Chapter 101: Handwriting

Sang Yao remained silent for a while.

She used to think this was one of those stories where someone endured silently for years and then made a decisive move to defeat the enemy.

She recalled Lu Li’s usual demeanor, feeling increasingly complicated. She thought to herself that this person was somewhat unreliable. She said, “So, when he’s involved in such big matters with my sister, it’s not just for fun, right?”

Xie Yun said, “No.”

After all, having been the crown prince for so many years, he could always distinguish the gravity of situations.

“So, how long does it take to finish my sister’s big business?”

Xie Yun pondered for a moment and said, “It varies. It could be as short as two to three years, or as long as five to six years.”

So long.

Sang Yao frowned. Xie Yun looked at the delicate face of the girl beside him, smiling, and couldn’t help but gently pinch her cheek, then said, “That’s how it is.”

“But it’s not as difficult as you imagine. It’s customary within the palace. Every one who firmly secures a high position has been carefully selected. It’s unavoidable.”

Sang Yao knew Xie Yun was right.

Her sister had chosen such a precarious and perilous path from the beginning.

In the world, there are few certainties. She understood, and her sister naturally understood as well.

Some pursue stability, while others crave tumult and glory.

That was her sister’s own path.

Sang Yao nodded, then remembered something and stared at Xie Yun’s face, saying, “By the way, Your Highness, do you have… different feelings towards you?”

Xie Yun said, “?”

He furrowed his brows, silently looking at her.

Sang Yao tried to make her description more accurate. She continued, “Why do I feel like when he looks at you, it’s… like he’s looking at his own father?”

Xie Yun said, “…”

He pressed his lips together, meeting the girl’s inquiring gaze, unsure if Sang Yao was being serious or trying to mock his age.

He spoke first, “Please know that I’m only two years older than him.”

“From any perspective, I have no possibility of being his father.”

The reason Lu Li depended on him was actually quite simple.

Lu Li was more like a child taught by the Xie family. So, not only was he like that towards Xie Yun, but also towards Xie Yan. He always treated them both as older brothers.

It’s just that later, Xie Yun became the successor to the family head, getting closer to Lu Li. Lu Li liked to involve him in everything, so he developed a somewhat dependent nature towards him.

Over the years, Xie Yun intentionally let go and didn’t want to be involved with him anymore, but Lu Li still had an inexplicable trust in him.

Even so, it wasn’t to the extent of treating him like a father.

After explaining this to Sang Yao, Xie Yun asked, “Any other questions?”

Sang Yao sat down, saying, “Yes.”

Xie Yun sat beside her, looking at Sang Yao, “What’s wrong with you today? If you ask me again, you’ll owe me a reward.”

Sang Yao obediently kissed him on the cheek, saying, “Is this enough?”

Xie Yun said, “You’re so sensible.”

He crossed his legs lazily and said, “Go ahead, ask.”

Sang Yao asked, “Who is Madam Shen?”

The smile on Xie Yun’s face faded slightly. Instead of replying immediately, he furrowed his brows and asked, “Why do you ask about her?”

Sang Yao’s heart skipped a beat. For some reason, she instantly thought of her second brother and his wife.

It couldn’t be, could it? Could Xie Yun also have some unrequited love?

She hadn’t heard of any childhood sweetheart for Xie Yun, or some romantic encounter like Madam Shen saving Xie Yun and them falling in love, but then Madam Shen ended up marrying someone else.

Later, she separated from her husband, came to the capital, found Xie Yun, and he took care of her out of old feelings.

In that moment, Sang Yao thought of many possibilities, her complexion visibly worsening. Before Xie Yun could speak, she said, “It couldn’t be.”

Xie Yun asked, “… Couldn’t be what?”

Their eyes met, and Sang Yao straightened her back, her tone serious. “You must not hide it from me. I won’t blame you.”

Xie Yun hadn’t intended to hide it from her; he just didn’t know why Sang Yao was concerned about this.

Seeing the strange look in Sang Yao’s eyes, he told her the truth, “She is the wife of an old friend. When she returned to the capital, I felt obligated to look after her.”

“Her husband has been kind to me.”

Madam Shen was originally a young lady in the capital. Her husband was the captain Xie Yun mentioned to Sang Yao before. Madam Shen had bravely fled to the capital and married the captain.

Her husband had helped Xie Yun a lot in the past. Later, the chaos of war left him forever on the border.

Xie Yun had only met Madam Shen once, several years ago when he first returned to the capital. He brought her her husband’s belongings.

During this time, because Madam Shen faced some difficulties upon returning to the capital, he lent her a helping hand.

Remembering Sang Yao’s expression just now, Xie Yun added, “Madam Shen is around thirty-one years old and has a daughter who is eight years old.”

“Yao Yao, what are you blaming me for?”

Sang Yao felt extremely guilty. Perhaps she was born with a brain that loved to fantasize, feeling ashamed for a moment.

She cleared her throat and said, “… Well, you should indeed take good care of her.”

Xie Yun remained silent. Sang Yao felt even more ridiculous about her previous thoughts. She lowered her voice and looked away.

“You’re a grown man, there must be some aspects you haven’t considered thoroughly. You should have told me earlier, and I could have helped you arrange things.”

Xie Yun said, “That was indeed my mistake.”

“But Yao Yao, what do you think she is to me?”

Sang Yao didn’t know much about Xie Yun’s past. The appearance of Madam Shen had been mentioned a couple of times by subordinates, and her second sister-in-law’s situation had influenced her thoughts a bit, leading her to jump to conclusions.

Feeling guilty, she remained silent.

Xie Yun fell silent for a moment. His voice sounded somewhat sad as he said slowly, “Do you think I’m someone who vacillates? Initially, it’s understandable if you didn’t trust me, but after being married for two months, I’m still not worthy of your trust?”

Sang Yao said, “It’s not that.”

She leaned closer to Xie Yun and whispered softly, “I don’t distrust you; I’m just concerned about you.”

Having spent a long time with Xie Yun, her sweet talk had become quite adept. She continued to speak sweetly to him, saying, “I care because I like you. If it were someone else, I wouldn’t bother.”

“I don’t mean anything else; I’m just worried that you might not handle things considerately enough. Look, she even has a daughter with her, which must not be easy.”

Seeing Xie Yun remain silent, Sang Yao leaned closer to his ear and skillfully used her trump card, “Husband, don’t be angry.”

Xie Yun’s expression indeed softened. He turned his head to look at Sang Yao calmly and said, “I didn’t catch that.”

Sang Yao indulged him and repeated herself.

Xie Yun shifted his position, embracing her. The sunset outside cast its glow on the fabric where they intertwined.

With his narrow eyes half-closed, Xie Yun’s gaze rested on her. There was a hint of a smile on his clear face, but he still wasn’t satisfied. He said softly, “Why are you speaking so softly?”

Sang Yao found him quite childish and deliberately raised her voice, “Husband—”

The room was filled with her voice, finally satisfying Xie Yun.

Seeing that she had appeased him, Sang Yao stood up and said, “Alright, I need to go check the account books.”

Xie Yun felt dissatisfied again. He hadn’t seen much of Sang Yao yesterday because he came back late, and she had already fallen asleep. He didn’t want to disturb her, so he didn’t wake her up.

Then today, they hadn’t even had lunch together.

And now, after bombarding him with questions, she wanted to leave again.

Xie Yun held her back, saying, “Why are you busier than me lately?”

Sang Yao said, “I’m not as smart as you; I need to work harder!”

He glanced at the sky and said, “But little Miss Clumsy Bird, it’s getting dark.”

“We should sleep.”

Sang Yao glanced at the sunlight outside and said, “Xie Yun, why are you so good at lying with your eyes open?”

Xie Yun’s hand fell on Sang Yao’s waist, squeezing the soft flesh beneath her clothes. In autumn, clothes were thicker than in summer, and every time Xie Yun did this, he would slip his hand into her clothes when Sang Yao wasn’t paying attention.

“Extremely shameless.”

Sang Yao struggled for a moment, then sat up straight, looking very serious as she said to him, “Xie Yun, I think I must discuss this matter with you.”

Xie Yun looked at her solemn expression and casually replied, “Go ahead.”

Sang Yao said, “You see, we’ve been married for two months, and except for the first few days, we’ve practically spent seven out of ten days together in bed. That’s already very frequent.”

Xie Yun neither agreed nor disagreed, stating matter-of-factly, “We’re married now. Shouldn’t a husband and wife be together in bed? Are we supposed to discuss state affairs together instead?”

His tone was not pleasant as he added, “It’s only been two months. In these two months, we’ve only spent thirty days together. Just thirty days, and you’ve lost interest in my body already?”

Sang Yao shook her head and continued seriously, “You know, as the saying goes, only a tired ox will die. I’m just tired, but I won’t break.”

“You can’t be sure about that. Tai Fu once said that indulgence damages one’s vitality, and over time, it can lead to a depletion of energy, causing mental fatigue, darkening of the eyes, and eventually, the inability to get out of bed.”

“Not only will it make you less handsome, but it will also make you weak.”

Xie Yun remained silent.

She tapped Xie Yun’s shoulder and said, “Mr. Xie, take care of yourself.”

Xie Yun was silent for a long time.

Sang Yao believed her persuasion was logical and well-founded. She straightened her posture and said, “Alright, I’ll have dinner with you later. I need to go check the account books now.”

But as soon as she turned around, she was forcefully pulled back by Xie Yun. Sang Yao, caught off guard, exclaimed and fell onto him.

Xie Yun’s arm muscles were firm, and he placed her entire body on the desk with one hand. As he loosened his belt, he lowered his gaze to her and said, “Don’t worry, even if I tire you out, there won’t be any problems.”

After that, the sky indeed darkened.

Sang Yao bathed and dressed before it was time for dinner. She didn’t want to deal with Xie Yun, so she ran to his study to check the account books while he wasn’t paying attention.

During this period, Sang Yao had learned a lot and had come to a conclusion.

She used to dislike checking account books, managing the shop, and organizing things because she didn’t know how to do them. The less she knew, the more difficult it seemed, and the more she wanted to avoid it.

Now that she had learned, she found these tasks quite interesting and even felt quite adept at them.

She made up her mind to become a shrewd woman from now on!

After checking for nearly half an hour, Sang Yao noticed a discrepancy in one of the accounts and wanted to make a note of it. However, she had rushed there without bringing her own notebook.

She stood up slightly and rummaged through Xie Yun’s desk, then pulled out a sheet of paper from a pile of overlapping papers.

As she pulled it out, the pile started to tilt slightly, and Sang Yao quickly steadied it.

She glanced at the messy desk and sighed, “It’s so chaotic. He doesn’t even have time to tidy up when he has time to sleep.”

Muttering to herself, she began to tidy up the messy table.

Sang Yao was quite familiar with Xie Yun’s habits and knew where he usually kept things.

As she was almost done tidying up, a brand-new book caught her eye.

To be precise, it was a stack of eleven notebooks, each covered in darkened sheepskin, giving them a solemn and dignified appearance.

Initially, Sang Yao thought they were some kind of records and placed them neatly. However, it wasn’t until she saw the marks on the sheepskin under the candlelight that she realized.

At the bottom right corner.

Sang Yao picked one up, and there were only two words on it.

“Sang Yao.”

It was really hard not to catch her attention.

Sang Yao hesitated for a moment before slowly flipping it open.

She patiently read half a page, and Sang Yao’s expression gradually changed as she turned another page.

And another.

Her fair face turned crimson, but Sang Yao still didn’t close it.

She read almost half of the book like this before slowly shifting her gaze away from it.

Sang Yao was different now.

Her resilience had grown over time, and now, recalling the content of Jinglian’s previous diary seemed insignificant.

Back then, she hadn’t married yet, and her understanding of matters between men and women was poor.

That’s why she found even the slightest intimacy scandalous.

But what about this book in her hand? It was different. You could call it scandalous, but not quite, because it started off quite seriously, describing the daily trivialities between her and Xie Yun.

However, as it progressed, it became less serious, and anything related to intimacy was quite explicit.

Even Sang Yao, who was shameless enough, couldn’t bear to read it.

At the same time, although the book was divided into three volumes, it had a logical structure, precise wording, and sharp writing style, making the previous book she read seem vulgar.

It was obviously written by Xie Yun.

She was sure of it.

Jinglian and Xie Yun’s handwriting had some similarities, but upon closer inspection, Xie Yun’s handwriting had a more refined flair, making it more pleasing to the eye.

And she couldn’t possibly mistake her own husband’s handwriting.

Of course, the most obvious evidence was the latter part of the book, which clearly reflected Xie Yun’s style.

She wouldn’t be mistaken this time.

As Sang Yao stood up, biting her lip and suppressing the complex emotions in her heart, preparing to confront Xie Yun with this, the study door suddenly swung open.

Xie Yun, dressed in loose robes, stood at the door, illuminated by the moonlight shining on his shoulders.

Sang Yao held the little booklet in her hand and looked at him.