Chapter 51 "Am I not worthy of your remembrance...?"

Xie Zhuo paused for a moment, then sat down again, his face covered with a faint layer of frost.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Xue Mingyao got angry and asked again.

Xie Zhuo finally spoke, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not hiding anything."

"Don't lie to me!" Xue Mingyao plopped down as well, crossing her arms and looking at him. "Today I asked the people who used to serve Chen Liangqing at the Chen residence, and they said that he had the painting framed and sent to the Xie residence as a wedding gift on our wedding day. But I've never seen it before. Could it be that you tampered with it?"

She felt that Chen Liangqing was not the kind of person who would break his promises, so she asked Zhao Ying without much hope, and got an unexpected answer.

Two days ago, when Xue Mingyao was reviewing the household accounts, she had already looked through the guest gift list and did not see Chen Liangqing's name. Even if he deliberately did not register it, he would have informed the Xie family and delivered the gifts to her. However, in all these days, Xue Mingyao had not seen any trace of the painting, nor had she heard anyone mention it.

It's probably Xie Zhuo who's behind this.

Xie Zhuo looked directly at her. "So you said you were going to see Princess Yi'an, but actually you were going to inquire about Chen Liangqing's paintings?"

"Of course I'm going to find Yingniang." Xue Mingyao glared back at him. "Don't change the subject. Tell me honestly, have you seen that painting?"

"Never seen it before." Xie Zhuo's expression was frank, showing no sign of guilt.

Xue Mingyao didn't believe it at all.

"The painting entered the mansion, how could it just vanish into thin air without a trace? Otherwise, call the gatekeeper and steward over and ask if anyone from the Chen family came to deliver anything on the wedding day."

Xie Zhuo remained silent.

Xue Mingyao showed no intention of calling for anyone, her bright black eyes fixed on him.

"You care that much about his paintings?" Xie Zhuo said coldly.

"I knew it, this has to do with you." Xue Mingyao's brow twitched, and she snapped, "You still won't admit it!"

Xie Zhuo gave a mocking smile. "It was me." His tone was just as frank as when he had denied it earlier. "My residence, my wedding, such an eyesore, I naturally have to deal with it."

Xue Mingyao was stunned, unable to believe that his tone could be so shameless, "That's mine!"

"Your things..." Xie Zhuo's sarcasm deepened, "yet he chose to deliver them to my residence on my wedding day, so that I would see them before you. Isn't that a deliberate attempt to humiliate me?"

"Where did he intend to humiliate you?" Xue Mingyao said subconsciously. "Firstly, he wanted to congratulate me on my marriage, and secondly, letting you see it shows that he has an open mind. Don't be suspicious. Give me the painting quickly."

A shadow crossed Xie Zhuo's eyes. He was a villain, but was Chen Liangqing a gentleman? He pretended to be a flawless gentleman, but his actions towards Xue Mingyao were clearly a case of playing hard to get.

As fellow artists skilled in painting, Xie Zhuo could easily see that Chen Liangqing's depiction of Xue Mingyao was natural and alluring, every stroke revealing his unspoken thoughts. Presenting the painting to him was nothing short of a provocation.

"Whether it's a painting or your affair, you know the answer in your heart." Xie Zhuo said expressionlessly. "Xue Mingyao, you are already married. Accepting gifts from another man is considered a private transaction, which I cannot allow."

"That painting was a promise he made before the emperor, perfectly aboveboard. What kind of illicit affair is that?"

Xue Mingyao bit her lip. An affair—they're accusing her of it again. She wished she had one too.

"Besides, they're already gone, what's the big deal?"

A petty and narrow-minded man!

"Yes, the person is gone—" Xie Zhuo countered, "It's just a painting left behind, is it worth your utmost attention?"

"It's worth it. Can't I keep it as a souvenir?"

"no."

Xie Zhuo bluntly uttered two words, not wanting to say anything more. He got up to leave, but Xue Mingyao, who wouldn't let it go, grabbed his sleeve. She stood in front of him, much shorter than him, her delicate chin held high. "You have to do it! That's my painting, you have to return it to me."

Xie Zhuo angrily flicked his sleeve, pulled his hand away from hers, and walked towards the door.

"Stop right there!"

Xie Zhuo didn't stop walking and opened the door.

Xue Mingyao casually picked up something from the table and threw it against the door with a bang, causing the door to slam shut.

Xie Zhuo took a deep breath.

Behind her, Xue Mingyao's voice was crisp and sharp, "Xie Zhuo, what right do you have to do this? You wanted to marry me, and you did, but you bully me all day long, kissing me whenever you want, touching me whenever you want, and taking half of whatever I like to eat. What else are you dissatisfied with!"

“I’m controlled by you in every way. All I want is to keep Chen Liangqing’s painting as a memento, but you won’t even allow that. Does that painting eat you?”

Her questions struck Xie Zhuo's silent, broad back, until finally his unmoving back reacted.

Xie Zhuo turned around, staring into Xue Mingyao's bright eyes, and said, word by word, "As a memento, Xue Mingyao, you are quite devoted to Chen Liangqing. What about us back then? Didn't I also paint you? Why didn't you commemorate that?"

"Among the hundreds of paintings in your collection, is there a scroll of mine?"

"Don't I deserve your remembrance?!"

The man's voice, which suddenly rose, echoed in the spacious room, startling a flock of birds on the roof into flight.

Xue Mingyao looked at him in surprise, her mind a jumble, unable to process his words.

"Or is it—" Xie Zhuo's chest heaved, his handsome face trembling slightly, "that you didn't completely win Chen Liangqing over, so you're going to think about him for the rest of your life? Should I send you to the Southern Frontier so you can be with him for a while, so you can forget him!"

Xue Mingyao was completely stunned.

What nonsense is he spouting?

Xie Zhuo's knuckles, exposed at the cuffs of his sleeves, were white, and the veins on his hands bulged. His eyes, brimming with emotion, turned away from her. Xue Mingyao opened her mouth, as if to say something, but Xie Zhuo yanked open the door and stormed out.

......

Xue Mingyao was left alone in the room. Xie Zhuo's anger seemed to still linger in the air, vibrating and buzzing in her ears.

Just like Xie Zhuo's series of questions, they kept replaying in her mind.

We were clearly talking about Chen Liangqing's paintings, so why did we start talking about the past...?

Xue Mingyao sat back down at her desk, where a plate of peeled walnuts lay. She picked one up and put it in her mouth. A subtle sweetness spread across her tongue, followed by a bitter aftertaste.

She ate each kernel one by one, thinking about things related to Xie Zhuo one by one. Old stories and new stories rolled through her mind with the bitterness of the kernels, becoming more and more complicated, like the kernels themselves, with crisscrossing grooves and deep veins, making them difficult to understand.

Night was gradually falling outside the window, and the candlelight beside her was not bright enough, leaving her sitting in a dim light. A maidservant carefully entered to light a lamp, but the surroundings were still too dark.

Xue Mingyao finished the whole plate of walnuts without eating dinner.

A maid was sent to inquire, but Xie Zhuo hadn't eaten either. When asked where he was, the maid made inquiries and was told he was at the training ground.

Xue Mingyao then strolled over, making sure no one followed her.

The courtyard behind Tingzhu Pavilion was shrouded in night and was exceptionally quiet, with only A-Lian buried in packing up his bow and arrows.

"Where is your master?" Xue Mingyao asked.

Ah Lian was not very familiar with this title, and after a moment of reaction, he replied, "Madam, the General has just returned to his study."

Xue Mingyao turned and left.

Xie Zhuo's study was completely dark, with its doors and windows tightly shut, and it looked as if no one was there.

Xue Mingyao knocked on the door suspiciously, but no one answered. After thinking for a moment, she gently pushed the door open and went inside.

She had never been to Xie Zhuo's study before and was unfamiliar with the layout of the inner room. She looked around blankly in the darkness and tentatively took a few steps out.

A cold male voice suddenly came from the darkness, "If you take two more steps in that direction, you're going to bump into the table."

Xue Mingyao was startled and stomped her foot. "I knew you were here! Why didn't you turn on the lights?"

"I don't want to order," Xie Zhuo said calmly. "You're not welcome here."

Xue Mingyao rolled her eyes.

In a short while, her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and she could make out the obstacles. She then stumbled toward the sitting figure.

Upon closer inspection, she could vaguely make out that it was a couch. Xue Mingyao was too afraid to sit down, so she groped around with her little hands. She accidentally touched Xie Zhuo's crotch and screamed, pulling her hand back.

Xie Zhuo: "......"

Finally, Xie Zhuo reached out and pulled Xue Mingyao down, so that her bottom touched the couch and she sat down comfortably.

Xue Mingyao straightened her skirt and cleared her throat toward the dark figure beside her, "Chen Liangqing's painting can't just be left like this, I still need to ask you—"

"There's nothing to say about this," Xie Zhuo interrupted her sharply. "I can't give you his painting. Forget about it."

Xue Mingyao, having been cornered, hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Then why did you say back then that I didn't keep your painting—"

"There's not much to say about this," Xie Zhuo interrupted again. "I'm just asking a couple of questions in my anger. Whether you keep my painting or not, whether it's a memento or not, I don't care."

Xue Mingyao's emotions, which had been calming down all afternoon, surged again. She had condescended to come to his territory in person, yet he still treated her this way.

She angrily attacked him with the words Xie Zhuo often used against her, saying, "You are truly unreasonable!"

"I learned it from you," Xie Zhuo said coldly.

Xue Mingyao gritted her teeth, recalling how she used to be driven to the brink of madness by Xie Qinglang's stubborn temper. Back then, she would either have Qi Zhao deal with him or flirt with him verbally and physically. Now, the former was no longer an option, and the latter had lost its power—Xie Zhuo had become an extremely dangerous man to her.

When she fell silent, Xie Zhuo spoke again.

"If you're not going to say anything, what are you doing here?"

Xue Mingyao snorted, "I am the dignified lady of the Xie family. There is no place in my own home that I cannot stay."

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt the person next to her in the darkness glance at her.

"Madam Xie, if you continue to stay here, there's only one thing left between us to do," Xie Zhuo said sinisterly.

Xue Mingyao could easily understand what he meant.

Shameless scoundrel.

They've used these tactics on her time and time again. Do they really think she'll give in? These are all the tricks they've already exhausted!

Xie Zhuo was dangerous as he was, but she wasn't afraid of him. Yesterday was her first time here, and lacking experience, she was inevitably flustered and at a loss for words; things might be different next time. Besides, she had indeed derived pleasure from it, a pleasure several times more shameful than before...

A few thoughts flashed through her mind. Despite her still slightly sore back, Xue Mingyao calmly leaned close to Xie Zhuo's ear and let her soft, warm voice enter his ear.

"Then let's do it."

Xie Zhuo tensed up.

"General Xie, please treat me well..."

A flirtatious voice and a beautiful woman's cool arm wrapped around him, and Xie Zhuo's throat tightened instantly, as if he couldn't breathe. He was increasingly unable to understand Xue Mingyao.

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Author's note: Yaoyao and Xiaoxie are playing a game where whoever says "I love you" first loses, and Xiaoxie is about to lose.