The Young Marquis is Ruining the Court! - Chapter 28

Chi Zhou returned to the Ningping Marquis Mansion that very same day.

He was spooked.

He wasn’t so thick-skinned that he could ignore the words Xie Jiu had whispered in his ear just because of a kiss that had left his legs weak.

For a moment, Chi Zhou didn’t even know which was more terrifying: that even someone like Xie Jiu could harbor such thoughts, or that Xie Jiu actually did.

The former almost entirely killed his desire to strike a deal with Xie Mingjing, and the latter…

Chi Zhou leaned his back against the window, his body relaxing as he rested against the wall and let out a heavy sigh.

Ming Xi, carrying late-night snacks past the window, paused in his tracks. Following the rising and falling rhythm of his young master’s sighs, he let out a silent sigh of his own.

Did they have another falling out? Ming Xi couldn’t help but wonder.

Marriage really was a hassle. Back in the day, the Young Master and the Sixth Highness never quarreled or had misunderstandings this frequently.

He knocked on the door, opened the food box, and laid out the delicate pastries one by one, advising softly, “Young Master, you should rest early. Be careful not to catch another cold.”

The last time was scary enough; if it happened again, the Third Young Lady would definitely skin him alive.

Thinking back to when the Young Master was sick and the look the Third Young Lady had given him from a distance, Ming Xi still felt a lingering fear. He shivered slightly, causing the dishes to make a soft clinking sound.

Chi Zhou’s mind drifted back from the horizon, landing on the desk in front of him.

He lowered his gaze, looking at the small, exquisite plates of pastries, and suddenly asked, “What’s the date today?”

Ming Xi answered immediately, “The sixth day of the fourth month.”

Chi Zhou asked, “When I returned to the mansion today, I saw people hanging lanterns at the gate?”

Hearing him mention this, Ming Xi’s face beamed with joy, and he immediately started chattering away. “Yes, Young Master! Isn’t your wedding date with His Highness approaching? Madam has been busy with the wedding arrangements these past few days. It’s not just the lanterns; almost everything in the mansion that can be wrapped in red silk has been covered. Haven’t you noticed the festive atmosphere everywhere?”

Chi Zhou asked, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“You only recently recovered from your illness,” Ming Xi paused, glancing at Chi Zhou’s expression before continuing cautiously, his voice as quiet as a mosquito’s hum, “And… haven’t you been busy lately… decorating the residence over at Master Xie’s place?”

Madam decorates the main mansion, and the Young Master decorates the bridal chamber.

Perfectly reasonable, Ming Xi thought to himself.

Upon hearing this, Chi Zhou’s eyes turned dull. When he spoke again, his tone carried a trace of struggle and confusion that was hard to detect. “My mother… she knows what I’ve been doing lately?”

She knew he was keeping a mistress… no, keeping Xie Jiu outside, and she acted like it was nothing? She didn’t even want him, the groom, to worry about the wedding preparations?

Ming Xi blinked and nodded naturally. “She knows.”

He paused, then added, “The Third Young Lady and the Old Madam know too.”

Chi Zhou closed his eyes, not wanting to open them again.

“Young Master?” Ming Xi called out in confusion.

Chi Zhou waved his hand tiredly. “You may leave.”

“?” Ming Xi wondered.

The Young Master was acting very strange.

He watched his young master leaning against the couch with his eyes closed, looking like he was resting his spirit. There was an aura of “Buddha’s light” about him, a sense of redemption.

It felt as if, in the next second, his young master might shave his head and become a monk, following the Third Young Lady’s lead to a temple to achieve enlightenment on the spot.

But Ming Xi quickly tossed this ridiculous thought aside.

His young master was the most notorious dandy in the capital. If anyone were to become a monk, it certainly wouldn’t be him.

He took a few more glances before turning to leave. Before exiting, he reminded Chi Zhou not to eat too much late at night to avoid indigestion.

Chi Zhou seemed to give a muffled grunt, or perhaps he didn’t, merely waving his hand slightly as if he had suddenly become very sleepy.

Ming Xi thought, So strange.

But it wasn’t the first day his young master had been this odd. Ming Xi relaxed, closed the door, and left Chi Zhou alone in the room to contemplate the most suitable way to die.

He had originally thought that, given He Lingzhen’s personality, she would never allow him to fool around outside. If she knew of Xie Jiu’s existence, the original body’s mother would surely have broken up the “star-crossed lovers” before the male lead even had a chance to act.

As it turned out, she didn’t care at all?

Not only did she not care, but it seemed the entire mansion knew?

Then again, if He Lingzhen truly kept a tight rein on the original “Chi Zhou,” the rumors found both inside and outside the book wouldn’t have been known to the whole world.

Chi Zhou couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen if he married Xie Mingjing. If the Sixth Prince entered the Marquis Mansion and discovered that his nominal “husband” had been keeping a lover long before the wedding—and was even sweetly decorating a new home with said lover just days before the ceremony—while the entire Marquis Mansion turned a blind eye…

The male lead would be fuming, wouldn’t he?

Even if he didn’t like Chi Zhou at all, he would be angry enough to want to kill him.

And then there was Xie Jiu’s side.

“But if I am that ‘other man,’ you should be glad that I haven’t gone mad enough to drag you down to die with me.”

That little lunatic…

Chi Zhou opened his eyes, the words Xie Jiu had whispered in his ear replaying repeatedly in his mind.

He truly was frightened.

It wasn’t just because Xie Jiu might drag him to his death, but for other reasons as well.

Chi Zhou stared at a bowl of translucent osmanthus lotus root powder on the table, feeling an irrepressible surge of anger.

He thought about how he had agonized and struggled for so long, coming up with all sorts of feasible and unfeasible plans, all just to stay alive and ensure the people of the Marquis Mansion wouldn’t be dragged down with him.

Yet, in the mouth of that madman Xie Jiu, life and death were like mayflies by the water—one glance and you live, another and you die.

It wasn’t taken seriously at all.

Chi Zhou decided to take back his previous assessment of Xie Jiu having a “love brain.” This idiot had already transcended the boundaries of what humans would categorize as a love brain.

He even suspected this fellow might not be the same species as him.

Chi Zhou needed to eat, drink, and sleep to stay alive.

As for Xie Jiu…

Chi Zhou stared at the few osmanthus petals floating on the amber-colored lotus root powder, thinking unhappily—

To live, Xie Jiu might only need the original body’s favoritism.

If the original body loved him, he was a well-behaved big cat, letting himself be touched, kissed, and teased. If the original body didn’t love him, he was a mad dog, ready to pounce and bite through his master’s throat at any moment, swallowing his master’s flesh and blood, then dying together with him.

Chi Zhou was unhappy.

Extremely, extremely unhappy.

He knew very well that he was probably a bit jealous.

But this stifling emotion pressing down on his chest might not have been entirely caused by jealousy.

With a table full of pastries, he stared only at that bowl of lotus root powder. Then, letting out a heavy breath, he picked up the bowl and swallowed it mouthful by mouthful.

Each bite was packed to the brim. He didn’t look like he was eating a snack; he looked like he was venting some unspeakable emotion.

So annoying.

It would have been better if I had never met Xie Jiu.

Chi Zhou hid in the Marquis Mansion for two days. He didn’t know if his anger had taken a toll on his health, but ever since he returned from Jifu Alley, he had been feeling listless, unable to lift his spirits and exhausted.

It took a full two days of rest before he felt slightly better.

Sleeping was still an issue, but without those nightmares haunting him, he managed to get some broken bits of rest.

Naturally, it wasn’t as peaceful as sleeping beside Xie Jiu, but Chi Zhou didn’t want to see him lately.

Moreover, it was already the eighth day of the fourth month.

There were only ten days left until his wedding with the male lead.

If Chi Zhou had been hesitant before, with various ideas floating around, all those thoughts vanished after getting those two answers from Xie Jiu.

It would be difficult to reach a deal with Xie Mingjing. Given the male lead’s black-hearted nature, Chi Zhou suspected that even if the other party agreed to his proposal, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t retaliate later.

After all, the marriage of a prince to a subject was something for which no precedent could be found in official history, let alone in the Great Jin Dynasty.

Unofficial histories were a different story.

Chi Zhou didn’t think Xie Mingjing would view marrying him as anything other than a disgrace. He wouldn’t care about anecdotal stories where a prince from a small country married a crown prince from another, only to destroy that country later and lead his reclaimed troops to conquer his own homeland.

In the end, he still couldn’t escape the ending where Chi Zhou dies, the Marquis Mansion falls, and the “mistress”… Xie Jiu is hunted down and killed by the “legitimate spouse.”

As for eloping with Xie Jiu…

Admittedly, Chi Zhou had thought about it.

He really liked this big cat. He was beautiful and elegant; even if he did nothing, just having him around was a feast for the eyes.

Sometimes Chi Zhou felt he had some masochistic tendencies. Otherwise, it was hard to explain why, when Xie Jiu looked at him coldly, he would think that “look-at-a-dog” gaze was so beautiful and feel like kissing him.

But while he could afford to have a love brain, Xie Jiu could not.

Especially not a love brain that reached the point of wanting to die with him.

He wasn’t so scum-like that he would let someone commit suicide for him.

Chi Zhou thought irritably. For the past two days, the air in Shuanghua Court had become stagnant because of his mood. Ming Xi didn’t dare stay in the courtyard for long, slipping away to He Lingzhen’s place every morning to help with the pre-wedding preparations.

…The wedding.

There was still the wedding.

Chi Zhou looked at the sky and let out a long sigh.

He still had to run.

And he couldn’t take Xie Jiu with him.

Without him, he could still fake an accident—something like the Marquis of Ningping unfortunately passing away while traveling. As the Sixth Highness was of royal blood, even the Emperor, as absurd as he was, wouldn’t make him remain a “widow” to a man he never married. The engagement would naturally be canceled.

Taking Xie Jiu along would be a total disaster. Given the original body’s reputation in the capital, running away with a male confidant would easily be twisted into a story of loving beauty over power, or preferring a courtesan over a prince. Within three days, Xie Mingjing would lose face even beyond the Southern Borders.

Leaving aside whether he and Xie Jiu, this “adulterous pair,” would be caught by the male lead’s spies and drowned in a cage, the Marquis Mansion alone would be marked by Xie Mingjing.

Xie Mingjing, Xie Mingjing…

Chi Zhou hadn’t even met this male lead yet, and he already hated him.

He packed some clothes and, taking advantage of Ming Xi’s absence, planned to head out.

The last time was purely out of fear of Chi Tong; he hadn’t thought of anything before packing his bags and trying to dump the mess and flee. This time, it wouldn’t work like that.

Although it would break the hearts of the Old Madam and He Lingzhen, he still felt that rather than bringing shame to the family name, it was better to let the Marquis of Ningping “die” early.

Chi Zhou took his waist token and banknotes. Leaving Shuanghua Court, he headed for the back gate.

The front gate had too many lanterns hanging; looking at them made him frustrated.

He didn’t run into anyone along the way, but just as he stepped over the threshold, he happened to see Chi Tong returning from outside.

The day was still young, and the sun hadn’t reached its noon peak. Chi Tong was dressed in clean, sharp, short-style martial arts attire with no gold or silver accessories. her hair was tied high with a blue-purple ribbon, revealing a clean, full forehead and making her look exceptionally heroic.

The two bumped into each other, both startled.

While Chi Zhou was still shocked by her outfit, Chi Tong had already approached him with a smile. “Brother, are you going out?”

Chi Zhou blinked and snapped back to reality. “Yes.”

Chi Tong said, “To see my ‘sister-in-law’ who isn’t exactly a sister-in-law?”

Chi Zhou, “…”

He somewhat regretted the nonsense he had told Chi Tong that day.

The teasing glint in the young girl’s eyes was far too obvious. She was absolutely certain he was going to find Xie Jiu.

Explaining would only make things worse, so Chi Zhou simply went along with it. “Yes, you…”

“Hmm?” Chi Tong looked up at him, smiling as she waited for him to finish.

Chi Zhou was silent for two seconds. He reached out his hand then pulled it back, saying as if in passing, “Don’t tie your hair so high, it will hurt.”

The smile on Chi Tong’s face froze for an instant, and she didn’t respond for a moment.

Chi Zhou had already walked past her, waving his hand. “Go back. I’m heading out.”

Chi Tong turned around, watching the thin, upright figure from behind for a moment. She lowered her head and let out a soft laugh.

She raised her hand and touched her hair, her gaze very tender.

She could tell that her brother had actually wanted to pat her head just now, but had stopped for some reason.

Just as she could tell that Chi Zhou had wanted to ask why she was out so early, but had swallowed the words as they reached his lips.

Chi Tong stood by the gate, watching Chi Zhou’s back for quite a while before her gaze gradually turned cold.

By the time she turned around, the warmth from before had vanished from her eyes.

Stupid brother.

**

Chi Zhou stood on the street. In his pocket was the Marquis Mansion waist token representing power and several thousand taels of straightforward, vulgar banknotes.

But suddenly, he didn’t know where to go.

He wanted a corpse with a stature and appearance similar to his own, but he didn’t know which way to walk or where to find one.

A mortuary?

A government office?

Chi Zhou stood under the bright early summer sun. The sun felt warm on his body, but he suddenly felt himself very despicable. In an instant, a chill seeped into his bones.

This isn’t right, Chi Zhou thought.

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