When Mi Yao woke the next day, the space beside her was empty.
Gazing at the gradually brightening sky, she began to appreciate Xiao Chu's advantages.
Though his character was lacking, Xiao Manor had no elders. Therefore, even after marrying him, she didn't need to rise early for morning greetings or follow strict protocols. She could simply turn over and continue sleeping.
However, when she woke again after sleeping her fill, she blinked hard at the figure standing by her bed.
"I thought you'd died in your dreams."
Xiao Chu's voice no longer carried the hoarseness of the night. His magnetic tone was like icicles formed overnight on flying eaves—cold and hard.
"Since you're awake, dress and come here."
After speaking, Xiao Chu went to the outer room and sat down. Mi Yao rang for her maid. Knowing someone was waiting outside, she didn't dawdle. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she was fully dressed and seated before Xiao Chu.
"Does the young master not need to attend duties today?"
"Father granted me three days off. Tomorrow you'll accompany me to the envoy's residence."
He had originally planned to go today, but Mi Yao still hadn't woken by lunchtime. He hadn't intended to come check on her, but while in the courtyard he overheard servants gossiping about how he'd kept Mi Yao up all night, even claiming they'd heard her begging and crying in distress.
His steps turned toward the room, curious to see what state the "field he'd plowed" was in.
Before Mi Yao opened her eyes, he'd lifted the quilt and seen the marks on her snow-white skin, feeling a surge of surprise.
Last night he thought he'd used no more force than Li Nu carrying her kittens by the neck, yet who would have guessed that by morning, purplish-red love bites covered Mi Yao's neck and chest, interspersed with several lingering tooth marks.
Seeing this, he lost any desire to wake her—but then she opened her eyes.
Hearing they were going to pay respects to Zhao Tianhe, Mi Yao immediately understood the disgust in Xiao Chu's eyes when she first woke.
He probably disliked her sleeping so late, delaying important matters.
"In the future, if the young master needs me to appear anywhere, just notify me a day in advance. Though I love sleeping, getting up early occasionally isn't difficult for me."
Detecting her implication that sleeping late was perfectly reasonable, Xiao Chu snorted lightly: "Have the servants prepare the room next door. I dislike sharing a bed. Move there tonight. Additionally, have them restore this room to its original state—remove the red silks and candles. If you like them, move them to your own room."
Xiao Chu clearly hadn't forgotten Mi Yao's promises on the bed last night.
After giving these instructions, he slid a mother-of-pearl inlaid box toward Mi Yao: "This contains account books and storage room keys. Since you've slept enough and eaten, you can go reconcile accounts with the bookkeeper. Managing housekeeping is a responsibility you claimed yourself. If you neglect your duties later, I'll punish you."
How did it become something she claimed? Clearly it was a compromise to avoid being stabbed to death.
"I don't believe Xiao Lang would ever punish me.Mi Yao let out a soft hum as she moved her stool next to Xiao Chu. Seeing his amused gaze, she pressed her index finger against his lips to prevent any unpleasant remarks.
"You've given me authority, young master, but what about wealth? Such a generous and magnificent man wouldn't make me collect monthly allowances like a household servant, would you?"
Releasing her finger from Xiao Chu's thin lips, Mi Yao looked at him expectantly.
"You may freely use the gold and silver in the accounts."
After Xiao Chu finished speaking, Mi Yao waited, expecting him to impose some restrictions. But after several breaths, Xiao Chu showed no intention of adding a second sentence.
Unrestricted access to everything?
Mi Yao's eyes suddenly sparkled, bright as the morning sun: "Xiao Lang, you're too good to me. Meeting you in this lifetime is my greatest blessing."
She reached out and wrapped her arms around Xiao Chu's neck. Seeing he didn't resist, she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Young master, since you treat me so well, I won't hold grudges against you even if you make mistakes in the future."
Though Xiao Chu had intended to end intimacy after moving Mi Yao next door, seeing her lift her head with parted lips, his gaze traveled from her eyes downward. Before he realized it, he had leaned down and bitten her lip.
Only when Mi Yao whimpered in pain did he slowly raise his head.
"From now on, we'll share a bed on the first and fifteenth of each month, just like last night."
Hearing this, Mi Yao was momentarily stunned. Shouldn't the first and fifteenth be for burning incense and making offerings to gods and Buddhas? How did it become the opposite with Xiao Chu?
Just like last night – did that mean only rubbing without entering?
As their eyes met, Xiao Chu gave her no chance to object. After issuing his command, he decisively left the room.
"Sister! Brother-in-law's attendant said we need to tidy up the side chamber in the courtyard. He said brother-in-law ordered that you should move to the side chamber from now on."
As soon as Xiao Chu left, Yu Xiu anxiously entered the room. After hurriedly delivering her message, her eyes fell upon the poorly concealed red marks on Mi Yao's neck and her unusually swollen lips. Yu Xiu gasped, her eyes welling up with tears: "Did brother-in-law bully you? How could he do this? How could he bully someone as beautiful as you?"
Not wanting the underage girl to know too much about intimate matters, Mi Yao had specifically instructed Yu Xiu not to follow Shuang Hua and the others into the room this morning, afraid she might see things that would require explanation.
Little did she expect that while avoiding the clothing change, she forgot to wear a higher collar to conceal the marks.
"Moving to the side chamber isn't because the Town Envoy is bullying me, but because I don't want to suffer."
That enormous thing could go anywhere – just not inside her body.
Remembering Xiao Chu's requirements before leaving, Mi Yao first instructed the servants to restore the room to its original state.
"It's too early to remove the wedding decorations. They should hang for at least three days, if not half a month."
Though Mi Yao didn't say it, Yu Xiu still found Xiao Chu strange – not loving such a beautiful bride, quarreling with her sister, deliberately humiliating her sister for others to laugh at.
"Whether we hang them or not, the marriage is done. The red lanterns in the manor can stay up for the upcoming New Year, but the double happiness symbols can be removed."
While speaking, Mi Yao opened the box Xiao Chu had brought. When she saw the numbers in the account book, she fell silent for a moment.
"What's wrong, sister?"
Seeing Mi Yao's serious expression, a confused Yu Xiu moved closer. As a concubine's daughter from the Yu family, she had never learned housekeeping or arithmetic, so she couldn't understand the account book and didn't know what Mi Yao was looking at.
"Xiu'er, remember not to speak ill of your brother-in-law from now on. He's a truly great man."
When Xiao Chu had said she could use funds freely, Mi Yao thought he must have two sets of accounts – the surface accounts of Xiao Manor wouldn't show too little, but neither would they show too much.
Yet the amounts recorded were astonishingly large: besides 120,000 taels of silver, there were 80,000 taels of gold.
Had he mined a gold mine? How else could he hoard so much gold at home?
Setting aside the ledger, she opened the notebook recording the inventory of the storeroom. To keep herself from getting too excited, she tightly grasped Yu Xiu’s hand.
Truly worthy of being the male lead—he was incredibly wealthy.
It seemed this estate had originally been confiscated by Xiao Chu, and Zhao Tianhe hadn’t demanded he hand anything over. As a result, the Xiao Manor’s storeroom inventory was rich in variety, encompassing rare treasures from all regions.
However, it was clear that different people had recorded the storeroom logs. The earlier entries were detailed, while the later ones lacked refinement, merely noting "one piece of calligraphy and painting" or "one porcelain vase" without specifying what kind of vase or painting it was. If the storeroom attendants had ill intentions, they could easily replace the items inside.
"First, clear out the side room completely—no need to rush with the furnishings. Let’s go to the storeroom and replace things with whatever good pieces we find."
The more Mi Yao looked, the more excited she became. She fetched a red gold-sprinkled cloak edged with white mink fur and decided to head to the storeroom to sort through the items.
But as soon as she reached the courtyard, she felt a weight on her leg.
Glancing down, she saw a little dumpling bundled up in cotton-padded clothes.
"Did you miss me?"
Seeing Xiao Shan clinging to her leg, Mi Yao laughed.
Xiao Shan nodded vigorously, pointing at her cloak and then at his own clothes.
It was a day of great celebration at Xiao Manor. Apart from Xiao Chu, who wore a dark green brocade robe, everyone else was dressed joyfully. Not only was Xiao Shan in a red padded jacket, but Xiao Yi and Xiao Liang also wore red silk gowns embroidered with gourd patterns.
"Greetings, Mother. May you have boundless blessings."
Seeing Xiao Yi about to kneel with his younger brother, Mi Yao stopped them.
Xiao Yi thought that even though Mi Yao had married his father, she still didn’t want to hear them call her "Mother." He expected his brother to be upset again, but then Mi Yao said, "If you want to pay respects, do it properly inside the room. Out here, I have nothing in my pockets—if you bow, I won’t have any gifts to give you."
At her words, Xiao Liang’s eyes widened in delight. "Mother is going to give us gifts?"
"Yesterday, I married your father, so from now on, you are my children. Since that’s the case, when you pay your respects and greet me today, it’s only natural for me to give you meeting gifts."
Once inside the room, she had Shuang Hua bring out kneeling cushions. Watching the three little ones kowtow to her, Mi Yao truly felt the reality of being an elder.
A seventeen-year-old girl with a seven-year-old son—it was utterly outrageous.
The meeting gifts had been prepared in advance.
After helping the three to their feet, Mi Yao began presenting the gifts in order of age.
Each received a red-gold necklace carved with auspicious beasts. Xiao Yi was additionally given a set of scholar’s treasures, Xiao Liang received a jade Nine Interlocking Rings, and Xiao Shan was gifted a miniature silver tea set—a scaled-down version of the real thing, which could be used as decoration or for the children to play pretend tea parties.
The red-gold necklaces had been prepared by the Yu family, while the other items were things she had bought on her way to Yi Zhou because they seemed amusing—now they happened to be perfect for gifting.
Aside from Xiao Yi, who remained composed and didn’t examine his gift closely, the two younger ones held their presents, studying them over and over. Xiao Shan even set his on the daybed and began playing with it right away.
"Have your nannies take these back to your rooms. There’s no hurry to play with them now. Let’s go to the storeroom and see what treasures our home holds."
Initially, she had felt that compromising last night was a loss and had considered pretending with Xiao Chu that she would only manage the household, not act as a nanny.
But then she heard from Xiao Yi that they had come to greet her early in the morning and encountered Xiao Chu, who told them she was still asleep and would send for them to pay their respects once she woke up.
She knew that although Xiao Chu was a military general, he was just like a merchant who wouldn't let go once he gained an advantage—he wouldn't give her any chance to pretend nothing had happened.
Since that was the case, while she couldn't manage everything perfectly, she had to put on a thorough show of propriety. When she went out again, she was accompanied by three cheerfully beaming attendants dressed in bright red, and the whole group marched grandly to the storeroom to take inventory of Xiao Chu's possessions.
Observing Mi Yao's movements, Pu Qing couldn't help but voice his concerns to his master: "The scout investigating Lady Yu has returned and reported that Lady Yu remains deeply devoted to her former lover. The description of Lady Yu from the oral accounts differs from the Lady Yu in our residence. I fear Lady Yu might be putting on an act in front of the Town Envoy, aiming to lower his guard so she can take revenge for Huan Guanbin. If the Town Envoy entrusts the storeroom keys and household accounts to Lady Yu while she harbors ulterior motives…"
As he spoke, Pu Qing couldn't help thinking how even heroes could be ensnared by beauty.
His master was exceptionally heroic and capable, never before allowing lust to interfere with important matters like other lust-blinded men.
But this time, having just consummated the marriage with Lady Yu, he had unusually altered his original plans and handed over all his assets to her.
As a loyal servant, Pu Qing felt it was his duty to advise his master, so he could only speak ill of Lady Yu while feeling apprehensive.
After speaking, fearing his master had been utterly bewitched by Lady Yu and might scold him for meddling, he instead heard his master say: "If we can provoke her ulterior motives, it wouldn't be a bad thing."
If she didn't reveal her ulterior motives, how could he have any reason to punish her?
Before marrying her, he had only intended to keep her as a decoration, but she was thoroughly disagreeable—every word she spoke seemed obedient yet provoked an urge to teach her a lesson.
And without proper cause, how could he discipline her?
He could only give her opportunities to make mistakes.