"Nam-joo, you, cough cough, say it again."
"Brother Yun, Yunxiao."
"Ahem, this time, why don't you just say 'brother' and try it?"
"elder brother?"
"Mmm! That's great! Let's do it again!"
Looking at He Yunxiao's blissful smile, Meng Qingrou asked suspiciously, "He Yunxiao, are you...doing this on purpose?"
Upon hearing Nan Zhu's wife's words, He Yunxiao immediately stopped smiling, straightened his posture, and said seriously, "I would never lie to Nan Zhu. 'Zhang Lingrou' really is my cousin..."
Meng Qingrou said, "That's not what I meant..."
He Yunxiao said seriously again, "When I visit relatives, that's how my siblings address each other..."
Meng Qingrou became increasingly suspicious. She said, "Nanzhu wants to ask, when you cough while you speak, is it intentional? You look fine, not sick."
He Yunxiao was speechless for a moment.
After all that fuss, Nanzhu's wife picked the most trivial thing to ask me.
It's like this: Sun Wukong said he kills without blinking, and Tang Sanzang asked him if his eyes would get dry.
He Yunxiao was always careful to maintain his persona of never lying in front of his wife, Nanzhu, and chose to tell the truth: "I did cough on purpose to cover up my embarrassment."
Meng Qingrou tilted her head slightly and asked again in confusion, "Awkward?"
He Yunxiao coughed again unconsciously and said, "What is embarrassment? For example, a little girl thinks her brother is asleep, and then she starts to show her curious and mischievous nature, wanting to look at everything and see everything."
Upon hearing He Yunxiao's words, Meng Qingrou froze instantly.
At that moment, she realized what "awkwardness" truly meant.
However, Meng Qingrou's way of easing the awkwardness wasn't by faking a cough, but by subconsciously straightening her back and bringing her slender legs together. She sat up straight like a good child.
Her two little hands twisted together nervously. Meng Qingrou looked down and then up, tentatively asking, "Who is that little girl that her brother discovered?"
Seeing his wife Nan Zhu's alarmed expression, He Yunxiao decided not to tease her any further and explained, "I was just saying it casually. The story is purely fictional. The little girl didn't do anything, and her brother didn't see anything."
Meng Qingrou finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard He Yunxiao say that.
I'm just glad he didn't notice my outburst.
...
He Yunxiao's personal groom, Ma Dekuai, has been rather unhappy lately.
His pleasure was driving, and usually within the Marquis's residence, only when he was driving this young master could he show off his skills and enjoy the ride.
Recently, however, the young master has been frequently bringing women to visit. Some are from academies, and others from the imperial palace. This has caused Ma Dekuai considerable distress.
The days of recklessly wielding the whip are gone forever.
Ma Dekuai couldn't understand. Women are just wives, right? He has them too. What's so special about that? Doesn't the young master get tired of it?
Ma Dekuai admitted that he genuinely liked it at first, but later found it wasn't all that great. The older he got, the more he enjoyed working overtime and driving. Especially when he was "working the night shift" with the young master, he could lie in the carriage all night, which was much more enjoyable than going home!
Despite his complaints, Ma Dekuai's driving skills did not diminish despite the slower speed. Under his control, the Marquis's carriage arrived at its destination smoothly.
The He family's villa.
...
The carriage came to a smooth stop, so smooth that Meng Qingrou inside didn't even notice the swaying.
He Yunxiao lifted the carriage curtain, took a wooden ladder and placed it under the carriage, then called to Nanzhu, "Sister Rou, we've arrived."
Meng Qingrou wasn't quite used to He Yunxiao's new way of addressing her yet. After a moment's thought, she said, "Oh, oh."
After getting off the car, Meng Qingrou found that it was a rather quiet place.
The trees cast deep shadows all around, and birdsong and barking could be heard from time to time.
In front of me was a small courtyard, locked by an old wooden door.
The bright red couplets that were pasted on the wooden door in the past have now been worn and faded by the passage of time.
He Yunxiao took out his key, unlocked the brass lock, and pushed open the wooden door.
The piercing creaking sound, accompanied by words of explanation, reached Meng Qingrou's ears.
“My father lived here before he became famous. After he became a general and had a marquisate, he stopped living here. This place can be considered the place where my He family started to prosper. Come, come in.”
Meng Qingrou followed He Yunxiao into the courtyard. She didn't dislike the feeling of this courtyard, because this feeling of being deserted was familiar, just like Linxuan Palace.
The courtyard appeared to have been cleaned not long ago.
He Yunxiao led Meng Qingrou to a house and said, "Nanzhu, we're going to play in the street later. You can't wear this palace maid outfit anymore. It's too conspicuous. It makes you look like you came from the palace. There are some clothes that ordinary women wear that I've prepared for you in this house. Go in and change, and then we'll go shopping."
Meng Qingrou agreed with some hesitation, then walked into the house with even more hesitation, and then closed the door with even more hesitation.
Nan Zhu's wife's actions left He Yunxiao completely bewildered.
Why does it seem like I'm the one persecuting her?
I prepared proper clothes! The kind that cover your arms and legs completely. It's definitely not a Lolita style, school swimsuit, gym uniform, sailor suit, high heels, pantyhose, mini skirt, stockings, twin tails…
He Yunxiao knew that girls took a long time to change clothes. He was prepared to wait for Nan Zhu for 45 minutes, a full half hour. Could she not finish changing in half an hour?
I found a clean spot in the courtyard.
He Yunxiao sat cross-legged. Let's begin! Oh no, I mean, let's start practicing!
He circulated his internal energy, cultivated internal strength, and then discarded it, preventing it from polluting Chu Chu's pure internal energy. He Yunxiao repeated this seemingly pointless exercise over and over again, purely honing his control over his internal energy.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
