5.2 – I don’t think the General can bear the weight of being called 'Husband'
Early in the morning, the General's Manor that hosted a grand wedding only yesterday, began to be busy. People came and went, but the General’s wedding room was silent.
The maids were debating on whether or not to knock on the door to ask if the lady was awake when they saw the General who left last night with an ugly expression on his face return with the same an ugly look.
A trace of surprise drifted across everyone's eyes. Afterall, their master had been kicked out of the wedding room by his new wife on their wedding night, which really made others want to laugh. If their master had showed disdain, they probably would have guessed that the relationship between the General and his new wife was not good.
But last night, the General stood at the door for most of the night, and did not leave until the lights went out. They also knew that he finally went to a side room nearby to sleep. So, they weren't sure what their General was thinking, and could only try their best to look at their own noses, lower their heads, and concentrate on keeping their minds blank.
Zhan Shaoxi stood at the door and hesitated for a moment. The memory of being kicked out last night was very clear, but the woman's beautiful face left a deeper impression on him than that shameful memory.
He did not like the people from the royal family, and looked down on this Royal Princess that the Emperor had commanded him to marry right from the start. But he could not refuse to follow orders, so he planned to marry her and keep her as a decorative wife, leaving her alone after threatening her. When he told her last night that he already had someone he liked, he had done so in order to make sure she wouldn't indulge in any fantasies.
But it was these words that he had uttered that made him nervous throughout the night.
Indeed, not only was the newly-married General thrown out of his marriage room, he also stayed up all night because of his own threats to his wife. This made him very upset.
After standing at the door for a long time, Zhan Shaoxi finally had no intention of knocking on the door. He was about to turn around and leave when the door was opened from within.
That person had a head full of messy hair, their expression was not very good, and was still wearing the wedding dress from last night. She only glanced at the General who stood stunned by the door before moving her gaze towards the maid standing beside him. "Have people come in to help me bathe and change."
The maids bowed their heads and busied themselves following orders.
Her Royal Highness was able to keep his secrets hidden for so many years because he never let people close to him. He didn't even keep intimate maids. Although the maids that have been by his side had come over along with him for the wedding, they were not allowed to come near the wedding room because the General did not like the royal family. At this moment, everyone who was standing by the door were all the General's people.
Xue Ling did not care too much about these things. If it hadn't been that he had never worn women's clothes before and really didn't know how to dress and fix up his hair, he absolutely would not have come out to ask people to serve him.
After she had spoken, she pointed to a few maids and ordered them into the room. Without sparing the General at the door a single glance, she directly closed the door.
Zhan Shaoxi was immediately angered by his attitude.
This was his wife, whom he had married openly and legally. Nevermind that he had been expelled out of the wedding room on the wedding night, she still dared to embarrass him the next day. Even if she was the Royal Princess, this was too overboard!
The General who had hesitated over whether or not to be more friendly with his wife also lost his temper, snorted coldly, turned around and left. He had no idea that his behavior was exactly like someone who was trying to maintain their dignity in the face of rejection. The guards outside the wedding room gave him sympathetic glances as he left.
The great General was given the cold shoulder by his wife on the first day of his marriage, and he did not dare to speak to his wife. Did things have to look so bleak?
The maids prepared hot water for the lady to take a bath early in the morning. They sprinkled various petals to ensured that his entire body would be scented from the bath. When Xue Ling had them withdraw once they had helped him take off his outer clothing and he was left in his underwear, they did not dare say a word.
Speaking of which, Her Highness the Royal Princess looked really beautiful, with an oval face and a pair of fox eyes. What originally should have been a bewitching face became more noble and gorgeous due to the frostiness between her eyebrows. It gave off an invisible momentum, which made others somewhat unable to look directly at her face, and only bow their heads before her.
The maids felt that the General’s wife must have great means, and their respect for the new lady deepened.
Xue Ling had been angered half to death by the plot information that the system handed over. He did not want to acknowledge that man at all for the time being, and even spent some time thinking seriously about what he would do if his man really fell in love with the heroine. His final conclusion was that he would tie him up and bring him back, castrate him, and then torture him to death.
Although he had been spoiled by the man for so many years and always kept his temper restrained, that did not mean that he would tolerate the man cheating on him. If that happened, he was completely willing to give up the task in this world, kill off both of them, and then start over in the next. As a demon who had always had ambiguous morals, Xue Ling naturally had his own principles regarding affairs of the heart.
The system was frightened by the way he gritted his teeth and sneered. It steeled itself to tell its host, "Although the plot is set up that way, Zhan Shaoxi's soul is no longer the same one, so he would never fall in love with the female protagonist."
Xue Ling looked at the system coldly.
The system held up its paw and tried to speak for the man. "Did host forget? He will lose his memory in each world. If he does not encounter you, he will naturally not fall in love with you. Last night was the first time he met the Royal Princess, and he must have said those words last night because he had his own concerns. But, host can rest assured that you and him have been together for several worlds, and the accumulation of good feelings is no joke. Since he did not smash the room out of anger despite your performance last night, it means that he has begun to care about you.”
Xue Ling sneered coldly. If that man had dared to smash the room, based on his own temper last night, he would have gone up and fought him directly.
However, Xue Ling also understood that this was the plot set up for this world. If it hadn't been for this damned plot, he wouldn't be angry to the point where he wanted to hit people. Once he calmed down and thought about it again, the time that the system had picked for him was actually quite appropriate. If he had come into this world while they were still at the palace, he might have exposed himself, and right now was still not too late for Xue Ling to separate the heroine from her lovers. Lastly, the person he married was that man. The system did really think of everything when it said that he could have a rest in this world. It even arranged a husband for him, how thoughtful.
Even so, Xue Ling did not intend to forgive a certain man who coldly informed him to learn his place so easily. If he didn't string him along, whet his appetite and purposely make it difficult for him to succeed this time, then he would write his name backwards.
Having calmed down a lot, Xue Ling rose from the bathtub, wiped himself dry, and changed into new underwear. Only then did he open his mouth for the maids waiting outside to come in.
The maids did not know what style of robes she normally liked to wear, so they brought in several pieces. Xue Ling randomly picked out a simple and elegant style and changed into it. When the maids wanted to help him put on makeup, he directly refused, and only asked them to help him pull up his hair into a simple, loose bun. He picked two relatively less exaggerated ornaments before getting up and having them prepare breakfast.
According to the customs from ancient times, the Princess would need to return to the Imperial Palace on the third day to give thanks. Xue Ling was not in a hurry, and even if he needed to go and pour tea to his parents-in-law in the morning, his steps were still lazy and relaxed.
Without him, his father-in-law and mother-in-law would have been dead long ago. If the general did not have any intentions of bringing him to see them, then he wouldn't have to serve them tea at all. In view of the fact that he had kicked him out last night, Xue Ling felt that the man would not come to find him today.
Yes, he completely pretended the man who stood foolishly at his door this morning did not exist.
The maids felt that Her Highness the Royal Princess' attire was a little too simple; to dress so plainly on the second day of her marriage, did Her Highness not want to catch the General's heart at all? But after looking carefully, they found that Her Highness' skin was excellent, just like white lamb's jade, it was smooth and comfortable to the touch. Her eyebrows were perfectly sculpted, and she was a feast for the eyes. Even without makeup, she could dominate everything under heaven with her beauty. Her Highness looked amazing even in such plain attire; if she really put on heavy makeup, then she would stun the whole world!
With this in mind, they once again felt that Her Highness' simple garb was very good. Since she was now a married woman, it was good not to be too high profile.
Xue Ling did not know what they were thinking about. Asking a man like him to wear women's clothes had already touched his bottom line. To put on makeup and adorn himself with jewelry?
Ha-ha.
After breakfast, Xue Ling planned to walk around the General’s Palace, and take the chance to explore. He could not stay in the General’s Palace all the time, and would need to find opportunities to sneak out. But, when he reached the entrance to his own courtyard, he saw a stiff faced man who had just come over to look for him.
Xue Ling lazily raised his eyebrows. Although he was dressed simply, his momentum was still there, and the man could feel his heartbeat speed up as soon as he got close. He had no way to speak properly, and could only keep his expression cold as he reached out.
“Does the General need anything?” Xue Ling slowly opened his mouth to ask. He seemed to have forgotten about last night's incident where he had swept the man out the door, and had even more obviously forgotten that he had brought an expansive dowry and worn red wedding garb to marry this man yesterday. His face was expressionless, and appeared very distant.
Zhan Shaoxi's heart was tense. He had experienced endless emotional ups and downs throughout the night, but still had not managed to apologize. Now that he saw the other party using this kind of attitude with him, he felt really uncomfortable. "Are you addressing me as the 'General'?" Even though he felt distress in his heart, the man did not show it. Only the cold aura emitted from his body seemed to strengthen, as though wanting to pressure the person in front of him with it.
The maids who followed Xue Ling could all feel the chill, but Xue Ling was immune.
“If I don't use 'General', what should I call you?” Xue Ling laughed icily. “I don’t think the General can bear the weight of being called 'Husband', so I didn't shout it out in case it made the General feel embarrassed. After all, I am a person who knows their place."
Zhan Shaoxi had originally still been righteous, but with Xue Ling's words, he felt choked, and his heart was uncomfortably blocked. The words that he had said himself could not be taken back now, and he could only give a cold harrumph before saying, "Since you now know your place, then would the Royal Princess please come with me."
Xue Ling frowned and wondered, “Where to?”
“Praying to the ancestors.” Without waiting for the other party's answer, Zhan Shaoxi stepped forward and caught him by the wrist.
Xue Ling was tugged along, and his steps were slightly unsteady. He raised his eyes to glare fiercely at Zhan Shaoxi whose back was facing him, gritted his teeth, and mentally extended the length of time that he would ignore him for by a lot.
The system trotted along behind its lord host. It unexpectedly did not comment on its host's pettiness.
It was best if he took out his temper on that person. Don't turn around and pull the fur on its tail whenever he loses his temper! Although it wasn't a real fox, it could still feel pain!
Zhan Shaoxi did not look back at Her Royal Highness, but his heart was very agitated. The other party's wrist was just as thin and small as he'd seen last night, and his hand almost had to clench into a fist in order to wrap closely around it. Her skin was very smooth, the hand somewhat chilly. He had only touched it, and his heart was already in such a turbulent state that he could hear his heartbeat speeding up along with the other side's quick steps. He could not help but to use his fingertips to touch the other party's wrist a few more times.
Xue Ling was brought away by him, and could barely keep up. He completely did not realize that the other party was already carefully taking small advantages. Instead, he was giving himself a mental note; since the other party was taller than him once again, he would definitely make the system chose a taller body for him in the next world. If he was given another bloody immature body, he would pull out all the fur on the system's body!
BlueBug: RIP system
alamerysl: *prepares the popcorn*