Chapter 73 [VIP]
When Xiao Chuan returned to the mansion several months later, he almost doubted his memory and thought he had misremembered the place where he had spent half a month in seclusion.
Some children in the yard saw him and were too scared to move, but most of the children didn't even notice him and their laughter and noise rose and fell.
Xiao Chuan stood outside the threshold and glanced back at the locust tree in front of the door.
He couldn't tell anything from that one glance, since he had spent most of the past two weeks in the room with Mi Yao and couldn't remember whether the tree at the gate was a locust tree or a willow tree.
He couldn't remember the house clearly, but he recognized the people there.
Where did all these children come from?
Xiao Chuan asked the guards at the gate.
“Governor, these are all children saved by the lady. She truly has the heart of a bodhisattva.”
"She saved him?"
Xiao Chuan suspected that the "madam" his subordinates were talking about had nothing to do with Mi Yao. He knew her; she was kind, but she wasn't that kind of bodhisattva to make her suffer from insomnia and hunger.
There were at least twenty or thirty children running around in the yard, and judging from the noise inside the house, there were probably quite a few people there as well.
Where is she?
"The lady recently moved to a new place and is now living with her aunt and uncle in a courtyard on the street."
Hearing that she had given up the place and run away, Xiao Chuan finally felt reassured that his wife was still his wife.
"Brother Xiao, your wife must really like children, right? But so many children, it's quite a shock."
Miao Xueling, who had just gotten off the carriage, had been observing Xiao Chuan's expression. Seeing that he was unwilling to even step over the threshold when he saw so many children, she smiled innocently at him.
Xiao Chuan glanced at her, and before she could speak, he had forgotten that he still needed to settle her in: "Are there any vacant rooms here?"
"Yes, there are vacant rooms available. If you find it too noisy, you can go to my yard next door. There are only a few young girls living there with me."
The child in the room was awakened by a nightmare. Xiao Rou went to comfort the child, and after a while, she heard a servant say that Xiao Chuan had returned. She rushed over and picked up where Xiao Chuan was going. After speaking, she met Xiao Chuan's cold expression and forced a smile: "It's good that you're back safely. My sister-in-law and I have been thinking about you these days, as have Shan'er and the others. Yesterday, Liang'er was asking when you would come back, saying that you had been gone for too long."
"Is this the eldest sister?"
Miao Xueling had inquired about Xiao Chua's family situation and learned that he had no parents, and besides his adopted brother's son and daughter, he also had a married older sister.
Although Xiao Rou looked much older than Xiao Chuan, they did resemble each other somewhat. Miao Xueling asked as she took Xiao Rou's arm, "Thank you for thinking of me, elder sister. If you don't mind, can I live with you and keep you company?"
"Who are you?"
She had no objection to having her accommodation given to someone else, since the place she was living in was originally given to her by Xiao Chuan.
But seeing such a beautiful young woman by her brother's side, and her affectionate and ingratiating manner, made her feel uneasy.
In the past, she would have been too embarrassed to ask directly, but Qi Niang kept nagging her that she could only live a good life if she followed Mi Yao, so even though she was worried that Xiao Chuan would think she was being nosy, she didn't dare to leave it at that.
After asking the question, Xiao Rou pulled her arm away and took a half step back to make her stance clear.
Miao Xueling was still smiling, but anger was rising in her heart. She didn't mind that Xiao Rou looked like a servant and smelled of milk, but Xiao Rou still dared to look down on her.
“Brother Xiao is my savior. If it weren’t for Brother Xiao saving me, I’m afraid I would have lost my life.”
Miao Xueling looked at Xiao Chuan with admiration, "I have never seen such a magnificent young man as Brother Xiao. He is the most powerful hero in the world."
"puff."
Xiao Chuan was much taller than Miao Xueling. When she noticed Xiao Chuan glancing at the top of her head, she thought Xiao Chuan was embarrassed to look at her. When she heard laughter behind her, she turned around and was stunned.
"Come pick me up?"
Xiao Chuan looked Mi Yao over from head to toe. Seeing that she hadn't lost or gained weight and was still the same as usual, a smile appeared on his face. "Where are Xiao Shan and the others? Why aren't they bothering you?"
"Is this your sister-in-law? She's so beautiful. This is the first time I've ever seen a woman as beautiful as her. Brother Xiao is so lucky."
Before Mi Yao could reply, Miao Xueling interrupted her. Mi Yao withdrew her hand even faster than Xiao Rou, and took two steps back, afraid that Miao Xueling would touch her.
Miao Xueling looked at Xiao Chuan with a wronged expression, her obvious disdain making her feel aggrieved.
"Does my sister-in-law think I'm unlucky and that I'm ruining her luck?"
Upon hearing that Miao Xueling was also in bad shape, Mi Yao took another step back.
Noticing her movement, Miao Xueling looked even more aggrieved. She hadn't expected that Mi Yao was even worse at interpersonal relationships than rumored.
She inquired about Xiao Chuan, and naturally, she also inquired about Xiao Chuan's wife.
Seeing the information she had her people investigate, she really didn't understand why Xiao Chuan would marry Mi Yao as his legal wife. Apart from her beauty, Mi Yao had no advantages whatsoever, and she could argue with people in any situation.
Even if she was lucky, luck still wouldn't bring her a good ending. Her temper was so uncouth that when Xiao Chuan took over as the military governor of Jiannan, Mi Yao...
Seeing that she was beautiful, she deliberately complimented her against her will today.
Who would have thought that he was jealous of her youthful appearance and was therefore wary of her?
While Miao Xueling was still pondering, Xiao Chuan strode towards Mi Yao, looked her up and down, and only after he had seen enough did he fix his gaze on her face, staring intently at her as if he wanted to see her as much as he could in the past few months.
Having seen blood for several months, Xiao Chu's light brown eyes were now tinged with a bestial crimson.
If it were just that, it would be fine, but because he saved Cao Yatou's brother, he had witnessed the beastly eyes of others—the intimidating gaze, the wild, predatory look, and the primal desire within them. His eyes seemed to want to kill her.
Thinking about how she couldn't go out for the past two weeks, Mi Yao shivered.
She thought he was just overly excited last time and was looking for an outlet on her, and that he would calm down and regain his senses. Why did he still seem so aroused now?
"Why did you keep so many children at home? Is it because I told you I don't like children, and you're deliberately trying to annoy me?"
The words were sharp, but Xiao Chuan's tone was relaxed, and the smile on his lips didn't seem like a sneer.
When Miao Xueling heard Xiao Chuan's words, she thought she had a chance, but when she saw his expression, she couldn't help but bite her lip.
She was very satisfied with Xiao Chua, from his appearance to his future prospects; the only thing she was dissatisfied with was his personality.
She had seen him smile these past few days, and whenever he did, it was a cold, bloodthirsty smile that meant someone was about to die.
He hadn't shown her such a relaxed expression in the past few days.
"If I were to sacrifice so much just to spite you, it would be too much for me; I'd even give up my house."
Mi Yao said irritably, then looked at the unmistakable scar on his neck and said softly, "You've worked hard."
Although the scar has scabbed over and turned into a red mark, its size shows that it must have been a laceration when the wound was inflicted.
She always felt that Xiao Chuan was the male lead and would survive to the end, but after witnessing too many life-and-death situations these days, she couldn't treat Xiao Chuan's journey to the battlefield as an easy game of killing a boss.
There's no need to send anyone out to inquire; for the past few months, the people have been talking about where the fighting has started and who has died.
First, there was internal strife in Yizhou, where a branch of the Zhao family joined forces with the Ji family of Jingzhou to seize power. Before the situation was quelled, Yizhou also descended into chaos.
Zhao Tianhe's two adopted sons colluded with the Tibetans and took the opportunity to seize land and cities.
As for Xiao Chuan's whereabouts, it was initially said that he had been assassinated by the Zhao family, but later it was said that he had betrayed Zhao Tianhe and conspired with his adopted son to serve Tibet.
Just a few days ago, the news circulating in the market changed, saying that he had won a great victory over the Tibetan army, snapped the heads of his two sworn brothers who had betrayed Jiannan, and displayed their severed heads around his neck.
Thinking of the rumors, Mi Yao gestured on Xiao Chuan's shoulder: "How did you hang your adopted brother's head? You hung one on each side, and you didn't just turn your head and kiss their hair."
You actually believe that?
Xiao Chuan had heard the rumors circulating in the city, such as that he liked to hang human heads as collars around his neck, and that he would break open the skulls of the dead and eat the brains raw after each murder.
"Why don't you believe it? The rumors outside are so detailed, describing how you wielded two axes and tore your foster brother apart."
"Since you're holding axes in both hands, why tear it apart by hand?"
Knowing that Mi Yao's teasing would never end, and given that he had many things he didn't want others to hear, Xiao Chuan said, while pulling her wrist toward the house at the street corner: "You specifically brought this up with me because you think it's cool to have me hang it around your neck? If that's the case, how about I hang it on you instead of them?"
So all you want to do is kiss my hair?
Mi Yao lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear her. Xiao Chuan narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to Mi Yao, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by a woman's voice that sounded like she was crying.
"Brother Xiao, are you abandoning me? Do you find me troublesome? If that's the case, I might as well die with my mother, so that we can keep each other company on the road to the underworld..."
Miao Xueling covered her face and started crying as she spoke.
"Did you find this on the battlefield?"
Hearing Miao Xueling's cries, and knowing that this woman wouldn't behave if ignored, Mi Yao asked Xiao Chuan.
He's quite ambitious; he picked up Xiao Yi before, and now he knows how to pick up women.
Upon hearing the guard report that Xiao Chuan had returned, she thought about how Xiao Chuan had been working hard for months to earn merit so that she could live a good life. Without much hesitation, she got up from the bed to see him.
Because she arrived early, she overheard Xiao Rou asking who Miao Xueling was, and Miao Xueling gave an irrelevant answer, praising Xiao Chua.
Moreover, those words seemed familiar.
Seeing Miao Xueling's tearful, deliberately acted-out crying, Mi Yao blinked. Because Xiao Chuan had always given her a good response, she hadn't thought her tricks were weak before. But now that she had met someone like her, she felt that her green tea skills were not very good.
“Her father was an old acquaintance of my father. My father knew I was coming to pick you up, so he asked me to take her away.”
Xiao Chuan paused, afraid that he hadn't explained himself clearly enough, "They hadn't exchanged more than a few words. When her mother died in front of her, she didn't cry as pitifully as she does now."
Suspecting she had misheard, Miao Xueling, tears streaming down her face, stared stiffly at Xiao Chuan: "Brother Xiao, what did you just say?"
She was willing to hear those harsh words again, but Xiao Chuan was too lazy to say anything more. After making sure Mi Yao heard him, he instructed the guards at the gate: "Prepare a place for her to stay, and don't let her wander off."
"Brother Xiao, I'd like to live in the same house as you and your wife?"
Seeing that Xiao Chuan was about to leave with Mi Yao after speaking, Miao Xueling ignored what she had just heard and chased after him, sobbing, "Brother Xiao, didn't Uncle Zhao ask you to take good care of me? I'll be scared if you're not by my side."
Hearing Miao Xueling put on a pitiful, helpless act while subtly threatening him, Mi Yao raised an eyebrow at Xiao Chuan, only to hear him say coldly, "Then be afraid."
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