Chenglei who was about to enter his room had his nose meet with the door that closed right on his face, mercilessly."Do not come in without taking a bath first", a cold voice rang from inside and it still had no sign of distress.
"JiaXing! I...", Chenglei tried to explain knocking the door but a shout was his reply, "Get cleaned up first"
Chenglei"s hands knocking the door paused as he could sense the coldness seeping through the door.
She is mad! She is really mad! Will she accept my explanation?
His hands trembled and he felt weak in his knees.
But wait! She is mad! She cares about me! Guess there is a silver lining to this dark cloud.
Chenglei didn"t know whether he should be pleased or worried.
"But my bathroom is inside...", his voice got lower as he knew he cannot speak until he clears this up.
After taking a bath in an unused courtyard, he walked in the fastest pace he can towards his courtyard while thinking of ways to explain things to his wife.
He expected a scowl-faced wife but seeing her with a gentle smile he was perplexed.
"Let"s eat, I"m starving", Xing welcomed him at the door with a smile before he could say anything and lead him to the dining table and even served him food first before taking some for herself and started eating with enthusiasm.
Chenglei felt his stomach rumble out of fear for some reason.
Why is she this indifferent? It"s scary.
"Don"t like the food? Why aren"t you eating?", Xing asked as she got seconds.
Chenglei took a deep breath.
This is it! Let"s face it like a man! A real man!
He placed his bowl on the table and without giving her a chance to react, went and knelt by her side and held her knee,
"JiaXing! Let me explain", he looked at her like a wronged puppy.
"Get up first", Xing pulled him up after placing her bowl on the table and wiping her mouth.
" So, is she dead?", she asked pouring him a cup of tea after getting him to sit on his chair. Anyone can kneel in front of her but not him.
" Wh-?", Chenglei"s words got stuck in his throat and he stood up as he couldn"t stay seated.
Seeing him ent.i.ty frozen, Xing held his hand and handed him the tea. "I saw the dagger in your hand as you were holding her against the couch. She must have sneaked in while you were sleeping to create misunderstandings or just to secure a place in this manor as your concubine, right?", Xing"s spoke in an unhurried manner as she poured herself a cup of tea. She looked like an elegant peac.o.c.k as her slender hands moved over the table.
" Hmm", A small chuckle escaped Chenglei"s mouth as he wondered about this woman in front of him.
How could she be this rational in that situation. Even he was shocked when he saw that naked trash near him. But his little wife noted the small pocket dagger he held at that woman"s throat? How?
He walked to her and got the teacup from her hand and took a sip from her teacup before pulling his chair near her and took a seat.
Xing looked at him with displeasure for stealing her teacup as always.
"That tras.h.!.+ She even smelled like you, JiaXing! I swear. I thought it was you in my half-asleep state and tried to get you to join me by holding the hand and that"s when I realised it was not you. What kind of hand was it? It felt like I"m not holding nothing", his face contorted as he looked at his hand and wiped it on his lap after visibly cringing.
"Eww!",he trembled." Your hand is the best! ", he he held Xing"s hand and all Xing could do was sigh.
Dear husband! Her hand felt like that because she never worked her entire life and her hand is soft like a feather,unlike mine that is calloused by holding swords.
But of course Xing didn"t want to explain it to him and that image of him on top of that other woman did shook her.
But it is not over yet!
Xing got her hand out of his grip with a smile, "Where is she?"
"I think she is in the torture chamber in our Manor. I should bring Lin Mubai back. I shouldn"t have sent him in vacation. If he was here..."
"Aren"t you leaving for court?", Xing slapped away his hand that came for her cheek and asked with a polite smile.
But is there a torture chamber in our Manor? Interesting....
Chenglei noticing her weird reaction and the sweet smile, looked scared even though that was not her intention.
This woman is too calm and even smiling sweetly. Does she really not care about me? And why is she sending me away?
"I don"t have much to do today. Furthermore, I"ll have to take care of that woman and...."
"Hubby!", Xing had a dazzling sole as she stood up and pulled him, "I think you have a lot of things to take care of outside and it will take until sunset for you to reach home",her smile didn"t fade and her time has such a sweetness to it but all Chenglei felt was fear.
She is sending me away and going to run away from home, right? I cannot get her back even if she gets to her father. And she has other influential people around her too. What should I do?
"JiaXing! What are your plans for today? Let"s visit...."
"Nope! I"ll be busy today", she cot him off.
"JiaXing...", he poked her shoulder, "You are not mad at me? I swear it was an accident on my side and the lack of security..."
"I know... I"m no fool to blame you, my husband, for something like this", Xing uttered every word with conviction and without doubt.
Some hours later,
Chenglei was sitting in the tower pavilion in the palace with the Emperor as he was discussing about the scholars who are going to attend the Court Exams.
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The Emperor"s keen eyes didn"t miss the deep contemplation in his brother"s eyes and that he was not entirely there.
"Okay! Tell me what it is bothering you", the Emperor slapped the report he had in his hand close and asked him.
"Junjie, is it possible for a woman to see her husband in bed with another woman and be able to think rationally about it without las.h.i.+ng out?", Chenglei was ma.s.saging his forehead as he asked.
If it was him and he saw his wife in bed with another man, he"d have killed that man first before thinking of other possibilities. So how could she be this calm.
Well, the truth was, Xing wasn"t that calm as she showed herself to be. And there is also the face that she still had that little belief in her heart that there was somewhere the old Chenglei she knew in him and he would never ever sleep with another woman.
Also even though he doesn"t remember, he believed her once and she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt the moment she saw the scene in front of her and she was able to see the little dagger in his hand.
But still she was fuming inside. And that"s why she asked him to take a bath before entering their room since she ft like he was sullied. He might be a Saint but she is not and that"s why she had plans for that woman who is the actual wrongdoer in this issue and the one she won"t forgive or forget.
But sadly Chenglei didn"t know her thoughts.
"You... What did you do? You did not... No way! If you did you wouldn"t be alive... Ah! But it is you... She wouldn"t punish you..... You sc.u.m! How could you hurt Mingxia?", the Emperor could not help bit stutter before he asked Chenglei as he thought out loud.
" I did not ", Chenglei banged the table." I"m no sc.u.m! But... "
" Wait... Is that smoke coming from your Manor? ", the Emperor pointed in the direction of their Jin Manor as he shouted.
Chenglei turned to have a look and found he was right.
Just then Lin Mubai came running towards them. After paying his greetings to the Emperor, he looked hesitant and gulped as he didn"t know how to explain.
"Speak", Chenglei lost his patience and urged him.
"Mmm, that... The Consort...."
"Mubai...", Chenglei stood up gusting his hands. Could she be hurt? Is there a a fire that broke out in the manor? His heart filled with uneasiness.
"Speak now or...", he gritted his teeth and the Emperor by his side could see his brother getting highly impatient and even he wanted to leave that place. But he wanted to know what it was and decided to stay.
" The Consort... She, asked the servants to bring out the furniture in the outhouse complaining of rats. But... There are no rats in the Manor... And some say.... Some say, the Fire started by itself but... "
"Ha ha ha....", Chenglei could not hold back his happiness and laughed out loud.
So my little wife did get jealous!
Lin Mubai blinked and the Emperor who got why his weird brother is laughing shook his head and got back to reading his doc.u.ments.
"And the one we had in the bas.e.m.e.nt?"
"She"s an young miss from the Zhao family. Apparently she paid for some highend a.s.sa.s.sins to disable the guards around your courtyard and then she... Forgive me for my incompetence, brother wolf", Lin Mubai knelt in front of him and Chenglei asked him to leave after instructing him to be vigilant in the future and threatened him to take his head off if such incidents repeat.
"You will be the only one who does not get hurt after poking a tiger", the Emperor spoke and pursed his lips and Chenglei could see the jealousy in his face.
Eh! I"m her husband! Of course she won"t blame me!
But he remembered that the kiss he was about to plant on her lips when he was driven out.... No, when he left for work, landed on her cheeks.
She is still angry at me.! So what should I do?
After nagging his brother who has nearly a hundred women in his harem yet staying celibate the past months for advice yet not getting a single worthy one, Chenglei left the palace after the sun went down as per his wife"s command, no, request, no, gentle reminder.
It"s been a while since we slept together! He was pouting. JiaXing! I"m not going to bed hungry tonight!
On the way he got her some hot sweet buns for his wife and also some imported wine from the Fire Kingdom.
There he saw his outhouse looking the same as ever, as if, it didn"t see any makeover and the Ashes from the burnt furnitures were all cleaned up.
After asking the servants to replace the flowering plants that got ruined in the fire, he got inside and tried to cajole his wife who was leisurely leaning in the couch reading a book.
Of course torturing a woman for information and then tying her up to send her to be left at the Great Sands would tire one out even though she just watched everything happen.
He offered Xing the sweetbuns and wine and like a little child her face brightened up.
What a silly woman! He thought. But I love you!
"You sent her away?", he asked after she finished eating.
"You disapprove?", she raised her eyebrows.
"No, isn"t that more work that just burying her somewhere?", he was honest.
Why should she be taking that much effort for a piece of trash?
"How many will I Bury?", she stood up and removed his outer robe and her slender fingers accidentally grazed on his neck. Or maybe it was intentional.
For Chenglei who has been longing for her touch, it felt like she was teasing him and he wrapped his arms around her waist.