Chapter 72 Sweet Did she…kiss Xie Chi?

Chapter 72: Sweet and Fragrant: Did She… Kiss Xie Chi?

Once the engagement was official, but before the wedding, the days in between were the hardest to endure.

In the past, when Zhong Yao said something infuriating, Xie Chi could still wrap an arm around her neck and pinch her face hard.

Now, as her betrothed, she was his fiancée, yet intimate touching was off-limits. Call her an outsider, he could still visit her at the Zhong residence. Neither fish nor fowl—it was pure torture.

And yet, whether Zhong Yao smiled or played tricks, she made him want to cup her face and kiss her like crazy.

But Xie Chi held himself back.

He covered Zhong Yao’s eyes and just gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head.

After the kiss, seeing the slightly red tip of her nose and her slightly parted, rosy lips beneath his palm, his heart stirred. He leaned down again, his lips about to land, then veered upward, planting the kiss on the back of his own hand that still covered her eyes.

“She’s definitely hiding out in Mom and Dad’s courtyard, scared I’ll take the silver back,” Zhong Shu said from outside the window, having failed to find her. “She steals my gems and swindles me out of my money—I’m so done! Let’s go have some fun and ditch her!”

Xu Su, more conscientious, asked, “Are we seriously not taking Little Sister? Today’s her birthday, and I even booked a banquet at the tavern…”

“Not beating her is already being nice, let alone taking her along! Besides, she can’t go—she’s been coughing the past couple of days, just getting better, and Mom and Dad won’t let her leave the house…”

Their voices faded as their footsteps got quieter, and Xie Chi finally took his hand off Zhong Yao’s eyes.

Before she could say anything, he said, “Why did I knock your head again? To make you smarter, obviously.”

Before she could respond, he added, “Why did I cover your eyes? Because I’m using the marquisate’s power to be a bully—I do whatever I want.”

As Zhong Yao opened her mouth to speak, he said, “Shut up.”

She only ever said annoying things; better to just shut up.

With that, Xie Chi pulled Zhong Yao’s hands off his waist and turned to leave—he’d stayed long enough; it was time to leave, or Madam Zhong might come looking for her daughter.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

But he’d only taken one step when he heard Zhong Yao behind him: “How is that bullying? Shouldn’t that be called going crazy?”

Without looking back, Xie Chi shot back, “Shouldn’t you be the one shutting your mouth?”

She said the thing he said most to her was “shut up,” but if he thought about it, had she ever listened even once?

Zhong Yao let out a giggle.

She thought Xie Chi wasn’t that smart. Last time, she couldn’t tell if he was kissing her head or knocking it since she couldn’t see. Now she knew exactly what was going on, yet he was sulking and acting like he didn’t care.

She watched him leave the room, then suddenly remembered something and wanted to chase after him to ask. But the hem of her dress got caught on a plum blossom branch on the desk.

Afraid of ripping her clothes, Zhong Yao worked to free it while calling out toward the door: “Heir Xie, did you really come to see me today just for official business?”

No sound came from outside.

By the time she freed her hem, there was still no answer.

Thinking Xie Chi had already left, she muttered to herself while walking out: “Leaving so fast, not a hint of reluctance—does he even really like me?”

As she finished muttering, she got to the doorway.

Just as she was about to step out, a figure appeared in front of her and cupped her face in both hands.

“If I said I came for business, you actually believed me? I came for your birthday, obviously,” Xie Chi said, his voice displeased. “And you ask if I really like you? Fine, I don’t like you—I’m marrying you for your dowry, okay?”

Xie Chi squished Zhong Yao’s cheeks as he kneaded them, making her pout.

She reached up to grab his hands but couldn’t pull them off.

“Always acting like a little idiot…” Xie Chi sighed in frustration, kneading her soft, warm cheeks. “I had someone prepare lanterns, fireworks, and the mandarin duck lanterns you love, planning to take you out for a night stroll. But you go and catch a cold and start coughing again. Why do you always get sick? Why didn’t you tell me? And why do you always fall ill when I can’t stay by your side?”

Zhong Yao hadn’t said a word, but Xie Chi had already bombarded her with questions.

She wanted to say that since meeting him, she had only been sick once, and that was half a year ago.

This time didn’t count.

She wasn’t unwell—she had just coughed a few times. Her parents were just scared by her last illness and wouldn’t let her leave the mansion.

Since it wasn’t a real sickness, she hadn’t sent word to Xie Chi.

But with Xie Chi holding her face, his hands large and warm, he kept pinching her cheeks whenever she tried to speak, leaving her only able to make muffled “mm-mm” sounds.

And Xie Chi, besides kneading her face, was also feeling frustrated.

He wasn’t good at saying such direct things, just as he wasn’t good at using those sticky-sweet nicknames.

Earlier, he had thought about making Zhong Yao call him “Brother Chi,” but it sounded too cheesy. Xie Chi tried to imagine it and found it hard to accept…

As for a pet name for Zhong Yao, something cute and intimate like “Yao Xiao Yao”—if not for Zhong Shu, Xie Chi would never have thought of it.

After venting everything he wanted to say, Xie Chi leaned down and bumped his forehead against hers. Then, gripping her shoulders, he turned her around and gave her a gentle push, sending her back into the room.

Once Zhong Yao steadied herself and turned to open the door, she found it latched from the outside.

She hurried to the window and saw that the courtyard was small, and Xie Chi’s strides were long—he was already at the gate.

“Heir Xie,” she called out quickly.

After shouting, her face suddenly flushed, and she lowered her voice, whispering, “Xie Chi…”

Xie Chi was just about to step through the moon gate. He glanced back at her, rolled his eyes, and said gruffly, “Rest well. I’m leaving.”

With that, he disappeared behind the moon gate.

Zhong Yao leaned on the window frame, peering out for a moment, but saw no sign of Xie Chi, only feeling the chill outside.

Afraid she might actually fall ill, she sat back down in the room with the charcoal stove. After sitting blankly for a while, she cupped her own face and giggled foolishly.

Zhong Yao’s eighteenth birthday was actually quite uneventful—she didn’t get to go out and play, and she lost a lot of silver and beautiful agate. But she was very happy.

At the same time, there was a bit of a shock.

Because not long after Xie Chi left that day, three more groups of people came from the marquisate.

The first group brought a decoction to dispel cold and stop coughing.

The second group brought silk and jewelry—all luxurious, but all in bright vermilion, making Zhong Huaizhi and his wife suspect that Xie Chi was urging them to move up the wedding date.

The third group was sent by the Old Madam Xie, bringing a full box of jade and agate, startling the entire Zhong household. They suspected she might have heard from somewhere about Zhong Shu taking Zhong Yao’s agate, thinking Zhong Yao was being petty, and thus deliberately sent jewelry to show off the marquis household’s wealth.

Madam Zhong turned around and chewed out Zhong Shu, then started worrying that Zhong Yao, after marrying Xie Chi, might face trouble from the Old Madam Xie.

But regardless, the marriage had to proceed.

The earlier messy engagement with the Fei family was also settled around the Lunar New Year. Back then, the Zhong family had been hesitant, so the original plan was to postpone the wedding if the Fei family pushed for it, setting it for the spring after Zhong Yao turned eighteen.

Who knew so much would happen in a year? Now the groom had swapped, but considering Zhong Yao’s age and the family’s situation in the capital, the wedding date was ultimately set for the same day.

Time after the New Year flew by. After visiting relatives and friends, the Lantern Festival rolled around, which was over in a flash, and then the weather began to warm.

Zhong Yao was stuck at home every day preparing for the wedding—wedding dress, pendants, wedding cakes, wine, and so on—everything had to be just to her liking. But the marquis’s household had prepared way too many options.

Zhong Yao was dizzy from all the choices.

She told Xie Chi they didn’t need this much, but he said the Old Madam Xie had it arranged.

When Xie Chi came by to drop off stuff, she took the chance to quietly ask him, “Does your grandmother think I’m low-class, so she insists on making the wedding as flashy as possible so the marquis’s household doesn’t lose face?”

Xie Chi: “…No.”

It was just that he was afraid she’d think the Old Madam was slacking, and later punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall copying scriptures morning and night.

“I don’t buy it.” Zhong Yao shook her head hard, then tugged on Xie Chi’s sleeve and whispered, “Anyway, if she ever picks on me, I’ll just cry and drive you crazy.”

Xie Chi could’ve defended his grandmother, but he didn’t want to.

He figured that for the sake of his own peace and quiet, it was better to let them keep being cautious and polite with each other.

Days went by, and on the night three days before the wedding, Zhong Yao couldn’t sleep.

She had Madam Zhong and Song Xi to blame.

Tossing and turning, Zhong Yao’s head was filled with the picture book Madam Zhong had shown her earlier, then Song Xi talking about kissing on the bed. And on top of that, her mind was full of the image of Xie Chi’s naked body she’d seen a long time ago…

She was going to hug and kiss that muscular body in bed…

It was a little scary, but it made her heart race.

Zhong Yao’s face was beet red. She clutched her blanket and tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Her maid heard the racket and said, “Miss, please get some sleep early. Madam said if you rest well these days, you’ll look radiant on the wedding day.”

Zhong Yao wanted to rest early too.

Afraid her eyes would be puffy and ugly on the wedding day, she sat up, slapped her cheeks, and said, “Light some soothing incense.”

The maid said okay, went to the outer room to look in the cabinet, and asked from behind the gauze curtain, “The usual kind is out, miss. Should I use the one the marquis’s household sent last time?”

After Zhong Yao agreed, the maid added, “The heir is really thoughtful toward you, miss. Everything he sends is top-notch—lots of stuff I’ve never even seen before.”

Zhong Yao hugged her blanket, rolled over, and smiled shyly.

Ever since the marriage was settled, Xie Chi had been constantly sending stuff to the house, mostly daily necessities, occasionally decorative items. For instance, once he sent her a money tree made by some skilled artisan; when shaken, it dropped gold coins.

Probably influenced by him, Xue Fang also frequently sent things.

What he sent were mostly odd little trinkets, like an unsolvable puzzle ring, a bell that could hold water, and the homework assigned by the tutor at the mansion.

The Old Madam Xie also sent gifts, but Zhong Yao never dared to touch them; she had them stored separately in her private treasury.

As Zhong Yao’s thoughts wandered, the maid had already lit the incense, informed her, and gone to the outer room.

Zhong Yao closed her eyes in the darkness, and her thoughts returned to those blush-inducing things.

Perhaps amplified by the darkness, the more she thought, the faster her breathing became.

Zhong Yao could barely catch her breath.

She wanted to lift the gauze curtain to get some air, but just as her fingertips parted it a crack, she smelled a sweet fragrance.

It seemed familiar.

The scent hit Zhong Yao’s face, clouding her mind. Before her, a large black dog appeared vaguely.

The dog barked fiercely and lunged at her. When it reached her, it suddenly turned into Xie Chi.

Xie Chi held her and shouted sternly, “Zhong Yao! Wake up!”

He was tall, with handsome features. When stern, his sword-like brows furrowed slightly, adding a sharp edge that made him look like an unsheathed blade.

He was so handsome…

Seeing Xie Chi holding her and calling out anxiously, Zhong Yao’s heart pounded. Suddenly, she lifted her face to kiss him.

Just as she was about to kiss him, a loud thud of something heavy hitting the ground sounded.

Zhong Yao jolted. Opening her eyes again, she saw Xie Chi before her suddenly blur, as if standing in a fog, while the sweet scent at her nose grew stronger.

It was familiar…

…It was a hallucinogenic drug!

Panic struck Zhong Yao. She shook her head, struggling to stay lucid. With her last shred of reason, she knocked over the incense burner, then stumbled to the table, picked up a cup of cold water, and splashed it forcefully on her face.

The spring night was cold, and the water made her shiver, but she was fully awake.

She grabbed the teapot and rushed to the outer room, splashing water on the maid. Soon, the maid, who had been restless like someone in a delirium, calmed down.

It was an accident—the maid had mistaken the hallucinogenic drug used by the Misty Mountain Bandits for calming incense, causing this mishap.

—Zhong Yao remembered that Xue Fang had sent it a few days ago, saying the military experts had studied it and that a small amount could refresh the mind.

The maid had used too much.

Fortunately, Zhong Yao noticed early.

Though the matter was resolved without casualties, Zhong Yao’s expression was grave, and she didn’t close her eyes all night.

But this time, it wasn’t because of those embarrassing illustrated images that kept her awake, but a vague memory…

Zhong Yao touched her lips, her brows tightly furrowed, desperately wanting to know if she had, once, accidentally, in a daze…

…kissed Xie Chi?