Chapter 409: Take Good Care of Your Wife (2) (1/2)

When she opened up the bag, there was just some jerky and preserved food. Chu Lian didn’t mind the poor offerings and simply started eating.

In a situation like this, Chu Lian knew better than to complain about the food. No matter what, she couldn’t let herself go hungry.

He Sanlang sat at one corner and watched her eat. When he didn’t catch any trace of disdain or unhappiness in her expression, a part of his heart relaxed and warmed up at the same time.

Actually, Chu Lian was a very caring and considerate lady. She had never been difficult on purpose and everyone got along well with her, no matter their position. She wasn’t at all like the spoiled and aloof noble ladies of the capital.

When he thought back to the reports he had received from Prince Jin regarding Chu Lian, his brows suddenly drew together and his chest tightened.

Although Chu Lian was the Sixth Miss of the Ying Estate, her mother had died when she was young and Chu Qizheng had remarried. As the saying went, once there was a stepmother, there would be a stepfather. She hadn’t been favoured in her estate. Since there were too many children in the Ying Estate, Duke Ying and Duchess Ying had never taken notice of her. She hadn’t had a good life in the Ying Estate.

Her quality of living was sometimes even worse than some of the concubine-born daughters in the estate.

He had never given much thought to Chu Lian’s past before. However, when he thought of it now, his heart felt a little heavy.

Chu Lian was currently focused on the jerky, so she hadn’t noticed any of He Sanlang’s little changes in mood.

Even if she knew what he was thinking now, she would only roll her eyes at him.

Anyway, the person he was lamenting for wasn’t her. She wasn’t the original ‘Chu Lian’. She couldn’t even recognise all the people in the Ying Estate!

However, He Sanlang had gotten something right. Although Chu Lian was picky with her food and loved eating good food, she wasn’t someone who would be difficult on purpose.

She would consider the circumstances she was in before thinking of making good food. If she still fussed about food while in dire situations, wasn’t that the quickest way to die?

Once her stomach was full, Chu Lian sat by the brazier in the warm pen and kept herself warm.

The glowing embers cast a red glow over Chu Lian’s fair face. It was rare for the couple to get a chance to sit together for a chat like this.

Actually, when He Sanlang wasn’t in one of his fits of lunacy, he was still a pretty handsome man, albeit rather stone-faced. Chu Lian couldn’t get enough of his looks.

Under Chu Lian’s forceful questioning, He Changdi reported every detail of how he had come to find her. However, he hid the details about the murders of the four kidnappers.

He Changdi didn’t know why he had done so subconsciously. When he looked into Chu Lian’s wide and trusting eyes, he just felt the urge to protect the innocence shining within them.

Chu Lian stared into the embers in the brazier, her eyes sparkling. Her head was lowered, so no one could see the upwards curve of her lips she hadn’t been able to hold back.

She hadn’t made the wrong choice to stay with this husband of hers now, hadn’t she?

When evening came, before the last traces of the sun fell below the horizon, He Changdi and the rest of the search party managed to reach the border camp on time.

Captain Guo, Sima Hui, Zhang Mai, Tang Yan and the others had already gotten the news and were waiting at the main camp entrance to welcome them back.

Chu Lian was still wearing He Changdi’s clothes, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to make an appearance.