Chapter 52 [VIP]
Xiao Chuan looked at Mi Yao in front of him with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Mi Yao wore no elaborate or luxurious ornaments on her head, only a blue hibiscus-patterned handkerchief wrapped around her body, and a light blue embroidered short jacket with a lotus-root apron over it.
He had seen her wear plain clothes before, but today she looked different from usual, with a touch of elegance in her demeanor.
These simple and elegant touches made her fair and rosy complexion appear even more radiant and alluring.
It's both simple and alluring, which doesn't feel contradictory. Instead, it makes you want to peel back the outer layer to see what the inside is like.
His gaze gradually focused on the shimmering light on Mi Yao's face. Xiao Chuan reached out and wiped her nose, spreading his fingertips: "Sweat?"
Sensing the teasing in Xiao Chuan's tone, Mi Yao wondered why he was being so silly today: "You talk as if you've never seen me sweat."
"When have I ever seen it?"
Every day when I see her, she's either exhausted or has a bunch of flowers and plants, cutting them up and putting them all into a vase.
She ate well every day, but she couldn't possibly do anything by herself. Once, he saw her making pastries with Xiao Shan and the others. She sat on the side while Xiao Shan and Xiao Liang were kneading the pastries.
"Did the fever from the cold make you suddenly become so virtuous, or did I do something wrong to provoke you, and knowing I was coming back, you deliberately sneaked into the kitchen to poison me?"
Xiao Chuan's lame joke reminded Mi Yao of the turmoil that had been raging in Yizhou City recently, with everyone saying that Zhao Tianhe was doing his best to cultivate Xiao Chuan, as if he were treating Xiao Chuan as his successor.
She didn't feel much when she first heard this, but now that she saw Xiao Chui, she understood the meaning of the phrase "riding a swift horse in the spring breeze."
Xiao Chua exuded a sense of ease.
Of course, this feeling of ease could also be due to his excitement about about to engage in his favorite sport.
Originally covered in kitchen grease, Mi Yao didn't want to get too close to Xiao Chuan, but seeing his joy made her feel uncomfortable.
She leaned forward and snuggled into his arms, not caring whether anyone was watching. She reached out and hugged Xiao Chuan's head, making him bend down so she could get close to his ear and say, "My lord, what haven't you seen? My lord has not only seen, but also licked."
People were coming and going in the kitchen. Xiao Shan and the others sat in a row inside, gnawing on pig ears. They could come out at any moment. Mi Yao's voice grew softer and softer until only a damp breath disturbed Xiao Chuan's eardrums.
Xiao Chuan tried to look up but was held tightly by Mi Yao. The sensation of her skin being brushed against her skin like a feather continued. Mi Yao slowly told Xiao Chuan how he licked the sweat off her skin. Even when she was half-dazed, she could feel his tongue touching her toes on his chest.
Mi Yao only released Xiao Chuan when she felt his skin was hotter than the stove in her kitchen. She glanced down at him and put the apron she was wearing in his hand: "My lord, take this to cover up your ugliness."
After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the bath.
Xiao Chuan instinctively raised his hand to grab her, but only touched the hem of her skirt, feeling the smooth fabric glide cleanly across his palm. The non-skin contact made his sensitive, swollen area even more throbbing and painful; he really needed to hold a thin apron in front of him to cover himself up.
Mi Yao is in the kitchen today because Shuang Hua and Yu Xiu have come up with ideas on what her two shops should sell.
Both shops are located in the bustling city center; one is on a street full of gold and silver shops, while the other is at the entrance of a market that is mostly filled with restaurants and general stores.
For shops in more expensive locations, Shuanghua and Yuxiu thought they should either sell valuable items like pearls, jade, and tea, or Miyao could put in some effort to compile her daily skincare recipes and make some skincare creams and perfumes to sell.
As for the entrance, it's the best place to eat, and the selection is simple. They don't make labor-intensive and low-profit foods like stir-fries and noodle soups, but instead sell cooked food directly.
This cooked food is also related to Mi Yao; it's the braised offal that she and the chef in the kitchen developed some time ago.
Whether in Jiangnan or Yizhou, they had never tasted dishes braised with spices and herbs before. The first time they tasted it, they were amazed. They never expected that there was such a way to cook meat besides steaming, stir-frying and boiling.
The fact that Shuanghua and the others opened both shops based on the advantages that Mi Yao had demonstrated was actually inspired by Xiao Liang.
They were so preoccupied with thinking about the product categories that Xiao Liang noticed them and said, "Why does Mother's shop sell other things instead of things related to Mother?" This remark was like a wake-up call.
The two immediately began to think about what Mi Yao would do and what she would eat on a daily basis, and then they discovered that Mi Yao was an inexhaustible treasure trove.
Baoshan said these words to Shuanghua and the others when they coaxed Miyao into agreeing. In addition, they also mentioned some kind of divine means to benefit the people. Miyao was so coaxed that she pouted and changed her usual style. She went to the kitchen and worked with the chef to improve the ingredients of the braised dishes and experimented with the flavors one by one.
Immersed in the hot water, Mi Yao didn't feel tired from testing recipes in the kitchen, but seeing Xiao Chuan's possessive eyes made her feel exhausted.
So, in the few times she saw Xiao Chuan, he always looked at her with that same gaze.
It was as if after she discovered his cruel nature, he became too lazy to hide it and bluntly let her know that he had a strong possessive desire for her.
At the sound of footsteps, Mi Yao noticed someone entering the greenhouse. Xiao Chuan was already standing by the bathtub, looking at her from head to toe.
Scattered.
Mi Yao swam backward to create distance between herself and Xiao Chuan. After stopping, she stretched out her arms to gather the scattered petals in front of her. Once she had done all that and made sure that she didn't look so naked in Xiao Chuan's eyes, she looked up at him and asked, "My lord, aren't you going to knock?"
"I knocked, but you didn't hear me."
"Then you should knock louder."
Sensing Mi Yao's unwelcome tone, Xiao Chuan carried a bamboo chair to the edge of the pond, staring at her without looking away: "What if I disturb you?"
"It was your sudden intrusion that disturbed me."
Mi Yao can be a bit stubborn at times, especially when she knows that Xiao Chuan has feelings for her and that he should be in a lower position, but he always tries to put her down.
So, facing Xiao Chu's ambiguous smile, as if he were teasing a pet, she swam back to the edge of the pool near him, placed her hands on the cedar wood, and looked up to meet his gaze: "Does my lord love me so much that he doesn't want to be apart from me for even a moment?"
“I have come to tell you that I have never licked your toes.”
His low, husky voice spoke in a serious tone about licking and toes, but it was clear that his main purpose in coming here was not to explain anything.
Mi Yao stood on tiptoe and extended her middle finger to lift Xiao Chuan's jawline, which was sliding down as she spoke, not caring that this action would expose more of her bare skin, making it increasingly difficult for Xiao Chuan to control his gaze.
The skin, after being exposed to hot water, was more moisturized and radiant than usual. Not only her cheeks, but Mi Yao's entire body was flushed with a delicate pink, like a ripe peach that made one's mouth water uncontrollably at the sight of it.
Xiao Chuan's Adam's apple bobbed, his supposedly calm demeanor tinged with a deep, dark undertone.
"The Prince of Jiangning asked Yizhou for help in borrowing troops."
"Um?"
In the ambiguous atmosphere, every breath they took was sticky and tugged. Mi Yao thought Xiao Chuan was going to call her a little vixen, but unexpectedly he said something that left everyone scratching their heads.
“My father intends to borrow troops, and I will lead them to Jiangning.”
After gazing at each other for a moment, Mi Yao leaned back against the edge of the pond, thought about the title of Prince of Jiangning, and finally found such a person in her memory.
He was one of the original owner's suitors.
If it weren't for Xiao Chuan's interference, the original owner would have married the Prince of Jiangning, or become the military governor of Huainan.
"Do you remember who it was?"
Xiao Chuan observed Mi Yao's expression. She hadn't noticed when he reminded her, but now that she was truly distracted by thinking of a certain man, he felt a surge of jealousy and resentment.
This emotion made Xiao Chuan frown and wipe the moisture from his chin, as if erasing the traces Mi Yao had left on him, so that his mind would be less affected by her.
"Now I remember, what did you want to say when you brought this up, my lord? It couldn't be that you're blaming me for being too beautiful, could it?"
"I'm just telling you this. I married you because you're beautiful, so how could I complain that you're too beautiful?"
In truth, her beauty brought him a lot.
Before marrying her, he never thought about his shortcomings. Others called him Zhao Tianhe's vicious dog, and he was happy to be Zhao Tianhe's sharp blade.
He never imagined that Zhao Tianhe would see him as someone with both courage and intelligence, but lacking ambition.
He felt that his intention to kill Chang Xuanke was a calculated move. He believed that Chang's death would not affect the situation, but his life would only cause occasional minor troubles for Yizhou.
But Zhao Tianhe said that he had finally grown up and learned to possess and protect his feelings. He was not disappointed by Zhao Tianhe's emotional behavior, but rather felt that Zhao Tianhe was more courageous than before and planned to groom him as the successor of Yizhou.
Xiao Chuan stared into Mi Yao's soft and beautiful eyes, which is why his momentary impulse because of her led him to a higher position and greater power.
Even so, some outsiders still call her a femme fatale, unaware that beauty can inspire courage in heroes.
"What does the young master wish to say to me?"
Seeing that Xiao Chuanguang was looking at her without speaking, Mi Yao had no interest in bathing under the gaze of others, and asked somewhat impatiently.
"There's nothing to say."
He mentioned the Prince of Jiangning on a whim, and that was that. He wasn't curious about what the Prince of Jiangning had been like with her, since she was his woman now anyway.
Chang Xuanke died, and then came the Prince of Jiangning. Huan Guanbin is also wandering around outside. Who knows how many more will be brought here in the future? They will let him know how beautiful she is, one in a million. If he doesn't want her to be taken away, besides offering her gold and silver to nourish her, he also needs to keep a close eye on her.
With nothing to say, Xiao Chuan stood up and began to take off his clothes. Mi Yao noticed that there was still a hint of fierceness in his eyes, but his movements were swift and decisive. She couldn't help but twitch her lips, thinking that he was just putting on an act, saying that he had chased after her to explain.
In reality, he didn't want to waste a single moment in the Xiao residence, so he wanted to chase after her and was desperately craving meat.
Disliking Xiao Chua's appearance, after he went into the water, Mi Yao used the buoyancy of the water to lift her feet up repeatedly, her nail-painted toes constantly sliding past his lips, her gaze both alluring and provocative.
After several attempts, her competitive spirit vanished only when Xiao Chuan finally opened his mouth and touched her toes, revealing a smug expression in her eyes and brows.
However, her smugness didn't last long, because the next moment Xiao Chuan pressed her neck tightly and kissed her lips fiercely, transferring that musky fragrance into her mouth.
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