“What did you say to Shan’er?” Xiao Xu had assumed that once Shan’er was taken from Mi Yao’s side, she would cry and fuss. Yet Mi Yao only spoke a couple of sentences while holding her, and Shan’er quietly followed the maid out—though at the threshold she turned back, reluctant, to look at Mi Yao.
Of course, she only looked at Mi Yao. From the moment he entered until she left, Shan’er never glanced his way. It was as if *he* were the stranger who had just arrived at the Xiao estate, someone she had barely met.
“I told her to be good and go play with her brothers for a while. Tonight I’ll fetch her back to eat supper with me.”
“That’s all?” A flicker of doubt passed through Xiao Xu’s brown eyes, his gaze on Mi Yao sharpening.
“What else could I say?” Meeting his probing stare, Mi Yao blinked and teased softly, “Surely Xiao Lang doesn’t think I frightened the little lady into obedience?”
Xiao Xu studied her delicate, graceful figure. If scaring worked, his threats should have been more effective—this very morning, he had even told Shan’er he’d feed her to the tigers. But it had no effect at all. He began to wonder if Shan’er had grown more foolish these past months, unable to understand his threats.
“In three days, you and I will be wed. As for the wedding arrangements, if you need funds, simply go to the steward and draw silver.”
He had found no explanation for Shan’er’s attachment to Mi Yao. And he refused to ask her directly. There was no such sorcery in the world that made children cling to strangers. He knew that every time they met, others were present. Though it seemed absurd, the truth must be that Mi Yao had caught Shan’er’s eye.
Even though Mi Yao’s treatment of Shan’er was not especially affectionate—she only kept her close to prevent endless crying—Shan’er seemed oblivious, clinging to her again and again.
Unable to find any deeper cause, Xiao Xu could only blame Mi Yao’s face.
Shan’er was a little girl, and most little girls loved beauty. Lady Yu’s face was lovelier than summer blossoms; it was no wonder it charmed the child.
So long as Mi Yao kept her distance inwardly, concealed her dislike, and showed enough patience to satisfy Shan’er’s affection, he would count it as merit. He would grant her more authority, at least ensuring she lived more freely than she had in Jiangnan.
“Xiao Lang, wait.” Seeing him about to leave, Mi Yao quickly called out.
“What else?”
After a night’s rest, the bloodshot in his eyes had faded, but the cold, blade-like indifference remained. His gaze fell on her lightly, as if she were no more than a piece of furniture, not a beauty to be admired.
Mi Yao felt at ease with his aloofness. She sensed that back in Jingzhou, his intimacy had been only a test. Now that he understood her better, he no longer needed to test and had returned to his true nature. She appreciated his lack of lust and hoped he would continue in that way.
As for stopping him now, it was because of his words about drawing silver freely.
Drawing silver was fine, but drawing it for wedding decorations was not.
“Xiao Lang, are you teasing me? How could a bride-to-be be expected to manage the wedding arrangements?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you handled them?” Xiao Xu frowned slightly, not understanding Lady Yu’s meaning. He had given her authority, yet she didn’t seem to be feigning modest refusal—she truly believed it wasn’t her place to oversee such matters.
“Of course it wouldn’t be proper.”
Xiao Xu was the adopted son of Zhao Tianhe, holding the rank of *Military Commander of the Fourth Grade*, a powerful officer with ten thousand troops under his command. His wedding would inevitably be complicated. Even if kept simple, the banquet dishes alone would be a headache.
Not wanting him to misunderstand her attitude toward the Ma family women, Mi Yao felt she needed to clarify.
“Xiao Lang should appoint a capable steward to manage the household. Beyond the wedding, you are often away, and the children and I will need someone to look after us. Without a firm hand to oversee the estate, you would have to comfort us upon your return from campaigns. That would be far too exhausting for you.”
Hearing this, the cold indifference in Xiao Xu’s eyes softened into a deeper, probing look.
“So you don’t see yourself as that pillar?” His lips curved faintly, his tone tinged with mockery. “What do you think I married you for?”
“Why, naturally, because of my beauty—so lovely that Xiao Lang would wish to cherish me.”
No matter his expression, Mi Yao met it with coquettish charm, her soft voice and spring-water eyes fixed wholly on him.
“After marrying you, I’ll devote myself entirely to my appearance. I’ll grow more beautiful with time. And if, by forty, you find me no longer pleasing, I’ll simply retreat to the back courtyard and quietly live out my days.”
Xiao Xu had never met such a peculiar woman. Without comparison, he couldn’t know if all beautiful women were like her.
Her words placed herself humbly, almost pitiably, in a low position—yet her bearing carried a subtle strength, as if forcing him, the ‘master,’ to carefully tend this delicate flower, or else prove himself unworthy.
“All your effort only for your face?”
“Wasn’t it Xiao Lang who said that wealth and power are the true nourishment of beauty?”
Repeatedly, she turned his own words back on him. He sometimes suspected she was mocking him, yet her expression remained open, her eyes full of trust.
“But you want only wealth, not power.”
“What power is there in being a steward?”
Mi Yao laughed lightly behind her hand, her apricot eyes sparkling. “The power a beauty desires is the right to enjoy without effort—not the drudgery of labor.”
Her tone was candid and earnest, revealing her true thoughts. Xiao Xu remained impassive. He had once suspected that she was not truly Yu Shaoyang’s legitimate sister and had deliberately investigated her.
The first step was questioning the coachman who had driven her and Huan Guanbin. On that cold day, the coachman sat outside the carriage, unable to catch every word of their conversation. But the few sentences in which Mi Yao reduced Huan Guanbin to tears—those he heard clearly.
At the time, hearing the coachman’s account, he had overthought it, wondering if Lady Yu had foreseen danger ahead and used such words to drive her lover away. Now, however, he was certain: those words had come from her heart. He had imagined her too clever, too calculating.
In truth, she was a daughter of a noble house, adorned with reputation on the outside, but within, only greedy for pleasure, her eyes and heart filled with nothing but her own empty vanity.
Since Mi Yao had spoken so plainly, Xiao Xu naturally did not bring up the matter of household management again. The next day, he went to the governor’s residence and asked his foster father, Zhao Tianhe, to lend him a steward who could temporarily oversee affairs at home.
Seeing Xiao Xu borrow someone into his household, Zhao Tianhe laughed:
“I should have arranged your marriage, your foster father. I had already prepared the right person for you. But what does it mean, borrowing a steward for half a month? Do you think Lady Yu is unfit, that if she holds authority, she’ll mistreat your children?”
“She is more sensible than I imagined—unafraid of marrying far from home, and never once has she used my humble birth against me.”
Knowing Lady Yu had a lover, he had originally planned to threaten and intimidate her several times before she would sever ties and settle obediently in the Xiao household.
But in this regard, Mi Yao was unexpectedly easy to manage. From that night until now, she had never once asked about Huan Guanbin’s fate. Judging by her temperament, she would not ask again in the future.
He had married Lady Yu only for Yu Shaoyang’s sake. Now that he had established contact with Yu Shaoyang, and Yu Shaoyang was already considering resigning his post to travel to Shu, Lady Yu had served her purpose. Once he understood this, he no longer cared about Mi Yao’s indulgence in pleasure. If she thought managing household affairs was nothing more than drudgery, then he would simply find a steward to take over, leaving her free to remain the pampered flower unconcerned with anything.
“She does not despise you—so how do you regard her? Do you find joy in her heart?”
Zhao Tianhe studied his foster son’s stern, cold brows and laughed. “You’re a lucky one. The most beautiful woman in Jiangnan—fought over for years by the Huainan governor and Prince Jiangning—yet in the end, you snatched her away.”
“Lady Yu is indeed beautiful.”
Though his reasons for marrying Mi Yao lay entirely with her elder brother, he did not deny that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
After Xiao Xu spoke, he noticed Zhao Tianhe waiting for him to continue. He thought for a moment, then answered the question: “My luck is good.”
“You brat,” Zhao Tianhe chuckled, “to give you such a beauty is nothing but a waste.”
Zhao Tianhe laughed as he scolded. Back when Xiao Xu was seventeen or eighteen, he had already thought of finding him a wife—someone who could care for his children and his mother.
Who would have guessed that before a suitable match was found, Xiao Xu’s mother passed away? After completing the mourning period, Xiao Xu ended up with the most beautiful woman of all. Fortune, perhaps, was on his side. Yet seeing Xiao Xu’s unawakened demeanor, Zhao Tianhe feared he would never truly enjoy the pleasures of marriage and would remain cold and distant in the years to come.
“You should devote more care to your future wife. Lady Yu refuses to take charge of household affairs most likely because she finds you too stern and fears you. If you show her more gentleness and patience—such a fine young man as you are—how could she not be tender and compliant, willing to live well with you?”
“Your son understands.” Xiao Xu did not feel that Mi Yao was disobedient. She wanted to live well—but only her own life, not a shared life with him.
When he returned home after finishing his errands, Xiao Xu dined together with his sons.
At the table, Xiao Liang stole glances at him several times before finally gathering the courage to ask softly: “Once Father and Mother hold the wedding ceremony, will we be able to eat together with Shan’er and Mother?”
Catching the expectation in Xiao Liang’s eyes, Xiao Xu frowned. He could not understand why Mi Yao’s reluctance to bond with the children was so obvious, yet they seemed blind to it, still hoping for warmth from her.
As for Xiao Shan, that girl who only cried and refused reason, he had no way to discipline her. And regarding his two sons—
Xiao Xu disliked their unnecessary expectations of Mi Yao. He warned coldly: “You may call her Mother, but that does not mean you can trouble her as if she were your birth mother. Everything remains as usual—you have wet nurses and servants. You do not need another person to care for you.”
Hearing his father’s words, Xiao Liang understood: he would not be allowed to live under the same roof with Mi Yao like his sister, nor would she hold him or speak tender words to him. As he rose from his stool, imitating his elder brother’s nod of obedience, he could not stop his eyes from filling with tears. He realized then—it was only Shan’er who had gained a mother’s love. Not all of them had.