170 Drunk
"Aren't you my husband? Why don't you sleep with me?"
Ping'an hugged her father's neck, looked at her father who could hardly hide his anger, and then looked at Uncle Wei who also had a gloomy face, and felt quite at a loss.
Xie Qi was afraid of scaring the child, so he quickly put on a smile.
He glanced at Wei Ming coldly, pointed at the two lanterns in the servant's hand, and smiled at Ping An, "One for your mother, and one for Ping An. Do you like them, Ping An?"
The two bright lanterns immediately attracted the children's attention. Ping'an quickly forgot what happened just now. He just hugged his rabbit lantern and said in a long tone, "I like it."
"Thank you, uncle!"
Xie Qi smiled as if no one was around and scratched the little girl's nose, saying lovingly, "Why are you thanking me for anything? This is what Uncle Xie should do."
Then he saw out of the corner of his eye that Wei Ming's face had indeed turned darker.
After returning from Caoqu Township, he wanted to visit the new governor's house and face the plague together with him, but he didn't expect to find out that the new governor was none other than Wei Ming.
Even though he knew that Xu Qinghe had no feelings for this guy, the fact that he could only hide in the dark and watch their happiness alone still left a shadow in Xie Qi's heart.
Whenever he saw Xu Qinghe standing with him, he felt unhappy.
Therefore, he was too lazy to greet the man and turned around and left with the child in his arms.
"etc."
Wei Ming suddenly said, "I wonder if the Marquis has time to talk to me."
Xie Qi said: "I have to take care of the children, I don't have time."
"You don't need to bring peace."
The little girl in his arms said softly, "Ping An is very good and won't disturb Uncle Xie from doing his work."
Only that girl could raise such a well-behaved and sensible child.
Xie Qi's heart softened, and his expression suddenly became gentle: "Ping An won't disturb Uncle Xie from doing his work. Uncle Xie has nothing to say to him, let alone do."
However, Wei Ming was very persistent: "My Lord, don't you want to know why His Majesty sent me to serve in Lanzhou?"
Xie Qi paused.
After a moment, he snorted, "What else could it be? Isn't it just for the military order I issued five years ago? What's wrong, Your Majesty, are you anxious?"
He would rather talk on the busy street than find a proper place to reminisce with Wei Ming.
He was fearless, but Wei Ming was afraid that someone here might hear something they shouldn't, so he said, "Since the Marquis is busy today, please come to my house tomorrow to talk."
Xie Qi said: "I will be busy tomorrow too."
"The day after tomorrow..."
"Busy too."
Wei Ming was furious: "Xie Qi, don't go too far! This is a matter of state, how can you be so impulsive!"
Xie Qi finally turned around, as if he was pleased to see the anger of the first young master of Kyoto.
He raised his lips and smiled, "It can't be helped. Your Majesty insisted on sending you here. I hold grudges, and I don't want to discuss serious matters with someone who once intended to lay hands on my wife. If you want to discuss matters, please inform Your Majesty and ask someone else to come."
That sounds nice, but why did Your Majesty send him here?
Xie Qi knew very well that this guy had heard that there was a vacant official position in Lanzhou, so he volunteered to come here, and it was obviously for Xu Qinghe!
Yet he still insisted on talking to me about national affairs in a high-sounding manner. How hypocritical!
"Uncle Xie, what is a military order?"
They didn't have a carriage when they came, so when they went back, Xie Qi naturally held the little girl in his arms. The little girl was at an age where she was curious about everything, so she couldn't help asking.
Xie Qi explained, "It's a promise made before His Majesty the Emperor. If you don't keep it, you'll lose your head."
Ping An immediately hugged her father's neck tightly. She didn't want her father to die!
Xie Qi laughed: "Don't be afraid of Ping'an. Uncle Xie will do what he promised. He won't lose his head."
Ping An sniffed: "Really?"
"certainly."
The father and daughter brought a lot of things back home, intending to show them off to the hostess of the house, but when they got home they found that Xu Qinghe had not returned yet.
For some reason, during the more than one hour that Xu Qinghe had not returned, Xie Qi suddenly thought of Wei Ming, whom he had just met.
Why did Wei Ming give up his good position in Kyoto and run to this remote Lanzhou?
When did he come here, and did he have any interaction with Xu Qinghe during the time he was away?
If he had not just met him, and Xu Qinghe had not returned today, he would probably have linked the two of them together.
Xu Qinghe had no interest in him before, but what about now?
Although he really looked down on Wei Ming's sanctimonious appearance, he had to admit that the man was indeed born with a good-looking appearance, and the girl usually liked good-looking men. If they fell in love with each other over time, it seemed not impossible.
He paced back and forth in the dormitory with his hands behind his back, becoming more and more anxious and disheartened the more he thought about it.
The sense of crisis in his heart piled up layer by layer, making him want to rush to Xu Qinghe and question him thoroughly before he would give up.
From today on, he cannot leave Xu's house under any circumstances, lest Wei Ming take advantage of the situation and sneak in like he did eleven years ago!
At the same time, he also had to speed up the process and get a legitimate status from the girl.
As long as he has a status, he is not afraid of anything.
What Xu Qinghe values most now is his precious daughter. If he wants to make her change her mind, he has to start with that little girl.
Although he really liked the little girl's intelligence, cleverness, good behavior and understanding, she was, after all, the blood of Xu Qinghe and another man. He had said nice things in the past, saying that he would treat her as his own daughter, but Xie Qi knew in his heart that he could not do it at all.
He was not a generous person to begin with. He was very vengeful and it was already the limit for him not to hate this little girl as much as she did him.
He thought about it aimlessly for a long time until the night watchman rang, which brought him back to his senses.
"What time is it?"
"My dear, it's already midnight."
At this time, the girl had not come back yet.
Xie Qi's heart sank, and he was about to get up and go out to look for it.
As he reached the moon-shaped gate in front of the yard, he saw Indigo, who was beside the girl, jogging in. He looked at him as if he had seen a savior.
Xie Qi panicked even more, his throat tightening a little: "Where's the Madam? Is there something wrong?"
Indigo shook her head, her expression a little strange: "Madam is fine, she has returned and is in the carriage outside the door. I asked the servant to go find my husband to pick her up personally."
Let him pick it up in person?
She is not such a clingy girl.
Xie Qi's pace became faster. With a few steps of his long legs, he was already at the door in just a few breaths.
As soon as he opened the car door, a strong aroma of alcohol hit him in the face.
The girl he had been thinking about was sitting on the couch opposite the car door. When she saw him appear, she just opened her eyes and looked over.
It seems like everything is normal.
Xie Qi, however, lowered his head and smiled for a while, then stretched out his hand to her and asked with a smile, "Can you walk by yourself?"
Xu Qinghe did not respond immediately. Her gaze paused for a moment on his large palm covered with thin calluses. Then she slowly raised her head and stared at the man in front of her carefully for a moment, as if trying to confirm who he was.
After several breaths, she slowly nodded, placed her hand in his palm, and let him lead her out of the carriage.
As soon as he got off the carriage, he immediately let go of his hand and walked upright in front of him.
Xie Qi held back his laughter and followed her closely.
In the eyes of the servants, their lady was no different from usual except for a slight blush on her face and a slightly slower pace.
As soon as she entered the room, Xie Qi ordered Indigo, "Have someone boil some hot water for Madam to bathe, and also make a bowl of sobering soup."
Indigo was surprised.
How did the Marquis know that his wife was drunk?
At today's banquet, as the lady's personal maid, she did not realize that the lady was actually drunk after drinking a few glasses of fruit wine. It was not until the lady ordered someone to stop the carriage in front of the door but did not get out, and instead asked her to go find the marquis, that Indigo finally realized that something was wrong.
How come the Marquis understood it immediately before he even spoke a few words to his wife?
Xie Qi had been in love with this girl for so many years. When he opened the car door and saw the girl with rosy cheeks and slow eyes, he knew that she was drunk, and very drunk. Otherwise, there would be no need for Indigo to come to find him.
Because he was surrounded by soldiers who all liked to drink, the princess was very strict with the young county magistrate, and he could only drink fruit wine at the banquet.
Over time, the little princess developed a very poor alcohol tolerance.
She doesn't get drunk often, but when she does, it's the most annoying thing.
After Xie Qi gave his instructions, he closed the door tightly. When he turned around, he saw the girl staring at him intently.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Xie Qi."
Xie Qi's eyes turned slightly, and he added: "You are the husband I have been engaged to since childhood."
Xu Qinghe thought for a moment before asking, "Husband?"
Xie Qi was almost moved to tears.
God have mercy on this girl, she cares about her reputation. When they were still husband and wife, it was difficult to coax her to call him like this. He could only hear her call him occasionally on the bed. Later, meeting again was even more of a luxury, so he never dreamed of it.
But I didn't expect that there would be an unexpected surprise today.
He tried to move closer and coaxed, "Yes, that's my husband. Can you call me that again?"
Xu Qinghe paused, the princess got angry, frowned and said no.
"Why do you have the right to yell just because you say so? I don't want it."
At this time, there was another knock on the door.
Indigo said, "My dear, the hot water is ready. Do you want to bring it in now?"
At this time, Xu Qinghe naturally didn't want others to see him like this.
Xie Qi led her to the inner room and then had someone bring in some water.
After everything was done outside, he led her back to the bathroom and coaxed her, "Take off your clothes and let's take a bath, okay?"
Xu Qinghe looked him up and down, then stretched out a finger and shook it: "There are differences between men and women. Go out and call Nanzhi."
Xie Qi grabbed her fingers and placed them in his palm, smiling and saying, "Nanzhi is in Jizhou now, not here. Can you please let me help you bathe?"
Xu Qinghe thought about it slowly, then shook his head, muttering that there are differences between men and women.
Xie Qi pulled the person into his arms, bent down and kissed him.
He let the princess go only when he kissed her so hard that she couldn't breathe and her eyes were filled with tears.
"What's the difference? I'm your husband!"
Xu Qinghe was still panting, blinking, and looked at him and said, "Husband...isn't he a man anymore?"
Xie Qi was so angry that he felt dizzy!
Finally, he used his trump card to coax her: "Ancestor, if you don't wash yourself, you will be pickled in the wine, and it will really stink."
The young princess was determined not to let herself stink, so she didn't care about the man or woman anymore. She immediately opened her arms, raised her chin slightly and ordered, "Why don't you change my clothes quickly?"
Xie Qi laughed and replied, "Yes, sir."
Xu Qinghe discovered that while her husband was bathing, his jade-like face, which was serving her, became redder and redder.
She raised her hand, poked the man's almost red face, and asked confusedly: "Why are you blushing?"
She moved her hand, causing the water in the bathtub to ripple slightly, and many things that were originally hidden underwater became visible.
Xie Qi only took one look and felt uncomfortable all over.
The man is now drunk and unconscious, so he naturally cannot and dares not do anything.
So he gritted his teeth and went to get the bath beans while saying unhappily, "It's hot!"
Xu Qinghe was also feeling hot, so after she took a shower, this man changed her into clean pajamas, but she pulled at the collar and refused to put them on properly.
Xie Qi came over to persuade her, and she opened her watery eyes and said aggrievedly, "I'm hot too."
"You are hot as long as you want, but you are not allowed to be hot."
Xie Qi closed his eyes, pulled up the thin blanket beside him and wrapped himself up, leaving only his head exposed.
When everyone finally calmed down, he helped her lie down on the bed.
"Okay, I've showered and drunk the hangover soup. I'll pretend today's events never happened, and I won't mention them to you tomorrow. Just sleep peacefully."
Xu Qinghe lay on the bed, looking at the man beside her. After a moment's pause, she asked, "Why do you pretend it never happened? Why don't you mention it to me?"
Xie Qi felt that the mother and daughter were exactly the same in their persistence, and the little girl kept asking questions today.
He sighed and said, "Because you want to save face. If you knew tomorrow that you were being so unreasonable today and I saw you, you would be angry."
Xu Qinghe seemed to understand and nodded slowly.
"I'll sleep in the second room. Call me if you need anything."
Xie Qi reached out and stroked the girl's soft hair, then turned and was about to leave.
But someone hooked her little finger.
When he came back to his senses, he saw the girl said calmly, "Aren't you my husband? Why don't you sleep on the same bed with me?"
Xie Qi's heart moved, and he asked tentatively: "Will you allow me to sleep with you?"
Xu Qinghe nodded and boldly lifted the quilt to invite him in.
Xie Qi looked at the place he had been looking forward to for a long time, then looked at the person who was now obviously unconscious, and struggled briefly.
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