Xie Ke heaved a sigh of relief when he saw him gradually fall asleep.
He has been to many worlds and knows a lot of things. Fortunately, he has such experience, which can come in handy at this time, as if all this was prepared for Zhiyu.
Fu Zhiyu probably felt comfortable and hummed softly in his sleep. He was the only one who was willing to behave well in front of him at this time. Xie Ke cherished this moment very much. After massaging his legs, even though he was furious, he did not dare to really do anything to him. He just looked at him intently. When he could not help it, he lowered his head and kissed his forehead very lightly, for fear of waking him up.
He watched like this by the bed all night long, not feeling sleepy at all. He only felt a faint sense of happiness and satisfaction surrounding him. This feeling all came from the person lying on the bed and sleeping soundly.
When Fu Zhiyu woke up the next morning, Xie Ke was gone. He naturally remembered what happened last night, and subconsciously stretched his legs, and felt that this person was inexplicable.
After finishing breakfast, he had some time, so he talked to Yuan Mingdao about yesterday's awarding ceremony and let him know the current situation in the court.
Xie Ke just passed it over with one sentence. Fu Zhiyu didn't want to mention him in front of Yuan Mingdao. He was also a scar to Mingdao, and the memories he brought were not very pleasant.
Fortunately, Ming Dao had been concentrating on practicing sword skills recently and had seldom left the courtyard. Dingxiang Courtyard, where Xie Ke made the biggest noise, was far away from where he lived, so he probably didn't hear it.
"Wait?" Yuan Mingdao keenly grasped the key point and turned his head sharply, "Where is the Zhenyuan General's Mansion? Across the street?"
The scimitar in his hand was raised at that moment.
Fu Zhiyu looked at him with amusement and asked, "Why? Are you going to cause trouble?"
Yuan Mingdao snorted and said, "The master said that we won't take the initiative to cause trouble, but if Xie Ke really dares to come, I will skin him alive."
Rongrong pricked up his dog ears and followed suit with a loud "woof".
He has come here several times, without anyone noticing.
Fu Zhiyu complained silently in his heart, but he was really annoyed by Xie Ke during this period of time. He just asked the housekeeper to build a doghouse in his room so that Rongrong could accompany him.
"Sleep with me from now on," Fu Zhiyu pinched her furry paw, "and don't let any weird people in."
Rongrong: "Woof!"
Sure enough, Xie Ke was climbing the wall again at night. As soon as he climbed in through the window, Rongrong bit his trouser leg and dragged him to prevent him from moving forward. Fu Zhiyu had already woken up. Xie Ke knew that Fu Zhiyu doted on the dog and did not dare to touch it.
"Don't come here again," Fu Zhiyu said, "It's really annoying."
"I'm sorry, Zhiyu, I didn't mean to disturb your sleep, I just wanted to come and see you," Xie Ke explained quickly, and then asked carefully, "Does your leg still hurt? Can I massage you again?"
Fu Zhiyu: "… It's none of your business. Go away and don't touch me. If you touch me again, I'll let Rongrong bite you."
I've been bitten more than once...
Xie Ke was not afraid of the wolfdog, but he was afraid of his wife.
After that, he was indeed well behaved for a few days. When Fu Zhiyu went to the palace to visit her mother as usual, she found that Imperial Noble Concubine Yun took a few portraits and looked at them left and right, not knowing what she was studying.
"What is mother looking at?"
When Imperial Concubine Yun saw him coming in, she asked him to sit down again and explained, "The prince's marriage will be arranged soon. Two princes have been appointed in Linyue Tower, and it is time to discuss marriage. You are also one of them, but you were delayed by the war. The emperor told me about it yesterday and gave me these."
Fu Zhiyu took a look and saw that the scroll contained several portraits of women.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't consider it now?" Fu Zhiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "We won't stay here for long, so why bother them?"
"I know. I'll find an excuse to refuse after a while," said Imperial Concubine Yun, with an excited look on her face. "But what's the problem now? What mother doesn't care about this? Xiaobao is old enough to get married. Besides, you know that I've postponed this matter several times. It's not so easy to refuse now. Sooner or later, you have to take the time to meet him."
"I'm not going," Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and ate a peanut, "I don't want to go."
Imperial Concubine Yun sighed, reached out and touched his head, and said earnestly: "Zhiyu, this is probably how mother's life will be. I met the wrong person, but you are still young, maybe you can really meet such a person?"
Fu Zhiyu: “…”
He didn't know how to explain to his mother how failed his love life had been after all his attempts, and that it was no worse than hers, so he started to change the subject and put all the scrolls aside.
The war had just ended, and not only the royal family was busy discussing marriage, but so were the ministers below.
A bunch of young people came forward at the ceremony of conferring honors, including Xie Ke, Du Yin, Lu Linhai in the military and Shen Yang and other imperial examination students, but none of them had time to get married. Jilin was quite open-minded in this regard, with many women's families offering olive branches, and some women even coming forward to express their affection. The threshold of General Zhenyuan's mansion was already broken by matchmakers before it was fully decorated.
When Xie Lin came to see his son, he had to squeeze in among a bunch of matchmakers, smelling of powder.
"I used to be in this situation before..." Xie Lin patted his face vigorously, reached out to touch his face, and said nostalgically, "When I was young, I was also a famous figure in Beijing. Many girls chased after me. That scene, tsk..."
Xie Ke just happened to walk out of the door. Hearing this, he added, "In the end, he married that idiot Xu?"
Xie Lin also knew what his attitude was towards the mistress of the house, but it was indeed Xu who provoked him first. The secrets of the back house were really useless against someone like Xie Ke. Everyone in the general's mansion, big and small, had been taught a lesson by him, and now they were as obedient as sheep. Not to mention Xu, sometimes even Xie Lin was a little afraid of him.
"She has always been like this, and I'm just used to it. For people like us, marriages are always like this, and most of the time it's just about interests. I had never even met her before I married her, so how could I know who she is?" Xie Lin tried to smooth things over, "Anyway, you have your own general's mansion now, so you won't have to see her much in the future, so don't bother with a woman about this."
Xie Lin was not a polite person. After he finished speaking, he walked to the hall and sat down. He even reached out and poured himself a cup of tea. He said to Xie Ke: "I asked you to come here because of this matter. Now you have made great achievements and are old enough. It's time to get married. The emperor is also interested. This time, you may be able to marry a princess."
Xie Ke raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
Xie Lin was in high spirits, and continued to say to him: "There are quite a few princesses in the royal family who are eligible for marriage. The Seventh Princess is two years younger than you. She is pretty, quiet, and a famous talented woman. The Tenth Princess is younger, sixteen this year, and lively. I have seen her several times at the horse show. She is heroic and you might like her..."
Xie Ke also followed up on his words at this time and said, "I do have someone I like, but I wonder if the emperor is willing to marry him to me."
"Who is it?" Xie Lin guessed, "The twelfth princess? She's a little young, but not much different. According to the emperor's current attitude towards you, whoever you like in Jilin Kingdom, as long as it's not too outrageous, he will follow your wishes."
"Really?" Xie Ke smiled slightly, "It's just right, you can go and report to the emperor and tell him that I like the Ninth Princess and ask for a marriage."
Xie Lin's mind was still not fully formed. He thought about it carefully for a while and was about to reply that there was no Ninth Princess in the palace, but Xie Ke made some random jokes to tease him. When the words were about to come out of his mouth, he suddenly realized something.
"Ninth Princess? Ninth Prince?" He couldn't believe it. "Prince Zhao? Are you crazy?"
"I have always been sober. He is a good man, perfect for me." Xie Ke lowered his head and took a sip of tea. He looked out the door again. It was the direction of Prince Zhao's Mansion, just opposite. "Otherwise, why do you think I asked the emperor for this house?"
Xie Lin stood up suddenly. He looked at Xie Ke and felt his brain was filled with blood. He could no longer think for a moment.
"If you have this hobby, just do it in private, but that's Prince Zhao! Even if he's not smart, he's still the emperor's favorite son!" Xie Lin lowered his voice a lot, "Are you going to die?"
"I'm not playing," Xie Ke said. He didn't seem to understand why Xie Lin was so surprised. "Didn't I tell you when I went to war? I have someone I like, but he's hard to pursue. I have to risk my life to marry him."
“You, you, you…” Xie Lin pointed at him, his hands shaking, and finally he could only utter one sentence, “Asshole! Unfilial son!”
"You're talking nonsense again," Xie Ke said calmly, "You know in your heart that it's no big deal that I like a man, but that man can't be King Zhao or the prince. But why?"
Xie Lin listened to the topic becoming more and more serious, but he saw Xie Ke take a step forward, stretched out a hand and gently patted his shoulder, whispering: "Have you really never thought that the so-called loyal and brave general is not the end, and you can actually go further? Don't have to suffer these troubles anymore."
The Xie Mansion across the street was in a strange atmosphere, and the situation in Prince Zhao's Mansion was not going well either.
Fu Zhiyu knew that it would not be so easy for her mother to refuse the marriage this time, so she could only delay it. She had no choice but to use excuses before, such as her young age and her older brother not married yet, and the current war situation meant that it was not appropriate to hold a grand ceremony. But now that the marriage of the third prince was about to be decided, these two excuses were no longer effective.
Even if he couldn't marry right away, he would have to settle on someone soon. But Fu Zhiyu really didn't want to get engaged. If the engagement was made, it couldn't be changed at will, and it would delay the innocent girl.
What made Fu Zhiyu feel even more horrified was that after looking around, the emperor actually fell in love with the girl from the Xie family. This was understandable, as the Xie family was the emperor's confidant and now had made great achievements, so of course the tighter the marriage chain was, the better. But this was not good news for him.
"Mingdao, why don't you dress up as a girl and I'll marry you," Fu Zhiyu seriously proposed a scenario, "I'll just tell everyone that you are a girl, but you've always been wearing men's clothes."
Yuan Ming Dao, who was forcibly transformed by him: "???"
"It's not impossible," Yuan Mingdao couldn't help blushing, and said in a soft voice, "Master, you can do whatever you want. I will help you."
The author has something to say: I see someone dreaming again