Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 37

Chapter 37 
Acting arrogantly 
  
After receiving Lin Yu’s letter, Li Heming read it carefully but did not leave immediately. Instead, he read a few unimportant documents in the Northern Office before slowly going to the Lin Mansion. He acted unhurriedly but didn’t know for whom he did it.
  
Today was New Year’s Eve, a day for families to reunite. Few people were in the government office, and Li Heming, a man who had just married for two days, gave up the warm fragrance and soft jade to stay with a group of pitiful men who could not get a wife and had no home to return to, which aroused criticism and puzzlement. Still, he had a cold face. When the brothers gathered in the yard to eat mutton soup pot last night, they feared the noise would disturb his peace. When they saw him finally leave this morning, they all breathed a sigh of relief as if they had sent away the plague god. 
  
After Li Heming arrived at the Lin Mansion, he first greeted Lin Zhengqing and Wang Yueying according to etiquette and then went to see Lin Yu. But by chance, he ran into Lin Jing carrying chestnut cakes on the way. 
  
Zelan learned from Wang Yueying’s maid that Li Heming had come to the Lin Mansion and hurried to tell Lin Yu. Just as she finished speaking, Wenzhu hurried over to say that Lin Jing and Li Heming had a dispute and seemed to be fighting. 
  
Wenzhu didn’t watch the whole play but only saw from a distance that Lin Jing grabbed Li Heming’s collar and hurried to inform Lin Yu. After hearing this, Lin Yu didn’t care about anything else and immediately went to persuade him. 
  
However, Li Heming’s legs were long, and his feet were fast. Li Heming had already entered her boudoir with a sword when she was about to go out after tidying up. No outside men had ever come to Lin Yu’s boudoir except for doctors and servants. Even Lin Zhengqing and Lin Jing rarely entered the door. Li Heming was the first one. 
  
Zelan and Wenzhu saw Li Heming step into the door, and both were stunned for a moment—especially Wenzhu, who had just been talking behind Li Heming’s back. Suddenly caught red-handed, he looked guilty when looking at Li Heming’s face. Zelan reacted quickly and pulled him out quietly. 
  
Lin Yu’s boudoir differed from Li Heming’s newly decorated bridal chamber. Whether it was the embroidered bed curtains, the dressing table, or the embroidery on the screen, everything that caught the eye was exquisite and graceful. You could also smell the long-term immersed fragrance if you smelled it carefully.
  
Upon entering, Li Heming glanced at the room from beginning to end without hesitation, even wanting to see what kind of bed quilt was behind the curtains. Finally, his eyes fell on Lin Yu, who was standing in front of the table and chairs. 
  
Lin Yu looked at Li Heming in surprise, as if she had not recovered yet: “You… why are you here?” 
  
Although she had written a letter to him, she never thought Li Heming would come. Li Heming looked down at her, saying, “Didn’t you ask me to come?” 
  
Even though he had arrived, she still needed to take the lead. Lin Yu was as dignified as a man, so she whispered: “It’s not a request…” 
  
Li Heming approached her with a sword: “Then what do you mean by a request? You wrote a letter to Yang Jinming asking me to save him. Is that a request?” 
  
He was fierce and rushed over, his body cold from winter. Being forced to step back, Lin Yu hit her knees on the edge of the chair, and she fell. 
 
She heard his sharp tone, swept her eyes over the embroidered flying fish on his robe, pursed her lips gently, lowered her eyebrows, and said, “You are wearing this official uniform today, and you assumed I’m guilty, so you act arrogantly in front of me and interrogate me like a prisoner?” 
  
Li Heming snorted, removed the embroidered sword from his waist, and threw it on the table behind her. The sword tip hit the solid wood table with a dull sound, causing Lin Yu to look up at him. 
  
He leaned down, clasped the armrests of the wooden chair with both hands and trapped her in front of him like an iron wall. A pair of tiger, wolf, and leopard eyes stared at Lin Yu’s beautiful face, and he said lightly: “Even if I don’t have this skin, I will still bully you.” 
  
That night, Li Heming pressed her down like this, too, as if he wanted to do something to her. However, when Lin Yu looked at him now, she was not afraid for some reason. Maybe she was scared of him in the past, but now he came to find her because of a message from her, which seemed to give her some confidence. 
  
Lin Yu looked at Li Heming’s face quietly and asked him softly: “Then, how do you want to be arrogant?” 
  
Her tone was gentle at this time, and her eyebrows were relaxed as if she could follow Li Heming no matter how outrageous his words were. She seemed to be different from the one who slapped him that night. 
  
After that, she tilted her head slightly to look at his left face, which she accidentally hit, and said apologetically: “I slipped that day, and I didn’t mean to hit you.” 
  
Li Heming stared into her eyes, judging whether she was telling the truth or a lie: “Really? I thought you had disliked me for a long time and took the opportunity to slap me to vent your anger.” 
  
His firm tone made Lin Yu wonder for a moment whether she had really considered this idea. 
  
Li Heming saw that she suddenly calmed down again and frowned: “Speak.” 
  
He was still angry, but Lin Yu didn’t know how to apologize. After seeing the powder on his face, she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped it off for him, saying sincerely, “I was wrong.” 
  
She didn’t hold back her strength at that time. The finger marks on Li Heming’s face disappeared, but the nails left a small scar on his chin. Lin Yu gently touched it through the handkerchief, raised her clear eyes to look at him, and asked: “Does it still hurt?” 
  
Nonsense. There was still a mark after three days; how could it not hurt? So, Li Heming didn’t answer and only looked at her to see how she would admit her mistakes and make amends. 
  
Lin Yu didn’t know what to do. She remembered why they had a dispute that night. With a red face, she gently grabbed his belt and said, after holding back for a long time: “Then… I apologize to you, okay?”