple. Sure enough, they ended up marrying each other.
Their each and every interaction totally matched the image of a loving couple imagined by the world. It was as if that ideal image of marriage was carved from Li Chengjing and Cheng Yujin’s example.
Old Madam Cheng cleared her throat, “This old woman is glad to see how attentive and considerate Crown Prince is towards Crown Princess. Everyone, please don’t just stand here. Let’s come in and talk.”
Everyone responded in unison and walked into the inner hall. Obviously, the center of attention was Cheng Yujin and Li Chengjing. After the two entered, everyone followed behind.
Cheng Yumo entered the last. At this moment, her lips were pale, and her face was ashen, and not even the high-quality rouge she put on could hide her complexion. Cheng Min simply wanted to hold a conversation and thus said that old couples like them were not as close as young couples. However, Cheng Yumo and Huo Changyuan were also a newly-married young couple.
After leaving the palace on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Huo Changyuan really sent off Su Ke’er to marry. No matter how much Su Ke’er and Huo Xue-shi cried, he was unmoved and showed no mercy at all. Cheng Yumo thought that once the third party who broke into their marriage was gone, her relationship with Huo Changyuan would be restored, but feelings turned out to be like porcelain. Even though it looked as bright and unblemished as before, the crack that had formed could never disappear.
Cheng Yumo then thought again. Their carelessness caused the loss of their first child, and Huo Changyuan probably still felt bad inside, thus his current attitude. But it didn’t matter. She was still young, and once they had another child, Huo Changyuan would definitely return to his previous self.
Cheng Yumo cheered herself up, but only then did she realize that she and Huo Changyuan basically had no communication. Because Huo Changyuan had just been reprimanded by the Crown Princess, he couldn’t take a concubine and could only continue to sleep in Cheng Yumo’s room. But even if the two were in the same room day and night, they often didn’t even speak a word to each other.
Cheng Yumo was terrified. Wasn’t this the marriage life she despised the most in the past? Her mother used the relationship between Qingfu Junzhu and Cheng Yuanxian as a negative example to teach her. Cheng Yumo indeed was respectful to Qingfu Junzhu on the surface, but in private, she didn’t take this aunt seriously and even mocked her maliciously. In Cheng Yumo’s opinion, Qingfu Junzhu was old and fierce like a tigress, so it was no wonder her husband didn’t want to touch her. In contrast, Cheng Yumo was young, lively, youthful, and beautiful. She was basically the favorite among the male cousins and playmates, and thus she was full of confidence that she would not be like Qingfu Junzhu when she married in the future.
She despised the marriages of the elders around her for being bland and dull. In her heart, she blamed those women for being unattractive and unable to capture the hearts of men. At the time, she never thought that she would one day end up the same as the women she looked down on the most.
Cheng Yumo panicked and began to find ways to get intimate with Huo Changyuan. She really felt that all problems would be solved as long as they had another child, but it was at this time that Cheng Yumo discovered that she was no longer attractive to Huo Changyuan.
Huo Changyuan looked at her calmly and patiently, but there seemed to be fatigue behind his patience. He no longer put on the air of a marquis in front of her and was not afraid to show his worst side. At first, Cheng Yumo felt this was a good development, because this indicated that Huo Changyuan was now truly treating her as his own. But Huo Changyuan’s eyes when looking at her was no longer appreciative, nor did it hold any desire. He no longer paid attention to Cheng Yumo’s appearance, even when she dressed beautifully. Obviously, he was not like so to the servant girls.
Huo Changyuan no longer looked at her as a woman.
As if she had fallen into a cold cave, Cheng Yumo was frozen all over. Why? Why did Huo Changyuan become like this?
Cheng Yumo was depressed for a long time and finally convinced herself that this was the natural development of a married couple’s relationship. It was the only final destination of marriage. Passionate love was like a fire, and once it burned out, life eventually returned to be bland and dull.
Cheng Yumo forced herself to think positively. She and Huo Changyuan had an emotional foundation, which was much better than those couples who married without knowing each other and ended up resenting each other. Now, although she and Huo Changyuan no longer talked to each other, they were just following the natural development of marriage.
But today, even that belief shattered into pieces. Cheng Yumo saw how naturally the Crown Prince reached out his hand to help Cheng Yujin, how Cheng Yujin stood so intimately beside the Crown Prince, how she lowered her head shyly and even hid behind the Crown Prince when everyone was teasing her… When the Crown Prince told everyone how Cheng Yujin was drunk yesterday, she quietly glared at him, but the Crown Prince only smiled indulgingly.
These were all small and trivial actions. Their interaction was no different from any commoner’s couple, dull and boring, but there was something that was completely different.
Love couldn’t be hidden from others, and neither did indifference.
Cheng Yumo’s mood suddenly fell into the abyss, and the fragile excuse she found for herself could no longer deceive anyone. These little actions were not eye-catching, but they could not be fake. No matter how superb their acting was, how affectionate they pretended to be, or how they usually got along in private, the truth was clear for everyone to see.
Why?! Cheng Yujin was so boring. She, Cheng Yumo, was more lively and interesting than Cheng Yujin, more likable. She and Huo Changyuan also had the relationship of being a live saver, so why did they fall this far?
Did she really choose the wrong marriage?
