Chapter 71 Because you are Xie Qinglang.
The heated discussion surrounding Cen Zongjing's return has not subsided. The last time the court and the public were so astonished and talked about with such relish was at the beginning of the year when Xie Zhuo returned in triumph. With two major events at the beginning of the year, the historians felt the weight of their pens as they picked up their pens, and they treated the matter with even greater solemnity.
Amidst the uproar, Cen Zongjing compiled his observations and reflections on Wuxi over the past few years into "Ten Strategies for Wuxi," which he presented to the emperor. Emperor Mengde Yuan summoned him to the Hanying Hall for several consecutive days for a lengthy discussion, and he enjoyed great favor from the emperor.
Emperor Deyuan also wanted to bestow a marriage upon him as compensation for his lost wife, but Cen Zongjing politely declined.
Cen and Xie were both young military officers who married Princess Yongning one after the other. Cen Zongjing also refused the marriage decree. Many gossipers thought that there was bound to be awkwardness between them, and it was not impossible that they were like oil and water. Whenever the two appeared at the same time, they would always mutter to themselves and their eyes would dart around on each other.
Disappointingly, both generals were quite open-minded. When they met at court, they nodded and smiled at each other, and did not seem to have any animosity.
—Disagreements should certainly not be made in front of others.
After that awkward banquet, Xie Zhuo realized that Cen Zongjing was no pushover. However, since he was willing to put on a friendly front, Xie Zhuo had no reason not to cooperate, as long as this person didn't bother Xue Mingyao.
However, things didn't go as planned. Xie Zhuo returned from the garrison and happened to run into Cen Zongjing, who was about to board his carriage and leave, at the gate of his own residence.
Xie Zhuo reined in his horse in front of Cen Zongjing's carriage, his cold gaze sweeping over him. "General Cen, what brings you to my residence?"
“I’ve come to see Yaoyao. As for why, you can ask her.” Cen Zongjing said leisurely, and then lifted his robe to get into the carriage.
Xie Zhuo said in a deep voice, "I hope General Cen did not deliberately choose a time when I was not here to visit my wife."
Cen Zongjing stopped upon hearing this, looking at him with a half-smile, "General Xie, are you so worried?"
He immediately replied, "That's true. You and Yaoyao have only just gotten married, and your feelings for each other are still shallow. Naturally, you should be afraid of people like jackals and tigers."
"I was merely reminding General Cen to avoid suspicion, yet it was interpreted as fear. General, you think too highly of yourself," Xie Zhuo said coldly, no longer being polite. "The depth of feelings does not depend on the timing of marriage. If we must put it that way, General, you probably haven't spent much more time with Yao Yao after your marriage than I have."
Cen Zongjing remained calm and composed. “If we must discuss this, how can we only talk about what happened after marriage? When Yaoyao was twelve, I joined General Xue’s army and frequently visited the Xue residence. I became acquainted with her, knew what she liked, and knew what she looked like at fourteen or fifteen. My relationship with Yaoyao is not something that started overnight.”
Xie Zhuo scoffed, ignored him, and turned his horse around to enter the mansion.
This time, it was Cen Zongjing who stopped him. "What are you laughing at, General?"
Xie Zhuo looked at him indifferently, "I'm laughing at you for knowing her for so long, yet she still refuses to marry you. Clearly, your relationship is quite special."
Cen Zongjing's expression stiffened slightly, but after a few moments he calmly said, "Back then, Yaoyao was in love with the princes, so it's not surprising that she didn't want to marry me. Besides, Yaoyao is incredibly beautiful, and she has a childlike heart. She might like one person one month and another the next. Even if I married her, I never dared to dream of having her all to myself. Even though she's not my wife now, I can remain calm. As long as she's safe and happy, that's enough. In my opinion, affection is far more important than the title of husband and wife."
Xie Zhuo thought Cen Zongjing's words were outrageous.
"You didn't want to have her all to yourself? Is that something a husband should say?"
"I think Yaoyao doesn't like you; you're just pretending to be magnanimous," he said coolly.
Cen Zongjing smiled, "If the general doesn't believe I'm truly magnanimous, there's nothing I can do. I'm just kindly reminding the general that Yaoyao is no ordinary woman, and her heart won't be devoted to just one person. As Yaoyao's husband, you shouldn't be too narrow-minded. If Yaoyao goes to find another man, and you act like a jealous woman, it will only annoy Yaoyao."
Xie Zhuo was at a loss for words, neither laughing nor crying.
What does Cen Zongjing take marriage for? He can't even hold onto Xue Mingyao's heart, yet he acts like a saint. To please Xue Mingyao, he doesn't even care about his dignity as a husband. No wonder Xue Mingyao praises him for being obedient.
Xie Zhuo didn't believe that Cen Zongjing was truly magnanimous, despite being called narrow-minded.
"General, do you know that less than half a year after your funeral, Yaoyao was taken off mourning clothes and started keeping a lover at her residence in Xichuan, where they indulged in pleasure together? Don't you mind this at all?"
“I’ve heard about this,” Cen Zongjing said with a smile. “At that time, I was ‘dead,’ and Yaoyao was a young widow in the prime of her life. It’s only natural for her to seek new love out of loneliness. Not only do I not mind, but I also want to thank that young man for keeping Yaoyao company, so that she wouldn’t be immersed in the pain of losing her husband.”
"No need to thank me," Xie Zhuo said calmly. "If anyone should be thanking someone, it is General Xie Cen. It just so happened that you were stranded in Wuxi at that time, which gave me the opportunity to accompany Yao Yao. Your misfortune has become my fortune, and I should really prepare a generous gift to repay the general."
Cen Zongjing frowned. "I don't understand what you're saying."
"Before I joined the army, I traveled in Xichuan for a few years and fell in love with Yaoyao. We moved into your mansion, but at that time, the house was already a princess's residence. My marriage to Yaoyao is a continuation of our past relationship. General, you can reassess the depth of my feelings for her. As for the pain of losing her husband, General, you are overthinking it. Yaoyao is not troubled by it."
Xie Zhuo left those words behind and, without glancing at Cen Zongjing again, rode straight into the mansion.
It felt hot on his back; Cen Zongjing's gaze seemed to want to bore a hole through his back.
Xie Zhuo smiled, nimbly dismounted, and went to find Xue Mingyao.
Xue Mingyao was talking to the steward, with account books spread out on her desk. She didn't stop when she saw him come in. Xie Zhuo sat down to the side and waited, picking up a bright yellow tangerine with leaves from the glass cup and peeling it silently.
After a moment, Xue Mingyao finished giving her instructions and told the steward to leave before turning to look at him.
Xie Zhuo put down the tangerine, which was peeled like a flower. "I saw General Cen when I came. What did he want with you?"
Xue Mingyao picked up a pear from the fruit plate and took a crisp bite into the flesh. "He asked me for his old books, account books, and letters."
Are these things important, that they've always been with you?
Xue Mingyao shook her head. "I don't know how important they are. Some are in his old residence in Zhongjing, and some are in his residence in Xichuan. The Cen family doesn't want them, and it would be a waste to throw them away, so I picked some out and kept them in the Xue residence. I'll have someone find them and send them to him later."
Xie Zhuo said in a low voice, "I think he used this as an excuse to come and talk to you."
“Possibly,” Xue Mingyao said with a grin, biting into a pear. “It’s just that his excuse is so valid that I can’t stop him.”
"Oh right, you've read some of the military books in there!" Xue Mingyao remembered.
"Yes, I also wrote annotations on it."
If Cen Zongjing were to look through it, he could probably still make him angry.
"What else did he say to you?" Xie Zhuo asked.
Xue Mingyao munched on the pear, then took a handkerchief to wipe her hands before replying to him crisply, "I forgot."
"How is that possible?"
“Why not?” Xue Mingyao picked up a tangerine from the cup and played with it in her hand.
"Tell me about it," Xie Zhuo said, pushing the peeled tangerines toward Xue Mingyao.
Xue Mingyao glanced at the tangerine, then turned to him with a smile, "What does this mean?"
Xie Zhuo paused for a moment, then said, "Here, have some."
"Oh—it's for me to eat. Thank you! I thought you peeled it and didn't eat it, just kept it there as a painting."
Xue Mingyao picked up a tangerine, plucked a segment and popped it into her mouth, then picked another and held it to his lips, saying, "Open your mouth."
Xie Zhuo obediently opened his mouth and took the orange segment into his mouth, but he didn't let go of her hand. He held her wrist and kissed her fingertips, whispering, "Yaoyao, tell me."
Xue Mingyao blinked her bright eyes, "Speak louder, I can't hear you."
Xie Zhuo had no choice but to let go of her hand, then leaned close to her ear and repeated it.
The man's warm breath filled the room, and Xue Mingyao's heart melted instantly. She even found Xie Zhuo's deep voice pleasant to listen to.
So many people call her Yaoyao, but Xie Zhuo's way of calling her is particularly different. Next time, she'll ask him to call her that from the couch, Xue Mingyao thought.
She looked at him and said, "You asked me to say this, so don't blame me if you're unhappy about it."
Xie Zhuo agreed.
“Cen Zongjing said that he felt you were not good to me, that you did not take care of me, that your tone was cold and harsh, and that you were narrow-minded. He felt that I had been wronged.”
Xie Zhuo gritted his teeth, knowing that Cen Zongjing had ill intentions.
"So what did you reply?" he asked.
“I said I like Xie Zhuo just the way he is,” Xue Mingyao said matter-of-factly.
Xie Zhuo pondered, "Is that really what you think?"
“Of course not,” Xue Mingyao said. “I did it to spite him. I let bygones be bygones the last time he came to dinner, because he was my husband. But this time he came to me and said these things. Isn’t he just trying to drive a wedge between us?”
"Whether you are good or not is my right to say, not his."
Xie Zhuo breathed a long sigh of relief without showing any emotion, thanking Cen Zongjing for his despicable actions, which finally ruined Xue Mingyao's sympathy for him.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Putting everything else aside, do you think what he said makes sense?"
"What do you think?" Xue Mingyao asked with a half-smile.
Xie Zhuo knew that he was definitely not as considerate to Xue Mingyao as her many admirers. He had argued with Xue Mingyao in Xichuan before, and they quarreled again after marriage. The time he spent with her normally was pitifully short.
Xie Zhuo reached out and put an orange segment into her mouth. "I'll change slowly."
The orange segments burst with slightly sweet juice on the tip of the tongue, rolling down the throat and moistening the heart.
Xue Mingyao threw herself into his arms and was held firmly in his embrace. She leaned on his shoulder and whispered, "Others who become my husband need to be obedient, but if you become my husband, you don't have to."
Because you are Xie Qinglang.
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