Jia Si escorted the Lady northward from Xindu during the day, remaining vigilant throughout the journey.
Although the entire route was within the Lord’s territory and major issues were unlikely, the lesson from Chen Rui’s incident in Bingzhou was still fresh in his mind. Even though it was an accident, he still felt uneasy thinking about it.
Moreover, on the day after the Lord’s wedding, when escorting the Lady back to Yuyang, there had been an incident on this very road. The Lady had been abducted, which ultimately led to the Lord attacking Shiyi.
Especially since he knew that the Lady’s departure today was not by the Lord’s wishes. If anything were to happen, he would be prepared to face death a thousand times over.
So even though they were at a relay station, that night he not only arranged guards to take shifts near the Lady’s quarters, but he also personally kept watch in the latter half of the night.
During the day’s journey, he had secretly wondered if the Lord would send someone to catch up after receiving the message he had sent.
The answer came quickly.
Not only did the Lord personally catch up, but he had done so on such a stormy night, traveling over a hundred li from Yuyang to arrive here at the deepest hour of the night.
Wearing a rain hat and straw cape, his feet splashing through puddles, he strode directly into the main hall from outside the relay station.
Leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him.
Jia Si was stunned. He knelt on one knee before the Lord, lowering his head in preparation for a reprimand.
But the Lord only asked him one thing: “Where is the Lady?”
His voice revealed neither joy nor anger.
As Jia Si answered, he felt a gust of wind from clothes passing by his face. When he looked up, the Lord had already walked past him…
…
Xiao Qiao slowly sat up from her pillow.
Spring Maiden draped an outer garment over Xiao Qiao’s shoulders, glanced anxiously towards the door, and whispered, “The Lord is soaked through, and he doesn’t look well.”
She then turned and went out, approaching Wei Shao, who was still standing outside the door.
His expression showed no anger, but neither did it show any other emotion.
His entire being exuded an oppressive aura.
Spring Maiden suppressed the unease welling up in her heart.
She truly wanted to explain the Lady’s unannounced departure today that might appease the Lord.
But she couldn’t think of anything.
“The Lady is awake…”
Wei Shao’s figure blurred as he stepped over the threshold.
The door closed with a creak in front of Spring Maiden.
…
The candlelight was dim.
Wei Shao was soaked from head to toe.
He had been under the roof for some time now, but water still dripped steadily from his saturated hair, running down his forehead onto his handsome face.
His clothes were thoroughly wet, clinging tightly to his chest, water dripping constantly. In just a moment, the dry floor where he stood by the door had accumulated a puddle of water.
Xiao Qiao’s gaze slowly moved from his face to the puddle at his feet.
“Take off your clothes, you’re soaked through!” she said.
Wei Shao didn’t speak.
He stood motionless.
Xiao Qiao waited for a moment.
She coldly snorted, “Don’t blame others if you catch a chill tomorrow!”
With that, she turned away and lay back down, her back to him.
She closed her eyes but still heard no sound from behind her.
Finally unable to bear it, she opened her eyes and glanced back slightly.
She saw Wei Shao still standing there as before, his arms hanging stiffly at his sides.
His shadow, cast by the candlelight on the wall behind him, was motionless, like a hanging shadow puppet.
It seemed he was sulking.
She suddenly became irritated, sat up abruptly, threw off the covers, and walked straight up to him. Frowning, she said, “Since we can’t agree, I’m returning to my Yuyang, and you can stay and continue your grand affairs as Lord. Isn’t that convenient for both of us? You chase after me in the middle of the night, disturbing my peaceful sleep – haven’t we argued enough yesterday?”
Wei Shao still stood stubbornly. Only a glistening drop of water rolled down from the widow’s peak at the center of his forehead, landing on the bridge of his straight nose.
Perhaps due to enduring the wind and rain for half the night, his handsome face looked somewhat pale, his eyes bloodshot from the rain’s irritation, a trace of fatigue between his brows.
Xiao Qiao raised her hand resentfully, beginning to undress him: “I don’t want you to fall ill here. Lest Grandmother finds out later and blames me!”
He submissively allowed her to strip him bare, leaving him naked.
Xiao Qiao then took out a large bath towel from the clothes chest and threw it at him.
Wei Shao caught it and finally began to dry his head, face, and body.
Xiao Qiao gathered his clothes, which were wet enough to wring out water, and handed them to Spring Maiden at the door.
Spring Maiden, being thoughtful, had already obtained a set of clean undergarments from Jia Si and was waiting outside with them.
Xiao Qiao took the clothes, returned to him, and handed them over, saying, “Put these on.”
Wei Shao took them and silently put them on.
“Why did you come here like this?” Xiao Qiao’s tone finally softened slightly.
Wei Shao said, “I’ve sent a message to Yang Xin to withdraw his troops.”
His first words since entering.
Xiao Qiao was taken aback.
“Are you satisfied now?”
His second sentence was tinged with resentment.
Xiao Qiao remained silent.
The room fell into silence.
The sound of rain beating on the roof suddenly intensified, its pattern audible.
“I did this for you,” Wei Shao suddenly said, enunciating each word.
“The refugee leader is not an easy target. If he becomes my enemy in the future, he will surely be in trouble. My advisor urged me to recruit him. However, since he’s half-affiliated with your Qiao family, even if he had heaven-defying abilities, I would never use him!”
“Manman, since things have come to this point, I might as well be frank with you. I know you’ve always wanted me to let go of the hatred in my heart. I want to as well! But it’s too difficult for me. Whenever I think of how my father and brothers died, I can’t suppress my hatred. I can’t do it!”
Xiao Qiao’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly raised her eyes.
“Earlier today, I thought you had returned to Yanzhou! I chased you to the South City Gate! Manman, do you know what thoughts crossed my mind then?”
He paused.
“At that time, I was shocked and extremely angry. I thought, if you had really left me and were never coming back, so be it. Then I would have no more scruples. Whenever I wanted to attack Yanzhou, I would attack! If I wanted to destroy the Qiao family, I would destroy them!”
Xiao Qiao’s eyes widened.
The paleness brought on by the rain still lingered on Wei Shao’s face.
Because of his pale complexion, his sword-like eyebrows and dark pupils appeared especially stark.
In his eyes, red bloodshot veins spread like a spider’s web.
The sight made her shudder.
“Then… why did you come? What do you want?”
Her voice trembled slightly despite her efforts to control it.
Wei Shao closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them.
“Let’s make a pact, shall we? I cherish you, and I want you to cherish me as I cherish you. Listen to me, bear my children, and never leave me. If you do this, from now on, as long as your Qiao family doesn’t harbor ulterior motives, I promise you, I won’t harm them.”
Xiao Qiao’s heart pounded, almost leaping out of her chest.
The deep autumn night was cool, and she felt cold, her skin breaking out in goosebumps. Yet a hint of warmth welled up in her eyes.
“Alright,” she said, gazing into his bloodshot eyes.
A flash of lightning illuminated the window.
In the distance, a muffled thunder seemed to roll over the mountaintop. The thunder gradually approached, suddenly seeming to explode overhead.
Xiao Qiao’s shoulders trembled.
Wei Shao reached out and pulled her into his embrace.
They fell onto the bed.
However, no matter how he caressed her, Xiao Qiao’s body continued to shiver, her teeth chattering.
He continued to kiss her incessantly, enveloping her with his burning body, waiting until her trembling gradually subsided. Suddenly, he released her and lay back in front of her.
If he had wanted, he could have possessed her long ago.
But he didn’t move. He just lay there, his eyes fixed straight on her.
Xiao Qiao knelt beside him. In his eyes, she read what he wanted her to do for him.
Once before, in a moment of passion, he had asked her to do this.
But she had only scolded him, and he had sheepishly given up.
She hesitated for a moment.
Closing her eyes briefly.
She submitted to his desire.
…
He panted, the bloodshot in his eyes intensifying. In an instant, hearing a whimper that sounded like both a cry and a plea by his ear, all of Wei Shao’s frustration and anxiety from his solitary journey through wind and rain tonight vanished.
He thrust into her forcefully, as if trying to penetrate deep into her heart.
Saying such things was something he resented and found contemptible in himself.
The Qiao family had used the beauty stratagem against him.
He had fallen for it.
Though he knew it clearly, he could no longer extricate himself.
He could only seek pleasure and satisfaction from her. He needed her to bring him enough joy and contentment to make him forget the deep-seated hatred in his heart.
Only in this way,
Could it be fair?
…
Luoyang.
If one were to ask about the most fashionable makeup among Luoyang ladies nowadays,
It was no longer the long, willow-leaf eyebrows extending to the temples, nor the floral decorations on the forehead that highlighted bright eyes. Instead, it was a delicate half-mask, partially concealing jade-like faces, as they rode in perfumed carriages through Luoyang’s streets, turning countless heads.
Madam Yulou, having completed her mourning period for the Duke of Zuofengyi, had finally returned to Luoyang.
After an absence of two years, a month ago, she had made her first appearance at a night banquet in the imperial palace, wearing a golden butterfly mask that covered half her face.
The next day, Luoyang ladies began to emulate her en masse, with countless followers, quickly becoming a trend.
…
Early in the morning, just as the sky began to brighten, Xiao Qiao awoke.
The thunderstorm that had raged all night had dissipated without a trace.
A few clear, chirping bird calls came from outside the small window.
It made the room seem especially quiet by contrast.
Xiao Qiao slowly opened her eyes.
She was still lying on the bed in the relay station. Her body felt sore and soft as if not yet fully emerged from last night’s physical entanglement.
Wei Shao was sleeping soundly.
Perhaps he had truly been too exhausted last night.
Usually alert, he didn’t wake even when she gently removed the arm he had draped around her.
Only his eyelashes fluttered slightly, his brows furrowing a bit.
The early autumn morning in Xindu already carried a chill.
Xiao Qiao put on a robe, gently pulled up the blanket that had slipped to his abdomen, got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and went to the window. She pushed open a small pane.
On the locust tree branch outside, which had been battered by the wind and rain last night, making sounds like a monster’s whimper, perched two magpies with white heads.
They were affectionately preening each other’s rain-dampened feathers, necks intertwined as they hopped about, chirping merrily.
It was these two little creatures that had woken her up.