I was awake… awake…
Didn’t that mean he heard everything I said earlier?
The “end-of-life care,” the “wealthy, pretty young widow”—he heard all of it?!
With a “boom,” Xi Xiuran’s face burned crimson. He wished he could instantly evaporate and vanish from the face of the earth.
But Shi Xingzhou’s grip on his wrist was unyielding. Xi Xiuran couldn’t run even if he wanted to, and his whole body grew restless and fidgety.
Compared to Xi Xiuran’s fidgeting, Theresa was completely panic-stricken. Her face had turned ashen as she frantically explained, “X-Xingzhou, Auntie didn’t mean anything by it. I just heard you had entered a partnership and wanted to come see you both, and drop off His Majesty’s wedding gift while I was at it. And then… and then…”
Shi Xingzhou lifted his eyelids. “Why is Auntie stuttering? Weren’t you quite talkative just now, offering to handle things for me?”
Theresa snapped her mouth shut.
Theresa was terrified and didn’t dare say another word. Emily wasn’t faring any better. She hadn’t expected her entire scheme to be seen through by Shi Xingzhou. Tearfully, she begged for mercy: “Your Excellency, I was wrong! You are magnanimous, please let me off this once! I was wrong, I was truly wrong…”
Shi Xingzhou let out a soft chuckle. Emily’s body went stiff, and she immediately began kowtowing to Xi Xiuran, confessing her faults: “Consort, it was my fault! I shouldn’t have been jealous of you, I shouldn’t have forged His Excellency’s orders…”
Thud, thud, thud—
The sound of her kowtowing filled the air. Emily was striking her head with immense force, not daring to half-ass it at a time like this. Soon, her forehead split open. Her head was ringing, but she didn’t dare stop the motion.
Shi Xingzhou didn’t even spare her a glance. Instead, he turned his head to look at Butler Wang. Butler Wang hurriedly brought over a tube of medicinal ointment and quietly retreated to the side again.
With gentle movements, Shi Xingzhou applied the ointment to the red scratch on Xi Xiuran’s hand, slowly asking, “Xiuran, how do you want to punish her?”
At the cool touch on his hand, Xi Xiuran finally snapped out of his social death. He blinked, slightly dazed. “Me?”
Shi Xingzhou gave a soft “Mm.”
Theresa was stunned. She hadn’t expected Shi Xingzhou to let this country bumpkin make the decision. But maybe this was for the best. As long as this bumpkin had half a brain, he’d know Emily was His Majesty’s person and wouldn’t dare press the issue.
Xi Xiuran stared at Shi Xingzhou for a long while, feeling that the man wasn’t joking but was genuinely backing him up. Suddenly, having his nonsensical rambling overheard by the big boss didn’t seem so embarrassing anymore.
Having comforted himself, Xi Xiuran instantly got cocky. Feigning distress, he said, “But I don’t know how to punish her either! How about this: since she forged Your Excellency’s orders, tricked me into coming here, and disturbed you, let’s just handle it according to military law?”
No matter the era, forging military orders was a severe crime.
Shi Xingzhou nodded, a smile still playing on his lips. Without giving Theresa or Emily a single glance, he ordered word by word, “Men, do as the Consort says.”
According to military law, Emily would receive at least thirty light-whip lashes. Even a robust Alpha soldier would struggle to endure that, let alone an ordinary Beta like her.
Hearing this, Emily felt a chill run through her entire body. Scrambling on her hands and knees, she tried to crawl toward Xi Xiuran, begging, “Consort, spare my life! Consort—mmph!”
Once the guards dragged Emily away, Shi Xingzhou finally looked at Theresa with an apologetic expression. “I’ve been asleep for so long that I’m a bit muddled. I forgot to ask Auntie for her opinion just now. Auntie isn’t angry, is she? You seemed to like Emily quite a bit.”
Theresa forced a smile. “Of course not.”
“Guests should be treated as such. It’s rare for Auntie to visit, and I’ve been a poor host,” Shi Xingzhou instructed the old butler. “Go prepare afternoon tea.”
Still shaken, Theresa didn’t dare stay for tea. She wanted nothing more than to run away immediately, frantically waving her hands to decline. She claimed she had a charity banquet to attend that evening and needed to go back and prepare.
Shi Xingzhou didn’t force her. He asked casually, “Did Auntie say earlier that you came to deliver His Majesty’s wedding gift?”
Theresa nodded hastily. “The gifts and the ledger have already been handed over to the butler.”
Shi Xingzhou raised his eyelids. “Only His Majesty’s gift?”
Theresa paused her movements to leave. She forced a smile onto her face and laughed, “How could that be? Of course, Auntie prepared a gift as well. It’s just that the gift is still on its way; my butler will deliver it later.”
“Is that so… It seems I misunderstood Auntie then.” Shi Xingzhou nonchalantly glanced at the jade ring on Theresa’s right hand. Remembering how Xi Xiuran had stared at it earlier, he suddenly said, “Speaking of which, when His Majesty got married last year, didn’t Auntie say that when I got married, you would give the ‘Heart of Jade’ to my future partner as a wedding gift?”
Theresa’s eyelid twitched violently.
The “Heart of Jade” was the wedding gift the previous Emperor had given Theresa when she got married. Setting aside its astronomical value, its sentimental significance to Theresa was extraordinary. It could be said this ring was the flesh of her heart; she had planned to leave it to her daughter as a family heirloom.
The only reason she had said that last year was because she had accidentally learned the secret, and in a moment of arrogance, she had casually boasted in front of Shi Xingzhou. She never expected…
“There was such a thing.” Theresa’s heart bled in agony. Her hands practically trembled as she took off the jade ring and handed it to Xi Xiuran, smiling very stiffly. “Xiuran, this is Auntie’s meeting gift for you. I wish you a happy marriage. Auntie misunderstood you earlier; you and Xingzhou must get along well in the future.”
With the ring given and the apology made, Theresa finally felt the invisible pressure enveloping her ease slightly.
Looking at the jade ring handed to him, Xi Xiuran was stunned. This is the ring the Protagonist Gong and Shou used for their wedding! The original novel spent a huge paragraph describing how expensive it was, how much it hurt the Eldest Princess to give it away, and how happy the Protagonist Shou was to receive it—and now it was just being handed to him?!
Admiral Shi is awesome. He’s practically digging out the Eldest Princess’s heart.
Though he didn’t quite understand why Shi Xingzhou wanted this ring, Xi Xiuran cooperatively accepted it with grace, flashing Theresa a bright smile. “Thank you, Auntie! I really love this gift.”
Shi Xingzhou’s expression remained neutral. “Auntie is too kind.”
Theresa’s heart cramped fiercely, the pain making it hard to breathe, yet she had to keep up her forced smile. “As long as you both like it.”
If she stayed any longer, Theresa genuinely feared she might cry from the heartbreak. She hurried away with her guards, but suddenly remembered something, stopped, and turned back. “Right, Xingzhou, since you’re awake and have successfully bonded with a partner, you need to bring your partner to the royal palace tomorrow to have lunch with His Majesty.”
Although the Empire didn’t have wedding ceremonies, the tradition of having a meal with family and friends after getting married still existed.
Shi Xingzhou gave a noncommittal “Mm.”
Finally stepping out of the room, Theresa’s tense nerves relaxed. Her gaze accidentally swept over the broken glass on the floor, and her eyelid twitched. Before coming here, she thought this was a great errand. Not only could she vent Mengchen’s anger, but she could also enjoy the sight of Shi Xingzhou in a pathetic, berserk state. Who knew she would end up losing both her troops and her leverage?
However smug she was before kicking the door down, that was exactly how pathetic she looked leaving.
Theresa secretly ground her teeth, only to hear the old butler’s voice from behind: “Master, the gifts sent by His Majesty…”
A faint chuckle echoed out. “Then I’ll have to trouble the Consort to handle them…”
He’s giving them to that country bumpkin?!
Does he deserve them?!
Theresa knew exactly how valuable the pile of gifts His Majesty had prepared was. No matter how she looked at it, giving them to that bumpkin was a waste. And then, remembering that not only had she lost the “Heart of Jade,” but she also still had to send another wedding gift, Theresa’s heart ached even more.
The more Theresa thought about it, the more her heart hurt, and the more miserable she felt. So much so that she didn’t look where she was going; her foot found empty air, and she nearly tumbled down the stairs. Luckily, her guards caught her in time.
But she still sprained her ankle.
Theresa hissed in pain, utterly driven mad with anger.
***
Shi Xingzhou waking up was a major event. Soon, his trusted adjutants and his medical team flooded into the room.
Xi Xiuran stood on the outermost edge, looking very much like an outsider. Before he could feel awkward, he felt a gaze as cold as a blade land on him. He lifted his eyes and unexpectedly crashed into a pair of deep, indifferent orange-red irises. Xi Xiuran hurriedly retracted his gaze.
Pausing for a moment, Xi Xiuran felt something wasn’t quite right and immediately looked back up. Once again meeting those orange-red eyes, he saw the man blink and smile at him. Like a clear breeze and a bright moon, it was still that gentle, noble appearance.
Mm, that’s more like it.
That earlier look was definitely a hallucination. When Admiral Shi is awake, he’s clearly very gentle and easy to talk to.
Xi Xiuran found it a bit strange why the original novel would use words like “cold, gloomy, and ruthless” to describe a conscious Shi Xingzhou.
Was it because the Protagonist Shou visited at a bad time and got scared by the maid’s death? And from then on, he looked at him through tinted glasses, regardless of whether Shi Xingzhou was awake or not?
Tch, first impressions really are important. You can’t look at people through tinted glasses.
Thinking of this, Xi Xiuran recalled the maid in the original novel who was killed by the berserk Shi Xingzhou, and then he thought of Emily, who had tried to set him up. Xi Xiuran suddenly had an epiphany: So, the maid who died tragically in the original novel was Emily?!
Damn, this situation is not simple!
At this point, Xi Xiuran suddenly let out a yawn and immediately abandoned his thinking.
Whatever. I’ve used up my daily brain quota. A salted fish doesn’t need to use his brain; why think so much?
Xi Xiuran quietly yawned again and stole a glance at Shi Xingzhou, hesitating whether it would be bad to slack off on his first day on the job while the boss wasn’t looking. Just then, Shi Xingzhou suddenly raised a hand.
The bedroom fell silent instantly. The medical staff who were reporting and conducting check-ups all went quiet.
Xi Xiuran: “???”
Then, he saw Shi Xingzhou crook his index finger at him.
Tch, looks a bit like how I call my dog. Xi Xiuran grumbled internally but walked over cheerfully. “What’s wrong?”
“You’ve worked hard today,” Shi Xingzhou said to Xi Xiuran in his usual tone. “Go back and rest for now.”
Although Xi Xiuran really wanted to find a place to quietly slack off, he didn’t want to clock out early. It was his first day on the job, after all; he had to keep up appearances. Plus, it was rare for Shi Xingzhou to be conscious—didn’t he need Xiuran to release some pheromones for a soothing treatment? Of course, the most important thing was that Shi Xingzhou still hadn’t given him a direct answer as to whether he had successfully landed the job. What if he left, and Shi Xingzhou immediately submitted a divorce application?
When Xi Xiuran was a corporate slave going to interviews, he had encountered situations exactly like this—HR wouldn’t give a straight answer and just left him hanging for days.
Seeming to know what Xi Xiuran was thinking, Shi Xingzhou smiled faintly: “Next time. I feel my condition is quite good right now.”
There’s a next time? Does that mean he successfully landed the job?
Xi Xiuran’s eyes lit up. He earnestly examined Shi Xingzhou’s complexion once more, and upon confirming that his condition really was quite good, he immediately and happily embraced his “lying-flat” mentality. “I’ll be going, then!”
Shi Xingzhou nodded, a smile still lingering on his lips. He gave Butler Wang a look, and the butler immediately stepped forward, saying respectfully, “Consort, please follow me.”
As Xi Xiuran followed Butler Wang out of sight, Shi Xingzhou retracted his gaze. His smile slowly faded away, and he said flatly, “Continue.”
T/n: You can support the original author here. Happy Reading 💅