I Hear the Chancellor Has Kept Faith with Me for Over a Decade

Before she was even twenty, Yan Liyun was plotted against and "buried" in a sea of flames. After spending more than a decade recovering in the mountains, she finally returns to the capital.

At her very first spring banquet, she hears a familiar name mentioned in a rumor.

They say Chancellor Cui, who now holds power over the court, has mourned his late wife for more than ten years and still shows no sign of taking another wife.

How devoted!

Yan Liyun can't help asking,

"This Chancellor Cui you mentioned, is he Cui Lanqing of the Qinghe Cui clan?"

"Of course. How many chancellors do you think there are in the world?"

"...Then how do you know he's been mourning her for ten years? Maybe he keeps bringing beautiful concubines into his household one by one without making a fuss about it."

"I knew you wouldn't believe it. People keep testing him by sending women to the chancellor's residence, and every time they get thrown out."

"...M-maybe he's just... not interested in women..."

"Come on. Everyone knows Chancellor Cui and his wife got along well after they married, and had a child in less than a year."

But she still isn't convinced.

"That late wife of his, she wouldn't happen to have been the daughter of Vice Minister Yan of the Ministry of Works, would she..."

"Lord Yan was promoted to Minister ages ago. Why are you asking so much? Have you been away from the capital for the past few years?"

Yan Liyun is a little bewildered.

Is this really the same heartless husband (ex) who left her trapped in a burning building?

"Is her voice any better?" Cui Lanqing asks.

"Much better," someone replies. "Divine Physician Meng says that in six months, even the scars on her face will fade. In another couple of years, she might even be able to show her face in public. Why don't you go see her yourself, Lord Ming?"

Cui Lanqing is lost in thought for a moment.

"...She said she wanted to travel the mountains and rivers, and hated how I woke her every morning when I got up for court. After I was promoted, she could barely manage all the visitors at home..."

These are all trivial matters.

"...She was afraid of me. I actually went once the year before last. Uncle Meng said she dreams of me. Nightmares.

"She dreams I burned her to death."

*There's a son, there's a secret, and there are male supporting characters (plural)

First version of the blurb written on 2024.10.13

Theme: Unable to break away from one another