Chapter 19 When You Were Full of Distrust of Me

Yao Qingling turned her head warily, her pupils contracted, and she leaned back to avoid his outstretched hand.

She quickly calmed down, her serene eyes remaining calm, but upon closer inspection, a trace of fear still lingered.

She was instinctively afraid of his hands, afraid that he would choke her neck tightly, just like last time when he almost crushed her arm.

Zhan Xingzhuo's hand hovered in mid-air, and he felt somewhat embarrassed when he saw her dodge.

He frowned slightly: "Why are you hiding? I just want to put it on you."

But he didn't seem very unhappy. He took her hand and placed the earring in her palm: "The color of your clothes doesn't match these earrings today. Maybe next time."

Yao Qingling expected him to fly into a rage at her, but instead he gave her earrings.

She clutched the earring in her palm, unable to decipher Zhan Xingzhuo's meaning.

But she remained vigilant and didn't say anything.

Zhan Xingzhuo made no further moves or spoke. The carriage moved slowly forward, and the interior was extremely quiet.

In his reverie, Yao Qingling suddenly recalled the deep affection they once shared. In the mornings, when he saw her getting ready, he would come over to draw her eyebrows and pick out a pair of earrings for her to wear; in the evenings, he would dismiss the maids and help her remove her hairpins…

Suddenly, she felt that time was so distant, so distant that she could hardly remember that they had once shared tender and affectionate moments.

She never expected this day to come. When she saw him getting closer, her instinctive reaction was to avoid him.

Yao Qingling swallowed hard, her fingers rubbing the earring in her palm.

Exquisite gold and jade may look beautiful, but touching them is painful and uncomfortable.

Zhan Xingzhuo glanced at her, but couldn't find anything to talk about.

She's actually avoiding him?

The man couldn't understand it; she used to love being affectionate with him. When she was being coquettish, she would deliberately drag him along to help her pick out jewelry, ask him to put it on her, and then ask him if it looked good.

Yes, he must still be arguing with Zhou Zhining. She thinks she's won and is putting on airs in front of him.

Zhou Zhining returned to the Wang family, but who knows what kind of torment she will suffer; he finally managed to heal her injuries and free her from the shadow of Wang Xuan's violence, but now she's going back to the way things were before.

He wanted to save Zhou Zhining from her predicament, but his wife only wanted to win his favor and possess him.

The thought of Zhou Zhining in the fire pit reignited the fire in Zhan Xingzhuo's heart.

He suppressed his anger and tried to change the subject.

There was a faint scent of medicine in the air. He sniffed it and saw a large bag of medicine in the opposite corner. He picked it up and looked at it, and suddenly remembered that she was drinking medicine when he went to see her before.

No wonder he's in a bad mood; it turns out he's not feeling well.

But Zhi Ning wouldn't act like this when she's sick.

She would just quietly stay to the side and wait for her body to recover. If he hadn't noticed, she would never have told him.

She always said she was sorry to trouble him.

The man took a deep breath; Yao Qingling was just being pretentious.

He casually asked, "I saw you taking medicine earlier, what illness do you have?"

Yao Qingling glanced indifferently at the medicine packet in his hand, then her gaze fell on his face.

Before?

Oh, it was that time when he kicked down Zhou Zhining's door in a fit of rage for her sake.

So much time has passed before he finally asked her if she was sick; how hypocritical and ridiculous!

Yao Qingling naturally wouldn't mention that it was a medicine to improve fertility, and said indifferently, "It's nothing."

She took the medicine back and casually began to talk about the case: "...Shuntian Prefecture has not yet settled the case. The Wang family took Jin Kui away. Jin Kui was supposed to be a maid in the new mansion, but Zhou Zhining gave her a contract of indenture, so the new mansion has no reason to let her come back."

What she wanted to say was that if Zhan Xingzhuo didn't believe what Jin Kui said in court, he could bring Jin Kui back for a face-to-face confrontation.

However, Zhou Zhining has caused trouble for the Wang family, who are not benevolent people. Jin Kui is likely in grave danger.

She could have simply been an ordinary maid, living a quiet life, waiting for her luck to change so she could get her freedom from her indenture.

But she met Zhou Zhining, who had just as many thoughts as she did, and ultimately met a tragic end.

Whether her life was unjust or not, only Jin Kui herself knows the truth.

Yao Qingling felt no remorse towards Jin Kui.

"...She probably won't show up again. However, the authorities still have her statement recorded, and the owner of Fangmanyuan Garden heard it with his own ears. If you want to hear it—"

"Qingling," Zhan Xingzhu interrupted her, saying stiffly, "Jin Kui spread rumors and deserved to die. Since it's all in the past, there's no need to bring it up again."

Yao Qingling looked at him quietly.

Spreading rumors deserves to die.

Eight simple words were enough to burden a maid with everything; in his eyes, Zhou Zhining was still the purest jasmine flower.

She made a mountain out of a molehill, using a trivial matter within the inner quarters to cause the death of a maid.

She should also thank him for his magnanimity in not pursuing the matter.

Yao Qingling clenched her fingers.

Even though I've been disappointed countless times, why do I still feel sad?

Zhan Xingzhuo glanced at her and said, "I was also deceived by that maid. I apologize to you for this."

He paused, then suddenly grasped Yao Qingling's hand. "Qingling, we are husband and wife, one. Don't let others stir things up and affect our relationship."

"Qingling, you are in my heart. You are my wife, don't you know how I feel about you?"

The man spoke of his feelings for her, one sentence at a time.

"...When I saw you with a whip today, I suddenly remembered that you are the daughter of a military family. But Qingling, you were so frail when you were in the Marquis's mansion. When I saw you being bullied by your older brothers and sisters, my heart ached, and I instinctively wanted to protect you."

He couldn't help but wonder if the lonely, frail Yao Qingling he saw at the Marquis's residence, who looked so easy to bully, was just putting on an act for him.

To get his attention, to appeal to his protective instincts, to pity her.

She's really cunning; she's been hiding her true intentions until now, and she's not even acting anymore.

Zhan Xingzhuo glanced at the whip in her hand, pressed down on the corner of his lips, and his gaze became somewhat somber.

But that gloomy look was fleeting, quickly replaced by a gentle expression.

He reached out and took the whip from me, saying softly, "Qingling, this isn't suitable for you. Do you know how painful it is for me when you hold this whip and are so wary of me?"

He held Qingling's hand in his palm and squeezed it. "Weapons are for outsiders. I am your husband. No matter how many people in the world try to hurt you, I will never hurt you. I will only protect you."

When he said those words, he never considered the harm he would cause Qingling.

Qingling subtly withdrew her hand, smiled calmly, and said perfunctorily, "My lord, it seems like it's been a long time since you've talked to me this much."

She wondered what his true intentions were, given how much he had said and how drastic his change of heart had been.

"Really?" Zhan Xingzhu smiled, realizing that the two of them hadn't been able to sit and talk together for quite some time, let alone eat or sleep together.

When she said that, was she trying to make amends and curry favor?

The man spread out his wide sleeves, straightened his posture, and put his arm around Qingling's shoulder, pushing her slightly into his arms.

Qingling suppressed the nausea rising in her stomach and waited quietly for him to say something.

Zhan Xingzhuo held Qingling in his arms. It had been a long time since he had held her like this. The soft and fragrant body of the woman made his heart itch slightly, and he was temporarily immersed in this quiet moment.

But Zhou Zhining is more important.

The moment the man thought of Zhou Zhining's fear and the way she trembled in his arms, all the romantic thoughts in his mind vanished.