Chapter 70 "The man I'm willing to fawn over..."

The banquet lasted from sunset until nightfall. The crimson sunset faded from the window paper, replaced by the pale moonlight.

The servants cleared away the messy cups and plates, and brought out tea, porridge and snacks. Xie Zhuo and Cen Zongjing toasted each other, and a jar of fragrant Xichuan Qiongsu wine was quickly emptied.

Cen Zongjing, already showing signs of drunkenness, still seemed unsatisfied. Stroking his wine cup, he said softly, "General Xie, you are a young and talented man, what kind of lady wouldn't you want? Why did you take a fancy to my Yaoyao? Hmm?"

Xue Mingyao frowned slightly and called over a maid, "Send General Cen a bowl of hangover soup."

Xie Zhuo hadn't drunk much, but his eyes remained clear. He said calmly, "What kind of woman in the world can compare to Yao Yao? General Cen thinks so, and so do I."

Cen Zongjing smiled and said, "I heard that General Xie only met Yaoyao when he returned to the capital at the beginning of this year, and he proposed to her in less than two months. Don't you think that's too hasty?"

"Whether it is hasty or not has nothing to do with time. I only feel that the marriage proposal was timely. Otherwise, if it had been a few months later, General Cen would have returned."

Cen Zongjing's smile became somewhat forced. He picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp. "Yes, just a few months' difference, and everything will be different..."

The night outside the window turned from deep blue to pitch black, and the wine had reached its second jar. Cen Zongjing, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, still clung to his cup.

Xie Zhuo had expressed his intention to send Cen Zongjing away several times, but Cen Zongjing pretended not to hear, finished his hangover soup, and went back to drinking.

Helpless, Xue Mingyao said, "General Cen, it's getting late, and I'm very sleepy. You should go back."

Cen Zongjing then stood up and looked at her with a deep gaze, "Yaoyao, although we are no longer destined to be husband and wife, please, for the sake of our past relationship, do not cut off contact with me?"

Xue Mingyao thought for a moment, "If you encounter any problems and need help, just come to us."

A hint of disappointment flashed across Cen Zongjing's face, but it was quickly replaced by a smile. "Okay, I'll remember that."

......

After seeing Cen Zongjing off, Xie Zhuo and Xue Mingyao returned to their bedroom.

“He covets you,” Xie Zhuo said decisively.

Xue Mingyao sat in front of the dressing table, her makeup being removed by a maid. She yawned, "It would be strange if he didn't covet me, after all, we were formally married before. And he finally managed to marry me, I don't know how many good things he said to my father, of course he would find it hard to let go."

Xie Zhuo looked at the beautiful woman in the mirror, "You just let him covet you, and you even allow him to associate with us in the future?"

Xue Mingyao rested her chin on her hand, "It's not something I can control that he covets me. When I was a teenager, I didn't want to marry him, but in the end, I obediently married him anyway. As for whether we should keep in touch, what I said was clearly a message for him to stay away. If you're still not happy, just write 'Cen Zongjing is not allowed to enter' on the gate of the mansion."

Xie Zhuomo sighed; he really wanted to write.

Xue Mingyao waved for the maid to leave, then turned to look at his gloomy face and suddenly laughed, "You look so cute when you're jealous."

Xie Zhuo was taken aback. Back in Xichuan, Xue Mingyao had always used the word "adorable" to describe him, and this was the first time she had said it since their reunion. A slight itch stirred in his heart, and he momentarily forgot to deny that he was jealous.

"Oh, you're blushing," Xue Mingyao exclaimed in surprise. "Xie Zhuo, you can actually blush!"

Xie Zhuo quickly turned his head away.

Then Xue Mingyao said, "Could you repeat what you said at the banquet?"

"Which words?"

"No woman in the world can compare to my few words."

Xie Zhuo remained silent, picked up a hairpin belonging to Xue Mingyao on the dressing table, and played with it in his hand, turning it over and over.

"Fine," Xue Mingyao said indignantly, "Can't you just call me Yaoyao?"

Xie Zhuo remained silent.

Xue Mingyao snatched the hairpin from his hand, stuffed it into her dressing case with a huff, and got up to go to the couch.

Xie Zhuo followed, and Xue Mingyao turned to look at him. He asked in a low voice, "Didn't Cen Zongjing go to war a few months after you got married? Didn't he peel shrimp for you many times?"

Xue Mingyao was both amused and exasperated. She thought for a moment and said, "No, just once or twice. I set some rules for him, but I didn't expect him to remember them."

Setting rules... Xie Zhuo recalled what Xue Mingyao had said: to be her husband, one must be obedient.

Xue Mingyao was reluctant to marry Cen Zongjing before the marriage, but now she is not resistant to him and even feels sympathy for him, which shows that Cen Zongjing is very obedient during their short marriage.

He is clearly inferior to Cen Zongjing in this respect.

“If you’re bothered by the fact that he peeled shrimp for me—” Xue Mingyao said quietly, “Actually, when I attended various banquets in the past, I would basically have my husbands peel shrimp, fish, and fruit for me.”

“I didn’t give them any orders. They just wanted to curry favor with me, so I gave them the opportunity to do so.”

The woman turned her head and said in a softer voice, "Countless men have tried to please me, but you are the only one I am willing to please."

Her clear, melodious voice, like pearls falling into Xie Zhuo's ears, stirred up an indescribable surge of emotion.

In the past, Xue Mingyao did indeed bully him while simultaneously trying to please him.

She collected priceless ancient books for him, worried about his cold, praised his paintings, and even liked to peel grapes and lychees for him. She even changed into a simple dress because he said she was dressed gaudyly.

But that was in the past.

Moreover—

"Didn't you ever try to curry favor with Chen Liangqing?" he couldn't help but ask.

Xue Mingyao was stunned for a moment, and her expression slowly turned strange.

Do you know why I like Chen Liangqing?

"...I don't want to know."

“Oh, but I want you to know,” Xue Mingyao said earnestly, looking into his clear, dark eyes, “I think he looks a lot like you.”

"Like me?"

"Like you used to be, like Xie Qinglang. The profile of him writing at his desk is exactly like you. The feeling he gives off when he smiles is also like you, it's a pity you rarely smile at me. Oh, and his ears turn red when I touch him, that's like you too..."

The man's large hand covered his mouth, and Xie Zhuo's voice was slightly hoarse, "Don't say anything."

Xue Mingyao obediently shut her mouth, staring at him intently, her long, dark eyelashes trembling slightly. Xie Zhuo kissed those beautiful eyes, the wet kisses spreading all the way to her temples.

He nestled against her and murmured, "You should know I can't go back to the way things were."

Xue Mingyao hummed in agreement and lightly touched his lips. "It's alright."

Is it okay?

Xue Mingyao went to take a bath, while Xie Zhuo sat on the couch, facing the half-moon outside the window. The moon was pale and hazy, looking as if it was not far from being a full circle, but its edges were eroded by the night sky and mist, without any clear outline.

Does Xue Mingyao like Xie Qinglang as a person, or does she like Xie Qinglang's type of person?

Xie Zhuo's thoughts, like the blurry moon, were constantly being eroded by such questions. There was no need to think about it, he told himself. Compared to the anxious and painful years in the military camp, this was the best time.

He married Xue Mingyao as he wished, and was extremely fortunate to do so before Cen Zongjing returned. Xue Mingyao also still had feelings for him, and these feelings were enough for them to become a loving couple, growing old together and supporting each other for life.

He shouldn't be greedy. Not long ago, he was begging Xue Mingyao to treat him a little better, but now he longs for her affection for him to be even more abundant, ideally like the full moon on the fifteenth of the lunar month, forever hanging high above his head.

He had seen such a bright moon before.

Xie Zhuo finally realized that he minded many things about Xue Mingyao: her temper, her promiscuous nature, Chen Liangqing, Cen Zongjing, and so on. All these things piled up in his heart, forming a long-lasting pain.

But what hurt him the most was that Xue Mingyao could never like him the way she used to.

She will never like Xie Zhuo the way she liked Xie Qinglang.

"Why are you still in that position, not moving at all?" A charming voice suddenly rang out.

Xie Zhuo looked up and saw Xue Mingyao wearing a light red nightgown, barefoot, walking briskly towards him. Her wet black hair hung down in front of her chest, with a round water droplet clinging to one end, swaying but not falling off.

Xie Zhuo reached out and rubbed away the water droplets. "I'm thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about? You're not still thinking about Cen Zongjing, are you?"

How can I make you like me more?

Xie Zhuo embraced her, lowered his head to smell the fresh scent of bath beans on her body, mixed with a faint hint of the fragrance of a gentleman's love. Xue Mingyao had recently gotten used to using this fragrance to scent her clothes, and her body had gradually become tinged with the fragrance.

Holding her foot in his palm, he involuntarily touched the faint teeth mark, stroking it back and forth. The skin, still warm from the heat, was rubbed until it glowed with a rosy pink.

Xue Mingyao laughed at him, "Why are you holding on to it like that? It's like you have a foot fetish."

“You’re still talking about me,” Xie Zhuo said, “You even forced me to kiss you before.”

"In the end, not only did you refuse to kiss me, you also bit me."

Xie Zhuo held her ankle for a while, then lowered his head and kissed it.

The kiss was extremely light, like the force of a butterfly landing on a flower, but Xue Mingyao instantly curled her toes as if she had been burned, and cried out.

Xie Zhuo released her, and Xue Mingyao felt a little uncomfortable. She pulled her feet back under the covers and avoided looking at him.

Xie Zhuo had something he wanted to ask, but he tried to hold back. In the end, he decided to give up. "Did you let him kiss here?"

"who?"

Xie Zhuo looked at her.

Xue Mingyao said "Oh," and understood. "Of course not!"

"Hmm, where has he kissed you?"

Xue Mingyao's lips curled up slightly, and her eyebrows rose, as if she was laughing at him for being jealous again.

“I don’t remember,” she said crisply.

Xie Zhuo nodded. It was a good answer. Hopefully, she really didn't remember.

He was about to turn off the light when Xue Mingyao stopped him, "Did you apply any scar-reducing medicine tonight?"

Xie Zhuo said he had forgotten.

When he went to get the medicine, he heard Xue Mingyao say, "You shouldn't have forgotten this, even if you forgot other things. You just didn't take it to heart."

Xie Zhuo silently placed the medicine bottle in front of her.

"What?" Xue Mingyao looked up at him.

"Yaoyao, can you help me apply it?" Xie Zhuo said softly.

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Author's Note: The ex-husband's return is meant to strengthen the young couple's relationship; there won't be too much melodrama. There are probably still about 50,000 to 60,000 words left in the main story, and then the epilogue will tell the story of Xiao Xie and Yao Yao's past in Xichuan. Please look forward to the little princess's forceful acquisition of the handsome scholar [doge head with rose in hand].