Mingyu regretted her words as soon as they came out of her mouth. However, Mingyu couldn't bring herself to say something soft to give Sima Hong a way out, so she just looked at him angrily.
Sima Hong smiled, but his smile was a little cold. After a while, as if he didn't hear Mingyu's hurtful words, he smiled and said, "Before the New Year, I went to the parade ground to present captives. You went too, right? I clearly saw you before the competition. Where did you go after the competition? I won the Queen's jade ruyi and wanted to give it to you. You see, there is a "jade" in your name, which is quite suitable for you. But after the competition, I couldn't find you."
Mingyu felt like vomiting blood. It was just as expected. Fortunately, she dodged in time...
"I brought it!" Sima Hong smiled brightly, took out the jade ruyi wrapped tightly in a handkerchief from his arms, and handed it to Mingyu with his body temperature.
Mingyu seemed to be burned by the jade ruyi in her hand. She pushed it back to Sima Hong. Her face couldn't help but burn. She turned her head away and pouted, "Well, you should leave it to your concubines. It's not easy for Zhuxiang Yingqin and the others to follow you all the time."
Listening to Mingyu's words, Sima Hong sat down next to Mingyu, with a confident smile on his face, and stuffed the jade ruyi back into Mingyu's hand. Mingyu wanted to push it back to him, but his hot big hand held Mingyu's hand, preventing her from moving again.
"You..." Mingyu blushed, raised her head and quickly glanced around. The children were still playing happily on the lake. Dongyuan was taken out of the pavilion by Baihao. While no one was paying attention, Mingyu pulled back her hand with all her strength, "You hooligan! Let go!"
"No!" Lord Anxi acted like a rogue and said slowly, "I've been thinking about it for almost a year. Now that you've pointed it out, I finally figured out what's going on."
Mingyu stared at him, "What's going on?"
Sima Hong sneered. He held Mingyu's hand tightly, "Just pretend! I've said before that you are a liar who loves to pretend! When we were in Tianshui before, you pretended to be well-behaved and sensible in front of the elders, but in fact you get angry easily, hold grudges, have a sharp tongue, and remember the trivial things from eight generations ago clearly. You are petty and have a terrible temper!"
"You!" Mingyu was furious. She was irritable. She was shy before, but now she was completely angry. Sima Hong was the biggest bastard in the world.
Seeing Mingyu's pink and tender face flushed, her fair and rosy skin so tender that you could squeeze water out of it. Sima Hong's heart was filled with joy, but he pretended to be disdainful on his face, raised his chin and said, "What? Did I say something wrong?"
Without waiting for Mingyu to answer, Sima Hong spoke again: "I just can't understand why you insist on divorcing me. You are so determined!"
Damn, you are the bastard, your whole family is bastards! Mingyu almost roared in her heart.
Ignoring the flames that seemed to burst out of Mingyu's eyes, Sima Hong spoke calmly, "Ask yourself, have I been bad to you? If Madam was sober, would she have abandoned you in Tianshui? What do you mean by saying that our mansion is sorry for you and abandoned you alone in Tianshui... Those are all excuses! Let's not talk about that. Now I understand that you don't like my three concubines, right?"
Sima Hong moved closer to Mingyu, so close that his nose almost touched hers, so close that he could see his shadow reflected in Mingyu's dark pupils. His tone was gentle and lingering, and he asked ambiguously: "You don't like me having other women, right? Hey, you're quite domineering!"
But he likes it!
Sima Hong's breath sprayed on her face and ears. Mingyu felt ashamed and angry, and the tips of her ears were red as if blood was about to drip out, as if the secret buried in her heart was rudely torn open by Sima Hong, and was displayed nakedly in front of him.
Feeling embarrassed and angry, Mingyu raised her other hand without hesitation and slapped Marquis Anxi's handsome face hard.
A crisp sound of "pa" echoed in the pavilion and in the air as spring was about to break.
"Nonsense! It's none of your business!" Mingyu shouted viciously. If a tiger doesn't show its power, people think she is a sick cat!
Sima Hong touched his right face that was hit. He was a man with thick skin and flesh. A slap was nothing! Besides, how strong could his wife be? He still smiled playfully, "Mingyu, you took the initiative. We can be considered to have had physical contact!"
Oh my god!
A million horses were running wild in Mingyu's mind, and she once again had a new understanding of the shamelessness and scoundrelliness of Marquis Anxi. After swallowing the curse words that were about to come out of her mouth, Mingyu calmed her head that was a little dizzy from Sima Hong's anger, and said calmly, "Let go first, and we can talk it out."
Sima Hong liked Mingyu's well-behaved and lamb-like attitude and reluctantly let go of Mingyu's hand.
Mingyu stood up, took two steps back, threw the jade ruyi back to Sima Hong, and sneered: "The Marquis is indeed a master of flowers, and his methods are very clever!"
Sima Hong quickly caught Yu Ruyi and was stunned. A trace of anger surged in his heart, mixed with an inexplicable grievance. He said, "What are you talking about? I know you are angry, but those things are in the past. Even if I am wrong, you can't keep harping on my mistakes! I haven't seen you for almost a year. In fact, I just want to see you and talk to you. You should understand."
"What's up with your three concubines? What about Luo Lingxiu and Yingrong?" Mingyu snorted coldly, "The things bestowed by the Queen are rare, use them to please your concubines! If the Marquis had put more attention on studying than on women, he would have been the top scholar in Chu by now!"
She felt uncomfortable when she thought about Sima Hong making love with his three concubines at night and coming to her to curry favor with her during the day.
Sima Hong became anxious and his face changed. This little girl had a really bad temper. She was fine just now, but now she was angry again. Every word she said made him feel uncomfortable.
Sima Hong strode up to Mingyu. Seeing that he looked unfriendly, Mingyu quickly backed away. Seeing that Mingyu was about to run away again, Sima Hong reached out to grab Mingyu's arm and said, "Zhuxiang and the others, I already..."
Before Sima Hong could finish his words, Mingyu secretly gathered all her strength and kicked Sima Hong in the shin bone. He screamed in pain and jumped up while holding his leg.
Mingyu quickly stepped back and looked at him warily. Humph, haven't you seen the necessary tricks for white-collar workers to protect themselves from spies? If he dares to touch me again, I'll poke his eyes and kick him in the crotch!
Sima Hong grimaced in pain, and sighed as he looked at Mingyu, who was on alert. He wanted to explain something, but he felt a little disheartened. He whispered, "I have already dismissed Zhuxiang and the others, and arranged for them to marry someone else. I am in danger on the battlefield, and I don't know when I will die. Why should I let them waste their best years on me?"
This was the first time Mingyu had heard of this. Her last impression of Zhuxiang was that Aunt Zhu came back to the Xu family to beg her to persuade Sima Hong not to go to the battlefield again. She didn't expect that things were different now. Thinking of her cold words just now, Mingyu couldn't help but feel guilty. She couldn't bring herself to apologize, so she just said softly: "Don't talk nonsense, the Marquis in heaven, the eldest young master and the old lady will keep you safe."
Sima Hong smiled, and his eyes were clear when he looked at Mingyu. He could treat Zhuxiang and the others so calmly, but he was unwilling to treat Mingyu like that. He didn't want to divorce at all. He thought that even if he died, Mingyu could only be his, Sima Hong's, wife. When he thought that Mingyu might marry someone else, his heart was filled with panic.
Even when he was facing the vicious Tartars on the battlefield and the situation was almost hopeless, he had never been so panicked.
Sima Hong gently placed the jade ruyi in his hand on the stone table in the pavilion and whispered, "This was originally intended for you. If you don't want it, just throw it away." After that, he took one last look at Mingyu, turned around and walked out of the pavilion.
Mingyu watched Sima Hong walk away without looking back, speechless, the familiar feeling of guilt welling up again. Outside the pavilion, Baihao hurriedly left Dongyuan behind and followed him. Soon, Sima Hong's broad back disappeared from Mingyu's sight.
The stone table was covered with snow. Mingyu reached out and picked up the jade ruyi that Sima Hong had placed there. She brushed off the snow on the handkerchief that wrapped the jade ruyi and untied the handkerchief. The jade ruyi was cold in her hand and had lost the body temperature that Sima Hong had brought it out. Mingyu stared at it in a daze and became angry. Asshole Sima Hong, this thing was a palace item given by the queen, not a bunch of wild flowers sold on the street for a few copper coins. How could he just throw it away if he said he didn't want it? He was basically forcing her to take it!
Dong Yuan rushed in in a panic and asked, "Miss, how are you? Bai Hao insisted on stopping me just now, and I... couldn't beat him!" It was so unfair!
"It's okay." Mingyu covered her hot cheeks.
Dong Yuan was full of doubt. Just when he was fighting with Bai Hao, he saw the young lady slap Lord Anxi in the face when they passed by each other. He was so scared that his heart, liver and lungs almost jumped out of his body. Lord Anxi was very strong. If the young lady hit back, he would be half dead!
"It's really okay!" Mingyu emphasized despite Dongyuan's distrustful gaze. She wrapped up the Yu Ruyi and put it in her arms. However, it was not noticeable when the Yu Ruyi was in Sima Hong's arms, but it was very obvious when it was in her arms, so she had to take it out again.
Mingyu beckoned Dongyuan over with a finger, signaling him to hide the jade ruyi in his arms, "Hide it well, don't let my brother see it."
Dong Yuan was in tears. If the young master knew that he had kept this secret from him, he would skin him alive!
On the way back, Dong Yuan kept hunching his back and holding his chest, for fear that others would see that he was hiding something in his chest. Xu Mingye looked at him in surprise, "What's wrong with you?"
Dong Yuan smiled guiltily, "My stomach really hurts..."