Chapter 57: Yao-yao, Hold Me

Xiao Ji’s voice sounded right beside her.

Xie Yao could even sense the breath brushing against the back of her neck, and her cheeks grew warm. She turned to leave. “I’ll go ask why the clothes still haven’t been brought.”

“Cough, cough…”

The light sound of coughing made Xie Yao glance back at Xiao Ji.

He wore only a thin layer of underclothes, his damp hair hanging loose. His face was a little pale, making him look strangely pitiful at this moment.

Worry filled Xie Yao’s eyes. She stepped forward, and under Xiao Ji’s gaze, she removed the cloak from her own shoulders and draped it over him.

For Xiao Ji, the cloak was far too small, and when it hung on his shoulders, it looked a bit comical.

A trace of amusement flickered in Xie Yao’s eyes.

“Your Highness, sit.” Xie Yao took a dry soft towel and gently wiped away the wet strands of his hair.

Her fingers were slender and delicate, her movements tender. Standing behind him, the warm fragrance of her body wrapped around him.

With one tug, Xiao Ji pulled her into his lap. She fell softly against him, her arms looping around his neck, their bodies pressed together.

Xiao Ji lowered his head, resting it at the curve of her neck. He took a deep breath, savoring the unique scent that belonged only to her.

Outside, the spring rain wove its endless curtain. Xiao Ji felt more at ease than ever before.

Knock, knock.

A rapping sounded quickly at the door, followed by Si-nan’s voice, “Your Highness, Crown Princess, the clothes have arrived.”

Xie Yao said softly, “I’ll wait outside for Your Highness.”

But Xiao Ji only tightened his hold on her. “Yao-yao, what are you hiding for? Where haven’t I already seen?”

Xie Yao: “…”

Her face turned red in an instant.

The worst part was that Xiao Ji was repeating the exact same words she herself had spoken earlier, leaving her with no way to refute him.

Xie Yao bit her lip lightly and glared at him. “Your Highness!”

Xiao Ji chuckled low, releasing her at last. Si-nan entered with a tray holding the prepared garments. “Your Highness, everything has been properly taken care of.”

Xiao Ji dressed unhurriedly, but his eyes strayed through a gap in the window, catching sight of a carriage rolling past on the street outside. His gaze turned ice-cold. “So impatient, isn’t he?”

He sneered. “If he has so much free time, then let’s find him some trouble.”

Si-nan recognized it at once; the Second Prince’s carriage. He bowed his head immediately. “Yes.”

Xie Yao had waited only a short while before Xiao Ji finished dressing and came out. Husband and wife descended the stairs, ready to board their carriage.

But the moment they stepped out of the teahouse, Xie Yao felt a disgusting, sticky gaze land on her. She followed the sensation, only to see a carriage, without spotting the person inside.

“Crown Princess?”

From inside the carriage, Xiao Ji extended his hand. Xie Yao withdrew her gaze, placed her hand in his palm, and allowed herself to be helped up into the carriage.

…

After her beating, Xie Yujiao had been sent back to the Xie household to recover. Even though Madam Zhang’s heart had turned cold, she had only this one daughter. No matter what, she still had to protect her.

Three days passed before Song Wenbo realized something was wrong. He hurried to the Xie residence, accompanied by Madam Song Li.

Madam Zhang sat haughtily at the head seat, deeply displeased at Song Wenbo’s negligence. “Song Wenbo, do not forget the promises you made when you begged to marry my daughter!”

“It has not even been that long, yet already you let my Jiao-jiao suffer such humiliation…” The more Madam Zhang spoke, the angrier she became, wishing she could swallow the two people before her alive.

Song Wenbo dropped to his knees immediately. “Mother-in-law, please calm your anger. It is all this son-in-law’s fault…”

“Now hold on.” Madam Song Li yanked Song Wenbo back up and shot Madam Zhang a disdainful look. “In-law, that’s not how it was. Back then, the one we wanted was the elder young lady!”

“The elder young lady is gentle and virtuous, looks fertile, and could have given my family heirs.”

“But the second young lady? She’s spoiled and rude, disrespectful to her mother-in-law, and jealous enough not to allow my son concubines. With a daughter-in-law like that, I’d say it’s shameful!”

Hands on her hips, Madam Song Li rattled off her words like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, rapid and relentless, her sharp tongue never pausing even before Madam Zhang. She looked every inch the shrew.

Madam Zhang came from an official’s family. She had only ever associated with refined people, never in her life encountering someone as vulgar as Madam Song Li.

And yet, this vulgar woman was her in-law.

“You, you…” Madam Zhang jabbed a finger at her, furious. “Throw her out!”

“Hmph! What did I say that was wrong? Your girl insisted on marrying my son, wasn’t it only because she had her eye on him being a literary star reborn? My son went personally to fetch her, and she still dared to throw a tantrum?”

“If she doesn’t want to come back today, then fine, let her wait for the divorce papers!”

Bang!

“You dare!” Madam Zhang slammed a hand down on the table, her eyes fierce enough to devour someone whole.

Madam Song Li faltered for a moment, but quickly straightened her back again. “Xie Yujiao has defied me more than once, and she’s never served me as her mother-in-law. If my son divorces her, it would be only right!”

Madam Zhang seethed inside, but she knew those words were not untrue.

A daughter-in-law who disrespected her husband’s mother; anyone would blame her for that.

She had carefully arranged this match for Xie Yao, but who could have foreseen it would all backfire on her instead?

Her chest burned with anger as her gaze landed on Song Wenbo. “So this is your opinion as well?”

“Song Wenbo, don’t forget, you are still only a scholar.” Both the Xie and Zhang families could crush a mere examination graduate without effort.

Song Wenbo bowed, face full of difficulty. “Mother-in-law, perhaps it would be best to hear Jiao-jiao’s own thoughts.”

Madam Zhang grew even angrier.

She had no confidence left. With Song Wenbo and Madam Song Li taking this stance, if she sent Xie Yujiao back with them now, who knew what kind of treatment awaited her?

Taking a deep breath, she said, “This matter—”

“I’ll return.” A weak voice came from the doorway.

Servants carried Xie Yujiao into the main hall. Her face was deathly pale, but she had still taken care to dress herself neatly.

Her eyes fixed on Song Wenbo. “Since my husband has come to fetch me personally, of course I will return with him.”

Madam Zhang gave a sharp laugh. “So you’ve decided already?”

Xie Yujiao pressed her lips together and said softly, “Mother, one day you will understand me.”

“Fine, fine, fine.” Madam Zhang sneered. “If you walk out that door today, then don’t ever call me mother again!”

Because of Xie Yujiao, she had been cursed to her face by Madam Song Li.

Guilt flickered across Xie Yujiao’s expression, but she still said, “I’ll come back another day to see you, Mother.”

Madam Song Li raised her chin proudly, eyes full of smugness. “Come back? Once you’ve entered my family, you’re ours. What daughter keeps running back to her mother’s house?”

Madam Zhang’s vision went black from rage. She fainted on the spot.

By the time she woke up, the Song family mother and son had already taken Xie Yujiao away.

She sat alone in the dim room for a long while, her heart like it had been plunged into ice water, cold to the bone.

“Madam.” Momo Liu said in a low voice, “Could it be… that the second young lady has been possessed?”