20
MARRY HIM.
These words weighed heavily, each one pressing down on Ruan An’s heart.
Huo Pingxiao actually wanted to marry her?
But she was just a village girl. She didn’t even know who her parents were. Would his father, Huo Lang, agree to this?
The young woman, her face still streaked with tears, looked up at him in bewilderment and disbelief. She opened her lips slightly, but didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t forget.”
Huo Pingxiao used his slightly rough thumb to wipe away the last tear clinging to the corner of Ruan An’s eye.
He said in a low voice, “My title of marquis wasn’t inherited from my father. If I, Huo Pingxiao, want to marry someone, I don’t need to care about anyone else’s opinion, nor do I need to seek his approval.”
“It only depends on whether you want to marry me or not.”
Though Huo Pingxiao didn’t say anything to rush her, his deep, dark eyes remained fixed on Ruan An with an invisible pressure, as if demanding an immediate answer.
The man’s words might have sounded arrogant, but they weren’t without basis. His noble title was indeed earned through years of campaigning, shedding blood, and risking his life on the battlefield—not inherited from his father’s achievements.
Moreover, military officials were different from civil officials. He truly didn’t need to consolidate his position through marriage alliances.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
Just then, a knock at the door interrupted their conversation. A rough, somewhat urgent voice followed: “Marquis, the deputy military governor of Qianzhong Circuit in the southern border has rebelled. Chenzhou and Wuzhou have already fallen. The troops in Qizhou won’t hold out much longer. His Majesty urgently summons you to the palace. Please come with me at once, Marquis.”
The speaker was named Meng Guang, a fierce general under Huo Pingxiao’s command. Though Meng Guang appeared relatively young, he had grown some short whiskers, giving him a somewhat rogue and fierce look.
With a creak, the door to the private room was pushed open.
Meng Guang’s gaze was immediately drawn to the strikingly beautiful young woman behind Huo Pingxiao—like a lotus rising from water. Her demeanor was soft and serene, but her eyes were somewhat red, clearly having been crying.
As Meng Guang speculated about the woman’s identity, he suddenly felt Huo Pingxiao cast a cold glare at him. He quickly averted his gaze.
Wow. Their great general had gotten himself involved in a romantic affair. How rare.
But if it was this young woman, it wasn’t so surprising. A delicate, soft little beauty like this, crying, was utterly pitiable—and she was exactly his type too.
After looking away, Meng Guang couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked, “And this is…”
Huo Pingxiao ignored him. Instead, he lowered his voice and explained to Ruan An first: “There’s some unrest in the south. I’ll be leading troops to quell the rebellion within a few days. Before I leave, I’ll make sure you and your son are settled. Don’t worry.”
“Wait for me to return, and then we’ll discuss the marriage.”
Marriage?
Huo Pingxiao was getting married?
Wait… mother and son?
Upon hearing this, Meng Guang’s face was filled with astonishment, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
In recent years, Huo Pingxiao had rarely returned to Chang’an. Meng Guang had lived almost side by side with him in the military camp and knew that Huo Pingxiao was extremely strict with his subordinates. He never allowed anyone in the camp to keep military prostitutes.
Of course, many young officers with military ranks were in their prime. Each time they went to battle, they had to be prepared to die. The pressure they bore was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. After fighting, they would occasionally visit a few brothels to unwind.
But Huo Pingxiao had never been involved in such things. In Meng Guang’s memory, after every battle, the man mostly just found somewhere to catch up on sleep, always appearing languid and indifferent.
When on earth had he fathered a child with a woman?
Meng Guang was still in shock.
Then he looked at how Huo Pingxiao was coaxing that young woman—tsk, tsk—he had never seen such a gentle side of him.
Was this still the god of slaughter who could single-handedly stand against an army of a hundred thousand?
Thinking this, Meng Guang couldn’t help but steal another glance at the woman who had managed to captivate Huo Pingxiao.
People from military backgrounds tended to be direct. Ruan An felt uncomfortable under Meng Guang’s blunt gaze and instinctively turned her small face away, avoiding his line of sight.
Huo Pingxiao noticed Ruan An’s unease and embarrassment. He took the opportunity to hold her slender, fair hand. As he wrapped his hand around it again, his thick, dark lashes fluttered twice.
Perhaps because he was accustomed to wielding swords and spears, Huo Pingxiao felt he hadn’t touched anything so soft in a long time. Ruan An’s small hand seemed as if it had no bones, her skin as warm as jade to the touch.
It was as if, with just one touch, her little hand would melt in his palm.
Huo Pingxiao lowered his head and looked at Ruan An’s serene profile.
Her fair cheek was flawless. From this angle, he could almost see the fine downy hairs on it. Her small earlobes, adorned with no jewelry, were as red as rosy beads.
Every part of her seemed soft.
Her long, thick lashes fluttered like butterflies’ wings—she was still a bit nervous. But this time, she didn’t seem to particularly resist his touch.
With that thought, Huo Pingxiao loosened his grip slightly, afraid of hurting her.
He withdrew his gaze and said calmly to Meng Guang, “In front of your sister-in-law, keep your rough edges in check.”
“Yes!”
Meng Guang’s lips twitched with suppressed delight. He then apologized to Ruan An, “Sorry, sister-in-law. I’m a crude man. Please don’t mind me.”
Hearing Meng Guang call her “sister-in-law,” Ruan An was momentarily stunned.
She hadn’t verbally agreed to Huo Pingxiao’s proposal. How could he let his subordinate call her sister-in-law?
Was this man acting first and reporting later?
The group left the private room.
As the father of Ruan Xi, Huo Pingxiao naturally wanted to get closer to the child. After releasing Ruan An’s hand, he intended to say a few more words to Ruan Xi before heading to the palace. But the boy kept hiding behind Li Yifang.
Seeing this, Huo Pingxiao narrowed his sharp eyes. Yet he knew there would be time in the future. He had been absent from Ruan Xi’s life for three years—it wouldn’t take just a day or two for the child to let down his guard around him.
“Ruan Xi.”
Huo Pingxiao called out to him in a low voice. Seeing Ruan Xi’s two little chubby hands clenched tightly into fists, the man actually gave a faint smirk and added, “No, from now on, it should be Huo Xi. I am your father. After I finish fighting, I’ll take you to meet your grandfather.”
Upon hearing this, Ruan Xi’s chubby little face puffed up.
Earlier in the carriage, Ruan Xi had pieced together from the conversation between Li Yifang and Ruan An that this strange uncle might be his father.
But if he was his father, why hadn’t he lived with him and his mother all these years?
His mother had clearly been trying to hide from him too.
Besides, this man who claimed to be his father was indeed quite frightening.
With that thought, Ruan Xi protested in his soft, milky voice: “No~ I don’t have the surname Huo. My surname is Ruan! I take my mother’s surname. Don’t go changing my name!”
Huo Pingxiao walked straight up to him. The man suddenly bent his tall frame low, ignoring the wariness in Ruan Xi’s clear, dark eyes, and reached out with his long fingers to gently pinch the boy’s cheek.
Ruan Xi couldn’t help but pout his little mouth, looking utterly wronged.
“Remember to listen to your mother.”
Huo Pingxiao looked down at him, as if to make the boy once again recognize the fact that he was his father, and said word by word—
“Wait. For. Your. Father. Me. To. Return.”
As dusk fell, the solemn, majestic palace stood tall and magnificent. The vermilion walls and blue-green trimmed double-eaved roofs were bathed in the glow of the setting sun, as if coated in a layer of golden Buddhist light.
After finishing his discussions with the emperor at Liangyi Hall, Huo Pingxiao planned to return to the Prime Minister’s Mansion first, then head to the military camp.
Just as he stepped over the courtyard gate, a graceful figure blocked his path out of the palace.
The visitor wore a light, fragrant-colored large-sleeved luxurious robe. On her watery red undershirt was embroidered a cluster of three-petaled flowers forming a butterfly shape. The young woman’s cheeks were adorned with flower-shaped decorations made from dragonfly emerald wings—clearly dressed with meticulous care. She was the legitimate daughter of the empress, Princess Xiao Yan.
“Your humble subject pays respects to the Princess.”
Upon seeing that it was Xiao Yan, Huo Pingxiao bowed to her expressionlessly. After speaking in a detached tone, he moved to leave.
But Xiao Yan ordered her palace attendants to block his way. However, the maids and eunuchs beside her had only taken a few steps toward the man when they were intimidated by his sharp, icy glare and dared not move any further.
Seeing that her attendants couldn’t stop him, Xiao Yan walked directly in front of Huo Pingxiao and spread her luxurious wide sleeves, using her own body to block him.
Xiao Yan had been spoiled since childhood. As the legitimate princess born of the empress, she had never suffered any grievance except when it came to Huo Pingxiao, where she repeatedly hit a wall.
She had never been able to understand what was so wrong with her that this man wouldn’t even give her a proper glance.
“Don’t go!” Xiao Yan called out in a coquettish voice.
“Does the Princess have some business with me?”
Huo Pingxiao’s tone carried a hint of impatience. The warm setting sun gradually fell upon his sharply defined, resolute jawline, making his exquisitely striking features appear even more handsome and peerless.
He lifted his eyelids, his ink-black eyes seemingly devoid of warmth, and looked coldly at Xiao Yan, then added, “If there is no urgent matter, I must still head to the military camp. It is not convenient for me to remain long in the palace.”
Though Xiao Yan was accustomed to the man’s coldness, she still felt bitter at heart. It was one thing for him to look down on other noble ladies but why didn’t he like her?
She liked him so much. Couldn’t Huo Pingxiao give her some response in return?
That day, Xiao Yan had hidden behind a screen and overheard a conversation between her brother the Crown Prince and her father the Emperor. They both said that Huo Pingxiao’s control over the military would eventually be hollowed out. The best solutions, aside from granting him a princedom and a fief, were to have him marry a princess.
Neither of these approaches would damage relations, nor would they leave the historians with a record of the court mistreating a meritorious official.
Anyway, she was a princess. Unlike other noble ladies who started worrying about marriage after twenty, she could afford to wait. She would definitely wait until the day Huo Pingxiao married her.
With this thought, Xiao Yan bit her lip, looked at Huo Pingxiao with tearful, burning eyes, and said in a choked voice, “Marquis of Dingbei, I only wanted to say a few words to you. Won’t you grant me even this little bit of time?”
Watching Xiao Yan’s display, Huo Pingxiao furrowed his brows.
When others cried in front of him, he only felt irritated. He even felt that Xiao Yan was excessively spoiled.
Crying at the drop of a hat—so melodramatic.
“Farewell.”
He spoke in a deep voice, refusing to give Xiao Yan another chance to speak, and strode briskly toward Jiade Gate.
Xiao Yan quickly gathered her skirts and ran after him. After finally managing to catch up to Huo Pingxiao, she panted and said in a coquettish tone, “Marquis, I heard you’re going off to battle again. I specially went to Daci Temple to get a peace charm for you.”
As she spoke, Xiao Yan stumbled along in her embroidered shoes. The palace attendants following behind were all afraid she might trip and fall. But Xiao Yan still didn’t forget to untie the peace charm hanging from her waist, insisting on handing it to the man. “Just accept it~”
“I don’t need it. I don’t believe in such things.”
Huo Pingxiao looked straight ahead, not sparing Xiao Yan another glance, and only quickened his pace toward the palace gate.
By the time Xiao Yan nearly ran out of her embroidered shoes, Huo Pingxiao had finally reached the palace gate.
Xiao Yan could no longer run another step. And it was at that moment that Huo Pingxiao finally turned to look at her.
Though the man’s gaze remained cold, Xiao Yan’s heart gradually began to flutter with a hint of joy.
But the next words out of the man’s mouth struck Xiao Yan like a thunderbolt, making her tremble even in this warm spring day—
“This kind of peace charm should be given by a wife to her husband.”
“If I am to accept one, it will be the peace charm given to me by my wife. Princess, don’t make this mistake again. Keep those charms for your future husband.”
The Prime Minister’s Mansion.
Though spring had already arrived in Chang’an, in the hall where Huo Lang usually lived alone, a smoking stove with blazing charcoal was still placed.
Madam Gao had barely entered when she felt unbearably hot. Yet Huo Lang sat calmly in his wheelchair, completely unaffected by the heat. The man wore no cap or hat, and over his indigo deep robe, he had draped a large cloak.
Though Huo Lang was advanced in years, his figure remained rather lean—indeed, he had a gaunt, skeletal appearance. His temples were streaked with white, yet his imposing bearing remained undiminished. His features and contour still hinted at the charm of his youth.
Madam Gao quietly watched Huo Lang playing chess against himself. She remembered when she first met him, though he was nearly thirty, his cold, pure, jade-like temperament and the faint gloom that occasionally appeared between his brows had still stirred the heart of a young maiden like her.
Just then, a servant’s announcement came from outside the hall: “Prime Minister, the Eldest Young Master is outside the courtyard. He wishes to see you.”
Madam Gao had been brewing tea for Huo Lang. Upon hearing that Huo Pingxiao had actually come to see Huo Lang of his own accord, her hand holding the tea tongs froze mid-air, ceasing all movement.
Huo Lang remained focused on the jade chessboard before him. He held a black piece in his hand, poised as if about to make a move. With a thud, the black piece landed on a square.
Seeing that the situation on the board had changed dramatically in an instant, Huo Lang finally spoke calmly: “Let him in.”
After Huo Pingxiao entered the hall and saw that Madam Gao was also there, he gave her a slight nod as a gesture of respect.
Madam Gao wasn’t keen on staying in the presence of this living devil. She rose from the tea table, made a fu bow to Huo Lang, and said softly, “Prime Minister, this concubine will take her leave now.”
Huo Lang gave her a slight nod.
But Huo Pingxiao said, “Please stay a moment, Madam. I have something to say to both of you.”
Madam Gao found this quite perplexing. It wasn’t unusual for Huo Pingxiao to have something to say to Huo Lang but why did he want her to stay as well?
Meanwhile, Huo Pingxiao took his seat and spoke: “I’m leaving for battle in Qianzhong tomorrow. It will be at least a month before I return to Chang’an.”
Elsewhere, Madam Gao was signaling to the maids with her eyes, urging them to serve tea to the two masters. But in her heart, she was thinking: it wasn’t as if this devil hadn’t gone off to battle before. Every previous time, he had never said a word to her or Huo Lang about anything.
What had gotten into this devil today!
Huo Lang’s right arm rested on the armrest of his wheelchair. He gave Huo Pingxiao a silent glance before asking in a low voice, “Which family’s daughter?”
Madam Gao was taken aback. What did the Prime Minister mean by that?
Why had he suddenly said such a thing to Huo Pingxiao?
“Don’t worry about that,” said Huo Pingxiao.
As he spoke, he glanced briefly at the tea the maid had brought up. Then he withdrew his gaze and continued, “I came to inform both of you in advance. After I return from Qianzhong, I will choose an auspicious date with her and get married as soon as possible.”
“!!!”
Upon hearing this, Madam Gao finally understood—so this living devil was getting married!
Didn’t that mean Huo Pingxiao would finally be moving out of the Prime Minister’s Mansion?!
Hiding her glee, Madam Gao said to Huo Pingxiao, “You’re twenty-five now. It’s about time you got married. The wedding between Changjue and the He girl isn’t urgent; it can be postponed another month or two. As your legitimate stepmother, I will naturally help arrange your marriage.”
Before even finding out which family’s daughter Huo Pingxiao was marrying, Madam Gao was already intoxicated with joy.
“Then I thank you, Madam.”
After expressing his thanks, Huo Pingxiao rose to leave the hall.
As he rose from his seat, Huo Pingxiao noticed Huo Lang’s inscrutable expression. He furrowed his brow slightly but still added, “By the way.”
“That young woman has given me a son, Prime Minister. You’re about to become a grandfather.”
A son? Grandfather?!
The smile at the corners of Madam Gao’s mouth instantly froze. She looked at Huo Pingxiao in disbelief, then at Huo Lang, whose expression remained unchanged.
When had Huo Pingxiao acquired a son, and who had given birth to it for him?
A young woman who could engage in the rites of Zhou with a man without a formal betrothal contract surely couldn’t be a noble lady from a prestigious family. Wasn’t that an illicit union without proper matchmaking?
But if she wasn’t a young woman from a noble family, why would Huo Pingxiao want to give her the status of a proper wife? Madam Gao was bewildered. At the same time, she felt that although her own son Huo Changjue was not as outstanding as Huo Pingxiao, he was at least much more obedient.
Unlike Huo Pingxiao, who was always doing unconventional, outrageous things.
Madam Gao knew Huo Pingxiao’s temperament well. If he said he was going to marry that young woman, he would definitely do it.
Neither the emperor nor his own father could stop this living devil from doing what he wanted.
But since he had done such a thing, Huo Lang, as his father, ought to criticize him, shouldn’t he?
With this thought, Madam Gao looked again at Huo Lang, sitting in his wheelchair with expressionless eyes, waiting for him to reprimand Huo Pingxiao.
But Huo Lang did not scold Huo Pingxiao. Instead, he asked calmly, “Where is your son? I want to see him.”
**