At such a close range, Jiang Yue could clearly smell the scent of alcohol on him.
"Every servant in this manor avoids me..." He had wanted to find a servant to lead him to Fu Rong's courtyard, but upon seeing him, the servants kept far away.
Realizing he had said too much in front of a maid—and a sly one like Jiang Yue at that—Xiao Yunsheng rubbed his temples and fell silent.
Jiang Yue opened her mouth, almost letting out a bitter smile.
Did this general really have no idea how outrageous the rumors about him were?
What "Cold-Faced Yanluo," what "murderous demon"—ever since the marriage was fixed, all sorts of versions had spread through the manor, turning him into an immortal monster with three heads and six arms, a brute who only knew how to kill.
Clearly a hero praised by every commoner, in the mouths of those living behind high courtyard walls he had been demonized. Jiang Yue felt a sense of injustice for him in her heart.
Yet her station was humble, and her words carried no weight to change anything.
Biting her lip, unable to bear seeing him so dejected, Jiang Yue took the initiative to speak and change the subject. "The General need not care what others think. It is enough to know that My Lady is worried about you in her heart. It's just that My Lady couldn't come out to see you directly right now, fearing gossip if she were seen, so she sent your maid to tell the General: husband and wife share one heart, and the General need not worry too much."
Xiao Yunsheng clenched his fists, taking a moment to understand what "inconvenient" referred to in her words.
Slowly, he frowned and said, "Madame cried."
Actually, he had intended to mention his plan to return the dowry to Madame ahead of time last night, but as soon as he hit the bed, he forgot everything. He had thought husband and wife were as one, and since Fu Rong was a notoriously meticulous talented woman of the Capital, upon seeing those wild geese, she would surely understand his intentions.
Returning the dowry merely reflected his reluctance to take sides, and in the future, for Fu Rong's sake, he would still maintain proper relations with the Marquis Manor, provided his bottom line was not crossed.
Only—
He had originally thought Marquis Fu would not make things difficult for his only daughter, but it turned out he had still overestimated this Marquis.
Xiao Yunsheng remained silent for a long time. Unable to read his thoughts, Jiang Yue could only tentatively prompt, "My Lady is still waiting for you. General..."
Suddenly, a drop of warm liquid fell onto the back of her hand. Jiang Yue went to wipe it, only to accidentally stain her whole hand with bright red.
The faint, fishy scent of blood rushed straight to Jiang Yue's heart, making her tremble.
This was actually blood.
She subconsciously looked up, only to see that within his half-open robe, a bound wound had split open and was oozing blood.
No wonder that last night, contrary to his usual self, he had only used one hand.
Last night, Jiang Yue had thought this was just some fresh bedroom trick of a man, as Mother Su called it, and hadn't sensed at all that the man before her was injured.
Recalling how fiercely she had fallen from the bed onto him last night, it seemed she had crashed right into this very wound. Jiang Yue felt a pang of guilt and instinctively spoke up, "This servant will rebind it for you."
As her voice fell, the gaze from above suddenly turned somewhat scrutinizing.
Swallowing hard and thinking of Fu Rong, Jiang Yue hurriedly pulled her out as a shield. "If My Lady were to see this, I fear she would be heartbroken."
Xiao Yunsheng did not answer, but turned and found a place to sit, which served as his assent.
Extending her hand, Jiang Yue pulled away the loose bandage, revealing the torn flesh of the wound. Just looking at it made her wince with pain.
Holding her breath, she carefully cleaned the injury, realizing it looked more like it had been clawed by some wild beast. He must have entered the deepest, most dangerous mountains to hunt wild geese; at this time of year, entering those parts easily led to running into bears that had starved all winter, and encountering one meant certain severe injury if not death.
Suppressing her shock, Jiang Yue reached out, fished out a bottle of medicine, and poured it onto the wound. When she prepared to reapply the bandage, she ran into a difficulty.
Xiao Yunsheng's waist and abdomen were simply too robust for her. Every time, she had to lean in as closely as possible just to wrap the bandage around from behind him, inevitably resulting in some physical contact.
She could only lower her head and hold her breath to minimize contact, yet her gaze was still involuntarily drawn to the large and small scars covering his body.
To avoid exposing themselves while performing marital duties at night, there was almost no light in the room. Every time Jiang Yue had felt uncomfortable from being pressed against by something on his body, or felt her skin scraped raw and burning, she hadn't thought much of it.
Little did she know those sensations came from old scars. These scars crisscrossed and overlapped. Some had long since faded to mere shadows, while others had just healed and still retained a pinkish hue.
She couldn't help but think of Xiao Yunsheng's title of "Cold-Faced Yanluo." People only said he was a villain who had crawled out of piles of corpses countless times, someone even the King of Hell refused to claim, but looking at these scars, one could easily guess what kind of perilous situations he faced every time.
Ever since news of Xiao Yunsheng's continuous military achievements kept reaching the imperial court, in the eyes of the commoners he seemed like an indestructible entity.
Jiang Yue couldn't help but sigh softly. It seemed being a hero wasn't all that great; even when injured, he had to hide from people and bandage himself.
Lost in thought, her movements slowed down, and her gaze lingered on Xiao Yunsheng, forgetting to look away.
Xiao Yunsheng frowned slightly, thinking she had concocted some new seductive scheme, only to see her eyes clear and frank, her expression careful and earnest. She was even more meticulous and cautious than the imperial physicians in the military camp who treated wounds, deliberately reducing physical contact without the slightest trace of overstepping or selfish motives.
Suddenly, he found his own spell-like misunderstanding laughable.
His eyes unconsciously let down their guard.
A wave of warmth brushed past. Lowering his gaze slightly, Xiao Yunsheng saw Jiang Yue's fair hand brushing across his waist and abdomen, her snow-silk-like skin forming a sharp contrast with his bronze complexion.
Her lowered, fluttering eyelashes seemed to brush against his heart with every flicker, bringing a slight, itching illusion.
Xiao Yunsheng's Adam's apple bobbed. With a warm palm pressing against her hand, he pulled the final section of the bandage over and tied it off casually.
Then he picked up the sobering soup to the side and drank it all in one gulp.
"Lead the way."
Jiang Yue's hands suddenly emptied, startling her.
Seeing his tone cold and stern, she rubbed her fingertips and stood waiting outside with her head lowered. Once he had dressed, she led the way to Fu Rong's quarters without raising her head.
As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw a graceful figure pouncing toward them.
Fu Rong had re-coiffed her hair and reapplied her makeup, but her eyes were somehow swollen red, making it impossible for anyone to ignore.
Jiang Yue stopped in her tracks and, showing considerable tact, retreated outside. She remembered to leave the door only half-closed as she stood guard by the threshold, so that even if Fu Rong called her inside, she would make it in time.
The moment Fu Rong saw Xiao Yunsheng, she couldn't stop crying and pouring out her grievances, exaggerating how she had lost face before Marquis Fu and how he had interrogated her.
"My Lord made such a spectacle of me today, I thought you were here to divorce me."
"Madame is being foolish. You and I share nightly harmony in lute and zither, how could I divorce my wife? Furthermore, Madame said three years ago that she sought no gold or silver, only true sentiment, and envied wild geese flying wingtip to wingtip; if marriage could bring a pair of wild geese, she would trade them for no amount of jewelry or wealth."
Fu Rong froze. After a long moment, she remembered those words were merely something she had blurted out to court fame and display her lofty detachment during a poetry gathering. She had no idea where Xiao Yunsheng had heard them, but the blockhead had actually remembered them to heart.
A pair of worthless geese—how could they compare to chests of priceless treasures? Not to mention that those were the olive branch extended by the Second Prince.
She immediately clenched her jaw, lowered her eyes, and suppressed her displeasure. "This concubine understands, but I am also afraid outsiders will not understand My Lord's intentions and will make up all sorts of things to laugh at us."
Pausing, she recalled the instructions her mother had given her just moments before. Biting her lip, she said softly, "This concubine knows nothing of court affairs; I only know I share one heart with My Lord, yet I am unwilling to see My Lord and my father at odds.
When we return, this concubine will request to practice asceticism in the manor, and we shall take in a few more beautiful concubines to accompany you. In a few years, we can claim I am barren, and My Lord can write a letter of divorce, setting us free to go our separate ways—that would be better than leaving you caught in the middle and facing such a difficult choice."
Such a delicate and aggrieved plea would stir pity in anyone's heart, but Xiao Yunsheng suddenly lost his focus at this exact moment.
He only felt the alcohol surging upward, and his head began to ache even more.
For some inexplicable reason, he wished he had another bowl of the sobering soup he had just consumed right at hand.
Fu Rong rubbed her eyes, her heart pounding with anxiety. With her words having reached this point, she wondered how Xiao Yunsheng was going to get out of this predicament.