Chapter 45 I'd rather be husband and wife with Tao.
Clothes fell to the ground one by one, and the young man, shirtless, seemed to be deliberately seducing her.
His alluring features were downturned, with a prominent Adam's apple and a sunken collarbone that were extremely sexy. His shoulders and back were straight, and his chest muscles were slightly bulging, but they did not appear muscular at all. His waist and abdominal muscles were firm and well-proportioned, and they were tucked into his trousers along his waistline, making people want to take a closer look.
Qin Songxiao had thought about his body and that he must have many scars, but he never expected that his body would be so scarred.
The chest was crisscrossed with knife and gunshot wounds, some old and some new, with some of the more severe wounds showing a faint white protrusion.
The knife wound on my abdomen, which had recently had its bandages removed, showed signs of ulceration. The area, which had not yet fully healed, was an irregular scar with a brown center and pink edges.
If it weren't for his exceptionally handsome face and near-perfect physique, coupled with his fair skin, these alternating old and new scars would certainly look quite gruesome.
Qin Song's gaze swept from his neck to his waist and abdomen, then over his long, muscular arms, before returning to his face, his expression unconsciously filled with a mixture of sadness and respect.
The person before her maintained a gentle smile, deliberately picking up the hastily drawn upper body sketch on the table, trying to catch the unusual emotion in Qin Song's eyes. "Look, little sister, does this look like her?"
Of course it doesn't look like her, but she can't draw, and she doesn't have the mind to draw right now.
She couldn't help but look around at the scars all over his body, and then she moved behind him in a daze.
With a silent gaze, Qin Song seemed to be getting to know this general who had fought on the battlefield all over again.
Her freshly bathed black hair was only partially tied up with a wooden hairpin, with most of it hanging down her back, covering most of her shoulders and back.
Besides being able to be covered up, there are large, pinkish-red scars running from the waistband to the waist. In some places, the original strip-shaped wounds can be distinguished, but most of them overlap and become darker block-shaped scars.
These scars are easy to recognize; they were left from the caning he was punished with after the defeat and return to the capital.
It was here that she pushed him into the wall and then suddenly bumped into his back.
At that time, these wounds must not have healed yet; the impact was so severe that bloodstains were still visible.
Qin Song's vision blurred; she had never hated pink so much before, and her eyes were becoming increasingly sore.
"Did I scare you?" Perhaps because she hadn't reacted for a while, Tao Qingyang turned his head slightly to try and see her expression.
But Qin Song looked down at his injury, and from his perspective, he could only see the top of her fluffy hair.
The way he turned his head caused his hair to move and his back muscles to stretch, making the glaring scars even more conspicuous.
"Does it still hurt?" Qin Song's fingertip touched the red scar on his waist.
"Hiss..." The body in front of him stiffened, and a muffled groan escaped his throat involuntarily. Like a startled bird, he leaned forward, as if there were thorns on her fingertips, causing him to suddenly dodge.
"Did I hurt you?" Qin Song suddenly withdrew his hand and looked up at him.
I finally saw it clearly: her eyes, which often held wicked intentions, were now filled with misty tears.
Tao Qingyang felt a slight tremor in her heart, turned around, raised her hand and pinched her chin, forcing her head to lift even higher.
Their eyes met, and Tao Qingyang stared intently into her pupils, trying to discern the tender emotions within them.
He applied slight pressure with his fingertips, but she didn't resist at all, her gaze as intense as his probing eyes.
His heart softened and warmed, and Tao Qingyang's urge to kiss her reached its peak. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he slowly lowered his head.
His intention to kiss her was obvious, but she remained unmoved, as if she had forgotten to push him away.
As their lips drew closer together, Tao Qingyang frowned slightly and stopped.
He slightly distanced himself, casually wiping away her moist eyes, pinching her chin, and turning her gaze away.
"Sister Ah Song, don't easily show pity and tenderness to men, it will cause misunderstandings."
He doesn't care about being pitied.
After her jaw was pinched painfully and then released, Qin Song felt a slight warmth on her chin. She seemed to wake up from a dream, realizing with a start that they had almost kissed.
She seemed to be falling more and more easily in his spells, even though she had already excluded him from her life.
"Don't overthink it, I pity your body."
She coughed lightly, walked to the table, and asked, "Still drawing?"
Tao Qing raised her lips and eyebrows, signaling to continue.
Qin Song scribbled randomly on the original text, saying, "General Tao, let's be friends."
Tao Qingyang withdrew his gaze from the room, which had been scrutinizing the subtle clues, and looked her over for a moment. "I'd rather be husband and wife."
"General Tao, marrying me may not be a good thing, but I have always been sincere to my friends."
"Is Ah Song rejecting me?"
“No, I’m trying to accept you,” Qin Song looked up at him seriously, “What exactly do you want to use me for?”
Tao Qing crossed her legs and leaned casually against the table. Her body stiffened slightly as she looked at Qin Song, but she didn't respond immediately.
“Then let me speak first,” Qin Song put down his pen and sincerely met his gaze. “I like your appearance, so I wanted to get close to you from the beginning, but I’m not interested now. However, I have sincere respect for your dedication to protecting the country, and of course I also admire your outstanding abilities and sense of responsibility, so I would be happy to become your friend.”
He said a lot, but Tao Qingyang seemed to only focus on the five words "not interested anymore." His fingers, which were resting on the edge of the table, slowly rubbed together, and his face gradually darkened.
"Is it because my clothes are ugly?" Tao Qingyang suddenly asked.
Qin Song's gaze unconsciously fell on his battered body again. Was he ugly? She didn't think so.
Perhaps the absence of scars would be more reassuring, since these marks wouldn't remind people of his life of battle and bloodshed.
But these scars on his body did not diminish his physical advantages; in fact, they made her want to touch the slightly raised lines, and if she could, she might even kiss them.
She looked at him seriously and said, "These scars don't diminish your charm."
"Is it because of Lu Youchuan?" Tao Qing looked up, her eyes filled with a hint of obsession. "Or is it because of Li Yu?"
Qin Song suddenly tensed up a little; Li Yu was still in the clean room.
"Neither." Qin Song didn't want to say any more. "Since you're unwilling to be honest, then get some rest, General Tao."
Qin Song began to dismiss the guests, and Tao Qingyang's five fingers gradually clenched, some emotion growing stronger in his heart.
On second thought, she realized it didn't matter; as long as Lu Youchuan still cared about her, that was enough.
He relaxed, straightened up, and reached for the drawing paper in front of her.
He moved away from the table.
As the force dissipated, the table swayed slightly, and the hanging brush suddenly fell, smashing into the inkstone, splashing ink everywhere.
Qin Song's blue cloak and the exposed snow-white inner garment were instantly stained with clusters of black plum blossoms.
This time it's really spilled.
"I'll go get some water."
Qin Song opened his cloak and looked down at the ink stains on his body. Tao Qingyang said a few words in a short while, then picked up his clothes, turned around, and went out the door.
You don't even need to go out; you can just ring a bell to call for water.
He seemed a little flustered.
Qin Song didn't care about anything else and went to the clean room.
The candle was lit, and in the small space behind the curtain, there was only a bathtub and a clothes rack; Li Yu was nowhere to be seen.
There was nowhere to hide in the small corner. She couldn't even smell Li Yu's scent anymore. Strange, when did he slip away?
As Qin Song was thinking, Tao Qingyang's footsteps came back again.
She quickly turned and left the washroom. Tao Qingyang took another room key. "This room is dirty, shall we change rooms?"
"Very good." She was really tired, so she decided to wash up and go to bed today.
·
The next day, when Shen Xing woke up, she came to serve him early in the morning, very curious as to why her master had changed rooms.
Qin Song didn't say it explicitly, but asked about Tao Yao's situation while changing his clothes.
"Miss Tao had already woken up, but she was still feeling dizzy. General Tao kept her here and did not let her return to camp with the soldiers downstairs."
The dizziness is probably due to a hangover.
Thinking that Tao Yao hadn't left, Qin Song became happy. "Hurry up and get ready, I'm going to see A Yao."
Chen Xing moved even faster, "Miss, why is your undergarment so big? It doesn't look like your own. And your cloak is dirty too. Why don't I send someone back to the yamen to get you a clean set of clothes?"
Her clothes were stained with ink last night; she was wearing Tao Qingyang's undergarment.
"It's getting late. We still need to go to the west of the city to distribute grain later. Don't delay, go back to exchange it at noon. Have you seen your young master?"
Qin Song was still wondering how Li Yu had disappeared last night, and he felt that something was wrong.
Shen Xing shook her head. "Miss Tao didn't sleep well last night. I took care of her all night and didn't leave the room."
"Ah Song".
As soon as Chen Xing finished speaking, Yanli, still sleepy-eyed and listless, came to the door.
A young man in red wearing a mask followed behind him.
Tao Yao stepped in and sat down on a small stool next to her. She awkwardly straightened her dress and said, "Ah Song, your dress is so beautiful, but it feels so uncomfortable on me."
Upon hearing the voice, Qin Song then noticed her attire.
She was wearing her own clothes, that pale yellow brocade dress with wide sleeves that she had never worn before.
The usually spirited girl, dressed in a sharp and energetic outfit, looks much more gentle and graceful in this soft and feminine attire.
Chen Xing helped Qin Song tie her hair up and explained, "Miss Tao soiled her clothes last night, so I asked someone to go back to the yamen to fetch your clothes for Miss Tao to change into temporarily. I hope you don't mind, Miss."
"Of course not, Chen Xing, you're so smart." Qin Song smiled and fiddled with Tao Yao's sleeve a couple of times. "It looks great, even better than me in it."
The dress was a little small at the chest, and Qin Song felt it was too tight, so he rarely wore it. However, it was a perfect size for Tao Yao.
"Alright, let's have breakfast." Tao Qing ordered the shopkeeper to bring their breakfast and brought it directly into Qin Song's room for them to eat together.
After the meal, Tao Qingyang insisted that Tao Yao return to the yamen to rest and not rush back to the camp. Qin Song then sent Shen Xing to escort her back to the yamen, while she went to the grain distribution point to take command.
Before setting off, Tao Yao gave her cloak to Qin Song, saying, "You use mine, and we can take this back to wash it first."
"Alright." Qin Song put on Tao Yao's cloak and followed Tao Qingyang to the grain distribution point in the west of the city.
Upon arriving at the outer perimeter of the grain distribution point, the two agreed to practice riding and archery in the afternoon, after which Tao Qingyang went to the city defense camp first.
Having been in Yunzhou for quite some time, Qin Song has become adept at handling his tasks.
She walked forward calmly, and after taking only two steps, she suddenly smelled a familiar scent.
The scent of the northern barbarian who conspired with Xue Ci at the inn that day.
Qin Song was startled and looked in the direction, but before she could see the other person clearly, a clump of powdery substance dispersed in front of her.
Before Qin Song could resist, a pair of large hands covered her mouth and dragged her into a dark alley.
Then two more hands lifted her feet, and with a hurried jolting, they hid her in a carriage. After that, she lost consciousness.
·
"General Tao, someone has delivered a secret letter." At the city defense training ground, the adjutant handed over a secret letter tied to an arrow, which had already been opened.
Tao Qingyang stopped directing the drills, turned around, picked up the secret letter, glanced at it, and suddenly clutched the paper tightly in his hand.
"Who sent it?" Tao Qing asked, his tone menacing.
The adjutant had already read the contents of the letter and knew the seriousness of the matter. He bowed and replied, "I was preparing a sand table in the camp when an arrow suddenly came from nowhere. I chased after it, but the attacker had already disappeared."
Tao Qing looked up, his expression growing increasingly serious. "How dare they break into the city defense camp! Chase them down! We must find this person!"
"Yes." The adjutant paused, then asked, "Should we send troops to rescue Miss Tao first?"
Tao Qingyang glanced at the already understaffed city defense camp and said, "No need. Hold the line. I'll go myself."
Tao Qingyang strode away, deliberately sending a message with an obvious intention: to use Tao Yao to throw him into disarray, mobilize his troops for a rescue, and disrupt the Zhenbei Army's defenses, thus creating an opportunity for a major counterattack.
Shameless scoundrels, how dare they run wild on the territory of the Zhenbei Army! He must break their necks.
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Author's note: There will be several chapters about Tao in the coming chapters, and the male leads will compete and vie for her.
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