This was Shao Mingyuan’s study. Usually, Shao Zhi and Shao Liang would rest nearby, but now, with both having their respective assignments, only he remained alone.
“Second Young Master, may this servant enter?”
The woman’s voice outside the door was soft and gentle, with a trembling lilt at the end, like a soul-enchanting siren.
Shao Mingyuan felt somewhat hot and tugged at his collar, his voice still cold: “Wait.”
He stood up. When his feet touched the ground, they felt weak from dizziness. He put on his outer robe and walked step by step toward the door.
The woman outside lowered her brows and eyes, her smooth, slender neck exposed in the moonlight.
The footsteps gradually drew nearer, and she seemed to catch a faint whiff of wine fragrance.
The person inside had reached the door and stopped for several breaths. Suddenly, there came a sound, followed by footsteps returning inside.
The beautiful woman holding the sobering soup suddenly changed expression.
That sound just now… was the sound of the door being barred!
So, when that world-renowned Marquis Guanjun had just told her to wait, he had come to lock the door?
The woman bit her lip, her voice becoming even more gentle: “Second Young Master, are you drunk? Please open the door. Madam sent this servant to bring you sobering soup. If you don’t take it, this servant will have no way to answer to Madam when she returns.”
Light breathing sounds were already coming from inside the room.
The woman: “…”
She refused to believe it. Could there be a man who could sit in perfect composure with a woman in his lap?
“Second Young Master, please open the door. If you don’t open it, this servant can only keep waiting here.”
After a moment, footsteps sounded inside, and the door was suddenly opened.
Against the moonlight, the man standing in the doorway had handsome brows and eyes, his cheeks flushed with wine, his bearing unparalleled.
In that moment, the woman’s heart beat rapidly several times, as if she had become the one bewitched.
“Second Young Master—” She curved her lips in a shallow smile, her black hair swept back, revealing a smooth, pure face.
Shao Mingyuan’s eyes tightened, then his calm expression turned to anger. He grabbed the woman and threw her along with the sobering soup out of the courtyard.
“Take one more step, and I’ll kill you!” The young general was murderous, warning from his superior position.
The gentle, noble young master, refined as the bright moon, instantly transformed into a cold, merciless god of death, causing the woman’s newly risen affection to burst like foam before it could even ferment.
Under such a murderous aura, she trembled like chaff in a sieve, sweating like rain.
Shao Mingyuan turned and entered the room, closing the door and collapsing directly onto the bed.
Could there be such a mother? Sending a woman who bore some resemblance to his deceased wife to deliver sobering soup!
What was his mother thinking? What did she take him for?
The strong wine burned in his belly, anger and sorrow churned in his heart, and to make matters worse, another fire coursed through his lower abdomen.
That was a desire unique to men, which he understood even though he had never been with a woman.
Shao Mingyuan sat up, leaning his back against the cold wall, and sighed deeply.
The wine-induced sluggishness that had dulled his reason seemed to dissipate instantly with this sudden surge of desire.
He had drunk too much, yet his usually cold mother couldn’t wait until tomorrow to summon him to discuss his wife’s funeral arrangements, then sent sobering soup.
And the woman who delivered the sobering soup bore some resemblance to his wife.
Did Shao Mingyuan appear to be a mindless fool in his mother’s heart?
What a… clumsy scheme.
Shao Mingyuan thought sarcastically.
But no matter how clearly he understood it, his body’s reaction was not governed by reason.
It wasn’t pain, yet it was more unbearable than any kind of pain—his body suffered, and his heart even more so.
Shao Mingyuan simply got up and went to the washroom, dousing his body with cold water again and again until his body was thoroughly chilled and the night was half over.
Lady Shen, upon learning the results, was equally furious and barely slept all night. Early the next morning, she summoned the headache-ridden Shao Mingyuan and, in front of the Marquis, gave him a difficult time.
“Shao Mingyuan, what I discussed with you yesterday was serious business. You’ve grown up and have your own opinions—disagreeing with my words is one thing, but does that mean you can completely disregard me as your mother?”
“Your son wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t dare? What wouldn’t you dare do?” Lady Shen glanced at the Marquis and sneered: “Last night, I kindly sent someone to bring you sobering soup. What did you do?”
Shao Mingyuan said flatly, “Your son drank too much and forgot.”
“Forgot?” Lady Shen was so angry her heart trembled, raising her eyebrows: “Marquis, listen to this—he says he drank too much and forgot, yet he threw the person I sent to deliver sobering soup along with the soup itself out of the courtyard!”
“There was such a thing?” The Marquis blinked.
Lady Shen sneered inwardly: Again like this—every time she criticized Shao Mingyuan, the Marquis would play dumb!
Facing the Marquis’s inquiry, Shao Mingyuan’s expression remained unchanged: “Your son drank too much and indeed doesn’t remember clearly. Perhaps I mistook her for an attacking enemy and threw her out reflexively.”
“Reflexively? Was that an enemy? That was a delicate, gentle young girl! How much killing intent do you harbor to strike so heavily? That throw left her bedridden for at least half a month!”
“Enemies are not distinguished by gender.” Shao Mingyuan’s tone was calm.
“Haha—” Hearing these words, the Marquis burst into laughter, reaching out to pat Shao Mingyuan’s shoulder, saying with relief: “Well said, my son! How can a true general act on emotion? This is how one should face enemies!”
The Marquis nodded repeatedly, sighing: “The student surpasses the master. Mingyuan, you’re stronger than your father!”
Lady Shen: “…” Every time like this, she wanted to kill the young one, then kill the old one. It truly infuriated her!
“By the way, wife, what did you want to discuss with Mingyuan yesterday?”
Lady Shen picked up her teacup for a sip, calming her emotions: “Oh, Lady Qiao’s funeral procession is approaching, so I was discussing with him about having Qiu Ge’er carry the banner for Lady Qiao—”
“How could that work?” Before Lady Shen could finish, the Marquis interrupted.
Meeting Lady Shen’s dissatisfied gaze, the Marquis cleared his throat lightly: “What I mean is, Mingyuan is still young and will surely remarry and have children in the future. Having Qiu Ge’er carry the banner for Lady Qiao would be inappropriate, inappropriate.”
Having Qiu Ge’er carry the banner would be equivalent to registering him under Lady Qiao’s name. When the second son remarried and had children in the future, the position of the second wife’s sons would become awkward.
“Fine, you father and son are of one mind—I was being a busybody.” Lady Shen rose with a cold laugh: “I should attend to household affairs. Please do as you wish, Marquis.”
As she passed by Shao Mingyuan, her eyes were ice-cold.
Yesterday’s affair hadn’t succeeded, and this morning she hadn’t caught him in any wrongdoing either. This rebellious son was becoming increasingly slippery!
Lady Shen went to the flower hall where she conducted daily business. Soon, stewards from various departments came one by one to report their expenditures.
Lady Shen glanced around and asked, “Why don’t I see Steward Shen?”
The stewards looked at each other, and finally, a steward in charge of purchasing said: “Reporting to Madam, yesterday this humble one saw Steward Shen change into new clothes and leave the residence.”
Someone couldn’t help but snicker upon hearing this, thinking: That old fellow must have gone out seeking pleasure.
Lady Shen suppressed her displeasure: “Alright, everyone disperse.”
While she sent people to search for Steward Shen, Shao Mingyuan was listening to Shao Zhi’s report.