After the Foolish Beauty Wore Women's Clothes and Married the Brutal General - Chapter 8.1

Chapter 8.1: I Would Never Be Your Dog, Not Even in a Dream!

As a princess, Nan Jianxue had been learning the four arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting since childhood. His imperial brother was also the same, so he naturally assumed that Liang Qifeng should be as well.

After all, Liang Qifeng was his imperial brother’s study companion. Even if his family hadn’t hired a tutor, he would have had to learn while following his imperial brother.

But when he saw Liang Qifeng’s drawing, he suddenly felt it was normal that his imperial brother couldn’t find anyone.

The person Liang Qifeng drew had a nose, eyes, and could smile, so it was clearly a person, but that was the extent of it.

“What is this?” Nan Jianxue pointed at a line on the person’s head. “This can’t be a hair ornament, can it?”

Liang Qifeng nodded.

Nan Jianxue: “…”

He looked at it for a few moments, resisted the urge to crumple the paper and throw it away, but couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to keep this drawing for your collection?”

Liang Qifeng gave her a strange look.

Nan Jianxue explained, “I’m just worried you won’t let anyone desecrate your beloved.”

Liang Qifeng: “…I’m not crazy.”

Nan Jianxue smiled, picked up the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it away. He then picked out a suitable brush and said, “I’ll draw it for you. What does he look like?”

Liang Qifeng’s description was the same.

Big, watery eyes, very fair skin, and a very cute smile.

Nan Jianxue could only be patient and ask for more details. As he asked, he slowly refined the person on the paper until the drawing was complete.

He spread the paper out in front of Liang Qifeng and asked, “Does he look like this?”

Liang Qifeng glanced at it and nodded.

Nan Jianxue looked at the person on the paper again, and his eyebrows immediately furrowed.

Qingqian, who was standing by, also looked at it and whispered, “Princess, he looks a little familiar.”

“He does.” Nan Jianxue tilted his head and looked at the person on the paper. He felt like he had seen him somewhere, but he couldn’t recall such a person in his memory.

After thinking for a while, Nan Jianxue gave up and said, “Have someone send the drawing into the palace and ask again.”

Liang Qifeng shook his head, “I’ve had someone draw it before.”

Nan Jianxue then changed his words, “Then I’ll give you this. You can have it framed and hang it in your room.”

Liang Qifeng was silent for a moment, “He’s not dead yet.”

Nan Jianxue: ?

He gave up, handed the drawing to Qingqian, and told him to have it framed.

“The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is coming up. At that time, all the officials will bring their families into the palace. You can take the opportunity to look around,” Nan Jianxue said and then paused, thinking back, “I remember you haven’t attended these banquets in the past few years.”

Liang Qifeng said, “Yeah,” “No time.”

He was mostly at the border, so it wasn’t necessary to rush back specifically for a banquet.

“What about New Year’s Eve?” Nan Jianxue said, “I’ve rarely seen you on New Year’s Eve either.”

“I don’t want to attend,” Liang Qifeng said with a headache, “Many people bring their daughters.”

Nan Jianxue understood.

They brought their daughters to him to try to arrange a marriage.

“Then you can go in the future,” Nan Jianxue said. “After all, you’re already married.”

Liang Qifeng grunted in response.

“There will also be some smaller banquets around the Mid-Autumn Festival that you can check out,” Nan Jianxue said. “Many families have a lot of people and can’t bring all of them into the palace, so there must be some you haven’t met. You might find him at one of those small banquets. But you have to go back to the border, right? When are you going back?”

“At least after the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Liang Qifeng thought for a moment and nodded. “And after the assassin issue is resolved.”

When the assassin was mentioned, Nan Jianxue wanted to frown, “I forgot to ask the imperial brother for more people. This manor needs more guards.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t forget,” Liang Qifeng said. “If it’s really necessary, I’ll just transfer some of my personal soldiers over.”

Not long after he said this, people were indeed sent from the palace.

There weren’t many guards, but mainly a maid was sent for Nan Jianxue.

“I, Shuying, greet the princess,” the maid said. She was wearing a brightly colored outfit with a sword hanging from her waist. When she saw Nan Jianxue, she cupped her hands and bowed, looking quite dashing.

Nan Jianxue was immediately interested, “Are you from the martial arts world?”

Shuying shook her head and explained, “I am a shadow guard.”

Nan Jianxue naturally knew what shadow guards were. They were like shadows, hiding in the dark to protect the emperor’s safety. They were good at concealing their presence, and ordinary people couldn’t detect them at all. Nan Jianxue had only heard about them from his imperial brother.

But he couldn’t connect Shuying’s current appearance with that of a shadow guard. Wearing this outfit and hanging from a beam would make her stand out immediately.

Nan Jianxue thought this and indeed asked her.

Shuying smiled a little awkwardly when she heard this. “My master said I was here to serve the princess. When I go out with the princess, I should dress more appropriately.”

Nan Jianxue looked at the outfit she was wearing. Although it wasn’t horribly ugly, it wasn’t pretty either. Various bright colors were piled on her body without any pattern or aesthetic, giving it a cheap feel.

Nan Jianxue only looked at it for a moment before looking away, saying, “You can have Qingqian help you pick out clothes in the future.”

Shuying’s smile froze. “Doesn’t it look good?”

“Uh…” Nan Jianxue replied vaguely, “You look like you’re wearing half a dye workshop.”

Shuying: “…”

She quickly followed Qingqian to change her clothes.

Taking advantage of this time, Nan Jianxue called the guards from the manor to test Shuying’s skills.

These guards were given by his imperial brother and were very skilled. Nan Jianxue’s demands weren’t high; she just needed to be able to hold her own against them for a while.

But when Shuying came back and sparred with these men, he realized he had underestimated her.

Shuying directly knocked all the guards down.

Seeing her calmly straightening her skirt after the fight, Nan Jianxue’s eyes widened. “You’re that good?”

Shuying smiled but didn’t answer.

Nan Jianxue then asked, “Are you as good as Liang Qifeng?”

Shuying shook her head. “There are only a handful of people in the capital who can match the consort’s skills, and I’m not one of them.”

“Don’t call him consort. Call him General,” Nan Jianxue corrected her. “No one in this manor is allowed to call him that.”

Shuying complied gracefully. “The General’s martial arts are very good.”

Nan Jianxue was a little tempted to have Shuying and Liang Qifeng spar, but unfortunately, Liang Qifeng had gone out on business and didn’t return until the evening.

When he saw Shuying, he wasn’t surprised and even greeted her.

Nan Jianxue was a little surprised. “You know each other?”

“I know most of the shadow guards,” Liang Qifeng said. “She’s the head shadow guard’s apprentice. Her talent is good.”

Nan Jianxue was a little curious. “I’ve only heard that the imperial brother’s shadow guards are very powerful. Just how powerful are they? I had Shuying spar with a few guards today, and she won all of them!”

“The bar is higher for shadow guards,” Liang Qifeng explained. “And shadow guards mostly learn life-or-death skills. You can’t compare them. If she were facing a real enemy, she could do more. Keep her close.”

Nan Jianxue then thought of the scene last night when Liang Qifeng was surrounded. Liang Qifeng was also fighting many against one at that time. Although he was defeated in the end, he still injured many people.

Nan Jianxue asked, “Can I also train?”

Liang Qifeng gave him a strange look.

“I’m just… curious,” Nan Jianxue’s voice became a little weaker. In addition to their literary studies, princes also had martial arts lessons. He had considered it before, but since he was a “princess,” his other sisters didn’t train, and it would have been too strange for him to suggest it, so he never brought it up.

Liang Qifeng didn’t answer and just glanced at Shuying.

Shuying, however, understood. She walked up to Nan Jianxue and said, “Training in martial arts depends on one’s bone structure. Let me take a look at the princess’s, shall I?”

Nan Jianxue didn’t understand how she was going to look and nodded hesitantly.

Shuying was about to reach out immediately, but Nan Jianxue quickly retreated half a step, saying warily, “What are you trying to do?”

Shuying was stunned and explained, “I’m just going to feel the princess’s bone structure.”

Nan Jianxue immediately shook his head, pursed his lips, and after a few breaths, said, “Anyway, I’m already this old. Even if my bone structure is good, I won’t be able to achieve much. I’m just cu-curious. I don’t intend to become a master!” After he said this, he felt that his words were a bit far-fetched and simply pouted, “Forget it. There are so many guards; there’s no point in me training. I won’t do it.”

With that, he stood up, dropped a line about “going to bathe,” and quickly ran away. Whether it was his imagination or not, Liang Qifeng felt that his retreating figure looked a little like he was fleeing in defeat.

When Nan Jianxue returned after bathing, Liang Qifeng was reading a book.

He walked over and glanced at it, and happened to see the words “the princess.”

Nan Jianxue: ?

He leaned his head forward a little more and finally saw the content clearly.

It was a storybook that told the tale of a general who saved a very beautiful woman during a war. The general fell for her, but unexpectedly, a princess stole him away with an imperial edict, forcing him back to her manor. She showered him with gold and power, but the general was deeply in love with his mistress and only thought of her, even begging the princess to allow him to take her in.

Qingqian had found this to pass the time a while ago. He had been too busy to continue reading it the last two days and didn’t expect Liang Qifeng to have picked it up.

He quickly snatched the book back, angrily saying, “How can you just touch my things?”

Liang Qifeng looked at her, then looked away. “You just said that I could use the things in this room.”

Nan Jianxue: “…”

He didn’t really mind Liang Qifeng touching his things. He just felt… he felt a little awkward about Liang Qifeng reading this.

Nan Jianxue said, “The stuff in this book is all nonsense.”

Liang Qifeng looked at him. “Then why did you say you’d learn from it to help me woo someone?”

“I didn’t mean this!” Nan Jianxue’s ears were a little hot. “This book is just full of nonsense. You’re not taking it seriously, are you?”

Liang Qifeng raised an eyebrow. “Are you talking about me or you?”

It took Nan Jianxue a moment to understand what he meant, and he was immediately a little ashamed and annoyed. “Both! I would never be your dog, not even in a dream!”

Liang Qifeng smiled. “Then what if I insist on taking my beloved in?”

“Impossible,” Nan Jianxue shot him a look. “Unless we get a divorce, don’t even think about it. I will absolutely not agree to you taking a concubine.”

Liang Qifeng smiled again and didn’t say anything more. Instead, he said, “Wear more clothes.” With that, he left.

Nan Jianxue gave a strange look at his own clothes. They were just ordinary nightclothes. How much more could he wear?

He ignored Liang Qifeng, hugged his book, and continued to read.

He then saw that the princess in the book also rejected the general’s request.

Nan Jianxue: ?

He watched as the princess in the book, heartbroken because the general didn’t love her, found someone to deal with his mistress. He couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

Who wrote this?! He’s going to find someone to assassinate them immediately!

When Liang Qifeng returned, Nan Jianxue had already thrown the book away.

“Was it not good?” Liang Qifeng asked. “Was it not well-written?”

Nan Jianxue glared at him and didn’t answer.

Liang Qifeng’s gaze fell on him again, but he looked away after a single glance. “Didn’t I tell you to wear more clothes?”

“I always wear this,” Nan Jianxue frowned. “Wearing too many layers makes me hot.”

Liang Qifeng thought of him kicking off the blanket last night and, after a moment of thought, still said, “There’s a man in your room now.”

“So what? I’m dressed properly. You’re the one with vulgar thoughts, and you’re blaming me,” Nan Jianxue shot him a look. “If you can’t look, then close your eyes. This is my room, and you should listen to me.”

Liang Qifeng actually turned his back and stopped looking.

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