Chapter 105 It's Not That He's Indispensable
Wei Cheng couldn't hear the phrase "new place." She looked at Qin Shaozong, not only surprised that he hadn't matched the name, but also at his... condition.
The man, who was over eight feet tall, wore a black robe and had his black hair tied up with a crown. His face was normal, and he was heroic and spirited. A ring-pommel sword hung at his waist, and his presence was as heavy as a mountain. He did not look weak or injured at all.
Not injured?
Then why did the news that "Marquis Wu'an's life hangs by a thread" spread so widely before?
Could it be a fake? Or did Old Master Ding have miraculous healing skills and snatch him back from the brink of death?
Wei Cheng snapped out of her daze, quickly rose from her seat, and curtsied to Qin Shaozong, saying, "This concubine greets Your Majesty, wishing you good health and lasting blessings."
While bowing in greeting, Wei Cheng secretly observed the person at the head of the table and was surprised to find that the person did not move at all, as if the chair was glued to it.
The man, however, turned a blind eye, clearly out of habit.
I'm used to her casualness, her casualness in every aspect, regardless of whether there are outsiders present.
"Please sit down." Qin Shaozong walked over and sat down next to Dai Li. "It's been a long time since I've seen Chief Clerk Wei. How has he been lately?"
Chief Secretary Wei was the father of Wei Cheng and the Wei brothers.
Upon hearing this, Wei Cheng immediately looked worried, "My father has been unable to eat lately..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the man at the head of the table interjected, "That's probably because he's old and his teeth aren't good."
Dai Li's hand holding the teacup trembled, spilling a little tea that stained a small dark patch on her sleeve. She looked down at the cup, relieved that she hadn't had a chance to drink it yet.
Qin Changgeng's words are as unpleasant as ever.
She had barely finished muttering that to herself when the person next to her looked in her direction.
Dai Li also turned her head and met his eyes.
Qin Shaozong reached into the small purse at Dai Li's waist and pulled out a handkerchief. He used her handkerchief to wipe her sleeves. "Madam's clothes are wet. Why don't you go back to your room and change?"
Dai Li looked down.
It is indeed wet, but only a small area, less than a quarter of a palm's width. It might dry out in the wind if I sit here a little longer.
but……
"Alright then." Dai Li was happy to be at ease.
This Lady Wei's visit was not for any ulterior motive; the Wei family was related to him by marriage, so he left it to her to handle.
So, to Wei Cheng's astonishment, Dai Li left with two maids.
Wei Cheng gasped inwardly, finding it unbelievable that she didn't even turn her head.
Less than a cup of tea after Dai Li left, Qin Shaozong also left the main hall, citing illness, leaving only his youngest son to continue entertaining guests.
No sooner had Dai Li returned to the main courtyard than Qin Shaozong followed her in.
“Madam, my younger sister and her daughter will be coming to stay at your residence for a few days.” Qin Shaozong sat down next to her.
Dai Li gets a headache whenever she hears about visitors, and this one is even more important, as not only is she bringing her daughter to stay for a while, but she is also her own sister.
Given their current relationship, she could easily foresee that his younger sister might subtly ask her many questions after meeting her.
Dai Li rested her forehead on her hand, her eyelashes drooping low as she stared at the sandalwood table in front of her. "Qin Changgeng, why don't you go back to your Marquis's mansion? You can go back with Yun Ce and Qinian. When your sister comes, you can receive her there. I'm not one of you, I don't understand your intricacies, and I can't handle them."
After seeing the guest today, Dai Li pondered it over on the way back, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that he had ulterior motives.
Qin Shaozong was no ordinary man.
He made a special appearance, stayed for less than a moment, and then left. It seemed as if he was using Lady Wei as a medium to have her convey some kind of message to the outside world.
To be honest, Dai Li had absolutely no interest in the power struggles among the prominent families in Yuyang. She didn't care which family had the upper hand in the power struggle, nor was she interested in Qin Shaozong's future plans.
She had previously underestimated the situation, thinking that receiving a guest was simply a matter of treating them as an ordinary visitor. However, upon meeting them today, she sensed something unusual after only a few words.
She treated the other person as an ordinary visitor, but the other person was not simply there to chat.
"Madam, the main reason I brought Hongying back this time is so that she can recognize people." Qin Shaozong held her other hand.
Dai Li tried to pull her hand away, "What do you mean by acknowledging someone? Your sister is married and living in another county. According to your local customs, she probably won't come back more than a few times a year. Why bother me?"
“Indeed, I won’t be able to come back many times, but I still need to recognize the mistress of the Junhou Mansion.” Qin Shaozong inserted his long fingers between hers, interlocking his fingers with her fair and soft hand.
Dai Li was stunned. When she realized what he meant, she had just been weakly withdrawing her hand, but in an instant, as if she had been bitten by a snake, she pulled back with lightning speed.
Qin Shaozong hadn't expected her reaction to be so strong. He instinctively tried to grab her, but could only manage to grasp her fingertips.
He held onto those pinkish-white fingertips tightly, his dark palm like a tiger that had seized its prey, biting down hard and pulling them back before swiftly opening its jaws wide to completely engulf them.
"Dai Li, what do you mean?" He stared intently at her.
He knew perfectly well what he was asking; he could easily understand why she had recoiled as if she'd seen a ghost.
She was unwilling to marry him and avoided the position of mistress of the Marquis's mansion like the plague!
He held Dai Li's hand tightly, his scorching and sharp gaze fixed on her, as if trying to melt her.
She wasn't oblivious, but she still didn't look at him, keeping her head down and staring at the table as if she could see a flower on it.
"Dai Li!" He rarely called her by her full name.
Every time he shouted like that, it meant he had something extraordinary to tell her.
Dai Li's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she finally turned to look at Qin Shaozong, her eyes filled with deep helplessness. "Qin Changgeng, that's not good."
When she said she "would not become a concubine," it was not only a fundamental principle for someone with a modern soul, but also an explanation she had no choice but to give when she was pestered by Mo Yanyun.
Not becoming a concubine was just the basic requirement; it didn't mean that once she was satisfied, she could get married. She had never even considered marrying a native-born, feudal man.
Ultimately, their views differed.
Some might think these two words carry little weight and are harmless. But that's not the case. Differences in opinions are like scattering a handful of sand, soil, and seeds between two people; initially, they may seem insignificant.
As the days go by, those discomforts and conflicts will grow wildly like weeds, eventually growing into a towering tree that neither side can tolerate or ignore.
A thousand years separate the ancients from her ideas, like a huge chasm.
She couldn't accept the traditional Confucian virtues of obedience to her husband and the idea of having multiple wives and concubines with her man; Qin Shaozong also couldn't understand the concept of lifelong fidelity and why he should show respect to women of vastly different social status.
These are all unsolvable problems.
All she wanted now was to get rid of the Gu worms on Zhouzhou's body as soon as possible. As for the others, whether they were his relatives or the concubines in his backyard, as long as they didn't linger in front of her, she could bury her head in the sand like an ostrich and endure it for a while, considering how much effort he had put into caring for Zhouzhou.
"What's wrong with that?" Qin Shaozong asked in a deep voice.
If someone had told him a year ago that he would go to great lengths to set up a scheme against a group of prominent families in Yuyang, just to break his promise to marry a woman from the Wei family, he would have laughed at that person for talking nonsense.
If someone were to tell him that the young lady he had presented to him as the mistress of the Marquis's mansion was disdainful of him and had even rejected him at the first opportunity, he would be furious and twist that person's head off to use as a wine vessel.
However, now, Qin Shaozong feels nothing but indescribable depression, besides his absurdity.
“We’re not a good match,” Dai Li simply said.
He pressed further, "Your husband will likely never see you again; what difference is there between him and being dead? And my position as wife is vacant. You are a widow and I am a widower; how can we not be incompatible?"
“It’s not just this issue. There are millions of widows and widowers in the world. If they can be paired up simply because they are widowed, it would be too absurd and arbitrary.” As he finished speaking, Dai Li clearly saw the veins on the side of his neck throbbing.
Qin Shaozong felt a surge of anger rush to his head, and his rage exploded in his chest, forming countless sharp spikes that made him almost vomit blood.
random.
She actually said "whatever"!
He forcefully suppressed his anger. "The Wei family's affairs are being dealt with, the renovation of the Marquis's mansion is on the agenda, and the concubines in the back courtyard have their own places to go. Madam, you asked me, which of the above is arbitrary?"
He knew that Peach Blossom Spring was no ordinary place; her hands had almost no calluses, indicating that she did not engage in manual labor.
A woman who is wealthy, knowledgeable, intelligent, and extremely beautiful is quite proud, and the chances of her sharing a husband with another woman are very small.
Besides, with her around, there's no point in keeping Li Ji and Du Ji. Let them go; let them go eat somewhere else's rice.
Dai Li froze, then suddenly remembered something. Back on the ship, Di had heard that Marquis Wu'an had made an agreement with the Wei family that if he wanted to remarry, he could only marry a woman from the Wei family.
He also said that his concubines had their own places to go.
Could they have been laid off?
Dai Li admitted that she was not unmoved that a man who had been living in a feudal environment since birth could go to such lengths for her.
She admitted that she liked Qin Shaozong now, but it was a very superficial attraction, purely physical. It was simply because the man was strong enough, skilled enough, and compatible with her in bed.
This kind of superficial affection is replaceable; if it's not him, it could be someone else. There's really no reason why he's indispensable.
Moreover, in this era, there was only the concept of divorce, not separation. The system of separation was not formally written into law until the Tang Dynasty, where it was officially recognized and protected.
Qin Shaozong is passionate about her now, but what about in the future? She doesn't doubt his sincerity, but sincerity is fickle.
"Qin Changgeng, let's not talk about this for now, okay? The Gu poison in Zhouzhou hasn't been removed yet, I don't have the mind to think about anything else right now," Dai Li said in a low voice.
Her voice was very soft, like the soft clouds in the sky with light rain, or the wind blowing across the windowsill.
The fire in Qin Shaozong's chest churned several times, burning his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs with pain.
The constant chirping of birds outside the window only made Qin Shaozong feel more annoyed.
This is so damn annoying.
The man took a deep breath and then exhaled. He was not a rash and impulsive teenager. He had the composure that came with his age and knew very well that there were some things that could be said in jest, but absolutely could not be said now.
The fox was already unhappy, and if she were to say something hurtful to her, she probably wouldn't even want to peek out of her hole anymore.
“Alright, let’s talk about it again after Qin Yanzhou recovers.” He compromised.
Dai Li looked at him in surprise.
Qin Shaozong was amused by Dai Li's look.
In her eyes, was he such a tyrannical and autocratic person?
Dai Li saw the fire in his eyes flare up, and opened her mouth to explain, but the large hand that had been holding her suddenly pulled her away forcefully.
With a gasp from Dai Li, the smoky purple ribbon of her dress billowed out in a graceful arc, and she fell into the arms of the man beside her. He held her waist with one hand, lifted her chin with the other, and leaned down to kiss her.
The kiss was undoubtedly filled with anger; the flames that had been raging and roaring within Qin Shaozong's chest seemed to have burned through the point of contact.
Dai Li was wrapped around him, bitten, and sucked. Her back was pressed against his long arm, and her front was pressed tightly against his.
On a bright afternoon, the room was perfectly lit, every detail clearly visible. And as always, he didn't close his eyes while kissing.
Those long, narrow brown eyes were fixed on her, and compared to before, they held a heavy, unyielding emotion, like thick ink.
Dai Li lowered her eyelids slightly, not completely closing them, but only pressing her gaze away from Qin Shaozong's.
Suddenly, he abruptly ended the kiss, stepped back slightly, but his long arms remained tightly wrapped around her.
"We can discuss that later, but first, Madam, grant me one request." His breathing was heavy, and his chest heaved violently, whether from lingering anger or suppressed rage, it was hard to tell.
Dai Li felt it might be a combination of both, but she turned her head away, "I already gave you so much before, why do you want more?"
She was referring to the many things she agreed to on the bed when he caught her in Nanyang County.
“Not those.” He moved closer and kissed her round earlobe, first kissing it, then taking it into his mouth, rubbing it twice with the tip of his tongue, and then gently biting it with his canine teeth.
A tingling, itchy sensation spread from her ears to the back of her head and then to the top of her head, bringing a shiver like an electric shock. Dai Li couldn't break free, so she could only say, "Tell me first."
“Madam, please agree first,” he said.
Dai Li really couldn't figure out what this person was up to. If we were to talk about serious matters, this wasn't the time to discuss serious matters.
As for matters in bed, she had already agreed to it beforehand.
Dai Li pursed her lips and remained silent.
Qin Shaozong stepped back slightly, turned her around, cupped her chin with his palm, and gently pinched her fair cheeks with two fingers, causing her red lips to open slightly with a "pop." "Speak, say it."
Dai Li: "...Alright then."
"My wife calls me 'husband'." He then revealed his true intentions.
Author's Note: Here I am! [starry-eyed]
Please, please provide nutrient solution. [Hands clasped in prayer]
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