I dress up as a poor noblewoman, and I bring my whole family home with my literary talent.

Chapter 117 Breaking off the Engagement

No new news came until the next afternoon.

Song Lingyi was not idle in the Imperial Master's Mansion. Before dawn, Ye Xu'an sent a maid to pull her out of bed to water and fertilize his vegetable garden...

When she came out of the vegetable garden covered in mud and had not even had time to catch her breath, Ye Xuan threw a fishing rod in her hand and told her to go to the pond to catch two fish for braised fish in the evening.

Song Lingyi had no choice but to carry her fishing rod and go fishing by the pond. She sat there for an hour. After a series of farm work, she had no time to feel sad about the passing of time. She leaned against the railing and felt drowsy.

Suddenly, I heard some noise in the yard.
She opened her eyes hazily and looked across the pool and rockery, and saw that several eunuchs and imperial guards had come into the yard.

Before I had time to think about it, the fishing rod in my hand moved.

She hurriedly collected her fishing rod. If she had known, she would have jumped into the water to catch it. After fishing for two hours, her neck was sore.

Song Lingyi picked up the wooden barrel containing the fish and walked towards the kitchen. Passing by a pavilion, she found a person sitting inside with his back to her. He was wearing ordinary noble lady's gorgeous clothes and a golden hairpin on his head.

Guests from the Imperial Master's Mansion...

Song Lingyi, standing outside the pavilion, looked disheveled and was carrying a wooden bucket. She hesitated, not knowing whether she should say hello.

After thinking about it, she decided to give up. Maybe it was some noble lady who came to see the fortune teller. It would be better not to disturb her.

Silently carrying the bucket, he continued walking towards the kitchen

Just after taking two steps, someone called me.
"You are the little girl from the Song family, right?"

……

This voice sounds so familiar!

Song Lingyi suddenly looked back

This angle is just right to see the faces of the people in the pavilion
thump—

The barrel fell to the ground
Song Lingyi quickly knelt down and saluted, her voice trembling with nervousness: "Your humble servant greets His Majesty!"

His Majesty came today, why didn't the master tell her?
In the pavilion, the empress stood up from the rosewood armchair, her manner dignified and elegant. Her eyes moved from Song Lingyi to the wooden barrel beside her, and her tone was more friendly than when she was in the Princess's Mansion or Xuanzheng Hall, "Stand up, did you catch this fish?"

"In reply to your Majesty, that is right."

Song Lingyi got up from the ground tremblingly, not daring to look up at the empress.

"Bring it here, let me have a look."

“……”What’s so good about fish?

However, Song Lingyi only dared to mutter this in her heart, and obediently carried the wooden bucket and walked towards the pavilion.

Put the barrel in front of the empress, then take two steps back.

The empress glanced at the two fish in the barrel and said nonchalantly, "Is your wedding date with the boy from the Xie family coming soon?"

"Your Majesty, it will be on the sixth day of April."

"April 6?" The empress repeated the date softly, and said thoughtfully, "It's a good day."

Song Lingyi sensed something from these words. Is there something special about this day?
The empress tilted her head and glanced at her, looking curious but timid, and smiled and said, "The day I married Princess Qi Yang's biological father was also the sixth day of April." Song Lingyi was slightly surprised that this date was chosen so coincidentally. However, when the empress called her husband and mentioned the wedding date, she did not show any emotion, which seemed to indicate that she had a normal relationship with this Qi Duwei.

The empress sat down on the rosewood armchair and sighed, "I never thought so many years would pass by in a flash. Time really flies like a galloping horse, and the sun and moon are like falling flowers and flowing water."

"I heard that when Your Majesty married Captain Qi, she had just won a victory in the Southern Court. Now, under your governance, the Southern Court is politically stable and the people are harmonious, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Even though time flies, your achievements cannot be erased." Song Lingyi said respectfully.

This smooth flattery, pinching

The empress smiled and said, "You little girl are much more sensible than your master."

He raised his hand to signal Song Lingyi to sit down opposite him, and his expression was restrained. "The Marquis's Mansion has submitted an application for the handover of your official position to the Imperial History Bureau. Tell me, what do you think?"

Naturally, what happened in the imperial city could not be hidden from the ears of the empress. She knew that Princess Qi Yang was involved, but this marriage really came at the wrong time, so she might as well go with the flow.

"Of course I don't want to resign..." Song Lingyi said this with a depressed look, "I thought the marriage with Xie Yanshu was too simple... Since the engagement, everyone has been telling me that after marriage I should return to my family, take care of my husband and children, and take my husband as the leader. But they never asked me if I was willing to do so. I couldn't even decide to resign."

She boldly raised her eyes to look at the empress and pursed her lips, "Did Your Majesty also face such a choice back then?"

After she asked this, the empress fell into a brief contemplation, "Not everyone can do what they want to do, and become who they want to be."

"You don't need weapons, you don't need to fight on the battlefield, and you haven't experienced the cruelty of life and death. My life has no reference value to you. They don't respect you because you are still young and not strong enough. Your wishes are not within their scope of consideration."

"..." Song Lingyi knew this truth.
But she really couldn't give up the engagement so easily. Xie Yanshu was so innocent. He had always supported her ideas and even went to a cold and bitter place to make contributions for the sake of this marriage.

The Marquise and the old Marquis were not satisfied with her in the first place, so breaking off the engagement had no impact on them, and they were even happy to see it happen. The Song family... was not within her consideration.

Only Xie Yanshu felt guilty.
Just at this moment, Li Huaizhong hurried to the outside of the pavilion.
"Your Majesty, thank you for coming."

The empress raised her eyebrows slightly, without showing much surprise.

Song Lingyi's first reaction was nervousness and avoidance. She was nervous about why Xie Yanshu came, and she was avoiding because she had made up her mind but was afraid to face it too early.

Besides... she was in such a mess now, she had sweated so much, her skirt was still stained with dirt, and her face was not much better. The empress didn't mind, because she was a general in the military camp and had seen all kinds of scenes.

Fortunately, the empress was there, so Xie Yanshu couldn't just walk into the pavilion in the backyard.

"Your Majesty, this fish has to be sent to the kitchen. I'll step aside first." Song Lingyi looked anxious.

The empress waved her hand gently, indicating that she could go.

Song Lingyi hurriedly picked up the wooden bucket and walked towards the kitchen, still wondering where to go to wash the mud off her body.

Just stepped onto the corridor

"Lingyi!"

Song Lingyi paused. It was Xie Yanshu's voice!
How did he find me so quickly...

Now Song Lingyi had no way to escape anymore. She wiped her face with her sleeve and slowly turned around.

Today was not a day off, and he was still wearing his official robe. It seemed that he had just got off duty at the government office and heard about her falling out with her father and mother, so he had no time to change his clothes and came here in a hurry.

Xie Yanshu didn't care about her disheveled appearance. He strode up to her, his tone worried and nervous, "I'm sorry, I just found out that the Marquis's Mansion submitted an application for official position handover to the Imperial History Bureau without your permission. I'm sorry for not being by your side in time for what happened yesterday."