"Why did you come back just now? Are you so busy?" Mingyu grumbled in dissatisfaction and put her arm around Sima Hong's neck. She found that he was cold all over and smiled, "I'll ask the maid to heat up the food."
Sima Hong shook his head, "Don't heat it up, I've already eaten, have you eaten?"
"I've eaten." Mingyu smiled, touched her stomach, and said, "I won't let my mother and I starve. I wanted to sit on the couch and wait for you to come back, but I fell asleep."
Sima Hong touched Mingyu's hand and forehead, which were warm, neither cold nor hot, and said, "If I come back late, you should go to bed first and don't wait for me."
Ming Yuzhong touched his face with his hand, which was still cool from outside, and sat up from the couch to take off his outer robe. Sima Hong's face froze, and he took a step back unnaturally and said, "I can do it myself."
He was not like this usually. Mingyu looked at him in surprise. Usually, General Sima would act like a spoiled brat but still want her to serve him.
"What's wrong with you?" Mingyu stepped forward and asked softly. He was fine when he left today. "Is there any trouble in the government office?" Seeing Sima Hong didn't say anything, she smiled and said, "I've been busy cleaning up the yard for my mother recently, and I forgot to ask you how you are. Didn't I hear you say before that those civil servants from other places are not very obedient? What about now?"
Sima Hong smiled and said simply, "Not bad."
The tone was perfunctory, it didn't mean "not bad" at all, it meant "very bad".
"What's wrong with you?" Mingyu couldn't help herself and stepped forward to hold Sima Hong's hand. "Tell me what's wrong. I can't help you, but it's good to listen to you."
Sima Hong stared at Mingyu's slightly bulging belly and shook his head, saying, "It's okay, I'm tired, let's go to sleep." Even if he had thousands of questions in his mind, he couldn't ask Mingyu at this time.
Mingyu glanced at him and saw that he was unwilling to say anything. She had to suppress the doubts in her heart. While asking Sister Liu to bring in hot water, she decided to ask Baihao to come over tomorrow to find out what was going on.
Sister Liu quickly brought hot water for Sima Hong to soak his feet. Mingyu made the bed and looked back at Sima Hong, who looked dazed and had no reaction at all. He always came back early and told her endless jokes, but as soon as he came back, he would hug her and touch her belly affectionately.
"What's wrong with you?" Mingyu walked to Sima Hong and put her hand on his shoulder.
Sima Hong was startled by Mingyu unexpectedly. After coming to his senses, he glanced at Mingyu and said with a smile: "What's wrong? I'm fine, what's wrong?"
Mingyu frowned, "You look like something is wrong." Seeing Sima Hong was silent again, Mingyu was furious, "I'm pregnant, and you're still like this. Doesn't that make me worried? What's the matter? Tell me. If I can't help you, you can write to my brother and my father, and more people will give you advice."
She thought that Sima Hong was troubled by the troubles in the officialdom.
"It's not an official matter." Sima Hong said softly, "Don't take it personally. I'm just tired today and don't have much energy. Let's rest early."
Mingyu refused to do it. Sima Hong looked at her with a strange look in his eyes. If she couldn't see the problem, she would have lived two lives in vain. "If it's not a matter of officialdom, then what is it? Is it a matter at home? What happened? Tell me."
Sima Hong hesitated for a long time, then shook his head and said, "What are you thinking about? Pregnant women like to think about random things, and they can create trouble even when there is nothing wrong. Isn't it better to just stay at home and take care of the baby?"
Mingyu was amused by his serious look. She walked forward and snuggled into his arms, saying with a smile, "Your face is full of the words 'I have something on my mind', but you didn't tell me and didn't let me worry about it. Tell me, can I rest assured and take care of the baby at home? What is it? Tell me, and we can discuss it."
Sima Hong held the sweet and soft girl in his arms and hesitated for a long time before he made up his mind. Yes, if he didn't ask and just kept her in suspense, Mingyu would be so smart that she would immediately realize that something was wrong with her. Hiding the truth would only make her more confused and anxious.
After a while, Mingyu finally heard Sima Hong's voice coming from above her head. He spoke very slowly, almost word by word, "Who were you with on the night of Chinese Valentine's Day last year?"
Mingyu was stunned. It took her a long time to realize what Sima Hong was talking about. She searched her memories for a long time before she remembered that after she got separated from Xu Mingye and Fu Lemei, she met Prince Qin.
"What do you mean?" Mingyu asked, her ear still pressed against Sima Hong's chest, listening to the vibration of his heart. She couldn't tell what she felt in her heart, a kind of panic that her privacy hidden in her heart was being pried into. She knew that she had liked the Prince of Qin before, just like a girl's obsession with an idol, which was irresistible, but she rationally knew that the two were thousands of miles apart, impossible, and could only watch from afar.
But how could I tell this to another person? On the Qixi Festival, I walked with the Prince of Qin for a while and released lanterns, which seemed to put an end to this infatuation. So what? We just walked together for a while and didn't hold hands or kiss... These things made Sima Hong feel sorry for himself.
Sima Hong wanted to know the answer at this time, so he continued to ask: "Are you with... the Prince of Qin?"
Mingyu broke free from Sima Hong's hand, took a step back, looked at Sima Hong, and nodded silently after a while, "Yes." This was the fact. As the lover she wanted to spend her life with, she didn't want to lie to him. If he heard the truth from someone else, the result would be even worse.
Sima Hong grinned, he wanted to laugh, but couldn't, his body felt cold. He had to think carefully about what he was doing last July. He fought the Tartars with a knife when he got on the horse, and fell asleep when he got off the horse. Whenever he had a little free time, he spent it all thinking about the jade in his heart. But she went out for a night tour with the Prince of Qin on the Qixi Festival? And they even set off lanterns together
He was full of passion and wanted to give her his heart. What about her? Did she have no hope of marrying the Prince of Qin as his wife, so she had to settle for the next best thing and agreed to him
Then think about how stupid he was before, going to fight with Lu Hao. In fact, Lu Hao got beaten for nothing. Mingyu never looked at Lu Hao straight in the eye from beginning to end. It was just Lu Hao's unrequited love. The person who should be beaten was hiding well! How could he be so stupid! What else was Mingyu hiding from him
Seeing Sima Hong's expression, Mingyu's heart ached. She regretted very much that she shouldn't have kept asking him questions. She turned around and forced a smile, "Aren't you sleepy? I've made the bed, go to bed."
Sima Hong lowered his head, smiled bitterly, and asked like a possessed man, "What is your relationship with the Prince of Qin? Do you want to marry him?"
Mingyu stood with her back to Sima Hong and sighed. Even in an open society like the modern one, husbands would still be resentful towards their wives' ex-boyfriends. But she had not done anything shameful, and it seemed like she was in the wrong if she tried to cover it up.
"I never thought about marrying him." Mingyu turned around and looked at Sima Hong, taking a deep breath. "I had just divorced you at that time, and I just wanted to live a normal and stable life at home. I never thought about getting married. Besides, His Royal Highness the Prince is of noble status, how could he be involved with me?"
She only dared to admire Prince Qin secretly in her heart, as if she was looking at a famous painting by Van Gogh or Picasso, which was priceless and not something she could buy for her own collection. She could just watch it on TV or see a replica in an art gallery to satisfy her eyes, but she would never think of owning this painting.
Besides, she didn't know that Prince Qin had already married at that time. If she had known from the beginning that Prince Qin was a married man, she would never have had any improper thoughts about him. Her moral bottom line was there. She would rather be a nun for the rest of her life than be a mistress, otherwise she would look down on herself.
Sima Hong heard this and thought Mingyu meant that the Prince of Qin was too high-ranking and that a divorced woman like her was not worthy of him. Even his voice became cold, "So you still want to marry him, but it's just because you are not worthy of him, right?"
Mingyu frowned at him. She had been very calm and told him exactly what she thought, but he was still distorting her meaning. "Don't think about it in the middle of the night. If I wanted to marry him, why did I come here in the first place?" Mingyu also became angry.
At home, she was a young lady who was served and loved by her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law. But now she came here and lived a hard life with Sima Hong for more than half a year. She washed clothes and cooked for him without any regrets, and worked hard to help him with the accounts to the best of her ability. Even though she disliked Miao, she was very energetic and busy for his mother's arrival. Now that life was finally better and there was light at the end of the tunnel, he brought up the previous things again. What else could he want from her
This was the truth and she didn't want to lie to him.
Sima Hong was stunned for a moment and wanted to say, "Being a concubine of a prince is naturally not as good as being the wife of a marquis. You are not stupid, so how come you don't know which one is better for you?" However, he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips. He knew very well that although the words spoken in anger could not be counted, once these hurtful words were spoken, he and Mingyu would never be able to return to the sweet days of the past.
Sima Hong was filled with bitterness as he couldn't say anything. Facing Mingyu, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't bear to question her, nor did he bear to make her feel sad. With a confused mind, Sima Hong turned around and strode out.
Mingyu was anxious. He left without saying anything clearly. What was he angry about? She quickly held her waist and chased after him. Before Sima Hong left, she reached out and grabbed the corner of his clothes.
Sima Hong was terribly afraid to face Mingyu at this moment. He felt like a joke and just wanted to stay away from her and walk forward. However, he did not expect Mingyu to grab his clothes tightly and refuse to let go.
There was a thud, and Mingyu fell to her knees.