The Marquis Is Innocent - 157.1
Chapter 157.1
Wei Shao did not know how he got drunk so fast. Before tonight, he never knew that the threshold of the Qiao family in East County was easy to cross and that ‘father-in-law’ was not so hard to call. Everything happened naturally.
When Xiao Qiao assisted him into the house, and he fell on the soft bed underneath him, his heart vaguely knew that this room was Xiao Qiao’s room before marrying him. She spent her maiden days in this fragrance room, and he felt deeply intoxicated.
He closed his eyes and vaguely heard her and Chun Niang’s whispering voices and then felt her sitting on his side, wiping his face and hands with a warm wet towel. This kind of feeling made him extremely at ease. As if the burden he carried alone finally reached the end of the line, although full of dust and tired, she waited and accompanied him.
Since that day when he suddenly learned that she was going back to East County, the uneasiness that had been haunting him made it difficult for him to eat and sleep, as if she was going to abandon him and then disappear. His heart felt incomparable tranquility, and his limbs and bones, inside and outside, completely relaxed and instantly fell asleep.
The next day, Wei Shao slept until the end of the morning before finally waking up. He opened his eyes, and Luo brocade curtain was in his vision. The curtain was half hanging, and a pair of purple fish-shaped scented bags swung under the golden buckles. The bags emitted a light fragrance, and purple chrysanthemums filled the white porcelain vase on the table.
He slowly sat up and looked around, surveying the elegant furnishings of her boudoir, then got up and opened the door. Chun Niang, whose waiting outside, came in with her servants to attend to his waking.
“Where is the Lady?” Wei Shao asked.
“Today’s weather is good, and Young Miss can’t always stay in the house, so Lady took her to play in the garden. Should this maid call her?”
Wei Shao told her she didn’t need to and searched for Lady himself. After turning at the corridor, he vaguely heard a burst of laughter. He stopped in front of a window, and through the hollowed-out window, he saw Xiao Qiao and the slightly older young woman who had greeted him last night sitting side by side under the shade of a flowering tree with a mat spread out under their feet, and Fei Fei crawling on it, and a boy who looked to be about three or two years old sitting opposite her, surrounded by four or five servants.
Wei Shao knows the young woman should be her sister, Da Qiao. He saw Xiao Qiao and her very intimate. They were whispering, and she smiled softly and leaned on Da Qiao’s body, and her childish attitude jumped into the eye.
The sunlight sifted down from the gap of the flowering tree and fell on Xiao Qiao’s face and body. Her eyes shone brightly, her laughter sounded like a bell, and her face was as beautiful as a flower. For a moment, Wei Shao seemed to catch a trace of the carefree feeling that only Fei Fei could have when she laughed, which made people want to laugh along with her.
She had stayed by his side for several years, and he had savored her gentleness and understanding, which made him very fond of her. But it wasn’t until this moment that he knew she could smile vivaciously, like a little girl.
Wei Shao stopped behind the window and looked at her silently, not getting any closer.
……
After lunch, Lei Yan and the others came and waited outside the Qiao House. Wei Shao was ready to leave. Xiao Qiao escorted him out and finally stopped at the side of the gate. Wei Shao hugged Fei Fei and kissed her several times on the cheek, reluctant to part.
Xiao Qiao smiled and said, “Husband, you don’t have to worry too much. I’ll take good care of Fei Fei.”
Wei Shao watched his daughter, his gaze gentle and boundless, finally gently rubbing her soft hair and handing her over to Chun Niang. His gaze then fell onto Xiao Qiao’s face, wanting to speak.
“Does Husband have any more instructions?” Xiao Qiao smiled.
Wei Shao paused for a while, “Since you’ve returned, you can stay here without worry for a few more days. I will come here to see you and Fei Fei if I’m free. If you want to go back, wait for me as well, I will personally send you back.”
Xiao Qiao pursed her lips and smiled, “Okay, thank you, Husband.”
“You fought a dangerous war, so you must look after yourself even more outside.” She gazed at him and said softly again.
Wei Shao nodded, his fingers moved slightly, and his arm was about to be raised when he heard Xiao Qiao say again, “Thank you for last night. My father hasn’t been this cheerful in a long time.”
Wei Shao was silent before saying, “Perhaps the White Stone Old Man can still cure Father-in-law’s blindness. I will send someone to search for him as soon as possible.”
Xiao Qiao said, “Thank you for all your trouble, Husband.”
Whenever he did something for her, she never forgot to thank him, even if the matter was small. Wei Shao had already gotten used to her way of talking to him and hadn’t felt anything wrong with it before. For some reason, at this very moment, he suddenly felt that her ‘thank you, Husband,’ sounded so harsh.
His mind uncontrollably recalled her carefree smile in the morning under the shade of the flowers. He hesitantly closer to her and lowered his voice: “Man Man, we are husband and wife …… from now on, in front of me, you can do what you want, don’t see me as an outsider, and even more, no need to say thank you to me for everything!” He felt he was clumsy in his rhetoric and unable to express his thought. He stopped hastily and looked at her.
Xiao Qiao seemed stunned, then smiled, raising her eyes and softly saying, “Okay. I’ll remember.”
……