As the banquet ended, Wei Shao noticed that Wei Quan seemed to have something to say. He hastily waved his hand, claiming he needed to use the restroom, and strode away.
Wei Quan chased after Wei Shao, finally catching up with him outside the western latrine. He advised, “My Lord has plans to conquer the world, and now is the time to gather talented individuals and win people’s hearts. Guo Quan’s offer of his daughter is not only to form an alliance with you but also to seek stability. My Lord should accept, yet I don’t understand why you refused. I saw uncertainty in Guo Xing’s eyes at the time, fearing he might have doubts. I comforted him with a few words, and only then did he seem reluctantly at ease. I urge My Lord to reconsider!”
Wei Shao replied, “I’ve already declined. How can I take it back now? Let’s not discuss this further. I’ve had too much to drink and need to use the restroom urgently.”
With that, he hurried inside.
Wei Quan was known for his straightforwardness and refusal to act based on others’ expressions. Once he determined something was right, he would persist until he had said his piece.
Once before, to persuade Wei Shao to accept his advice, he had pursued him for three whole days. Wei Shao finally agreed, having no other choice.
Wei Shao knew that his unexpected refusal of Guo’s daughter had caught everyone off guard. So when he saw Wei Quan approaching him after the banquet, he immediately fled to the restroom.
He didn’t expect Wei Quan to follow him all the way.
Wei Shao held his breath inside, dawdling for a while until he couldn’t hear any movement outside. Thinking Wei Quan had left, he came out.
To his surprise, Wei Quan was still waiting at the door. As he turned to go back inside, Wei Quan blocked his path.
“My Lord! A nobleman is entitled to one wife and eight concubines! Currently, you only have Lady Ju. Taking a few more concubines is only natural and right. My Lord should accept!”
Wei Shao pretended not to hear and tried to leave, but Wei Quan firmly grabbed his sleeve from behind.
Annoyed, Wei Shao turned back and said, “Today Guo Quan offered his daughter, and you want me to accept. What if another comes tomorrow? Do you expect me to accept them all? How could I have endless energy to satisfy them all? Speak no more of this!”
Wei Quan was stunned. He quickly explained, “My Lord misunderstands my intention. My main concern is that if you don’t accept Guo’s offer, he might have doubts, which could be detrimental to solidifying our relationship.”
Wei Shao yanked his sleeve free and angrily said, “Am I to rely on women’s connections to conquer the world?” With that, he strode away.
Wei Quan felt that although the Lord’s words seemed reasonable, they also seemed to go against common sense.
As he hesitated by the latrine door, he suddenly saw Gongsun Yang approaching from across the way. He hurriedly went to greet him: “Military Advisor! You’ve come at just the right time!”
Gongsun Yang, also needing to relieve himself after drinking, had caught a glimpse of the Lord and Wei Quan’s silhouettes by the latrine from afar. He immediately stopped and turned to leave hastily.
However, Wei Quan had already spotted him. Hearing Wei Quan call out, he had no choice but to stop, put on a smile, and walk over.
Wei Quan recounted his earlier advice to Gongsun Yang.
“Military Advisor, do you think my words are reasonable? Should My Lord accept or not?”
Gongsun Yang glanced at the Lord, whose face was as dark as a thundercloud, and began to cough. “Ahem… ahem… In this matter, My Lord must have his thoughts… Chief Clerk Wei has done his duty by offering advice… As for the rest… ahem… My Lord surely has his considerations…”
Wei Quan had expected Gongsun Yang to join him in persuading the Lord. He was surprised by this noncommittal response.
Stunned once again, he said, “Why won’t the Military Advisor persuade him? I’m not forcing My Lord to accept a beauty. I know My Lord isn’t one to covet beautiful women. But at today’s banquet, My Lord’s actions were truly inappropriate, which is why I dared to speak up. I really can’t understand why My Lord won’t accept…”
“I’m henpecked, alright?” Wei Shao snapped, storming off in anger.
Wei Quan stood there in shock, his mouth agape, staring at the Lord’s retreating figure until he was out of sight. Then he slowly turned to Gongsun Yang.
Gongsun Yang waved his hand. “Don’t ask me, Chief Clerk Wei. I know no more than you do. I need to use the restroom as well.”
…
It was the second watch of the night. Not too late, but not early either.
In the days since Xiao Qiao had been brought back from the courier station, she had felt lethargic during the day.
Tonight, with the banquet preparations complete and nothing left for her to do, she had felt drowsy again and lay down.
Though she had lain down, sleep eluded her.
As soon as she closed her eyes, her mind drifted back to that stormy night a few days ago when Wei Shao had appeared before her, soaked like a drowned rat.
That night, her emotions had been indescribably turbulent.
When she first married into the Wei family, her sole mission—and her only personal goal—was to resolve the enmity between the Qiao and Wei families caused by the previous generation.
Compared to the uncertain future of her family, Xiao Qiao’s wish was even more urgent.
Because she knew that in her previous life, the vengeance-filled founding emperor of Great Yan, Wei Shao, had done terrible things to the Qiao family.
Two years had passed.
She had married at fourteen and was now sixteen.
Over these two years, she had progressed from being constantly on edge, afraid of taking a wrong step or saying the wrong thing, to gradually integrating into the Wei family and even gaining Wei Shao’s favor. Now she could even throw little tantrums in front of him, relying on his affection.
But she had never dared to imagine that she would receive Wei Shao’s promise not to harm her family so soon.
She knew all too well how deep Wei Shao’s desire for revenge ran, buried in his heart due to the deaths of his father and brother years ago.
She was also well aware of how arrogant and cold, bordering on cruel, this man could be.
So, at that moment, when those eyes, bloodshot from the rain, stared at her and he suddenly uttered those words when she was completely unprepared, she was shocked.
Strangely, at that moment, she didn’t feel the expected relief.
Instead of feeling unburdened, she wanted to cry.
For him, and herself.
She knew how difficult it must have been for him to make such a promise just to make her “love him as he loved her.” So he had every right to attach those conditions that felt like a naked transaction. It was only natural. Even if this approach inevitably gave her the feeling of being a sacrifice on an altar.
But perhaps, in the end, he just wanted her heart, wanted her to love him completely.
Xiao Qiao understood this.
But Xiao Qiao also knew that she couldn’t do it.
Her response of “right” at that time was deceiving him.
She did like Wei Shao, this man who could be hatefully infuriating when he was bad, but could also make her weak at the knees and set her soul aflutter when he was good.
But she couldn’t completely let go of her worries about the future because of this promise.
Clouds may resemble white clothes now, but in a moment they can change to gray dogs. The world is full of variables.
Ten or twenty years was too distant to consider.
How could her past self from a year ago have known what she would be thinking at this moment?
She believed that Wei Shao’s promise at that moment came from his true heart.
But she also knew that the man-eating beast in his heart was now merely chained and caged by his own will.
Who knew when it might break free again due to some trigger?
She was willing to do her best to repay Wei Shao for the promise he had made to her.
But she was also still waiting for her father to strengthen the Qiao family, just as she had originally planned.
Hatred might be restrained by a woman’s love, or even by children, but it could never be eliminated.
Xiao Qiao knew this.
…
Chun Niang, knowing Xiao Qiao hadn’t fallen asleep yet, entered the room to keep her company. Seeing Xiao Qiao lost in thought, she began to console her: “My Lady, don’t overthink it. The Guo family…”
Xiao Qiao sat up, interrupting her with a smile: “I think Chun Niang is the one overthinking more than me!”
Chun Niang laughed and sighed, shaking her head self-deprecatingly. “My Lady is right. I’ll stop talking.”
Xiao Qiao said, “Don’t worry, Chun Niang. My Lord won’t accept Guo’s daughter.”
As for the two beauties, she hadn’t given them any thought at all.
In a few years, if Wei Shao encountered a similar situation, she couldn’t guarantee how he would handle it.
But this time, she didn’t even need to think about it. Her instincts told her that Wei Shao would not accept them.
Chun Niang was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with joy. She grasped Xiao Qiao’s hand, feeling her cold fingertips, and quickly urged her to lie down, tucking the blanket around her. She turned to clear away the bowl of chicken soup that Xiao Qiao had barely touched and which had gone cold.
Suddenly, footsteps approached. She turned to see Wei Shao entering.
Chun Niang greeted him as “Lord” and was about to leave with the leftover soup when Wei Shao stopped her.
“What’s that?”
“Black chicken soup.”
Chun Niang explained, “It’s to nourish My Lady’s health. She couldn’t eat much, and it’s gone cold. I was just about to take it away…”
“Let me try it.”
Wei Shao picked up the bowl from the tray. Before Chun Niang could stop him, he had gulped it down in a few mouthfuls, put the bowl back on the tray, and let out a satisfied burp.
“It tastes strange!” he commented, smacking his lips.
“No wonder Manman didn’t eat it. Make it tastier next time. If the cook isn’t up to par, replace them!”
Chun Niang was speechless. She glanced at Xiao Qiao, and then left the room with the tray.
In the days since her return, Xiao Qiao’s mood had been somewhat unsettled.
Suddenly, this scene made her want to laugh.
She couldn’t help but pull up the blanket to cover her face, her shoulders shaking with suppressed giggles.
Suddenly, she felt the bed sink, and the blanket was pulled down.
Wei Shao had sprawled beside her, staring at her with his eyebrows twitching.
“What’s so funny?”
Xiao Qiao shook her head.
“Tell me!” he demanded, putting on a thuggish act.
Xiao Qiao still shook her head.
A few strands of hair clung to her pink cheeks, making her look both beautiful and mischievous.
Wei Shao gazed at her for a moment, then reached out to brush away the hair from her face. “Manman, today Guo Quan sent me two beauties. Extremely beautiful, extremely beautiful. One can sing like a lark. One can dance, light as a feather…”
He paused.
“But I didn’t even look at them.”
Xiao Qiao gave him a sidelong glance, smiling. “If you didn’t look, how do you know they’re extremely beautiful? If you didn’t look, how do you know she can fly?”
Wei Shao hesitated: “I only looked once.”
He quickly continued, “Not only that, Guo Quan even wanted to send his daughter to be my concubine!”
His expression was indignant.
“At that moment, I thought to myself, now that I have Manman, even if it were a goddess from the Jade Pool, let alone Guo Quan’s mortal daughter, I wouldn’t give her a second glance! I refused on the spot. But that Wei Quan was so tactless, chasing after me, insisting that I must accept Guo’s daughter! Finally, I had to sternly rebuke him before he retreated in shame!”
Having said this, he fell silent, his dark eyes fixed on her.
…
In the days since her return, perhaps noticing her low spirits and listlessness, Xiao Qiao could see that Wei Shao seemed to be trying to please her, almost tiptoeing around her.
These past few nights, he had only held her as they slept. Seeing that she didn’t seem to be in the mood, he hadn’t made any further advances.
At this moment, Xiao Qiao could read something in his gaze.
She gazed back at him. Extending her snow-white arms, she embraced his neck and whispered in his ear, “Manman knows that my Lord is good to me.”
Her soft, fragrant lips kissed his cheek.
Wei Shao closed his eyes, deeply inhaling her scent, then leaned down to kiss her lips.
Xiao Qiao smelled the mixture of alcohol and chicken soup on his breath.
Suddenly, her stomach began to churn again.
She endured for a moment, but could no longer hold back. She pushed him away, scrambled up, and bent over his legs, vomiting out the contents of her stomach.