Chapter 107 I've Long Loved You
The servants looked at Xie Mingyi with tears in their eyes. It was so good to have the right master. Unlike other cold-hearted landlords, they didn't treat them like human beings at all.
Supervisor Lin wanted to rush up and have a good talk with Xie Mingyi, but unexpectedly, a gleaming silver sword was placed next to his neck.
It was General Xiao. He had long disliked Supervisor Lin, who was arrogant, unruly, and completely ignorant of the meaning of respect.
Such a person wouldn't last long in the treacherous court; it was only because Minister Lin used him as a scapegoat.
Supervisor Lin trembled with fear, took the paper, and struggled to write his name on it.
Xie Mingyi said expressionlessly, "Don't forget to sign."
“This… there’s no ink pad in this desolate place, Miss Xie.”
General Xiao patted his shoulder with his sword, "How about I lend you a hand?"
Supervisor Lin glanced at the sharp object beside his neck, then quickly turned his head away, feeling dizzy. He knew he was in deep trouble this time, and if he didn't sign the document, he probably wouldn't be able to leave.
He gritted his teeth, bit his thumb until it bled, and, wincing in pain, pressed his handprint onto the paper.
"Is this acceptable?"
Xie Mingyi folded the paper and nodded in satisfaction. General Xiao also sheathed his sword and neatly put it back in its scabbard.
Supervisor Lin, though still a young man, seemed much more weathered by this incident. Before he could even mount his horse, a guard rushed over and whispered a few words to General Xiao.
"A message just arrived by carrier pigeon; weapons were found in the cabins of the Xu family's merchant ship, and also..."
General Xiao glanced at Supervisor Lin with a half-smile, "We also found a secret letter between the Xu family and Minister Lin. This matter has nothing to do with the Xie family. I'll head back now. Ladies and young ladies, please be careful when entering the city."
"General Xiao, please take care."
Watching the Imperial Guards rush away, the Xie family continued on their way.
Inside the carriage, Xie Mianmian covered her mouth and chuckled. Before returning home, she had told her father about the Lin family's possession of weapons, and she was afraid that her father had caught her red-handed.
With Mianmian around, no one can easily bully the Xie family. The child took a bite of the sweet and juicy orange segment, his eyes crinkling with laughter, his merits and fame hidden deep within.
The carriage passed through the bustling city and finally arrived at the Xie residence.
As soon as Xie Mianmian stepped off the carriage, a snow-white figure pounced on her. It was a wolf cub. The child awkwardly took it from her, saying, "Oh dear, you seem to have gained weight after just one day."
The python and the black wolf suppressed their excitement and quietly crouched to the side, but their tails, which were wagging wildly behind them and leaving afterimages, gave them away.
I miss him terribly if I don't see him for a day.
The black wolf came over again, gently nudged the child onto its back, and carried Xie Mianmian into the courtyard.
The wolf cub was so angry that it howled after him. When it grows up, it can carry Mianmian around too, hmph.
Xie Mianmian, holding the tip of the giant python's tail, mysteriously pulled a scale from her bosom.
"Da da! You'd never guess whose scales these are! Mianmian will tell you..."
The child, still excited, straddled the black wolf's back, waving his hands exaggeratedly and vividly telling the story of the mermaid.
The three, who had never seen the sea before, were completely taken aback.
Wen Shuwan watched the departing child, shook her head with amusement, and returned to her own courtyard.
Pushing open the door and entering the inner room, I was stunned by the messy bed, which was piled with clothes.
Wen Shuwan wondered if her house had been burgled.
She took a closer look and found that these were all her personal clothes, and next to her pillow was a rolled-up scroll.
What is this? Wen Shuwan picked up the scroll with her pale fingers, biting her lip nervously. It belonged to her husband. Should she look at it or not?
The scroll was slowly unfurled, and the first thing that caught the eye was a dark green dress. Wen Shuwan's pupils suddenly contracted; it was a woman!
Could this be the woman her husband had previously favored?
Half out of curiosity and half out of sadness, Wen Shuwan unfolded the painting completely. When she saw the woman's face in the painting, she covered her mouth in surprise.
The woman's radiant smile was something Wen Shuwan had never seen before, but the face painted on it was...herself?!
With a loud bang, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Xie Linyuan strode in. Seeing the painting in his wife's hand, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.
"Why are you back so soon?" Didn't we agree to stay for three days?
"Hmm." Wen Shuwan answered Xie Linyuan blankly, "Because pirates appeared, we came back early."
Xie Linyuan strode over, his broad hands examining Wen Shuwan's body. "Are you injured?" As he checked her, he subtly took the painting from her.
Wen Shuwan shook her head. "It's nothing, my husband. The person in this painting... is it me?" she asked, clutching Xie Linyuan's sleeve.
He didn't answer for a long time, but instead looked down at the side.
Wen Shuwan mustered her courage, stood on tiptoe, and wrapped her arms around Xie Linyuan's neck.
A pair of large, veiny, well-defined hands instinctively reached out and gently protected his wife's slender waist.
"My husband, tell me, who was the woman you truly loved before?"
Xie Linyuan looked at his coquettish wife, his throat tightened, though he didn't show it on his face, his ears were already bright red.
Knowing he could not avoid it, he whispered, "The person in the painting is the one I love."
Wen Shuwan pressed closer, shaking her arm, "Is it...me?"
"Yes." For the first time, Xie Linyuan laid bare his feelings. "I have long loved you."
Looking at his wife's smiling face, he suddenly felt that words could draw their hearts closer than actions, even though it was embarrassing.
"Could it be that when you rescued me from the lake, you... fell for her? What a coincidence, she did too."
Xie Linyuan shook his head, "Even earlier."
Faced with his wife's relentless questioning, Xie Linyuan tried to evade the situation by tidying up the clothes on the bed, but in the end, he couldn't resist his wife's coquettishness and slowly told her the truth.
More than a year ago, the Xu family was arrogant and coveted the Wen family's pastry shop, so they sent people to cause trouble.
Wen's father was just a minor civil official, and with his meager salary, it was difficult for him to live a decent life in the vast capital.
The interactions between officials, the staggering daily expenses in the capital, and the clothes and jewelry worn by women when going out to banquets—all these things required money.
Wen Shuwan was skilled with her hands and opened a pastry shop. She taught her skills to the servants she had bought. Because of the delicious taste and exquisite appearance, the business became very successful.
It almost drove the Xu family's pastry shop across the street out of business. The Xu family harbored resentment and sent people to pretend to be customers with stomach problems and cause trouble. For a while, no one dared to patronize the shop anymore.
This infuriated Wen Shuwan. She secretly collected evidence and even found a witness who emptied the chamber pot in the early morning. She then reported those people to the authorities.
In court, faced with such irrefutable evidence, the group still tried to argue, which made Wen Shuwan furious.
She built this shop up from the ground up, hand-kneading countless pastries and racking her brains to develop numerous styles, finally making her family's finances a little better. And these people who can't stand seeing others succeed are here to ruin her achievements?!
This is truly intolerable!
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