Chapter 28 Hot lips and tongue forcefully rubbed against soft...
After staring at each other for a long time, Xue Mingyao spoke fiercely, "I have something to ask you."
"...Do I really have to ask now?"
"That's right."
Xie Zhuo glanced around at the people around him and said indifferently, "You can all go back to sleep. There's nothing going on here."
Ah Lian was also prepared to open the main room and brew a pot of tea, but Xie Zhuo refused, saying, "There's no need to follow the rules for entertaining guests."
After seeing the people off, Xie Zhuo said to Xue Mingyao, "Let's go inside."
They entered Xie Zhuo's bedroom.
Xue Mingyao didn't think anything was wrong. In the past, she and Xie Qinglang spent most of their time together in the bedroom. She took off her hood, and her black hair instantly cascaded down. The bun she had hastily tied when she left home had almost come undone as she walked.
She crossed her arms and looked around. The bed was plain, the curtains were plain, the table was plain, and the stool was plain. A thin book was spread out on the table, and a small lamp was burning dimly.
"He's a general, yet he sleeps in such a simple place?"
"I'm used to it."
Xue Mingyao pursed her lips, chose the most comfortable spot in the whole room—her bed—and sat down calmly.
Xie Zhuo had no choice but to sit on the hard stool beside the couch.
The quilt still held some warmth, and Xue Mingyao felt a surge of warmth against her body, which had been chilled by the night frost. However, she felt somewhat uneasy and shifted to the edge of the bed. After moving, she felt there was no need to be polite with Xie Qinglang, so she sat back down properly.
"Take this off," Xie Zhuo said, pointing to her cloak.
Xue Mingyao cautiously clutched her collar, "What do you want to do?"
Xie Zhuo scoffed, "You broke into my house in the middle of the night and even got on my bed. Don't you find it ridiculous to ask me that?"
"I don't think so." Xue Mingyao's eyes were arrogant, clearly indicating that her behavior did not allow him to question her.
Xie Zhuo said, "I don't want your coat to stain my bed."
Her cascading black hair and cloak blended together, and her unmade-up face was whiter than snow, like a beautiful female ghost climbing into his bed.
“I’ll be cold if I take my clothes off,” Xue Mingyao said bluntly. “Besides, I’d love to soil your bed!”
Xie Zhuo, with a sullen face, went to the wardrobe and took out a plain lined robe, walked up to her, and said, "Change into this."
Seeing that the lined robe was thick enough, Xue Mingyao finally relented and took off her cloak. Little did she know that Xie Zhuo would hold onto the lined robe tightly, staring at her as he measured her from head to toe.
Although she had no skin exposed, her nightgown was so thin that it revealed all her curves, even showing through the color of her undergarments.
"You still dare to look!" Xue Mingyao said angrily, grabbing the clothes from his hand and covering them up. "You really have changed."
Before, when she asked him to look, he wouldn't, and would even close his eyes during lovemaking, which was quite amusing. Now, he's nothing but a lecherous scoundrel. Xue Mingyao felt even more indignant thinking about what happened in the brothel.
Xie Zhuo sat back down leisurely. "I used to be polite to you, but you thought it was hypocritical. Wouldn't it be better to change it?"
“Disgusting,” Xue Mingyao said coldly.
“Then congratulations, Princess, you’ve finally understood how I felt back then,” Xie Zhuo replied.
Xue Mingyao felt a lump in her throat, and her face turned frosty.
After a long pause, she said resentfully, "Why have you been lying to me all this time? Is it fun to watch me being played like a fool?"
"I didn't mean to lie to you, I just happened to be poisoned and couldn't show my face."
"I thought you were faking the poisoning too," Xue Mingyao glared at him. "And then, did you get addicted to wearing the mask?"
Xie Zhuo smiled and said, "That's because it's fun to tease you."
Enraged, Xue Mingyao raised her hand again, aiming for his face, but Xie Zhuo grabbed her wrist and blocked it in front of his cheek. He sneered, "Xue Mingyao, do you still think it's the past, when you could beat and scold me at will if you were unhappy? This is no longer your Xichuan Princess's mansion where you act like a local tyrant. I will not give you any more chances to slap me."
He deliberately rubbed her wrist a couple of times before letting go of her.
Xue Mingyao remained silent. She had slapped Xie Qinglang a few times, but it was all because he had insulted her first. How could it be said that she was just being unhappy and wanted to beat and scold him? When had she ever cursed him on her own initiative?
Does that mean she should just obediently accept his insults and let him insult her?
The fingerprints on my wrist were clearly visible; they didn't hurt, but they were extremely humiliating.
Xue Mingyao withdrew her hand and turned back to her clothes, angrily saying, "Fine, fortunes change, General Xie, I congratulate you on your rise to the highest ranks of officialdom. I only ask you, we agreed to go our separate ways back then, so why are you provoking me again now? What exactly do you want?"
“A bridge is a bridge, a road is a road? That’s your excuse, I never said that.” Xie Zhuo looked at her. “You might as well recall what I said when I left back then.”
When he left back then...
Xue Mingyao's eyes flickered.
It was a sweltering May day. She saw Xie Qinglang off at the gate of the house, telling him to take his freedom and get out, and that the two of them would have nothing to do with each other again.
Xie Qinglang said that sooner or later, she would pay the price for what she had done. This wasn't the first time he had said this, and she didn't want to hear such discouraging words again. The sun was blazing, and she squinted at him. The injuries he had sustained from being beaten by her brother hadn't healed yet; his left cheek was swollen high, and there was a bloodstain at the corner of his right eye. But she still desperately wanted to kiss him.
She thought she would never again so desperately want to kiss someone in her life.
Afraid of bursting into tears, she turned around and had the door closed as soon as Xie Qinglang finished speaking. She leaned over the wall and watched Xie Qinglang walk away step by step.
"You said I would have to pay a price," Xue Mingyao said in a low voice. "I don't remember anything else."
Xie Zhuo said in a low voice, "I also said that one day I will make you regret it, and I will repay you tenfold or a hundredfold for what you did to me."
Xue Mingyao frowned. "You want to get revenge on me?"
"The grudge of having your wife stolen deserves revenge, don't you think so too?" Xie Zhuo stared intently into her eyes. "Xue Mingyao, you broke my engagement, seized my house, and imprisoned me for a year and three months. Shouldn't I hate you? Shouldn't I take revenge on you?"
Being looked at like that by her former sweetheart, Xue Mingyao's face flushed slightly, and her heart felt instantly light.
"Your way of getting back at me is to play games with me and then marry me?" She met his deep gaze and suddenly smiled. "Doesn't that still mean you like me?"
"I like you?" Xie Zhuo burst into laughter, laughing uncontrollably until his chest trembled.
Xue Mingyao's expression gradually turned cold.
The person laughing maniacally in front of me was completely unfamiliar; he didn't resemble Xie Qinglang at all.
Xie Zhuo slid his hand across her face and said coldly, "That's right, it's hard not to like your body. Marrying you is a good deal for me."
Xue Mingyao looked at him in shock, her heart aching with each beat.
His hands were much rougher than before, making her skin feel dry and sore. She turned her head away in a daze. Xie Zhuo's hand slid down to her neck, stroking her silky black hair. "Most importantly, that way you'll be completely in my grasp, and you won't be able to run away anywhere."
Xue Mingyao bit her lip. At home, she obeyed her father; after marriage, she obeyed her husband. That was his plan. If she didn't marry, her status as a princess would still be somewhat useful. But if she married into the Xie family, she would have to listen to him completely.
Even a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs, but she still finds it hard to believe that her former lover treats her like an enemy. They were husband and wife for hundreds of nights, and this is how he treats her?
"So what if I fall into your palm?" She placed her hand on Xie Zhuo's hand, looking at him provocatively.
Xie Zhuo seemed to be stunned for a moment, then withdrew his hand. "The suffering I endured at your hands, I will make you taste it back. You've probably forgotten how many times you locked me in the woodshed, how many times you laid hands on me, and how many times you fed me potent drugs."
"You!" Xue Mingyao was speechless with anger. "Are you so narrow-minded that you only remember my bad points and not my good ones?"
"Good? What's so good about it?" Xie Zhuo's voice suddenly rose. "Good because you snatched me away on a whim, and kicked me away when you lost interest. Oh, I forgot, I got a beating from your brother before you kicked me away! Xue Mingyao, you treat me like a dog, summoning me and dismissing me at will. Do you expect me to be grateful for the few bones you give me when you're in a good mood? Let me tell you, what you call good is nothing more than another way to continue trampling on me!"
Xue Mingyao was so angry that she trembled. She took off his clothes and threw them at him. "Call me when I need you, and dismiss me when I want you to? Xie Qinglang, when have you ever been so obedient! I'd rather you were a dog, wagging your tail at me every day, so I wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to coax you!"
Enraged, she turned around, grabbed a pillow from his bed, and threw it at him. Xie Zhuo caught it and threw it back onto the bed. Another object flew at him, forcing him to stand up. He angrily exclaimed, "Incomprehensible madwoman!"
Xue Mingyao was taken aback; this was somewhat like Xie Qinglang. She had argued with her father, brothers, and sisters since she was a child, and these arguments could last for half a day. Xie Qinglang, on the other hand, was not good at arguing back with a red face and a thick neck. She would often blush after saying a few words and then say that Xue Mingyao was unreasonable.
Her nose stung with tears, and she slowly stopped what she was doing. Leaning against the bed frame, she said resentfully, "You've ruined your own marriage just to get revenge on me. Who's really being unreasonable? You're powerful and influential now. Wouldn't it be better to marry a well-bred lady from a prestigious family that you admire?"
Her fair face was radiant, and her expression was open and honest. Xie Zhuo felt as if his heart had been tugged at again, and a breath caught in his chest.
"Don't worry about it," he said curtly. "Once I've vented my anger and gotten tired of you, I'll divorce you and marry a virtuous woman. Don't you love being a widow? Don't worry, I'll let you be a widow a second time."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Xie Zhuo regretted it so much he wanted to bite his tongue. A discarded wife, a divorced woman, but he had to call her a widow—wasn't that cursing himself?!
When Xue Mingyao heard him say he wanted to divorce her, her mind went blank, and she was so enraged that she didn't pay attention to what he said afterward. Her eyes were wide open, glaring at him angrily, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and her body shivering from the cold. The domineering arrogance of the day was gone, replaced by a rare vulnerability, like a pale white night-blooming cereus, breathtakingly beautiful.
Seeing her like this, Xie Zhuo Shao didn't know whether his heart hardened or softened. He took a step forward as if possessed, put his arm around the back of her head, and kissed her.
He came on so aggressively that Xue Mingyao was caught completely off guard, and he kissed her lips perfectly.
But what good was her defense? He was so strong, she couldn't push him away. Even so, Xue Mingyao still fought him with all her might, and Xie Zhuo was forced to grab her waist, lay her down on the bed, and kiss her on top of him.
His hot lips and tongue forcefully rubbed against her softness, and his rough hands suppressed all her resistance, while also kneading her restless parts. She was as soft as he was tough, and Xie Zhuo showed no sign of stopping.
Xue Mingyao felt weak all over from his touch. Her embroidered shoes were kicked off, and her hands, which she used to hit him, seemed to be both resisting and welcoming him. She was even angrier. Taking advantage of the last bit of her senses, she bit his tongue hard. Taking advantage of his pain and the moment he pulled back, she suddenly slid to the side from under him, straightened up halfway, and hissed, "Xie Qinglang, you are simply doing whatever you want!"
You can insult her whenever you want, kiss her whenever you want, what do you take her for?
The room was quiet for a while. Xie Zhuo got off the bed, turned his back to her, and said in a hoarse voice, "You used to do whatever you wanted to me. I'm just returning the favor."
“We’re not the same,” Xue Mingyao said bitterly. “I’m not like you!”
"What's different?"
The difference is that she was willing to do anything for him because she liked him. He wasn't!
Xue Mingyao's heart was breaking as she stared at the unfamiliar, cold back before her. "Xie Qinglang, I will not marry you. Forget about it!"
Xie Zhuo paused, then turned around. Xue Mingyao instinctively dodged backward, grabbing the quilt to block her way. "Get out of my way, don't even think about touching me."
Xie Zhuo seemed to be provoked by these words. He strode over and tried to pull off her blanket. Xue Mingyao hurriedly covered her head with the blanket, curling herself up into a tight ball, not revealing a single bit.
Xie Zhuo bent down and patted the round cocoon.
The cocoon trembled and curled up even tighter in the corner of the blanket.
Xie Zhuo rubbed his temples, not in a hurry to dismantle her. His bed, his blankets—he wanted to see how Xue Mingyao planned to clean up this mess.
The night was still and the cold air was crisp. Xie Zhuo sat on the couch and thought about the past for a while. His troubled thoughts were intertwined and he couldn't separate them.
The cocoon beside him remained motionless. Xie Zhuo patted it again, but there was no response.
Xie Zhuo simply grabbed the blanket and pulled it off with ease. The beauty inside had her eyes closed, swayed twice, and then gently fell to the side, having fallen asleep.
Xie Zhuo was both annoyed and amused. This was Xue Mingyao for you. She did whatever she wanted without ever caring about the consequences, and someone always cleaned up the mess for her.
They come in the dead of night, sleep soundly without a care, and don't take him seriously at all.
Having been used to manipulating men, how could she be afraid of them?
Xie Zhuo dusted off his sleeves, feeling that all the harsh words he had just uttered were a joke. The distant sound of the fourth watch gong drifted over, and Xue Mingyao lay on her back, her expression as serene as a baby, showing no sign of waking up.
He cleaned up the mess in the room, picked up a pillow from the floor and placed it under her head, then took off her silk stockings.
Xue Mingyao's fair feet were revealed, her rounded toenails painted with red nail polish, and delicate, snow-white feet adorned with tiny, vibrant dogwood blossoms. She was indeed a breathtaking beauty; even her feet were more beautiful than others', Xie Qinglang thought so the first time she saw her.
But at that time, Xue Mingyao liked to use her beauty to humiliate him.
She wanted him to kiss her.
The candlelight was dim, casting shadows on her slender ankle, where there was a faint tooth mark, so faint that it could be easily missed if one looked away, yet it had stubbornly refused to fade over the years, allowing Xie Zhuo to see his fierce resistance again across seven years.
Xie Zhuo gently kissed it, pressing his teeth firmly to deepen the mark.
Hating Xue Mingyao had long been a habit ingrained in his bones.
Xue Mingyao seemed to sense something and moved slightly. Xie Zhuo put her down expressionlessly and pulled the blanket over her.
In the side room, A-Lian had yawned almost ten times, while Qi Zhao, sitting opposite her, held his sword, closed his eyes to rest, appearing calm and composed. A moment ago, A-Lian had tried to talk to him out of curiosity, only to be met with countless rejections, leaving her with no choice but to let the mystery surrounding Princess Yongning grow ever larger in her mind.
The door opened softly, and Xie Zhuo entered. Upon seeing A-Lian, he said with a hint of helplessness, "I told you to go to sleep, why are you here keeping watch?"
Ah Lian struggled to keep his eyelids open, "I was thinking that you, General, might have something you need to tell me..."
"Go to sleep, it's alright now," Xie Zhuo said gently.
"As for the princess..." Ah Lian hesitated for a long time, but seeing that his general was silent again, he had no choice but to shut his mouth and obediently went back to his room.
Only two people remained in the side room.
Xie Zhuo glanced at Qi Zhao, who had stood up, and said, "Go back."
Qi Zhao asked in a muffled voice, "Where is the princess?"
"She's asleep," Xie Zhuo said calmly.
Qi Zhao didn't move.
"What, you don't want to leave?"
"I am the princess's guard. Wherever the princess is, I will be there," Qi Zhao said.
Xie Zhuo looked at him coldly, "Still as loyal as he was back then."
Even his demeanor and temperament remained unchanged from before. He was taciturn and stayed by Xue Mingyao's side without leaving her side, strictly following every order she gave. He was her guard, her henchman, and her confidant.
Xue Mingyao was a heavy sleeper. When it was hot, he would lie down on the fragrant bluestone of Xichuan Residence to cool off and fall asleep without realizing it. The rain came unexpectedly and fell a few drops, but it did not wake him. He saw with his own eyes that Lüzhi called Qi Zhao over, and Qi Zhao skillfully carried him in his arms and took him back into the house.
The mistress and the male guard were never innocent.
Xie Zhuo calmly said, "But this is the General's Mansion, not a place you can stay wherever you want."
Qi Zhao was silent for a moment, then asked, "May I go and wake the princess?"
“No,” Xie Zhuo said. “Xue Mingyao must stay here tonight, and you must leave.”
Qi Zhao looked up and met Xie Zhuo's sharp gaze. "General, what is the meaning of letting the princess stay overnight?"
"This is not a question you can ask." Xie Zhuo's lips curled into a faint sneer. "She broke in late at night, so she should bear the consequences."
Qi Zhao remained silent, but still refused to move.
"Qi Zhao, do I need to personally tell you to leave?"
Xie Zhuo's voice remained calm, yet a sharp edge was subtly revealed within. For a moment, Qi Zhao genuinely considered fighting him. As a fellow martial artist, he was eager to know just how strong this man had become in less than six years.
He quickly restrained himself with reason; he couldn't possibly fight a third-rank general of the imperial court—perhaps this was enough to demonstrate Xie Zhuo's strength.
Qi Zhao had no other choice.
"No need," he said through gritted teeth, turning around with heavy steps.
"Have Xue Xingtai come over personally at dawn tomorrow to take the person back," Xie Zhuo instructed Qi Zhao before returning to his bedroom.
Just like a moment ago, Xue Mingyao was fast asleep, her eyes closed and wrapped in the quilt. Her clear, bright face resembled a fresh, juicy lychee, tempting one to take a bite.
Xie Zhuo did just that.
After kissing her cheek, I pinched her other cheek. Seeing the faint red mark, I felt a little better.
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