Chapter 57 "You win".
Green Branch combed Xue Mingyao's hair, her face showing a hint of unspoken words.
Feigning illness has always been a specialty of the master. In the past, when he caused trouble and angered General Xue, he would pretend to have a headache and fever the next day, and be bedridden. He would groan a couple of times, and even if General Xue was furious, he would not be able to vent his anger.
But now, using it on Xie Langjun still required a lot of effort to fake a bone injury. Master really doesn't follow the usual path; he's highly skilled and daring.
Xue Mingyao noticed her expression and asked, "Do you have any objections?"
Green Branch shook her head, "It's just that the princess is being wronged, suffering the pain of not being able to walk for nothing."
"Well, thankfully I can take it off during the day and breathe a sigh of relief. As for the suffering at night—" Xue Mingyao narrowed her eyes and chuckled twice, "I have to get back at Xie Zhuo. I have to make sure my act is worthwhile."
Green Branch asked curiously, "How do you plan to fish for them?"
Just as Xue Mingyao was about to speak, there were two knocks on the door. Before Lüzhi could speak, the little maid rushed in, panting, "Princess, the General has returned to the manor and is on his way here!"
Both master and servant changed color.
Green Branch nearly dropped the comb in her hand. "What's going on? The general usually doesn't come back until the afternoon!"
Outside the window, the light of day was just beginning to thicken, and even noon was still a long way off.
The maid scratched her head. "It's absolutely true. The general just rode in through the side gate."
She was assigned by Lüzhi the important task of guarding the side gate to watch over the general's return to the mansion. Coincidentally, after witnessing Xie Zhuo leave the mansion in the morning, she sat in the nearby corridor doing embroidery, the sunlight playing on her fingers. When she looked up, she saw the general.
Xue Mingyao gritted her teeth and pointed to the pile of "props" that had just been taken down, "Quickly wrap them up, we can't let it slip!"
......
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Xie Zhuo arrived, dressed in a brocade robe and black boots, his voice steady.
He carried half a handkerchief in his hand, walked through the hall into the bedroom, and said, "Why does your maid act like she's seen a ghost when she sees me? She even dropped her embroidery and ran away."
Xue Mingyao sat on the couch, her injured foot propped up, angrily pulling at her hair. "Seeing you is like seeing a ghost. Why are you back at this time? Are you on leave again today?"
Xie Zhuo sat down, picked up a small kumquat from the tea table, and calmly finished eating it before saying, "You are not able to walk properly and have an eccentric personality. I think you would probably go out of your way to torment the servants in the mansion. So I came back to keep an eye on you and also to prevent you from causing any more trouble."
"You really know how to take care of your servants." Xue Mingyao crossed her arms and blinked her dark eyes at him a few times. "I thought you had specially given up your post to come back and take care of me!"
Xie Zhuo remained silent, then picked up a kumquat, put it in his mouth, and slowly chewed and swallowed.
Something suddenly flew towards him. Xie Zhuo didn't even look up; he reached out and grabbed it—it was a wooden comb. He aimed it at Xie Zhuo's head; it was meant to hit him on the head.
Xue Mingyao, her black hair half-tied up, said matter-of-factly, "If you won't let me bother people, then I can only bother you. General Xie, come and comb my hair."
"...Why not call it Green Branch Comb?"
"She's afraid of you. With you sitting there, she can't bring out her full potential. So you're here to take her place."
Xue Mingyao thought it would take a lot of persuasion to convince Xie Zhuo, but to her surprise, he didn't say anything more and just sat down with a comb.
The simple cicada bun that Lüzhi styled for her was only half-finished, so Xie Zhuo divided the remaining black hair into sections, coiled them, and tucked them into the bun.
Her black hair flowed through the man's palms with a comfortable pressure, and for a moment she thought it was Xie Qinglang combing her hair.
Although Xie Qinglang has a stubborn temper, she is always gentle when she does things.
When Xie Zhuo was being a good person, Xue Mingyao couldn't help but wonder whether it was a continuation of Xie Qinglang's gentleness in him, or just a fleeting moment of brilliance before death.
But what's the point of thinking about all this? She should treat him as a husband who needs to be tamed, not as a former lover she's trying to rekindle.
Of course, she would take advantage of her husband's broad chest. Xue Mingyao picked up a pastry from the table, leaned back slightly against him, and began to eat her breakfast in peace.
After a moment, Xie Zhuo said, "It's done."
Xue Mingyao subconsciously touched the back of her head, then put her hand down. "Aren't you going to give me a mirror? How am I supposed to know if you've done a good job combing your hair?"
After Xie Zhuo stood up, she changed her mind again, "Forget it, just carry me to the mirror and look at myself."
Xie Zhuo ignored her and still gave her a diamond-shaped mirror.
Xue Mingyao refused to take the picture and repeatedly asked Xie Zhuo to hug her. When she couldn't persuade him, she simply pulled his sleeve, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hung directly on him.
Fearing she might get hurt, Xie Zhuo could only scoop her up, carefully protecting her legs, and carry her to the mirror before setting her down.
The beauty in the mirror had hair as white as clouds, with two thin strands of black hair on each side falling to her chest, adding to her youthful charm. Xue Mingyao liked to wear her hair like this when she was seventeen or eighteen, but in the last two years she had gotten used to letting part of her hair fall over her shoulders. She looked at herself again and again, said nothing, and asked Xie Zhuo to carry her back again.
She hadn't finished her breakfast.
This time, Xie Zhuo refused no matter what, and directly took out her pastries and porridge. Xue Mingyao stopped insisting, her gaze fell on the jewelry box, and she asked Xie Zhuo to put earrings on her.
Xie Zhuo calmly picked out a pearl pendant and put it on her.
Those are the earrings she's been wearing lately.
Xie Zhuo's dressing up was impeccable, a result of her years of training Xie Qinglang.
She remembered that she forced him to learn a lot, but there was one thing that Xie Qinglang absolutely refused to do.
He wouldn't draw her eyebrows.
He told the story of Zhang Chang of the Eastern Han Dynasty painting eyebrows, saying that it was a sign of marital affection. He said that he and she were having an affair without a matchmaker, and it was inappropriate for him to do such a thing. He would only do it for his future wife.
Xie Qinglang spoke with a serious expression, displaying the unwavering integrity of a virtuous woman. Xue Mingyao, unusually, reflected on herself. If Xie Qinglang were a woman, she could be said to have taken away a woman's virginity, which should be reserved for her husband, forcing her to retain only a sliver of purity in trivial matters like drawing her eyebrows. She was quite pitiful.
So she didn't force it, but secretly hoped in her heart that Xie Qinglang's future wife would be an ugly woman, so that Hua Mei wouldn't be able to achieve her goal.
I wonder if he's willing to paint now?
They should be willing.
But Xue Mingyao didn't bring it up; she applied rouge and drew her eyebrows herself.
Xie Zhuo left for a while and then returned. After finishing her breakfast, Xue Mingyao quickly figured out how to continue tormenting him. She touched her lips and asked him to take her to Tingzhu Pavilion so she could paint.
"...How should I deliver it?" Xie Zhuo hesitated slightly.
"Of course, you'll carry me over," Xue Mingyao said with a smile.
Tingzhu Pavilion is located in the southeast corner of Xie Mansion, quite a distance from the main courtyard. If one walks slowly, it would take a full quarter of an hour to walk there.
She's just causing him trouble.
Xie Zhuo raised an eyebrow. "If I don't return to the manor, you probably won't even think about going to Tingzhu Pavilion."
“But you’re back,” Xue Mingyao said leisurely.
"I'm not a fool you can boss around. Just pretend I'm not here." Xie Zhuo said, and then turned to leave.
Xue Mingyao suddenly shouted, "If you don't carry me, I'll get Qi Zhao to carry me!"
......here we go again.
Xie Zhuo finally understood: she kept Qi Zhao in the mansion specifically to provoke him.
He reasoned with her in a deep voice, "With me here, which maid would dare to summon him for you? Even if he came, how could I let him through this door? Don't be delusional. Painting doesn't necessarily require going to the Listening Bamboo Pavilion. Just ask someone to bring you brushes and ink, and you can paint here, can't you?"
“No.” Xue Mingyao said, enunciating each word clearly. “I must go to Tingzhu Pavilion today. If you don’t want to take me, then I will do it myself.”
After saying that, she actually stood up on one leg, trembling, and hopped a couple of steps while holding onto the furniture.
Xie Zhuo looked at her in surprise, "You want to hop there?"
"That's right."
The dressing table was very close to the door. While they were talking, Xue Mingyao took a few more steps on one leg, reached the door, and pushed it open.
"Come back! It's such a long way, why are you showing off?"
Xue Mingyao's response was to nimbly leap over the threshold and stand under the eaves. Two maids outside, seeing their mistress standing on one leg, swaying unsteadily, hurried over to support her.
"Get down," Xue Mingyao shouted, "Don't come near me."
The young maid dared not disobey and silently retreated. Xue Mingyao turned to Xie Zhuo, whose face was ashen, and smiled, "I'm just being stubborn, so what can you do about it?"
She released her grip on the pillar, looked at the two wide steps leading to the door, bent her left leg slightly, and then pushed off—
"Xue Mingyao, stop right there!"
Xie Zhuo's angry roar landed at the same time as her heavy steps. The force was so strong that Xue Mingyao leaned forward and almost fell over. She hopped on one foot several times before her upper body was caught by a strong arm, and she barely managed to stand up.
"Are you crazy!" Xie Zhuo gritted his teeth, forcing out the words, "These are your feet! Don't you care at all? What if you fall?"
"I do care, but I'm more interested in whether you care."
Xue Mingyao tilted her head, looking into his eyes with a relaxed and leisurely air, a faint smile on her lips, like a mischievous child.
Xie Zhuo was at his wit's end with her. He took a deep breath and said, "Fine, you see, I care. Is that alright?"
"Not enough." Xue Mingyao's smile grew even sweeter. "I want you to carry me to Tingzhu Pavilion."
Xie Zhuo kept a straight face. "What if I just refuse?"
“Then I’ll hop there, I’ll go even if I fall, I’ll go even if I crawl. Even if you throw me back into the house and tie me up, as long as I can move my feet, I’ll still go,” Xue Mingyao said earnestly.
As he spoke, he wiggled his injured foot, which was dangling in mid-air, as if in a provocation.
Xie Zhuo stood silently before her. His hands, which were holding her body, trembled slightly. His deep, dark eyes, like a bottomless pool, stared intently at her, terrifying as if a wild beast might leap out at any moment.
Xue Mingyao was not afraid at all. She met his gaze quietly, and her stiff right foot relaxed and touched the ground.
It felt like hundreds of years.
Finally, she heard Xie Zhuo sigh.
His sigh was so soft, like the sound of a leaf falling to the ground, yet so heavy, like a boulder crashing into one's heart.
Xie Zhuo bent over, supporting her back with one hand and her knees with the other, and slowly lifted her up.
Xue Mingyao put her hand on his shoulder and met his deep gaze.
“You win,” he said.
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