“After Shedding My Armor, I Await Marriage” Chapter 82: Extra 2.5

Wen Qize always remembered that Mu Qingyao married him out of “no other choice,” out of “necessity.”

Without this marriage arrangement, her reputation would have been ruined by Lady Wu (her father’s concubine); if she didn’t marry him, she would have been implicated by her father and brothers, becoming a slave traded at will due to their crimes.

Wen Qize, who worked at the Dali Temple, had abstained from participating in the Mu family’s trial to avoid suspicion. However, through his colleagues’ notes and records, he still learned about the Prince of Yi’s scheme.

To this day, Wen Qize remembered how Lady Wu’s confession was written. After reading it, he even slapped himself because the Prince of Yi’s plot against Mu Qingyao had begun the day he invited him to the restaurant. Yet, when the Prince’s men spread rumors about Mu Qingyao everywhere, he had actually gone to the Gu family’s residence and assured Gu Fu that it wasn’t his doing, even vouching for the Prince’s integrity with his own character.

He was nothing but a fool, toyed with in the palm of someone else’s hand.

He could even imagine what would have awaited Mu Qingyao if the Prince of Yi had succeeded.

Mu Qingyao would have been utterly ruined, her reputation shattered. She would have fallen from being the esteemed daughter of the Great General of the Northwest to a mere concubine in the Prince’s residence, carried quietly through the side entrance in a sedan chair, only to live a miserable life suppressed by the Prince’s wife and two other concubines.

When the Prince of Yi eventually failed in his rebellion, as his concubine, she would have nowhere to escape, reduced to a courtesan in a brothel, degraded by anyone at will, without even the hope of redemption. Official courtesans were worse off than common ones, for they could never escape their status of disgrace until death.

Thus, Wen Qize didn’t regret stepping forward at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, but he also knew that if not for those unfortunate events, Mu Qingyao might not have married him.

Whenever he thought about this, Wen Qize felt troubled. He didn’t want to be grateful for the misfortunes that had forced Mu Qingyao into this situation, yet he couldn’t help but feel that their union was something he had taken advantage of.

What surprised him was that Mu Qingyao did not resist his touch.

He was overjoyed, so happy that he became careless, believing that she already held him in her heart.

But was that truly the case?

If so, then why had she never felt nervous or distressed at the prospect of him taking a concubine?

It didn’t make sense, at least not in line with normal human feelings.

However, after bringing up his doubts with Mu Qingyao, Wen Qize hesitated. He didn’t wait for her answer—or, rather, he was afraid of hearing it—and turned and left the courtyard, choosing to sleep in the study that night.

It was the first time the couple had slept apart since their marriage.

Though he didn’t make a fuss about it, his actions still alarmed others in the residence.

Due to the rumors spread by the servants in the residence, the reason for their separation became exaggerated from “no one knows what happened” to “the Princess Consort’s brother visited during the day, trying to push the cousin onto the heir as a concubine. The heir not only refused but threw her out, while the Young Madam graciously advised him otherwise, making the heir feel she didn’t care for him. Out of anger, he left in a huff.”

The Princess believed it and thought that her troublesome brother had caused the loving couple’s quarrel, blaming herself deeply.

She wanted to help them reconcile, but she also felt that there was nothing wrong with Mu Qingyao’s approach. In fact, it was her son who was at fault, being petty; just a couple of words of advice made him think his wife didn’t love him. It was embarrassing.

So, she mobilized the whole family to take turns visiting the study, attempting to reason with Wen Qize.

Prince An believed that sparing the rod would spoil the child, but when he went to the study, his rod and whip had already been confiscated by the Princess, so he could only go empty-handed and scold a few times. She also ordered the servants to take the bedding from the study back to Wen Qize’s courtyard, cutting off his idea of sleeping there.

Next came Princess An. She spent quite a while advising Wen Qize, who wanted to lay out his discoveries and thoughts to prove he wasn’t being unreasonable. However, he was afraid this would make his mother think poorly of Mu Qingyao, so he held it in until she finished and left on her own.

Besides Prince and Princess An, Wen Qize, and Mu Qingyao, there was another main figure in Prince An’s residence: Wen Qize’s younger brother.

The younger brother had a mischievous personality, and Wen Qize and Mu Qingyao’s first meeting was actually because the younger brother had noticed that the carriages of their residence and the Gu family’s looked quite similar. So, he intentionally parked the family carriage far away, causing Wen Qize, who had just come out of the palace, to mistake the Gu family carriage. He nearly lifted the curtain of the Gu family carriage, startling Mu Qingyao, who was waiting for Gu Fu inside at the time.

The younger brother was destined not to bring any helpful words to Wen Qize, as he greatly favored Mu Qingyao, his sister-in-law.

Sister-in-law didn’t avoid him just because of his outrageous behavior, but neither did she indulge or scold him. Instead, she would calmly ask about his reasons and thoughts, as though she was used to having people around her act in unusual ways.

Although she hadn’t helped him much, he liked that she was willing to listen to him, so he sided with her over his brother. As soon as he arrived at the study, he told his brother to go back and apologize to his sister-in-law.

Wen Qize responded directly, grabbing his younger brother by the collar and throwing him out.

The younger brother was so angry that he threw a stone, breaking the study window and letting the cold wind in, ensuring Wen Qize wouldn’t get a peaceful night’s sleep.

Wen Qize thought his brother was a bit foolish. If he couldn’t sleep in the study, could he not find another room in the residence? In such a large estate, was there really no spare room?

He opened the door of the study, ready to find another room to sleep in. As soon as he did, he saw Mu Qingyao standing at the doorway.

Wen Qize instinctively stepped back, returning to the study.

Mu Qingyao took the bedding from the maid’s arms and walked into the study.

“Father sent the bedding back, and I was worried you’d insist on staying here for the night and catch a cold,” she said, laying the bedding on the low couch in the study.

Wen Qize stood by the desk, with his back to Mu Qingyao, saying nothing and not looking at her.

“I know what you’re thinking…” Mu Qingyao paused, remembering how her understanding of Wen Qize over the past two years had often been off the mark. So, to be cautious, she asked, “You think I don’t care about you, and that’s why I had no reaction to my uncle wanting to push my cousin onto you as a concubine, right?”

Wen Qize added, “And last time, when I didn’t accompany you to the Gu family but went to Mingshan Street instead, you didn’t get upset.”

Mu Qingyao sighed—who else would be so anxious for others to misunderstand them?

After laying out the bedding, Mu Qingyao stepped behind Wen Qize and said, “Didn’t you say you were handling official business?”

Wen Qize: “Then what about this time?”

Mu Qingyao: “Turn around and look at me first.”

Wen Qize hesitated for a long time before slowly turning to face her.

Mu Qingyao spoke directly and honestly: “You are in my heart, and I do care about you.”

Her answer allowed Wen Qize’s tense heart to slowly relax. Unlike Mu Qingyao, Wen Qize was easy to comfort and readily believed her words, his bad mood quickly fading, and he even felt the urge to rejoice.

But he restrained himself and said to Mu Qingyao, “I don’t believe you. If you cared about me, wouldn’t you be jealous? I get jealous of you all the time.”

He sounded almost proud.

Mu Qingyao was amused and nearly laughed. “So, should I say to you, ‘I’m someone who values cleanliness. If you touch anyone else, don’t touch me again’?”

Wen Qize’s heart stirred slightly, and he asked, “Why not?”

He added, “If you were willing to say that, I’d be thrilled. It would show that you care about me.”

Wen Qize’s matter-of-fact tone left Mu Qingyao momentarily stunned. Her first thought was: This man is hopeless. Does he think he’s living in a storybook? Just because he wants lifelong devotion, does he think that’s all it takes to achieve it?

Seeing the determination on Wen Qize’s face, Mu Qingyao’s eyes began to sting, and the emotions she had been suppressing seemed ready to overflow.

Ever since she married and fell in love with Wen Qize, she had been constantly convincing herself that if the day ever came when she lost him, she would handle it with grace, with dignity, pretending not to care. She wouldn’t let herself look like a shrew, wouldn’t lose the last shred of self-respect along with her loved one.

But why did he never play by the rules? And why did he keep pushing her deeper into this?

He was really too cruel, she thought. He never considered how his intense love might spoil the person he loved, nor did he think about how, if one day he took his love back, the person left behind would be able to crawl out of the abyss.

He couldn’t be like this. He just couldn’t.

But… but meeting him was truly wonderful.

Mu Qingyao didn’t feel she was especially emotional, yet warm tears overflowed uncontrollably, leaving Wen Qize utterly panicked.

Watching him clumsily wiping her tears and comforting her in a flustered manner, she wanted to laugh, but for some reason, her tears only fell harder.

Maybe it was because his words were too moving, or maybe her emotions had surged, but suddenly she wanted to take a risk and believe that Wen Qize would always love her, as beautifully as the storybooks described.

So she willfully said to him, “If you touch anyone else, don’t touch me.”

Wen Qize was stunned. He noticed that, though Mu Qingyao’s tone was firm, her eyes held a hint of unease and grievance, like a child accustomed to the night and moonlight—one who yearned for sunlight but was also afraid of getting burned…

In that moment, Wen Qize’s vivid imagination came alive, allowing him to glimpse the deepest insecurities hidden within her heart. His own heart softened completely.

He stepped forward, embraced her, and solemnly promised, “Alright, I promise you.”

Author’s Note:

Mini-Theater: The Storybook-Brained Wen Qize

Wen Qize: “Do you even love me?”

Mu Qingyao: “I…”

Wen Qize: “I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it.”

Mu Qingyao: “… (tightens fist)”

Mini-Theater: The Day Wen Qize’s Storybook-Brain Gains Sudden Clarity

Wen Qize: “Thinking about it, maybe my lack of restraint with you over these years was my subconscious insecurity at work, needing to gain confidence that ‘I have you’ through holding you close.”

Mu Qingyao: “Since we’ve cleared things up, can we start living a bit more modestly and restrained from now on?”

Wen Qize: “No.”

Mu Qingyao: “But you just said…”

Wen Qize: “That was just following the analysis in storybooks. Storybooks and reality are two different things.”

Mu Qingyao: “… (fist clenches again)”

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