The Marquis Is Innocent

“Did you enjoy it?”

After the affair was over, Wei Shao was still holding Xiao Qiao and biting her ear, talking to each other on the pillow.

Xiao Qiao’s body was weak and did not want to move. She closed her eyes and ignored him. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her buttocks. Wei Shao’s palm heavily pinched her there.

She opened her eyes and saw him staring at her. She bit her lip and vaguely ‘mmmm’ two times. Wei Shao smiled, showing a slightly smug look, and wrapped her in his arms. A few moments later, he said: “Your brother seems to have a prejudice against me.” The tone was light.

Xiao Qiao was stunned and observed his expression.

His expression was calm as if he only mentioned such a sentence to her out of the blue and could not see any other emotion. With such a simple statement, she wondered what his intention was and asked, “Is it because my brother was not well-mannered and offended you?”

Wei Shao paused: ” No.”

Xiao Qiao was slightly relieved: “If he did not offend you, why did Husband say that he was prejudiced against you?”

Wei Shao did not say anything.

Xiao Qiao couldn’t quite figure out what he meant, so she thought for a moment and explained, “How could my brother have any prejudice against you? I was afraid he would misconduct and make people laugh. I told him he should behave politely, not say anything as he did at home, and behave like an adult. He listened to my advice, he must have restrained a bit in front of you, and that’s why you misunderstood, right?”

Wei Shao listened and looked at her. He only smiled as if let go of the topic, raised his hand, and curled her long hair around his fingers, playing with it for a moment, suddenly said: “That Gao Bohai, did he leave?”

Xiao Qiao pressed one cheek against his chest, closed her eyes, and said, “Last month. He came to the house to pay his respects, and grandmother met him.”

Wei Shao snorted, “Did you promise to let him be your guide to see the cliff carvings in Hanzhong later?”

Xiao Qiao was stunned by his brainless words, thought for a moment, then remembered. That day in the West King Queen Mother Hall, when she and Gao Heng talked, Gao Heng said something when Wei Shao came. Probably he heard it. It was so long ago, but he still remembered. She couldn’t help but feel a little funny and opened her eyes: “That day is just casual talk. You take it seriously?”

Wei Shao’s palm slowly caressed her bare body. He came to her ear and said: “Hanzhong Yunmen’s cliff calligraphy formed in the previous dynasty is indeed extraordinary. Unfortunately, Hanzhong is still in the hands of Le Zheng Gong. If you want to enjoy it, wait until I take Hanzhong later, I will move the whole cliff home for you to see it.”

Xiao Qiao snorted with laughter and twisted his arm: “I don’t want you to do such a thing as destroy the heritage! If I want to see it, I will see it myself later!”

Wei Shao raised his eyebrows slightly: “You think I’m just a fighter who knows how to fight and kill? I entered school at the age of five and learned to paint at the age of seven. At that time, my cousin and I studied with Meng Zhang, a doctor at the Imperial Academy for twenty years. ‘The northern Meng was good at painting while the southern Zhang was good at calligraphy.’ How can Meng Zhang be compared to Gao Heng’s stream? You must have heard of the name of Northern Meng, right?”

Xiao Qiao held back her laughter and said seriously. “I am sorry. It turns out that you’re an expert in hiding. If I knew, I would have asked you to paint the murals in the Hall of the West King Queen Mother personally. It might have become famous for generations to come.”

Wei Shao laughed: “You think I’m lying to you? I studied for three or two years but was not interested, so I stopped halfway. My cousin has been learning longer than me and can draw a picture nicely. It’s just that few people know about it nowadays. I still have some of my paintings in my study. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show them to you.”

Xiao Qiao couldn’t stop pushing him, “Sure, go and bring them. Let me see the elegance of Marquis’ hand.”

She was laughing and talking, and her mouth kept urging.

For the first time, Wei Shao saw her in such a natural and lively manner. Her long hair scattered on the pillow, her eyebrows smiling, her look so delicate and lovely that it was difficult to depict with ink and brush. She pushed him with her jade palm, and her bones seemed lighter. He could not resist the excitement and immediately rolled over from the bed and jumped off the floor. While dressing, he said: “Wait until I bring it to you! I’m not boasting. Meng Gong praised me for my aura back then, but I was impatient to learn, so I stopped in the middle! Although I don’t hold a brush now, I can still tell the difference between good and bad calligraphy and painting!”

Xiao Qiao lies on the pillow. Her hands clenched in fists to support the chin. Smilingly watched him casually put on a piece of Chinese clothes, hurried out of the room, and left. Remembering Wei Shao’s bragging about his knowledge of calligraphy and painting, she felt amused, turning over, pulling up the quilt to cover her face, and laughing again.

Xiao Qiao waited for a moment, thinking Wei Shao should have taken the painting back. But she never saw him return. The door was pushed open, and a servant woman came in, bowing and saying the master asked her to go to the study.

Xiao Qiao put on her clothes, looked in the mirror, combed her hair with her fingers, tied a ribbon to hang loosely at the back of her head, and went to the study. When she reached the door, she pushed it open and saw Wei Shao standing in front of the shelf on the west wall with his back facing her. She laughed and said, “Didn’t you say you’d bring it to me? Why should I… do it myself?”

The smile on Xiao Qiao’s face froze as Wei Shao slowly turned his head back.

She saw Wei Shao’s face was cold and throwing two gazes. She could not see half his warmth and appearance in the bedroom a moment ago. As if two different people suddenly changed faces.

Xiao Qiao hesitated. The smile on her face faded but still stepped into the study. She walked towards him and said tentatively: “Just now, Husband called me?”

Wei Shao looked at her for a moment and said coldly, “Have you touched this box?”

Xiao Qiao looked at the drawer compartment.

What he was referring to, when he went to Zhuo County, he forgot to bring documents and sent someone back to fetch them, and when she came to the study, she could not help but take it out and look at them a few times.

She remembered she had put it back as it was, but she didn’t expect he would see the traces of movement. She regrets it, she should not have ignored his initial warning, and now she has found herself a problem.

Xiao Qiao lowered her eyes and whispered, “It’s my fault. That day you sent someone back to fetch the documents, when I came over, I unintentionally saw it and was curious for a moment, so I took it ……”

She was ashamed of her behavior, and her face was hot.

“But don’t worry, I did not open the box ……” she took a breath and added.

“I’m afraid it’s because you can’t open it?”

Wei Shao coldly interrupted her words.

Xiao Qiao was stunned and raised her eyes to look at him. His gaze was cold, and there seemed to be a trace of disgust.

It has been some time since she has seen such a look from him. The two of them were still in love just a few moments ago, and he suddenly became the same as before. She was not prepared for it, froze, and looked at him steadily. After a moment, she reacted and turned her eyes to the box. The nine-grid lock surprisingly had evident scratches. It seemed someone used a tool similar to a knife to open it with force. But it couldn’t open.

Xiao Qiao was shocked and immediately said, “I admit that I moved the box, but I quickly put it back. I did not move the nine compartments lock or break the lock!”

Wei Shao said coldly: “In my study, besides you, who else comes and goes at will? I remember the first day you came to my house, I told you not to touch this thing! Why do you still touch it? It seems that I have treated you too well!”

Xiao Qiao’s face turned slightly pale and said. “It’s my fault for ignoring your warning and moving the box. I know I was wrong. But I still have the same words. I took it at that time and quickly put it back. As for the lock being scratched like this by whom, I don’t know.”

Wei Shao stared at her. His brow furrowed. Suddenly, he walked past her, pushed open the door, and left the study without looking back.

When his footsteps faded away and disappeared in her ears, Xiao Qiao slowly looked back and saw the door of the study was wide open. The night outside was dim, the doorway was empty, and only a dull shadow was cast by candlelight on the floor.

Xiao Qiao’s heart was beating fast. A thin layer of cold sweat seeped out behind her back, and her legs seemed to be getting soft. She held the door’s frame and slowly sat on a couch nearby, lost in thought alone.

After a while, there was a sound of footsteps, and someone crossed the threshold and came in quickly.

Xiao Qiao raised her eyes and saw that Chun Niang had come.

She came straight to Xiao Qiao and squatted down, holding her arms on both sides with a worried look: “What’s wrong? This servant saw the master was not looking well when he returned to his room and went out without saying a word after putting on his clothes. And you are sitting here alone! What happened?”

She took hold of Xiao Qiao’s hand and exclaimed, “Why is your hand so cold? Come back to the room with me quickly.”

Xiao Qiao gradually stabilized her mind, took out her hand, stood up, and said with a normal expression, “It’s nothing serious. It’s just a misunderstanding.”

Chun Niang was her beloved person. Xiao Qiao did not hide anything from her and mentioned why she had angered Wei Shao.

Chun Niang was shocked and said anxiously, “If you said you didn’t break the lock, then you didn’t break the lock! He didn’t believe you, so he was angry and left? What should we do?”

“In the past few days, are there any outsiders in and out of our west house?”

“The other days, I didn’t see any outsiders coming in or out. Only today, I accompanied you and the old madam to the Golden Dragon Temple.” Chun Niang frowned, “You go back to your room first, don’t worry. I will go to question the servants. You wait for my news.”

Chun Niang wanted to help her up.

Xiao Qiao nodded, said she was fine, got up by herself, and went straight back to her bedroom.

……

Wei Shao went out of the west house, ordered someone to get a horse, and went straight to the government office.

The night breeze blew in his face. His hot forehead gradually cooled down. Before his eyes, the appearance of the Qiao girl explaining to herself in the study room a few moments ago kept surfacing.

She usually lowered her eyes when talking to him, making him confused about what was hidden in her gaze. Just now, when she was defending herself, her eyes looking at him from beginning to end, without any hesitation, evasion, or hidden uneasiness.

Or maybe, he couldn’t see the hesitation, the avoidance, or the cover-up in her eyes.

Then there are only two possibilities. First, she was so good at lying that he couldn’t catch a half mistake in her eyes. Second, is that she did not break the nine-grid lock.

If it is the first, Qiao girl is too deep and has a terrible heart.

But if the second possibility ……

Wei Shao’s heart was suddenly in turmoil.

When he almost arrived at the door, he stopped. He looked out in the direction of the east house, turned around, and walked over in stride.