Chapter 22
The morning's farce ended with Xiao Chuan slamming the door and leaving.
Mi Yao thought Xiao Chuan would at least back down and apologize, but who knew he was such a bad person that he just left.
Wiping away imaginary tears, Mi Yao patted Xiao Shan: "They're all gone, let's not cry anymore."
Xiao Shan hadn't yet mastered the skill of faking tears; her crying was genuine, stemming from her fear that Xiao Chuan would bully Mi Yao.
Seeing Mi Yao's relaxed and carefree smile, and hearing what Mi Yao said, she seemed to understand something in her daze. She sniffled a couple of times and stopped crying, but looked at Mi Yao with tears still on her face and a wronged expression.
"Okay, okay, next time if I pretend to cry, I'll give you a look and you'll know what to do, so you'll pretend with me."
Mi Yao coaxed the little radish, completely unaware that there was anything wrong with teaching the child this way.
The skill of crying should be used freely when you're a child. It won't work as you get older. Even though she's so beautiful, that brute Xiao Chuan can ignore her.
Xiao Chuan closed the door but did not leave immediately. Naturally, the crying inside the house stopped abruptly as soon as he stepped out the door.
He held back for a long time before he turned around and kicked the door open, wanting to see if he would cry again when he turned back.
Mi Yao hadn't forgotten that Xiao Chuan had mentioned yesterday that he was going to the military governor's residence to pay his respects to Zhao Tianhe.
Having appeased Xiao Shan, she dressed herself up in less than fifteen minutes, took a piece of osmanthus cake and ate it as she walked, then went to the door of Xiao Chuan's study to invite him out.
When Xiao Chuan came out, Mi Yao had just finished eating the last bite. She smiled at Xiao Chuan with her mouth closed, as if the farce in the room just now was an illusion.
Xiao Chuan found her smile an eyesore, so he stepped forward and walked faster and faster, clearly unwilling to walk with her.
Mi Yao was happy to relax and trailed behind him to start eating her second piece of osmanthus cake. However, after leaving the second gate, she saw Xiao Chuan heading straight for the stable, which made her a little worried. She could shamelessly ask to ride a horse with Xiao Chuan, but Xiao Chuan probably wouldn't agree.
Just then, the coachman drove the carriage over. As soon as they exited the gate, Mi Yao heard the sound of hooves, lifted the curtain, and smiled radiantly at Xiao Chuan: "My lord is so thoughtful, he actually had the carriage prepared so early."
"Sit still."
Xiao Chuan disliked the attention from passersby, so he took out the sword from his waist and pressed down on her hand that was lifting the brocade curtain.
The icy chill emanating from the scabbard made Mi Yao pout and glare at Xiao Chua.
Xiao Chuan coldly withdrew his gaze, intending to spur his horse and leave first, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed that many people were gathered on the other side of the carriage, seemingly intending to move with it.
When Xiao Chuan noticed a man with a vacant stare and drool at the corner of his mouth, he pulled on the reins and spurred his horse to the other side. Just then, the curtain suddenly fell and swayed in the wind.
After lowering the curtain for a while, Mi Yao felt it was about time, so she lifted a small corner of it. As soon as she leaned closer, her gaze met Xiao Chu's murderous eyes without warning. Mi Yao was startled and took a step back, patting her chest.
"What's wrong, Madam?"
Seeing Mi Yao suddenly retreat, Shi Ya quickly helped her up.
What else could it be but a ghost?
The carriage window wasn't level with Xiao Chuan's height, and it's unclear how Xiao Chuan managed to catch her just as she lifted the curtain to scare her.
The thought that Xiao Chuan might have been bent over near the carriage window just to scare her, and the image of him looking silly with his backside sticking out on horseback, made Mi Yao laugh again.
However, her joy didn't last long.
The carriage suddenly stopped, and she thought they had arrived. But the next moment, the tall Xiao Chuan lifted the curtain and entered the carriage. Their eyes met, and Mi Yao's smile froze.
"My lord, you're not riding a horse anymore?"
"I won't ride it."
"What about the horse? Should we just leave it on the road?"
"It's different from you; it's smart, knows the way, and obediently follows behind the car."
As soon as Xiao Chua finished speaking, Mi Yao let out a heavy snort.
"There are many beauties, but their thoughts are written on their faces. It's rare to find a silly beauty who is completely obedient to her husband. My husband knows I'm silly, so you should spoil me more in the future."
Where did this fallacy come from?
There are clearly more fools than smart people in this world, but in Mi Yao's words, fools are rare and should be cherished.
Xiao Chuan glanced at Mi Yao's constantly opening and closing mouth, too lazy to argue with her: "Shut up."
The carriage, drawn by two horses and adorned with emerald canopies and pearl tassels, had a spacious interior, but Xiao Chuan was so large that he was equivalent to two Mi Yaos.
So after he got in the car, Shiya got out and walked.
Mi Yao didn't want to get out of the car and walk, but she also didn't want to stay in this cramped space with Xiao Chuan, so they silently stared at each other.
So she leaned against him and nestled into his arms.
Xiao Chuan thought she had some trick up her sleeve, but she didn't move. He looked down and found that she had already closed her eyes to rest, clearly using him as a cushion.
I wonder if she and her lover also interacted in this way.
It must have started out the same way. Unlike back in Jingzhou, when she had called that scholar a bastard, he still clung to her and stood in her way, determined to take her away.
She may not be considered particularly intelligent, but she's also not stupid; she knows how to assess situations and make choices that are advantageous to herself.
A beautiful, obedient woman who is intelligent but doesn't like to use her brains can be won over with gold and jewels.
She lived up to her description of a silly beauty.
*
Having inhaled the fragrance emanating from Mi Yao all the way, Xiao Chuan stepped forward upon arriving at the Jiedushi's residence, wanting to clear the scent from his nose.
However, after only a few steps, a strong and complex fragrance of perfume wafted over, not as pleasant as the warm, musky scent emanating from Mi Yao.
"Ninth Brother, Ninth Sister-in-law."
Madam Pan bowed to the two of them, saying, "Father knew that Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister-in-law were coming, so he waited in the main hall early this morning, hoping to see you as soon as possible."
As she spoke, Madam Pan naturally stood beside Xiao Chuan. "That day, when Hu Tou and Er Lang were fighting, I carefully inquired about the whole story. Er Lang wasn't lying. Hu Tou is spoiled rotten by his grandmother. He doesn't admit his mistakes. I've already given him a good scolding."
Xiao Chuan gave a casual "hmm," clearly not caring about the right or wrong of the matter.
Seeing this, Madam Pan lowered her eyes and took out a handkerchief to cover her eyes: "Although Hu Tou is the child of my ten months of pregnancy, Granny Ma is stubborn. When I scold Hu Tou, she scolds me and even hits me. I had no choice but to ask my father to help me move out of the Ma family and stay temporarily in the magistrate's mansion. If I had chosen Ninth Brother back then, I wouldn't have become a widow in just one year and suffered such humiliation..."
Realizing she was rambling on and on, Madam Pan quickly covered her mouth and cautiously looked up to check Xiao Chuan's expression.
Seeing that Xiao Chuan's expression was normal, she didn't know if he didn't understand her hint or if he understood it but was deliberately pretending to be calm outside.
Thinking about it, Madam Pan turned around and looked at Mi Yao again.
Compared to Xiao Chua, Mi Yao, who was walking behind the two, was much more supportive. She listened attentively to what Madam Pan was saying, and when Madam Pan looked back, she appropriately showed a surprised expression.
"I shouldn't be saying these things, but seeing Ninth Brother get married makes me nostalgic for the past. When we were young, Ninth Brother was the best to me."
Although Xiao Chuan did not know when he had ever treated Pan Shi well, he still said, "If you do not wish to stay in the Ma family, you can get a divorce. Your father will find you another good husband."
Hearing Xiao Chuan speak, Madam Pan was excited, but her face was full of sorrow: "Father mentioned this matter, but I am afraid that I will choose the wrong person again. If Ninth Brother has a good man like Ninth Brother by his side, he must help me find a match."
Pan's eyes were eager. Xiao Chuan paused, his gaze lingering on Pan's face for a moment before turning to Mi Yao, who was dawdling behind him: "Even someone without legs can walk faster than you."
"That's because a person without legs uses a chariot, so the wheels naturally run faster than a person can walk. Besides, as for having no legs or having beautiful legs, does my lord prefer someone without legs or someone with beautiful legs?"
As she spoke, Mi Yao took a couple of quick steps and stopped on Xiao Chuan's other side. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve, teasingly asking, "My lord, have you had enough of looking at others and now you want to see me?"
With her head tilted back, Mi Yao tried to imitate Madam Pan's demeanor, but before she could do so, Xiao Chuan turned away and stopped looking at her.
Seeing that Madam Pan couldn't control her expression and that her gaze held a hint of resentment, Mi Yao knew that Madam Pan was unwilling to put on an act in front of her again after being humiliated by her last time. She winked at her.
They both want to be pampered wives, so it's a no-brainer. Let's not laugh at each other.
*
Mi Yao had seen Zhao Tianhe during the wedding ceremony.
At the time, I thought he was a handsome, somewhat haggard older man with a refined appearance.
Now, when we meet again, he is still a refined and handsome old man, but he looks much more haggard. His half-white hair, which he doesn't try to hide with a hat, makes him look ten years older than he actually is.
According to the timeline in the book, Zhao Tianhe was already outwardly strong but inwardly weak at this point, suffering from old ailments and relying on medicine to prolong his life.
Yizhou, which has been peaceful for decades, is about to descend into chaos again.
However, none of this mattered to her. As long as she didn't do anything reckless, Xiao Chuan's backyard was always the safest place.
To avoid suspicion, Zhao Tianhe didn't say much to her. After giving her a gift, he told her to live a good life with Xiao Chuan and take good care of Xiao Chuan's three children. Then he led Xiao Chuan to the study and had Madam Pan and her concubines keep her company.
The book says that after Zhao Tianhe's wife and children passed away, he did not remarry. Mi Yao thought he was a rare and devoted lover, but she never expected that he had a concubine.
Zhao Tianhe's concubine, Fang, was around thirty years old. Her appearance was not outstanding, but her attire was extremely extravagant. She wore two thick, red-gold ruyi hairpins, and a gilded comb inlaid with jade and hibiscus ruyi patterns was inserted in front of her hair. The fabric of her dress was also of the finest quality, almost the same as the top-grade Shu brocade that she had ordered from the supplier yesterday, which she couldn't afford to buy in large quantities even though she had the money.
They said they were just keeping her company, but after Zhao Tianhe left, the two of them tacitly started playing a game of exclusion, avoiding her gaze and indulging in conversations that only they could have.
They didn't want to take her along, and she was too lazy to get involved. When Xiao Chuan finished talking with Zhao Tianhe and came looking for her, she immediately stood up, walked quickly to Xiao Chuan, and shook his clothes to urge him to hurry up.
Xiao Chuan nodded to the two people inside the house, then left the courtyard and asked Mi Yao, "What is it?"
"Your childhood sweetheart didn't get the best out of you, so she took it out on me."
Mi Yao solemnly complained to Madam Pan: "You must not get involved with her. She doesn't look honest at all. If she were beautiful and cunning, she would be willing to go to great lengths for Xiao Lang, which is a kind of romance between men and women. But she is not worth it. If Xiao Lang gets involved with her, there will inevitably be unrest in the household."
Xiao Chuan glanced down at her, realizing that she was praising him indirectly again.
As a teenager, he was warned by Zhao Tianhe that lust for women could lead to trouble, so he never paid attention to women.
Pan was slightly different. When Zhao Tianhe mentioned marrying Pan to him, he paid some attention to her. In his eyes, Pan was not extremely beautiful, but she was outstanding compared to the women around her.
But in Mi Yao's words, Pan's appearance was not worth mentioning.
Xiao Chuan's gaze fell on Mi Yao's face. He understood her standards of conduct, but he didn't want to hear her praise Mi Yao by putting down one person while praising the other, describing herself as a clever, cute, and lovable queen of flowers.
"Afraid that the Pan family will compete with you for her, what about the Fang family?" Xiao Chuan noticed that Fang's mood suddenly darkened after she learned Fang's identity.
"I thought the magistrate was infatuated, but I never expected him to have a concubine."
Faced with Xiao Chuan's scrutinizing gaze, Mi Yao was too lazy to lie and told the truth.
"Fang Shi only manages the inner courtyard for Father, and cannot be considered Father's woman."
After he finished explaining, Yu Nu's eyes brightened considerably. Xiao Chuan disliked her meddling in everything, but knowing that her adoptive father was truly devoted, he put on a show of praise and emotion.
He opened his mouth and said, "Have you found the woman you mentioned the other day? I am not as devoted to my wife as my father is. If you can't tolerate her, then find someone who can for me."
After a pause, Xiao Chuan glanced at Mi Yao's beautiful face. "My appearance can only be better than yours, not worse."
Their eyes met, and Mi Yao looked completely innocent. This wasn't meant to make things difficult for her, this wonderful wife.
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