Chapter 48 [VIP]
It was already past midnight when the two disembarked from the painted boat. The lanterns on the road were still bright, but the passersby had changed from happy families to staggering drunkards.
The stench of decay spread with the wind.
After disembarking, Mi Yao initially wanted to enjoy the night view and admire the dazzling stars, but she immediately lost interest when she heard men laughing or crying abruptly from the streets.
Seeing that her nose and upper lip were almost wrinkled together, Xiao Chuan handed her the wooden lotus lantern carved from the edge of the carriage: "Do you want to light it?"
The lifelike wooden petals, with a ring of tiny fluorite fragments inlaid in the center, unfold layer by layer when the wick is lit, just like lotus flowers blooming in June.
This lamp was more ingenious and unique than any lamp she had seen that day.
Mi Yao took it and examined it: "Was this also prepared by my brother?"
"The little trinkets made by Ming Zijiang were delivered to my office without my request."
Upon hearing this, Mi Yao glanced at Xiao Chuan and thought he was really boring.
She was wrong. It wasn't that Yu Shaoyang had prepared it, but rather that the words he said to her were so difficult to say that he preferred to go around in circles rather than say them directly.
Unwilling to pay attention to the disgusting man, Mi Yao walked to the lakeside, squatted down, and put the lamp in her hand into the lake.
The other water lanterns had already drifted away with the current, and she watched as her lotus lantern was smoothly pushed towards the center of the lake without any obstruction, before she contentedly boarded the carriage to seek shelter from the wind.
"My lord, would you like to guess what I just wished for?"
Seeing that Xiao Chuan had also boarded the carriage, Mi Yao made room for him and then laid out a soft cushion next to him. She then lay down on the cushion and lazily leaned against his lap.
She tidied up and lay down very quickly. By the time Xiao Chuan lowered his eyes, a head with half-closed eyes and a sleepy look was already lying on his lap.
"Wish me to become a soft couch?"
Xiao Chuan twitched the corner of his mouth and casually replied.
“My lord’s guess is not wrong. I wish that my lord will treat me better in the future.”
As Mi Yao spoke, she reached out and grasped Xiao Chua's hand, then placed it on her head.
"I'm not the River God, what's the use of telling me the wishes you make when you release water lanterns?"
“My lord, what you say makes me think that I am not just going to be the wife of the River God, but I want to live with you for the rest of my life.”
Mi Yao grumbled unhappily, "Xiao Lang, tell me yourself, do you like me praying to your gods, or do you want to see me asking other men for things?"
If Mi Yao had viewed Xiao Chuan's face from a different angle, she would have noticed that his eyes darkened considerably after he finished speaking.
Xiao Chuan knew that Mi Yao's words were just empty talk, but he was still stirred by her coaxing words.
His gaze measured the spot between her head and the point where she was faintly agitated. If she behaved herself from now on, he wouldn't have to see her look terrified, and he wouldn't have to embarrass himself.
Mi Yao was used to Xiao Chuan's refusal to respond or show goodwill at crucial moments and was too lazy to argue with him, but she got angry when she felt his hand on her head, as if he were using her head as an object to hold.
"My lord, you don't care if I'm lying here like this and it's uncomfortable because my hair is pressing down on you, or if you can feel the hairpin in my hair poking you and making you uncomfortable, right?"
"Since you know you're making me uncomfortable, why aren't you getting up?"
Mi Yao was speechless at Xiao Chua's lack of understanding: "Hu Hu doesn't want to! Hu Hu wants to lean on my husband. I'm so uncomfortable that I even put my husband's hand on my hair, and my husband won't even help me take it off."
After Mi Yao finished acting coquettishly, she felt that she was being pretentious and was prepared for Xiao Chuan to push her away. But then she felt a loosening on her head, and the accessories adorning her hair were removed one by one.
Once the jade hairpin was removed, her hair, which had been piled up, suddenly fell down. Mi Yao squinted her eyes and sighed comfortably, "Xiao Lang is so kind. It would be even better if Xiao Lang could massage my scalp."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the big hand that was placed aside had started to move. The rough fingertips dug into the hair, touched it a few times clumsily, and then began to rub the gaps between the hair strands.
"That's it, Xiao Lang, your fingers feel so good..."
The frosted texture of his fingertips made contact with her sensitive scalp, causing Mi Yao to feel both itchy and comfortable. She let out a couple of moans, but then felt the heat on her head getting heavier, as if something was pressing against it. Only then did she grasp Xiao Chu's hand and shut her mouth.
After a moment, sensing that the danger had passed, Mi Yao turned to look at Xiao Chuan's expression.
"Why is my husband suddenly being so kind? Could it be that he really intends to become my god and grant my wishes?"
If she knew that his sincerity would bring about his wishes, her first wish would be for him to grant her ninety-nine more.
Xiao Chuan scoffed lightly, raised her hand and lifted the car curtain, letting the airflow carry away the rich fragrance that belonged only to her inside the car.
Knowing this, he asked Doctor Jiang for a piece of musk, wanting to find out the reason for this infertility.
After receiving the incense block, he sniffed it for a moment and recognized its fragrance.
However, its scent is not pure musk.
He smelled a sweeter, warmer scent emanating from her, like the fragrance of milk, summer flowers and herbs, or even a soft, fragrant pastry that he had once tasted that was quite delicious.
Even now, he still clearly remembers the strange expression on the old man's face when he smelled it.
His intention was to make the old man understand what other random medicinal herbs Mi Yao had put on her body besides musk.
To his surprise, the old man, with a troubled yet all-knowing expression, told him that just as animals attract each other by scent, if a man and a woman are attracted to each other, they will emit a scent that only they can smell.
This scent can be described as natural body fragrance, or it can be said to be a captivating, ethereal fragrance that men adore in women, bestowing upon them an intangible and unseen allure.
Upon hearing this explanation, Xiao Chuan's expression immediately changed.
Feeling that Old Man Jiang was not skilled enough to distinguish the medicinal herbs that produced the fragrance on Mi Yao's body, he stroked his beard and pretended to be a fortune teller, spouting nonsense.
He didn't take the doctor's words seriously, but he still remembered a few words. He had just let Mi Yao push her luck, and that's when he remembered this matter. He wanted to test how much truth the old man with poor skills had to say.
Now, with the cold wind blowing against his face, he was certain that it was Mi Yao's scent that was different; he had never given her any charm that was only for him.
He would feel annoyed when she bossed him around, rather than enjoy it.
When Mi Yao saw Xiao Chuan lower the curtain, her expression returned to its cold indifference, and the dark red in her eyes dimmed.
She knew that this was the safest thing for him, but she was a bad woman. On one hand, she felt that it was too troublesome for him to fall in love with her, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but take advantage of his naive feelings to ask for more benefits.
"Is my husband still angry? I thought we made up?"
Mi Yao reached out and touched Xiao Chu's hand, which was chilled by the wind, and intertwined her fingers with his. "My lord, could it be that you really have someone hidden in your heart?"
The question was instantly tinged with a burning blush by the atmosphere inside the car, as the two of them recalled what had happened on the pleasure boat.
Xiao Chuan reminded her that the rented pleasure boat was not clean. After hearing him admit his mistake, she wanted to leave. But who would have thought that although he lowered his head after admitting his mistake, he would take the initiative and keep her on the pleasure boat for another half an hour.
Since the soft couch was unusable, the two of them sat on chairs briefly, separated by their clothes. Looking back now, Mi Yao truly admired Xiao Chuan's waist and leg strength, which allowed him to hold her for so long, with only a few drops of sweat on his neck.
"Even if I hide it, what can you do about it?"
Xiao Chuan was clearly turning his back on them, denying his previous show of weakness as soon as he got off the ship.
Mi Yao snorted and released his hand: "I knew my husband had someone else in his heart. He won't let me kiss him anymore, and he won't keep his things."
Compared to Mi Yao's unfounded jealousy and fantasies about a woman having an affair with him, Xiao Chuan felt that she was simply being silly out of boredom.
But the hand that had been holding her soft hand was now empty, so Xiao Chuan could only argue with her: "If you haven't kissed enough yet, climb up and kiss me now."
Mi Yao was too lazy to move, and besides, she wasn't a cat or dog, so what did it mean to "climb up"?
"That's because I argued with you, and that's why you reluctantly agreed."
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt the light on her face dim. She saw Xiao Chuan telling her to climb up, but he himself "climbed down" and bent down to kiss her. Mi Yao rolled to the side to avoid him.
Having stood on the rocking boat twice, she not only suffered from back pain, but also from phantom stomach pain from looking at the screen too much. How could she let him do whatever he wanted?
"You took that thing out both times. Did you think it wasn't right for me to keep your things here and wanted to leave them for someone else?"
Even after dodging Xiao Chuan's kiss, Mi Yao continued to open and close her mouth, searching for his faults.
Xiao Chuan really didn't expect her to bring things up so openly. He had put his sweat on her plate, and she complained that it was too much and she couldn't stand it. Now that he had pulled it away, she had something to say.
"You have difficulty getting pregnant, not that you can't get pregnant, but if you do get pregnant, you are prone to miscarriage."
Xiao Chuan's indifferent voice carried a hint of mockery, probably thinking that these words would shut her up and stop her from making wild accusations.
But Mi Yao wasn't one to give up so easily. She paused for a moment before replying, "My lord is quite good to me, but if he's so good to me, why is he so different towards Da Lang, Er Lang, and Shan'er?"
What did I do to them?
"Do I need to say it? You're not treating them like your own children at all."
"If we don't have enough to eat and wear, whose children are we taking care of if not our own? I wasn't the one who gave them life and brought them into this world. I took them in and made them live. What more do you want from me?"
"Naturally, you should make them feel that you are their closest person, protecting them from the wind and rain, rather than letting the wind and rain blow straight into their heads."
“The Ma family has vanished without a trace in Yizhou, and the young master of the fourth branch of the Zhao family avoids Xiao Yi like the plague. Isn’t that enough? Besides, if you hadn’t appeared, I would have been their closest person.”
The reason for their closeness was not because he was good, but simply because they had no other choice but to be relatives.
So, it's my fault after all?
Ignoring Xiao Chuan's words about the compensation he would make afterward, Mi Yao got off the carriage and parted ways with him at the second gate. She lifted her skirt and walked towards the main room, saying, "Don't follow me."
Since she had said that, Xiao Chuan naturally didn't follow behind her.
Seeing that the lanterns she and her maid were carrying had all disappeared into the darkness, Xiao Chuan still did not move.
After a while, he went to the stable to get his horse. He rode on the road for a long time after leaving the mansion before he could finally shake off the stuffiness of being cramped in the narrow carriage.
Mi Yao's attitude struck him as odd. He knew perfectly well that his feelings for her were purely lustful and unrelated to love, but she and that old man Jiang had acted like mysterious fortune tellers, convinced that he was interested in her and willing to tolerate her.
Only when they were almost at the main house did Mi Yao dare to turn around and glance behind her to make sure that Xiao Chuan hadn't followed.
"Is Madam going to receive the garrison commander?"
Seeing Mi Yao turn around, the maid assumed she had had enough and regretted leaving first.
To everyone's surprise, Mi Yao immediately waved her hand, saying, "It's his own residence, what's there to accept?"
After returning to her room, washing up, and lying in bed, Mi Yao's mind was still filled with the image of Xiao Chuan's eyes, which were swirling with unspoken emotions. She usually thought he was someone who didn't show his emotions, but when it came to feelings, he was so obvious.
If the two were kissing or entwined, his gaze could be explained as lust, but when they were talking about something serious that should have made him angry, he looked at her like that.
Her phoenix eyes were filled with uncontrollable emotions.
Startled, she immediately tried to find a topic to argue with him to escape the situation, fearing that if she was even a step too late, his emotions would overflow from his eyes.
Hopefully, he can calm down after tonight and regain his cold, aloof attitude towards women. That way, it will be more interesting for her to tease him, taking advantage of his budding feelings for her.
If he were to abandon his outward arrogance and stop the back-and-forth maneuvering, and instead launch a direct attack, then it would be no fun at all.
No matter how humble he is, she will never like him.
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