Chapter 59: It was a one-sided plunder inside the Liangqingchi Pass. ...

There was a crisp sound of an iron buckle, and the leather belt around Song Xieqing's waist suddenly loosened.

Even with the snow-white undergarment covering her face, Zhu Hao's cheeks couldn't help but turn red. She was in a dilemma, neither advancing nor retreating. Zhu Hao bit her lower lip, thinking in her heart that it would be better to get it over with quickly. So, although she averted her eyes, her hands did not retreat, but just touched him randomly.

"Where are you touching?" Song Xieqing panted slightly, grabbing her hand as it moved lower and lower. Zhu Hao glanced back and happened to see the corner of Song Xieqing's mouth raise a smile. She felt strangely uncomfortable and wanted to dampen his enthusiasm, so she hummed, "After this, we are even now."

Zhu Hao wanted to avoid Song Xieqing's eyes that seemed to pierce through her, but when she turned her cheek slightly, she was suddenly straightened by the man.

Song Xieqing returned to his usual cold expression. "We're even?" He pondered for a moment, then forced a smile. "Did you meet Chi Xing? What did he tell you?"

Zhu Hao pursed his lips and said nothing, feeling sad in his heart.

In fact, she had guessed about 70% of the situation from the moment she saw A Yin's wandering soul again in the cave. Beneath her seemingly healthy body, she was probably still a broken soul. What Chi Xing said confirmed her assumption. She didn't know how long she could live, but... Chi Xing had already revealed all the disadvantages of this curse. If she died, she and Song Xieqing would still not be husband and wife, and then neither of them would have any hope of survival.

She also didn't want Song Xieqing to suffer from the curse anymore.

Zhu Hao was lost in her memories when Song Xieqing whispered in her ear, "Even if you don't want to say it, I can guess..."

No wonder she clearly forbade him to kiss her a few days ago, but today she took the initiative to kiss him and even ordered him to take off his clothes.

He stared at Zhu Hao for a long while, forcing her to only have eyes for him. Song Xieqing lifted a strand of hair from the front of Zhu Hao's lapel, and the hair entangled and spread out around his fingertips, just like him and her at the moment, ambiguous and sober, and they could separate at any time.

Song Xieqing smiled softly. He leaned down, holding Zhu Hao's waist tightly while his fingertips slowly moved to her collar. He bent his knuckles and tapped lightly on her collarbone. This time it was Zhu Hao's turn to tense up. Her whole body tensed up. Her lips trembled slightly, but before she could utter a word, Song Xieqing blocked her mouth. It was a one-sided plunder between her teeth.

He started with a domineering attitude, and Zhu Hao was completely under Song Xieqing's control. She tried her best to lift one leg, but he pressed it down easily. Because of this move, their legs were completely entangled together. Zhu Hao touched an unusual place, her mind exploded, her toes curled up, and she dared not move again.

Song Xieqing's collar was loosened by her tossing. He clamped down on Zhu Hao and kissed her until she had no strength to fight back. Then he withdrew from her teeth. Unlike the violent grabbing just now, he gently kissed the tip of Zhu Hao's nose. "Isn't this what you want? I did what you wanted, but you don't like it. Is it because my kiss was not good enough? Zhu Hao, you didn't say anything. Now that I have temporarily lost my power, how can I understand what you are thinking?"

Zhu Hao was breathing heavily, and the injury on the back of her head was aching slightly. Zhu Hao leaned limply against the wall, frowning and glaring at him.

"You have to settle accounts with me." Song Xieqing nodded and took out the abacus that Zhu Hao usually used from under his pillow. "Boss Zhu, let's do the reckoning, starting from... when we first met."

"First, you threw the embroidered ball at my jade statue, forcing me to marry you. Furthermore, you are the only one I can marry. So, Shopkeeper Zhu, you took the title of my wife for nothing, but never fulfilled your wifely duties. And now you want to clear us all?"

Zhu Hao could no longer bear it and retorted, "Aren't you also taking the title of my husband, and yet you haven't fulfilled your husband's duties?"

Song Xieqing raised his eyes and said, "Okay, let's settle this matter for now."

"Secondly, Shopkeeper Zhu, do you still remember the time you and Fang Xu fell off the burial cliff? If I hadn't used my spiritual sense to protect your heart meridian, you would have... I saved your life." Song Xieqing moved his fingers on the beads. "What will Shopkeeper Zhu offer in return?"

Zhu Hao was stunned for a moment, then said, "I will return my life to you, okay? Song Xianjun? You can do whatever you want with my life."

"Well, in that case, let's move on from this matter." He raised an eyebrow, "Remember your promise today. Your life belongs to me. You cannot regret it."

"Thirdly, you were about to speak rudely to Zhang Qian in court. If I hadn't silenced you, you would have been thrown into jail long ago. How can you repay this favor? Also, it was me who quickly spread the news to Qizhou and attracted the officials from the capital, giving you a chance to catch your breath." Song Xieqing smiled. "How can I repay this?"

Zhu Hao's arrogance suddenly extinguished almost half. Back then, he appeared to be indifferent to her, but he had done many things behind her back...

She didn't know how to respond, so she just said, "My life is all yours, how can I pay you back?"

Song Xieqing was very pleased with this. He easily brushed it off and continued, "Last year, the Zhu family had a fire..."

"Song Xieqing, I just realized you're quite stingy." Zhu Hao interrupted, "My life is yours. How do you want me to repay you?"

"Okay." He uttered a word, then suddenly smiled and said, "I won't argue with you about anything else, lest you accuse me of being petty. Besides, Shopkeeper Zhu's life belongs to me. If I keep harping on these trivial matters, it would make me look petty."

"Since Shopkeeper Zhu has made his mark on the world of commerce, then we'll discuss everything else, only gold and silver." Song Xieqing handed the abacus to Zhu Hao, "I talk, you calculate."

"I once redeemed Liu Rutang's daughter for you. Baihualou has a rule that anyone who redeems the most popular courtesan must hold the most popular courtesan for three days. On the first day, I spent eight hundred taels of silver, plus a copper coin. On the second day, I spent one thousand three hundred and one taels of silver. On the third day, I spent five hundred taels of silver. The ransom for the most popular courtesan, Miss Qiao, is eight thousand taels." Song Xieqing rested his chin on his hand and asked with a smile, "Have you figured it out, Manager Zhu? How much silver do you need to pay back in total?"

Zhu Hao's hands froze on the beads. She stared at him blankly, a hint of disbelief flashing in her eyes. Then she looked at him as if he were a bandit. Zhu Hao gritted her teeth and said, "My life..."

Song Xieqing suddenly moved closer. He resisted the urge to kiss her and said, "That's all. It's useless to say you're mine."

"Logically, Liu Rutang should be the one to pay the debt, but you're the middleman after all, so naturally you have to pay it back. Sixteen hundred and one taels plus a copper coin. After all, you and I are husband and wife, so I'll pay the copper coin for you..."

He pretended to sigh, "Shall I give you the extra one or two taels? That way you won't accuse me of being stingy. But if you think about it, I've always spent just as much on you, like the wedding favors, like the hairpin I gave you..."

She fastened the belt around her waist and stood up. Zhu Hao took out the crabapple hairpin that Song Xieqing had pinned on her bun on the day of the parade from her makeup box. She casually threw it into Song Xieqing's arms and said, "Here, I'll give it back to you."

Song Xieqing picked it up between his fingers and played with it. He turned it around twice, walked to Zhu Hao, and pinned the hairpin diagonally on her messy bun, "Only you can match it."

He leaned forward slightly, his eyes level with hers, and said, "Sixteen hundred taels, I hope the shopkeeper will pay it back sooner or later, and then we can be truly even. Otherwise, we'll fight till death."

Zhu Hao grabbed Song Xieqing's loose collar and shouted, "Do you really want to die?" She hammered hard on his exposed chest. "Weren't you angry that I didn't say anything just now? Well, I'll tell you, yes, Chi told me everything. Song Xieqing, I want you to live well and don't want you to suffer because of me."

The room immediately became quiet, and Song Xieqing pulled her into his arms. "Finally, you told the truth. I'll give Pianpian another 600 taels."

He rubbed Zhu Hao's head and said, "No matter what others say, Zhu Hao, you don't have to worry. I will take care of these."

…

Miaoli has always been in good health, and he recovered soon.

That day, she was trimming flowers and plants in the yard, but her eyes never left Zhu Hao.

At this time, Zhu Hao was sitting on the steps in front of the house, lost in thought.

My sister has been acting strange lately. She spends half the day in a daze, or she's arguing with her brother-in-law. Anyway, the two of them keep arguing and end up getting stuck together for some reason...

My sister’s head injury hasn’t healed yet and there’s still a lump on the back of her head, but the doctors say that head injuries can’t be treated in a hurry.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Both of them were awakened by a knock on the door. Zhu Hao was nearby, so she picked up her skirt and hurried forward to open the door.

Outside the door was one of the young men who had entered the cave with Chi Xing that day. Zhu Hao asked in surprise, "Inspector Chen?"

Chen Ci bowed deeply and said, "Miss Zhu, I came to you today not for a case, but for..." He shook the cloth bag in his hand, which was filled with all kinds of small things, ranging from strange-shaped crystals to earrings for girls.

"The day I first arrived in this city to take up my post, I accidentally bumped into Madam Fang. She... had a close relationship with Miss Zhu?" Chen Ci felt that this statement was somewhat inappropriate and quickly replied, "Of course, whether it was the surname or the relationship between Miss Zhu and Madam Fang, I inquired through legitimate channels and had no other ulterior motives."

Chen Ci handed the bag forward, "I must have lost something precious to Madam Fang, but I don't know what it was, and she wouldn't tell me. I just sat there, scrambling around, picking up some small items I thought were Madam Fang's."

Zhu Hao took a look and indeed saw the paper ball she had given Fang Xuyin that day. She listened to Chen's words and said, "If it's convenient, could you please ask Miss Zhu to help me pass this item on to Madam Fang? She... doesn't really want to see me. If there's nothing inside that she lost, please let me know and I'll continue looking. Or, even better, if I can find out what she lost, I'd be happy to buy it for her. If not, I'll pay her back handsomely."

"If what Madam Fang lost cannot be measured in money, I will continue to think of other ways."

Zhu Hao suppressed his smile and took the bag, "I'll help you with this."

Chen Ci hurriedly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your help, Miss Zhu. I will definitely come with you to express my gratitude soon."

The two men said goodbye to each other. Chen Cifang took a step forward and suddenly saw Zhu Hao's body tilted greatly. He didn't care about the so-called difference between men and women and quickly opened his arms. However, Zhu Hao had just touched his sleeves a little when he was picked up by another tall and handsome man in the blink of an eye. The most important thing was that this man looked at him as if he was his mortal enemy.

Chen Ci: ...?

…

Song Xieqing and Miaoli stayed by Zhu Hao's bed until the sun set in the west, and then the person on the bed noticed something.

Miaoli was so happy that he broke the door and called for the doctor.

The setting sun cut a streak of light gold between the two people left in the room.

She asked blankly, "Who... are you?"

Song Xieqing thought about how Zhu Hao had been arguing and playing tricks on him recently, and how he wanted to use all the Thirty-Six Stratagems on him. Song Xieqing said with a smile, "Which tactic is Pian Pian playing on me this time?"