.7 – Wanting to go out and seduce people? Ha-ha

Red candles flickered in the room, shadows danced, and the beauty inside played with the wine cup in her hand. The white, almost translucent fingertips slid slowly along the edge of the cup, making Zhan Shaoxi unable to tear his eyes away, his throat terribly dry.

The dishes were placed on the table one by one, and the maids retreated with a wave from Xue Ling. Once the door closed, there were only the two of them in the room.

There was obviously a table between them, but Zhan Shaoxi felt that he could smell the wonderful scent on the other party’s body, and it made him a little intoxicated. However, he could instinctively feel that something was about to happen that he could not prevent.

Filled with these feelings of uncertainty and suspicion, he opened his mouth to ask, "Wife, what did you want to say to me?”

Of course, he had not been naive enough to think that his wife would change her mind and suddenly be willing to live with him and **. According to his understanding of his wife during this period of time, there was an eighty percent chance that she had asked him over because she needed something from him.

In fact, he had not wanted to agree to many of his wife’s requests, including keeping that damned child. But as long as he was faced with that pair of eyes, even if there were no good feelings contained within, Zhan Shaoxi could not help but agree.

The system was punched by Xue Ling after expressing that the man’s subservience to his wife was almost maxed out.

“The General should have dinner first before asking again.” Xue Ling seldom served dishes for Zhan Shaoxi, and it was all things he liked to eat, making the General so happy that he tossed the question to the back of his head.

It was a meal without all kinds of sarcasm and irony, and they both ate relatively comfortably until people were called over to clear the table. Xue Ling leisurely brought out a book of accounts from his bosom, leaned back in the chair, and lazily looked at Zhan Shaoxi.

“Actually, I invited the General over today for no reason other than to discuss some problems with the Manor. I wanted to know what the General’s thoughts are." He handed the account book to Zhan Shaoxi and motioned for him to look at it. “Although the General said that I only need to handle my own duties, and nothing serious will happen even if I just pass my days sitting and eating in the manor waiting for death, but in the end I’m still your legally married wife, and should properly manage the household."

When Zhan Shaoxi heard the words ’legally married’, he lowered his gaze to hide surging in his heart, but his mouth was slightly raised and he laughed a little foolishly. “What does Lady Wife mean?”

“Nothing really, I just looked through the accounts of the General’s Manor these past few days and found that the Manor’s regular income is regularly less than the spending.” Xue Ling leisurely looked at his nails. They were round and beautiful, and his scallion-white fingers were as white as jade. No matter how they were placed, they were very beautiful. “Although the General’s salary is generous, there are some etiquettes involved in dealing with all kinds of festivals. In addition, it is quite difficult to support a family, do some decorations, and still have some money left over."

Zhan Shaoxi: “...” So now he’s being disdained by his wife for not making enough money to support his family?

“I’m not criticizing that the General’s salary is too low. After all, General’s Manor has a strong relationship with the royal family, and spending is required for all kinds of personal contacts. Fortunately, there are no concubines or mistresses in the Manor. Otherwise the maintenance and acquisition of the back court would also be a big expense.” Speaking of this, he curved his lips into a smile and said, “But these things are uncertain. Perhaps one day, the General will install several sisters into the back court." His fingertips tapped the table gently. His words clearly carried a touch of rebuke, but from his mouth there was no spoiled or unhappy tone at all. Listening to it made a shiver run down Zhan Shaoxi’s back.

He quickly expressed his feelings on the matter. “Lady Wife, don’t worry. Other than you, there will not be another woman in the back court of the General’s Manor."

Xue Ling turned his head to look at him, and blinked. "How could that be? If I am unable to help the General spread his branches and sprout leaves, and cannot bear a child, it would still be necessary to bring in a few little sisters." His words sounded generous, but the system felt chilled just listening to it.

Its great host never directly spoke with husband about anything, but rather chose to use various words to feel out the other party. It couldn’t understand what he was playing at.

Zhan Shaoxi frowned slightly. “What does Lady Wife mean by that?” Was he so reluctant to be close to him? Was he unwilling to even let him touch? “Even if I can’t spread my branches and leaves, what I said still counts. My Lady Wife will be the only one in my life."

Perhaps because he had heard what he wanted to hear at last, Xue Ling laughed even more attractively. He leaned forward and pinched Zhan Shaoxi’s chin, carefully using his gaze to trace his face, his smile beautiful enough to topple countries and bring disaster. “You’d better remember what you said today. If someday I find out that you’ve betrayed me, I’ll make you suffer a fate worse than death."

He was so close that Zhan Shaoxi could see his own figure reflected in his pair of black eyes.

The picture was too wonderful. What he craved for in his dreams, what he pursued, was exactly this scene.

He narrowed his eyes, leaned his head down a little, and brushed his lips against Xue Ling’s.

Everything seemed to go still in this moment. The other side’s lips were very soft, and because she did not like to use make-up, there was no taste of carmine. Rather, between his lips and teeth, there was a light fresh fragrance as he slid along the pair of warm lips. It was as though this moment rushed straight into his mind.

Zhan Shaoxi wanted to take further advantage, sliding the tip of his tongue across the other side’s lips, but the other side moved his head away and looked at him quietly.

“General, have some self-respect.” His voice was light, and did not seem to have been affected by the kiss at all. There was not even a trace of a flush on his cheeks, and compared with Zhan Shaoxi’s already reddened face, he appeared calm to the extreme, as though this kiss had little impact on him.

Nonsense, as a person who has done it with the man in every possible position, what kind of change would he show with just a kiss that didn’t even involve tongue?!

He did not want the man to take advantage of him prematurely, as he still wanted to string him along for much longer. If he satisfied the man’s wishes too early, in some ways Xue Ling would be restricting his own actions.

Zhan Shaoxi felt somewhat regretful as Xue Ling sat back. His eyes were still glued to the other person’s lips, and he could hardly be any more obvious and bold. "Fine. So my Lady Wife invited me to dinner tonight just to talk about the large expenses in the house and my insufficient salary?"

Xue Ling looked away and said, “Not that it’s not enough, just that there is no surplus.”

“Then that is this husband’s fault.” Zhan Shaoxi smiled a little, “If I can’t even afford to buy something when my Lady Wife wants it, then I really deserve a beating."

“This is true of everyone who lives off court salaries.” Xue Ling turned the focus to what he wanted to say. “I’m not here to ask the General for money. My dowry was very generous, and I don’t need to use the monthly salary allocated to the General’s Manor."

The line that he drew made Zhan Shaoxi very upset. He had clearly expressed his feelings again and again, but Xue Ling was still so indifferent, not regarding the General’s Manor as his home at all, to the point where he was unwilling to even spend money that belonged to the General’s Manor.

Zhan Shaoxi could now be considered to have really seen through the matter clearly. In fact, he did not need to feel guilty towards Xue Ling because of the words he had said on the wedding night to Her Highness. If he had lifted the Royal Princess’s red veil that night according to the normal approach to a wedding, knowing the other party’s temperament, she would most likely have poured a cup of wine over his head.

These days, it was not that Zhan Shaoxi failed to see the Royal Princess’ nature, but rather that he could see it too clearly.

In front of outsiders, especially the damned boy called Xia Yang, Her Royal Highness was absolutely worthy of His Majesty’s high evaluation. She was gentle and elegant, and every time she smiled, she appeared noble, kind, and extremely graceful. When she laughed, she could make people see the brilliant appearance of spring blossoms, and was absolutely the most proper aristocrat that all the famous and highborn women in the Capital could use as an example.

But that was all on the surface. When interacting with Zhan Shaoxi, this person was completely exposed.

She did not have any feminine tenderness. Every move and gesture had a sense of heroic spirit, and was still damned attractive, faintly seducing Zhan Shaoxi and making him wonder what was wrong with him, that he could be so totally powerless against this person every time.

Just like right now, as she was discussing things with Zhan Shaoxi, her posture as she sat was all kinds of disgraceful, and while she idly leaned back in her chair and looked at people with her cheek propped against her hand, her eyes were icy and distant, and the gentleness that she usually faked was nowhere to be seen.

But it was this kind of attitude that made Zhan Shaoxi more and more unable to extricate himself.

Strangely enough, although he had initially been stunned by her appearance in the formal wedding gown and subsequently developed an interest, he was more in love with his casual attitude that was not at all feminine.

Subconsciously, he always felt that his wife was more suitable for men’s clothing and would be a beautiful young man.

He stopped the strange deviation of his thoughts here, and Zhan Shaoxi, whose mood had turned a corner because of the fantasies in his head, twitched his lips, hid the mirth in his eyes and asked, “So what does Lady Wife really want?”

“I want to open a shop.” Xue Ling did not plan to beat around the bush, so he brought out another thing. “This is a prescription that I’ve written out. You should go and ask the people in Taiyuan Hospital to follow it and give it a try. If there are no problems, then we can make more, and open a store to sell it."

The Emperor did not allow the royal princes to get involved in business, but the restriction did not include princesses. Zhan Shaoxi looked at Xue Ling’s prescription and asked curiously, “What is the use of Lady Wife’s prescription?”

“It’s for women.” This was the business that the female protagonist was involved in. Xue Ling had asked the system to check the heroine’s formula, and after changing and improving on it, he had created the present formula. As long as it was made, it would definitely be more attract more people than the heroine’s. At that time, the heroine and the Crown Prince should have already begun to cooperate, and when their business suffered a hit, the plot direction would change greatly. “The General does not have to worry that I am doing this randomly, and the money earned will go to the General’s Mansion. I won’t misappropriate it. It’s just a matter of bothering the General to find someone to deal with these things. After all, I’m a person in the back court and can’t go out very often.”

That was what he said, but Xue Ling did not intend to do it that way. “If the General can find someone to take charge of this business, I’ll communicate with him. I’ll be the boss, and share the profits with him."

Having been born into a military family, Zhan Shaoxi was totally ignorant regarding business, but as it was something his Lady Wife had proposed, he naturally had no disagreements.

The system heard that he agreed, and let out long sigh of relief. Fortunately, Zhan Shaoxi did not dabble too much in business, otherwise its host might not have fooled him so easily.

In reality Xue Ling did not need help at all. What he wanted was that identity, which would make it more convenient for him to change into a man’s clothes and go out. This was also the reason why he was currently stringing Zhan Shaoxi along. If he allowed Zhan Shaoxi into his room, he would definitely stay there from then on, and based the man’s domineering nature, he would always keep him in his sight.

Wanting to go out and seduce people?

Ha-ha.

“I don’t understand these things, but if my Lady Wife wants to do it, then go ahead. You can tell me if you need anything, and I will try my best to help you achieve it."

Xue Ling curved his lips. It had been the right decision not to dodge when the man tried to kiss him tonight. The man in this world was so easy to satisfy that Xue Ling really felt that it would be a pity if he didn’t tease him some more.

The matter was finalized just like this. Xue Ling found a teenager in the General’s Manor who had a figure similar to his, and promoted him to take charge of these things. When the time was ripe, he could use this youth’s identity to sneak out.

Heaven knows how bad he was at wearing women’s clothing. He couldn’t wait to change back into menswear.

If the man hadn’t been here, he would have wanted to fake the death of this identity now, and then change into menswear to come back and continue the fight.

With this in mind, Xue Ling gave the man a big ’x’ in his heart before turning around to ask the system to disguise his face, so that others would only see the young man’s face when they looked at him.

System: “...” It always felt that its host used it in strange places. It was clearly supposed to be a golden finger...

But the host himself was a big golden person, and did not need its help at all. Now that it could be a little useful, the system inexplicably felt a little gratified.

editors: alamerysl & BlueBug