Chapter 37 [VIP]

Mi Yao doubted her ears. He was the one who kicked her out of the main room, and now he was the one making her go back.

Is there something wrong with his brain?

If they had slept together from the beginning, she wouldn't have felt anything, but now she's used to enjoying her own room. If she were to share a room with Xiao Chuan again, she's afraid she wouldn't be able to resist kicking him off the bed after he falls asleep at night.

"Is my lord drunk? Is he talking nonsense?"

Mi Yao asked cautiously, her breathing becoming much lighter as she eagerly awaited the answer.

"I'm not drunk."

Seeing the reluctance on Mi Yao's face, Xiao Chuan coldly shattered her illusion.

He knew that all those sweet words she said were just to appease him. If she truly loved him and thought he was great, why would she avoid him like the plague?

Xiao Chuan said he wasn't drunk, but he knew he was already a little tipsy.

Otherwise, why would a bunch of useless nonsense suddenly flood my mind, and why would this nonsense even show signs of bursting out?

Xiao Chuan squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again with a clearer look in them: "Tomorrow I'm going to pick up your brother's family. We'll stay in the main house with them while they're at the Xiao residence."

Does that mean the sexual intercourse was only temporary?

Hearing Xiao Chuan's explanation, Mi Yao breathed a sigh of relief: "I didn't expect my brother to arrive so soon. When I corresponded with him last time, I thought he and my sister-in-law wouldn't arrive in Yizhou until after the fifteenth."

When the original owner was still young, his elder brother Yu Shaoyang traveled thousands of miles to the capital to study and could only return to the Yu family a few times a year.

Whenever he returned home, he would bring many gifts to the original owner and carefully inquire about the people around him, fearing that someone might bully his sister, who shared the same mother, while he was away from the mansion.

In the book, after the original owner married the male protagonist, Yu Shaoyang, who was frustrated in the court, was transferred to Yizhou. Yu Shaoyang was good at internal affairs and served as a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue. Because he was unwilling to get involved in the factional struggles among officials, he was marginalized to the outer circle of power.

After arriving in Yizhou, he was highly valued by Zhao Tianhe and was considered to be the top official in Jiannan.

It was only because Yu Shaoyang was there that the original owner became increasingly bold, thinking that Xiao Chuan was nothing special.

After the original owner made a mistake, Yu Shaoyang learned the whole story and realized that the original owner was at fault and that the original owner's death was his own fault.

Even so, he was unwilling to serve Xiao Chuan, who had killed the original owner of the body, and chose to leave Yizhou.

After leaving, he intended to retire to the mountains and live a simple life, detached from worldly affairs. Unfortunately, he was forcibly recruited by the Feng family, caused some trouble for Xiao Chuan, and died under Xiao Chuan's influence.

So, according to the plot, both siblings died at Xiao Chuan's hands, yet they planned to make a living under his command from then on. Isn't that a kind of fearless heroism?

Of course, Yu Shaoyang, who was tricked by his sister, passively acquired a fearless spirit.

Mi Yao didn't remember whether the male lead had slept with the original owner of the body in the novel when Yu Shaoyang came to Yizhou, but since Xiao Chuan brought it up, she would give him face and cooperate with him.

Once back in her room, she immediately instructed her maid to move her belongings to the main room.

There's no need to move much, since she'll still be moving around in that room during the day anyway.

The main issue is that her mattress needs to be moved over. If Xiao Chuan prefers to sleep on a firm mattress, then she will only use her half of the mattress.

"Mother, no!"

Xiao Shan was about to go to sleep when he heard the noise and sat up. He saw Mi Yao's things being moved out of the house. She pouted and her eyes were watery. "Dad is bad!"

She's such a grown-up, yet she's still trying to steal her mother's affections; she's absolutely wicked.

"You should go back to Tingsong Courtyard for now. I'll sleep with you when we have the chance later."

Mi Yao pinched Xiao Shan's chubby cheeks, and then, as if remembering something, offered another option, "Of course, if you can't bear to part with me, you can come with me to sleep in your father's room."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shan tilted his head: "Really?"

Seeing Mi Yao nod, Xiao Shan frowned, looking somewhat conflicted.

She didn't want to sleep with Xiao Chuan, but she wanted to sleep with her mother. After weighing the options for a long time, she decided to take her blanket and go to Xiao Chuan's room with Mi Yao.

She had barely entered the room when Xiao Chuan kicked her out of the bedroom, bed and all.

Seeing his little bed thrown into the yard, Xiao Shan angrily put his hands on his hips, puffed out his cheeks, and shouted loudly, "Bad! Daddy's a big bad guy!"

Even with the door tightly shut, Mi Yao could still hear Xiao Shan's furious roar.

"Shan'er is still young, so it's fine for her to sleep with us. Besides, she has her own little bed, so we don't have to worry about her getting crushed by us when she sleeps in the same bed."

Mi Yao said innocently, and then she heard Xiao Chuo scoff.

She looked over and saw that Xiao Chuan had already bathed and changed his clothes, his hair was drying by the heater, and he was holding a booklet in his hand, looking down at it.

Strangely enough, when he smelled of alcohol, his face was normal, but now that the smell of alcohol had been washed away, his eyes were flushed, and he looked somewhat like a drunkard.

Seeing him like this, Mi Yao pulled her clothes tighter, afraid that he might get drunk and repeat what happened yesterday.

Looking back now, she still can't understand how Yu Xiu's mistake became her way of apologizing, and how he could treat such an absurd way of apologizing as a serious matter.

It seems that the blood that fell on the bed was indeed her hymen.

In retrospect, she should really be grateful that she had that hymen. Xiao Chuan stopped because he found that he had blood on him, and only then did he take her resistance seriously. He stopped constantly pointing out how much he had penetrated before and how much it would be if he added an inch more.

"Xiao Lang, you didn't know that you were humiliating me while you were at the men's table."

Seeing that Xiao Chua had suddenly become interested, Mi Yao began to "cool him down," saying, "She mentioned your elder sister, saying that you two are the closest relatives in the world, and asked me to persuade you to clear up the misunderstanding, which is wrong."

On the day of her wedding to Xiao Chuan, Mi Yao met Xiao Rou in the bridal chamber and learned that Xiao Chuan had a twin sister.

It was through the various gossip gathered by Yu Xiu that the reason for Xiao Chuan's indifference towards Xiao Rou was finally revealed.

Xiao Rou was five years older than Xiao Chuan. She eloped with someone when Xiao Chuan was still serving in the army in Yizhou.

The man she eloped with is her current husband. The reason why Xiao's mother disagreed with their marriage was that she felt that his family had improper morals and that he was not sincere towards Xiao Rou.

Xiao Rou, however, felt that her mother was saying these things because her elder brother and sister-in-law were no longer alive, and she wanted to keep her at home as an old maid to take care of her nephews and nieces.

Besides, with her heart set on her lover, she ran away and went to his house to become his unofficial "wife".

This lack of recognition and status continued until Xiao Chuan achieved military merit and was adopted by Zhao Tianhe, at which point Xiao Rou finally received a grand wedding banquet.

Even with the wedding banquet, the Xiao family still refused to acknowledge the marriage.

After Xiao Chuan returned to Yizhou, he went to Xiao Rou's husband's house to arrest Xiao Rou and asked her to divorce him and go home. However, Xiao Rou refused, saying that her life and death were no longer related to the Xiao family and that she would belong to the Dong family from now on.

Seeing that she was determined, Xiao Chuan did not force her any further. He left her with the words "everything is as she wishes" and then ignored the Dong family and Xiao Rou.

Over the years, the only thing they did when treating Xiao Rou was to not drive her away when she paid respects to her parents.

Even so, the Dong family did not give up on befriending Xiao Chuan. Whenever they had the chance, they would test Xiao Chuan's attitude. Previously, Xiao Rou was not invited to the wedding banquet when Mi Yao married into Xiao Chuan. When they found that Xiao Chuan did not stop Xiao Rou from entering the Xiao residence, the Dong family thought that Xiao Chuan had changed his attitude. This led to the incident two days ago when Dong Jia accompanied Xiao Rou to her parents' home for the second day of the Lunar New Year, only to be turned away at the door.

Knowing that Xiao Chuan's feelings for his older sister Xiao Rou were complicated, Mi Yao chose to use Xiao Rou to completely kill Xiao Chuan's interest.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Chuan's face turned icy.

"Aren't eating, drinking, and sleeping enough to keep you busy? If you have nothing better to do, go argue with someone and mind your own business."

Does he really need to explain this to her?

She is easily swayed by children, but she doesn't care what other people's surnames are or what misunderstandings they may have with Xiao Chuan.

“My lord, you don’t understand me at all. I’m busy eating, drinking and having fun every day, so how could I be idle? As for meddling in other people’s business, my lord, don’t worry, I’ll listen to you the most. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. It’s just that my third sister-in-law has been nagging me for a long time. Otherwise, please apologize to my sister for her sake and make up with her.”

Before Mi Yao could finish speaking, she received a chilling gaze from Xiao Chuo, as if his bones were being scraped. Knowing that she was in trouble, she took off her outer robe and went to bed without saying a word.

Her quick movements made Xiao Chua swallow the words he was about to say.

Once he understood why she had angered him, Xiao Chuan curled his lips with murderous intent, wanting nothing more than to strip her clothes off and teach her a lesson that no matter what emotions a man is in, it doesn't stop him from unleashing his animalistic instincts.

Unfortunately, Mi Yao was already lying down and couldn't see his expression.

Mi Yao slept on the inside, and the bedding was changed to her usual ones. Compared to Xiao Chuan's quilt, her soft quilt was thicker and softer, and it was also scented with her favorite floral fragrance.

After lying down, she felt the candlelight was too bright, so she pulled down the curtain to cover it.

With the light blocked out, even knowing that Xiao Chuan was outside, she still felt sleepy after a short while.

By the time Xiao Chuan's hair was dry and he walked to the bed, Mi Yao was already fast asleep. Xiao Chuan thought the embroidery on her quilt was too fancy and took up too much space on the bed, so he pinched her nose, but she still didn't open her eyes or wake up.

*

"What are you doing?"

The low-hanging blue curtains blocked out most of the light. Mi Yao opened her eyes and looked towards the source of the noise, and was startled by what she saw.

She nudged Xiao Chuan's dark head. "My lord, even if you love my body so much, you should still have some boundaries! I was asleep, and you still crawled under my covers."

Xiao Chuan looked up, but there was no light. Mi Yao also noticed that his face was ashen because of her words.

"I smelled fish."

Hearing this, Mi Yao's face darkened. If he couldn't get the better of her, so be it. What was with insulting her body odor? He was the one who smelled fishy!

The strong smell of photinia flowers is like that of dead fish.

Just as Mi Yao was preparing her counterattack, she heard Xiao Chuan continue, "You're bleeding, why?"

Upon hearing the word "blood," Mi Yao realized what was happening, lifted the blanket, and indeed saw bloodstains on the mattress.

It's no wonder she wasn't prepared; she was six or seven days ahead of schedule this time.

"Why?"

Seeing that Mi Yao's expression remained normal upon seeing the bloodstains, Xiao Chuan became even more certain that the blood was nothing serious. He had a vague guess but was not sure, so he asked again.

"This is my menstrual blood, a woman's period every month, don't you know that, my lord?"

Xiao Chuan had heard of Gui Shui, but didn't know much about it: "What day of the month does the bleeding occur? So the bleeding you had a couple of days ago was this?"

“Logically, I should have my period in six or seven days, so maybe you hurt me by stimulating me too hard and it came early.”

Mi Yao seized every opportunity to let Xiao Chuan know that his thing was extremely harmful.

After getting out of bed, Mi Yao glanced at the water clock and realized it was almost dawn: "My lord, are you going to do your morning exercise? Since you're not going to sleep, I'll have the servants come and tidy up."

Last night, as she closed her eyes to sleep, it suddenly occurred to her that Yu Shaoyang had already arrived. If it was just for the sake of acting, why would she sleep with Xiao Chua a day earlier?

Touching Xiao Chuan's furrowed brow, Mi Yao thought for a moment and said, "If you think this is unlucky, I can sleep in my own room these days. If my brother has any questions, I can just mention it to my sister-in-law."

Why is it considered unlucky?

Upon hearing the word "bad luck," Xiao Chuan recalled the crude jokes told by the soldiers in the army. "Others think that it's unlucky for a woman to have her period because she can't serve a man when she's menstruating. I don't intend to force you, so how could it be bad luck?"

Although Xiao Chuan's indifferent expression seemed irritating, his words did improve Mi Yao's mood.

Even if she belittled herself for the sake of ease, she still felt relieved to hear Xiao Chuan disagree with her criticism and instead attack the person who made the suggestion.

"I knew you were different from those bad men who don't treat women like human beings. You are the best."

Mi Yao put on the windproof cloak and rubbed against Xiao Chuan's chest before leaving.

Because her gaze was downward, she could clearly see that the thing she feared had transformed from a medium-sized object into a gigantic shape.

Mi Yao: ...

Xiao Chuan probably felt awkward too, so he took a step back and moved away, saying, "Aren't you going back to your room to rest? Why don't you hurry up and leave?"

Mi Yao immediately sprang into action, disappearing in a flash.

Mi Yao originally thought that Xiao Chuan's words about picking up Yu Shaoyang's family meant going to greet them outside the city gate. However, after Pu Qing told her that Xiao Chuan was actually going to pick up people near Jianmen Pass.

I guess he was on official business and had to go on an inspection tour while he was at it.

Upon hearing that it would take him at least four or five days to come and go, she became even more certain that he had been drunk and out of his mind yesterday. Otherwise, why would he ask her to pack her things and sleep in his room when Yu Shaoyang still had so many days to go?

It can only be said that he spoke the truth while drunk; he pretended to be unmoved by her, but in reality, he really wanted to sleep with her.

"Madam, the eldest daughter-in-law and her husband are outside the mansion. They said they want to come and see you."

Who are you talking about?

Mi Yao lazily nestled on the soft couch, holding a hot water bottle. When she heard Shi Ya's report, she was puzzled for a moment. When she heard that it was Xiao Rou, she was speechless for a moment.

"They certainly know how to time things. Knowing that the town envoy had left the city, they came to make things difficult for me."

As for how accurately she could seize the opportunity, she didn't think it was Xiao Rou's husband's skill; otherwise, he would have come to bother her much earlier.

After thinking about it, I realized it must have been her "third sister-in-law" who did it.

Madam Wu suffered such a great loss at the military governor's mansion; it would be wrong for her to simply swallow her anger.

However, she couldn't come up with any new tricks; she just kept revolving around Xiao Rou.

"Madam, why don't you meet with them, give them some things, and then send them away?"

Shiya suggested, and seeing Miyao looking at her, she explained, "When the eldest daughter-in-law's husband asked the gatekeeper to announce that many gossips outside were saying that the lady was not virtuous, they came here specifically to prove that the lady is a magnanimous sister-in-law, not a vicious woman who cannot tolerate her sister-in-law from her own family."

"This is even threatening me."

Mi Yao curled her lips and said, "If I let them in, the town magistrate will think I'm meddling and I'll get his glare. If I don't see them, I'll be considered an unvirtuous wife and morally deficient."

"So, what does Madam think?" Shiya was troubled when she heard her mistress say that, feeling that it was difficult to choose between the two sides.

"Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who doesn't care what others say about me. Even the town magistrate doesn't give me face, so why should I get involved?"

When she saw Xiao Rou in the bridal chamber, she wasn't disgusted. When she heard about Xiao Rou's past, she didn't have any condescending or bossy thoughts. The best thing about her is that she knows how to respect other people's choices.

Dong Jia stood outside the Xiao family gate with a smile on his face. Seeing that the messenger had not come out for a long time, he said to the gatekeeper, "It's so windy outside. Why don't we wait inside the mansion? My wife is your husband's sister-in-law, and I am Xiao Zhenshi's brother-in-law. Do you think my sister-in-law would refuse to see us?"

Thinking that he could finally enter the gates of the Xiao residence, Dong Jia's eyes were filled with a hint of pride, but the gatekeeper did not give him that courtesy.

"Madam and son-in-law, please wait outside. Without Madam's permission, I dare not let you in."

No sooner had the gatekeeper finished speaking than the maid who had come to announce the arrival rushed over.

"Madam is not feeling well. Madam and son-in-law, please wait until the garrison commander returns to the mansion before you come."

Upon hearing this, Dong Jia's expression changed. He hadn't expected that even without Xiao Chuan, Mi Yao would dare to treat them like this.

"Did you tell your sister-in-law what I said in full? We came to explain the misunderstanding that others had about her."

"Please, Madam and Son-in-law, hurry up and leave. It's freezing cold, don't get sick."

The maid did not reply to Dong Jia. After speaking, she signaled the gatekeeper to close the door and went back to the main courtyard to report.

Seeing the brand-new, imposing gate close in front of him, Dong Jia was so angry that he wanted to kick the gate hard, but thinking of Xiao Chu's temper, he withdrew his leg.

Back then, Xiao Chuan came to the Dong family demanding people and attacked him. If it weren't for Xiao Rou pleading for him, he felt he would have died under Xiao Chuan's fists and feet.

Although he escaped unscathed that time, he was bedridden for half a month before he could get out of bed.

He was genuinely afraid of Xiao Chuan, that devil, and also genuinely coveted the power of the Xiao family.

If he had no connection with the power of the Xiao family, that would be one thing, but he ended up marrying a daughter of the Xiao family and becoming Xiao Chuan's brother-in-law.

Why is it that Xiao Chuan's family lives in such a nice mansion, while his family is crammed into a narrow, dilapidated old house?

"Didn't you say that Madam Yu had a good temper!"

The thought that even a lowly servant like the gatekeeper's maid dared to give him attitude made Dong Jia look at Xiao Rou with displeasure.

Even though it was still during the Lunar New Year, Xiao Rou didn't show much joy on her face. Instead, her new clothes made her look haggard.

Hearing Dong Jia's question, she pursed her lips: "I only saw her briefly in the bridal chamber that time, and she seemed like a good person."

“What can you possibly see from just one look! I’m telling you, you’re just stupid. The time you entered the Xiao family and weren’t kicked out, why didn’t you tell your brother that you were worried about your nephews and nieces and wanted to stay and take care of them? Why did you just slink away like that?”

Ever since Dong Jia learned that Xiao Chuan truly didn't care about his older sister Xiao Rou, he often said these unpleasant things, and Xiao Rou had long since gotten used to them.

She opened her mouth and repeated the explanation she had given countless times: "No one in the manor pays attention to me, and no one has arranged a place for me to stay."

Most importantly, over the years, Dong Jia has gradually forgotten Xiao Chuan's ruthlessness towards her and has begun to want to benefit from the Xiao family's influence. However, she has become increasingly afraid of her younger brother, Xiao Chuan, and dares not meet him.

"If no one makes arrangements for you, why don't you ask someone to make arrangements for you? Do you think your brother would let you sleep on the floor?" Dong Jia said irritably.

"If there's a next chance, I'll definitely listen to you. Now let's go back..."

"Go back? What are you talking about! If we can't see the Yu family, we'll stand here until we die. I don't believe the Yu family will let us stand here forever."

The reality is that Mi Yao really just let them stand there.

She read on the couch for a while and then fell asleep. When she woke up, she continued reading. It wasn't until after dinner that she heard Yu Xiu mention that the two of them had been standing outside the door for three hours and had just left before they finished eating.

“That guy surnamed Dong is shameless. Even though my sister said she wouldn’t see them, he still lingered at the door, wanting others to watch the show.”

Yu Xiu deliberately chose to talk about this after dinner because she was afraid that the three radishes would hear it and want to see their aunt, Xiao Rou.

“Sister, I think they will come again tomorrow. After all, Madam Xiao is Erlang and Xiao Niangzi’s aunt. It’s better if they don’t know, but if someone with ulterior motives talks nonsense in front of them and makes them misunderstand you, that would be bad.”

Although she felt it wouldn't matter if they misunderstood her and stayed away from her, seeing Yu Xiu pondering so earnestly, Mi Yao couldn't help but feel that power could change people too quickly. She had only been learning from Shuang Hua for two days, but she already had a lot more vitality than before, and she forgot about the ruler that she was to be punished with.

"If that's the case, how do you think we should deal with it?"

“I just overheard the conversation between the Dong family man and Madam Xiao. I think Madam Xiao didn’t want to come; she was brought here by her husband. So all we need to do is teach that Dong family man a lesson, and he won’t dare to come again.”

Dong Jia didn't dare to cause trouble when Xiao Chuan was at the mansion, just because she thought her elder sister was easy to bully. This way, she could let him know that her elder sister was not easy to bully.

Yu Xiu thought this was a way to stop Dong Jia from continuing to act as a door god in the Xiao family, but she was afraid that her idea was too radical.

So after she finished speaking, she looked at her older sister, waiting for her sister to judge.

"Your idea is good."

Mi Yao didn't want to bother Dong Jia and Xiao Rou with the cold wind, but considering that Yu Shaoyang was coming soon, it was better for the Xiao family's gate to be quiet. "Go find Pu Qing and have him arrange a few people. If those two come again tomorrow, go and smash up the Dong family's place."

"I'll go right away."

Yu Xiu liked this simple and straightforward approach, and went to find Pu Qing in high spirits. Sure enough, Dong Jia and Xiao Rou came again the next day.

Xiao Rou looked even worse than yesterday, with pale lips, and she looked either sick or close to being sick.

"That Dong fellow is disgusting. I bet he wants Aunt Xiao to faint outside the Xiao family gate so that my elder sister will have to carry her inside. And Pu Qing, why are you so slow!"

As Yu Xiu peeked through the crack in the door at the Dong Jia couple outside, she muttered about Pu Qing. Coincidentally, just as she finished speaking, she saw someone go to Dong Jia and say a few words. Dong Jia's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly ran away.

As soon as he left, Xiao Rou followed unsteadily. Yu Xiu looked at her pitifully, but didn't mention it when she went to talk to Mi Yao.

Xiao Rou's pitiful state was self-inflicted. When she inquired, she heard that Xiao Rou did not want to stay in the Xiao family because she did not want to take care of her nephews and nieces, but she did not have a good life after eloping with Dong Jia.

Dong Jia's parents were still alive, and he had many younger brothers and sisters. Xiao Rou went to the Dong family to work as a farmhand.

A month before Xiao Chuan went to the Dong family to take her away, she had lost a child because of being tormented by Granny Dong, but she still wouldn't leave.

A wrong choice is a wrong choice. Her family was willing to forgive her, but she stubbornly insisted on making the wrong choice, and now no one can save her from this predicament.