CHAPTER 586: CHAPTER 565 FIRST UPDATE

Nanny Yun felt that no matter who it was, it didn’t matter now. Merely appearing in this place and catching the Empress’s attention could be considered a good deed.

Nanny Yun hadn’t failed to notice Zheng Nianru’s declining spirits during these days. Nanny Yun understood, but the only consolation was that, fortunately, the Empress had not been subjected to the constraints of female morals from childhood. If she had been raised like other daughters of the Aristocratic Gentry Clans, she would have been washing her face with tears day in and day out, seeking death in despair.

This was merely a lack of worldly suffering.

From childhood, Nanny Yun and Lady Ru had been abandoned in a fleeing crowd, only six or seven years old at the time. They faced hunger and cold, with corpses scattered all around. That year, countless people died in the chaos within Nanmen State. They survived among piles of bodies, eating what they could find there, and walked out of the Valley of the Dead barefoot during the freezing winter. Fortunately, they were blessed. They made it to the city and were taken in by a Nanny at the Art House.

All they wished for was a meal to eat and a place to sleep that could shelter them from the wind and rain. They were deeply grateful to the Nanny.

Therefore, even serving men, in their eyes, compared to the times they had slept in the embrace of dead bodies and in wild dog dens, felt like days in paradise.

Those days had become so distant that Nanny Yun could barely recall them, as if a knife had brutally slashed her chest, leaving a scar that had healed by now, only leaving behind painful memories and that hideous scar.

So, in the face of living, those things were insignificant.

"Empress, the servant thinks he looks like a guard," Nanny Yun said casually while giving Fu Dong a sly wink. "Look at that waist, he must be a fine man, the Empress should trust my judgment in men," Nanny Yun added.

"Nanny Yun, you always say your eyesight is poor, yet now you see men very clearly," Fu Dong, having received Nanny Yun’s message, jokingly teased her.

"Empress, please judge this for yourself, this young girl has become bold enough to mock even me," protested Nanny Yun, raising her voice.

"Empress..." Fu Dong hid beside Zheng Nianru.

Seeing the two, Zheng Nianru laughed.

"We need to see if the guard truly is as handsome to warrant such praise. Then we’ll know if my eyes really do have an issue," teased Zheng Nianru. The post station brought back many memories for her; it had its warm moments and represented a significant turning point in her life.

Zheng Nianru glanced at Fu Dong. Following her cue, Fu Dong took two steps forward and walked out from behind a sparsely-blossomed camellia bush, then took two more steps until she was right behind the man.

Fu Dong’s footsteps were not quiet, deliberately drawing the man’s attention. However, the man seemed lost, staring blankly at the sky outside the wall as it dimmed with dusk.

Fu Dong felt something was off, but as she drew closer, she realized Nanny Yun wasn’t making things up. The man in front of her appeared even more imposing, his back tall and his demeanor not that of an ordinary guard.

After all, within the Imperial Forest Guard were sons of Aristocratic Families, even if they were not the legitimate ones or of high rank. The demeanor they grew up with in such families still remained.

"Cough, cough—" Fu Dong coughed twice, the figure suddenly panicked, turned around with a gaze that was deep and inquiring, but in a moment, recognized Fu Dong and quickly lowered his eyes.

Fu Dong recognized him too. No wonder...

"So it is Lord Ju——" Fu Dong was very suspicious, as Nanny Yun had recognized him as Lord Ju early in the morning, but deliberately said otherwise.

Ju Nanyi was uncertain whether to speak or to hasten away with a bow when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two figures approaching. His body stiffened instantly, at this moment, the last people he wanted to see suddenly appeared before him, blurring the line between reality and illusion. In an instant, the defenses he had barely managed to construct collapsed. He clearly heard the sound of this collapse, mocking his cowardice, his hypocrisy.

Ju Nanyi really wanted to leave; why didn’t he leave? In this life, they had nothing to do with each other, not even a reason to stand together existed.

Zheng Nianru also clearly saw the person before her. The interest that Nanny Yun and Fu Dong had just aroused instantly disappeared, leaving her feeling disheartened.

Seeing that it was Ju Nanyi, Nanny Yun instantly panicked. The joke had gone too far—among so many people, why had it had to be Lord Ju there? It was really disappointing.

"The official salutes the Empress——" In that moment, Ju Nanyi decided he would bow, and then take his leave. In this life, she was her, and he was him; he no longer yearned for any connection.

"Lord Ju, you have traveled a difficult journey," Zheng Nianru spoke. Her tone deliberately distanced; whether it was her past life or this one, it never was the outcome she desired. If it went as Nanny Yun thought, this life might indeed be closer to what she wanted. At least she was still by Zheng Congyuan’s side, much better than how the last life was—meeting only to harbor resentment. In fact, if she had been more open-minded in her past life, she might have been able to maintain her relationship with Zheng Congyuan, not much different from this life in essence.

Having lived a lifetime, Zheng Nianru’s obsession wasn’t so deep; between choices, she had made her selection. Besides, this life had given her a more reasonable reason, and she hadn’t had the luxury of choice.

Ju Nanyi noticed the distance in her words, a politeness that seemed to require gratitude to maintain. He had saved her so many times, did this escort really merit a thanks?

Just as Ju Nanyi was about to leave, suddenly he didn’t feel like leaving, suddenly feeling that his fleeing was exactly what the other party wanted. Perhaps, the other party didn’t want to see him at all right now, and even, this escort was not what she really wanted.

"This is merely my duty," Ju Nanyi said coldly.

Zheng Nianru waited for him to take his leave, so she did not speak, and the atmosphere suddenly quieted down. Fu Dong and Nanny Yun also felt the sudden awkwardness. Isn’t Lord Ju leaving?

Ju Nanyi sneered inwardly. Although he had been immersed in his own feelings just now, he faintly heard laughter; was it just because they saw him that they were displeased?

He wasn’t aware of what he had done to anger her, to the point where he didn’t even have the right to stand in front of her.

"Is there something you wish to say, Lord Ju?" Zheng Nianru raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling that Ju Nanyi was acting strange, just like in their past life. Sometimes he was so silent that one could hardly understand what he was thinking. However, in the last life, she didn’t care what Ju Nanyi thought. Whenever she wanted to achieve her goals, a few sweet words would suffice. Just a few sweet words, and he would go through fire and water for her, more useful than Nanmen Yu.

But now it was different. Ju Nanyi, on his own strength, had already solidly established himself in Nanzheng. Though Zheng Congyuan was the Emperor, in the current situation, she even had to consider Ju Nanyi’s feelings more than in the last life.

Zheng Nianru thought over what she had just said, and didn’t think she had said anything wrong. What was Ju Nanyi getting upset about?

Ju Nanyi’s anger rose from within. Was she just going to dismiss him with a sentence? Now she wanted him to step back, to disappear from her sight?

Ju Nanyi felt as if he were a piece of rubbish in the other’s eyes, without any utilitarian value, where even a glance seemed like charity.