Chapter 72 "Yaoyao, I'm so happy."...
Outside the window, the bamboo stands tall and graceful, and a cool autumn breeze rustles through the shade, creating a soft, whispering sound.
The dappled shadows of bamboo fell through the window, dancing lightly around the beautiful woman's hand. Xue Mingyao, dressed in a green dress, was intently painting on a plain silk fan, her head bowed.
There was a knock on the door from the outside. After receiving Xue Mingyao's permission, Qi Zhao came in and said, "Princess, I have delivered all the things."
Cen Zongjing asked Xue Mingyao for his old books and letters. Xue Mingyao ordered his men to find them at the Xue residence. They were packed into several small boxes along with other old items from the Cen residence and then sent to Qi Zhao to return them to the Cen residence.
This Cen residence was Cen Zongjing's former home in Zhongjing, which he bought back.
Xue Mingyao hummed in response, without looking up.
Qi Zhao then said, "General Cen presented you with a gift to express his gratitude."
Xue Mingyao then raised her eyes, her delicate brows furrowed as she looked at the bundle in Qi Zhao's hands.
Qi Zhao presented the bundle to her, saying, "I was reluctant to accept it, but General Cen said that if I didn't bring it to you, he would deliver it to you personally, so I accepted it anyway."
Xue Mingyao took out a huge silver rat skin from her bundle. It was bright white and the fur was smooth. It was obviously rare and precious.
"General Cen said that winter is coming soon, and he has obtained a fine fur coat, which he is giving to you to make a winter coat."
Xue Mingyao stroked the silver fox fur, her eyes showing affection, but using the fabric given by Cen Zongjing to make clothes was highly inappropriate. She hesitated for a moment, then put the items into her bundle, "Return them to him."
Qi Zhao was about to take it when Xue Mingyao's beautiful eyes flickered, and she changed her mind, "Wait, I won't return it, I'll keep it."
"Take this to Lüzhi and tell her to find an embroiderer to make a cloak for General Xie," she said with a smile.
After agreeing, Qi Zhao hesitated and did not go out.
"Is there anything else?" Xue Mingyao asked.
Qi Zhao took a deep breath. "Princess, General Xue and you once planned to send me to the army, but I didn't want to go at the time. Later, you said that if I changed my mind one day, I could come to you anytime—"
Xue Mingyao instantly understood, "You don't want to stay by my side anymore, you want to go to the army?"
Qi Zhao said in a low voice, "It's not that I don't want to stay by your side... it's just that you don't really need me anymore."
When Xue Mingyao was around ten years old, she was beautiful but eccentric. Lonely in the spring, she would often climb over the wall and sneak out of the mansion to frolic with her lover. Fearing for her safety, General Xue sent Qi Zhao to her side, making him both her bodyguard and her playmate.
Later, when she got married, Qi Zhao, being a retainer of the Xue family, had no reason to be part of her dowry and naturally stayed at the Xue family. He had originally planned to join the army at that time, but unexpectedly, the princess became a widow not long after, and he was able to go to Xichuan to protect and help her.
Qi Zhao once again became the little princess's right-hand man. During the long days in Xichuan, he accompanied her to practice martial arts, hunt, stroll through the market, stir up trouble, show off his power, and even helped her forcibly take the scholar Xie Qinglang as her lover.
At that time, Xue Mingyao needed him very much, until later...
Qi Zhao deeply regretted doing that.
However, after being fortunate enough to return to Xue Mingyao's side to serve her for the past six months and witnessing her interactions with that scholar from back then, Qi Zhao finally understood that after the princess met Xie Qinglang, she no longer needed him.
He looked calmly at his mistress, whose face showed no surprise, but rather a hint of apology.
"Of course it's not that I don't need you anymore." Xue Mingyao knew he was telling the truth, so she didn't continue. Instead, she changed the subject, "But I've always hoped that you would have a bright future, instead of being stuck here doing things that even maids and servants could do."
“But—” she smiled a little shyly, “when Father was alive, it was easy to send you to the army. Now that Father is gone and your brother has been dismissed from his post, your future may depend on General Xie.”
"Don't worry, he'll definitely be willing to help you. I'll talk to him when he gets back tonight," Xue Mingyao said with a smile.
Qi Zhao nodded in agreement, "Thank you, Princess."
General Xie would certainly not refuse. As a fellow man, Qi Zhao could understand the look in Xie Zhuo's eyes—Xie Zhuo desperately wanted him to stay away from the princess.
Leaving the Xie residence was his last act for the princess, a way to make amends for the mistakes he made years ago due to his selfishness.
After thanking the princess, Qi Zhao walked out of Tingzhu Pavilion, stood in the martial arts training courtyard behind the pavilion for a while, picked up his spear, and carefully practiced his spear technique one last time.
After he finished dancing, he didn't look at the back window of Tingzhu Pavilion as usual.
But for the first time, a figure peeked out from behind that window.
"Ah Zhao, what superb marksmanship! When you join the army, you'll surely shine and become a general!" His master said to him with a smile.
A smile slowly crept onto Qi Zhao's handsome face as he bowed respectfully to her from afar.
I will certainly live up to the princess's expectations.
......
Xie Zhuo returned earlier than Xue Mingyao had expected. When he stepped into Tingzhu Pavilion, her round fan painting was not yet finished.
She blew on the half-dry ink, put the fan aside, covered it with paper without thinking, and then told him about Qi Zhao's request.
Xie Zhuo readily agreed, reached out and picked up the half-eaten ice cream from her table, scooping it up spoonful by spoonful with her silver spoon and putting it into her mouth.
Xue Mingyao glanced at his calm expression and asked, "Don't you want to say anything?"
Xie Zhuo put down the silver spoon. "Qi Zhao and you have such a deep master-servant relationship. You must be very reluctant to leave him."
Xue Mingyao glared at him, "Xie Zhuo, you're such a hypocrite! You're secretly overjoyed, but you're pretending to care whether I'm willing to part with you."
“That’s not contradictory.” Xie Zhuo ate his cheese and decided to continue to act magnanimously. “I remember you once said that Qi Zhao had been serving you since you were twelve years old. Thirteen years of companionship, I understand why you were attached to him.”
After saying this, a sense of melancholy welled up in his heart. The depth of feelings does not necessarily depend on the length of time, but how could he not feel regret about the six years he and Xue Mingyao missed?
Xue Mingyao's gaze was deep and unfathomable. "Who told you it's been a full thirteen years?"
"Isn't that so?"
“No,” Xue Mingyao said in a low voice. “After I returned to the capital from Xichuan, I drove Qi Zhao away. It wasn’t until this year, when my elder brother suspected that I was after you, that he sent Qi Zhao to keep an eye on me.”
However, Qi Zhao didn't dare to do it.
Xie Zhuo was taken aback. "Why do you want to drive him away?"
Xue Mingyao didn't answer immediately, her eyes fixed on the cheese in his hand. Xie Zhuo had no choice but to scoop up a spoonful and feed it to her. Xue Mingyao ate it, licking the lingering sweetness from her lips, "You're so stingy, only feeding me a small spoonful."
He would scoop up a whole spoonful when he ate!
Xie Zhuo smiled and fed her another bite, still a small half-spoon of cheese.
Xue Mingyao didn't argue with him anymore, and slowly said while resting her chin on her hand, "Back then, didn't my elder brother suddenly go to Xichuan from Zhongjing? He beat you up without even asking what happened. He was brought here by Qi Zhao. I had already told Qi Zhao not to reveal your affairs to the family, but he still wrote to my father and told him about me keeping a man in the mansion. My father was furious and sent my brother to punish me."
“I’m so angry with Qi Zhao, and I still can’t completely forgive him. If he hadn’t said anything, my brother wouldn’t have come, and he certainly wouldn’t have hit you.”
"Then maybe you won't leave me," Xue Mingyao said sullenly.
She looked up and met Xie Zhuo's shocked gaze. He stared at her steadily, the surprise gradually fading from his clear, dark eyes, replaced by a gentle tenderness, like rippling spring water, softly enveloping her.
Xue Mingyao felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head to take the cup of cheese, but Xie Zhuo stopped her.
Then, she nestled into his arms.
Xie Zhuo hugged her tightly, her head pressed against his chest, making it hard for her to breathe.
"Yaoyao..." the man called her softly.
She responded blankly.
"Yaoyao, I'm so happy." Xie Zhuo stroked her spine gently, as if trying to meld her into his very bones. "I'm so happy that you were angry with Qi Zhao because of me."
Xue Mingyao forbade Qi Zhao from serving her in the inner courtyard, and the reason for their estrangement was actually him.
The sweet taste of the cheese filled his tongue and heart. At this moment, Xie Zhuo recalled the beating he received back then and felt a sense of comfort and sweetness.
"Ugh—" Xue Mingyao pulled herself out of his arms and pointed to the iced yogurt, "It's melting!"
She was almost melting into Xie Zhuo's arms.
This side of Xie Zhuo made her feel uncomfortable.
Xue Mingyao had no interest in touching the half-melted cheese anymore and reached into the glass plate to get other pastries.
Xie Zhuo's gaze drifted leisurely to the painted fan on the table, which she had mostly covered.
While she was eating, he quietly reached out his hand.
Xue Mingyao caught a glimpse of his subtle movements out of the corner of her eye and instinctively wanted to stop him, but then she thought that she was quite satisfied with her work today, so it wouldn't hurt to let Xie Zhuo take a look. So she let him have his way.
Xie Zhuo got his wish and was allowed to look at Xue Mingyao's painting for the first time. He stared at the round fan intently, looking at it again and again.
Xue Mingyao awaited his evaluation with great anticipation.
"Very vivid, and the colors are beautiful too." Xie Zhuo praised her earnestly, then pointed to the two birds swimming on the clear blue water on the fan and asked, "Is this a goose or a duck?"
"It's a mandarin duck!" Xue Mingyao exclaimed in disbelief. "I painted mandarin ducks! Can't you tell?"
Xie Zhuo's smile froze slightly. He looked down at the plump, fluffy bird again and couldn't find any resemblance to a mandarin duck.
“Of course I can tell,” he said sincerely. “I was just kidding you.”
"Really?" Xue Mingyao looked at him suspiciously. "Don't joke with me like that again, it makes me doubt my painting skills."
Xie Zhuo touched his nose. "Hmm, I'll be careful."
Xue Mingyao laughed again, tugging at his sleeve, "Xie Zhuo, paint a fan for me, and paint mandarin ducks too, so I can see where my mandarin ducks are inferior to yours, and so I can improve."
Xie Zhuoxin sensed something was wrong; he still had to paint the mandarin ducks to her level.
"Your style should be similar to mine, more natural and lively, not like those vulgar mandarin ducks on those festive fans. Speaking of which, you gave me that mandarin duck fan for my birthday, weren't you trying to mock my taste? Let me tell you, my taste may not be as refined and understated as that of literati, but it's not vulgar to that extent either. Otherwise, look at the mandarin ducks I painted, how adorable and lively they are..."
Xie Zhuo interrupted her blankly, "When did I ever give you a pair of mandarin duck fans?"
"It was the one you sent for my birthday this year, don't deny it. You bullied me terribly back then..."
Xie Zhuo interrupted her again, "Yaoyao, I really didn't give it to you."
Xue Mingyao was stunned. "You've never given me a birthday gift?"
"No," Xie Zhuo answered with absolute certainty.
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