The Marquis Is Innocent
Chapter 45:

(Previous Life)

In Wei Shao’s mind, the journey to Yong was a small matter. Compared to the countless battles he had fought since he was 17, this goal was as easy as pie.

He expected the war would be over in three months at most.

Unexpectedly, after winning the first two small battles, which forced Emperor Liu Yan to retreat from Yong and flee to Fafeng, a great general emerged under Liu Yan, who was capable of conquering and leading the war. This man was around his age and had an uncommon green eye. He was from Southern marshal, whom Wei Shao never heard of before. He did not take this man seriously at the time. He planned to conquer Yong and then move south to clean up the remnants of similar marshals.

The green-eyed man, who was crowned King Huaiyin by Liu Yan, caused obstacles to his path to conquer Yong. After his setback, which coincided with a harsh winter that made it difficult for the soldiers to survive, Wei Shao decided to retreat to Luoyang and wait for spring.

When he returned to Luoyang, he learned the Qiao girl killed herself by swallowing gold the day after he left.

Although this news came suddenly, to be honest, he was not surprised. With Qiao girl’s half-dead appearance, it was possible for her to kill herself.

He was not sad to hear of her death. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NovᴇlFɪre .ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

To his surprise, Su E Huang made the decision instead of him to bury the Qiao girl outside the Wei family mausoleum.

This made Wei Shao feel unhappy. Not because he felt sorry for her. If he had been allowed to decide, he would not have let her sleep in the same grave as him.

But in any case, the Qiao girl was his first wife, and his grandmother picked her for him. Now the Qiao girl died, Su E Huang made this important decision without his consent. It caused him to feel a sense of displeasure for being offended. Not only against him but also against his grandmother, who died many years ago.

Su E Huang should have sensed his displeasure. That night, on the dragon bed, she served him to the best of her ability.

Wei Shao had not touched a woman in months. He also needed to relieve himself. But tonight, perhaps because the war was not going well, and perhaps because of the unhappiness in his heart, Su E Huang’s seduction did not excite him. When she wanted to please him with her mouth, he stopped her and asked about her decision to bury the Qiao girl without permission.

Su E Huang frightened, immediately got off the couch and knelt naked, begging his forgiveness.

She said that matter should have waited until His Majesty returned. But before His Majesty’s expedition to Yong, he left the affairs of the harem to her. Qiao girl is the daughter of an enemy family, and she chose the day after His Majesty’s expedition to Yong to swallow gold and kill herself, which is inauspicious. Her intentions are malicious. She was angry and ordered people to bury her without thinking much. Now when she thought about it, she regretted it. If His Majesty had been offended, and His Majesty felt it was not right, please bury Qiao girl in another place, and she willingly accepts the punishment from His Majesty.

Su E Huang’s explanation did not sound flawed and was reasonable. She finished with tears in her eyes.

Wei Shao looked at Su E Huang, who was kneeling at his feet and shedding tears. A trace of irritation, even boredom, welled up in his heart. But in the end, he did not say anything. The silence went on.

Su E Huang wiped away her tears, kneeling to his side, lowered her head towards the root of his thighs, and leaned over.

……

“I can do as you desire and make you the queen.”

After the deed, Wei Shao closed his eyes and said to Su E Huang, who was nestled beside him.

“Gaojuli offered a princess, and today the minister submitted a letter. Saying that I should expand the harem. Beside the Gaojuli King’s daughter, there are eight other women from around the world as a gift of peace.”

“I have accepted.”

He added. His voice was calm.

……

All these past stories after the death of the youngest daughter of the Qiao family in her previous life are unknown to the present-day Xiao Qiao.

She does not know that eight years later, after unifying the country and the Xiongnu King’s court moved back, Wei Shao, the founding emperor of the Yan Empire, was ambitious and ready to raise an army to conquer the western region. In the southern of Baling, the only one he ever met in a battle that could be described as an opponent, the green-eye marshal rose in rebellion again. The emperor realized the green-eye marshal was not dead that year. He was furious and personally headed south to quell the rebellion.

In a place called Guixiang (Hometown), the emperor died unexpectedly from a stray arrow that fell from the sky during the battle.

He died at the age of thirty-nine.

Wei Shao died suddenly in his prime, and the Great Yan Empire, which had existed for only eight years, vanished into thin air. The Xiongnu came back, Central China was torn apart, with the various powers divided, and the people plunged again into the misery of war. The situation is regressed, as it was ten years ago.

……

Xiao Qiao saw Mrs. Xu look at her after she finished speaking and revealed a delighted smile.

“This is great. I hope my husband will return home soon.” She said.

Mrs. Xu nodded her head with a smile.

Mrs. Zhu looked at Xiao Qiao. Her happy expression slowly stiffened again.

Xiao Qiao’s simple words touched a nerve in Mrs. Zhu’s heart.

When the Qiao girl arrived at the Wei Manor, she thought her son would hate her as much as she did. To her surprise, her son was not only living in the same room but also quite protective of her.

She was Wei Shao’s mother and had raised him. Although there are many things about her son that she can’t understand, as a mother, she can tell if he likes something or not.

Her son successfully took Jingyang and will soon be able to return home, which is naturally a great thing. However, the thought of her son’s return inevitably let this Qiao girl have the opportunity to exploit him, even if her son was only bewitched by her sexuality and treating her as a plaything, in her heart, as if there was endless drilling.

For Mrs. Zhu, other than her niece Zheng Shu, there would be no other woman in this world qualified to be her son’s wife.

Except for Zheng Shu, any other woman is trying to take her son away from her.

Furthermore, this Qiao girl was from the hateful Qiao family.

She stared at Xiao Qiao’s smiling face with a sharp gaze, lost in thought.

“I have received another piece of news here,” Mrs. Xu added with a smile, ” From your maternal family side, someone will be coming in a few days, and among them is your brother.”

……

Xue Tai retreated from the battlefield, and Yanzhou was saved once again. Zhang Pu and others advised Qiao Yue to take this opportunity to send an envoy to Yuyang to express his gratitude and bring the two families closer. Qiao Yue agreed. Immediately, he chose an envoy. When Qiao Ci heard the news, he asked to go with them. Qiao Ping knew that his son was missing Xiao Qiao and thought his daughter had joined the Wei family, no matter how reluctant she was. He thought if he could take this opportunity to repair the relationship, it would be a blessing in disguise. He didn’t stop him, but he instructed his son before he left.

Qiao Ci agreed. Along with the messenger and heavy gifts, they set off and are now on their way to Yuyang.

……

Her younger brother, Qiao Ci, is coming here to see her!

This news made Xiao Qiao feel very happy.

She had been in the north for almost half a year and missed her family. At the bottom of her heart, she also remembered Da Qiao and Bi Zhi, who were still nowhere to be found. When she sent them away, Da Qiao promised to send her a letter if she had a chance to settle down in the future.

She has been waiting for their letter.

Moreover, she has something to say to her father. She wanted to write a letter. Now that her brother is coming, it would be better for him to bring the letter back.

……

This unexpected good news dispelled the little shadow left in Xiao Qiao’s heart because of the trip to Zhongshan. She looked forward to the days passing faster so she could see her brother Qiao Ci sooner.

Half a month later, Qiao Ci and his party had not yet arrived, and Wei Shao returned first.

……

Wei Shao’s military strength increased because of the victory in Jingyang. The army expanded to 300,000 men and horses, except the 100,000 men and horses that remained in Jingyang, the rest were stationed in Fangyang, Xindu, and 100,000 returned to Yuyang with him.

On that day, the city gates of Yuyang opened wide as if it were a festival, and the people greeted the return of the ruler.

The main force of Wei Shao’s army left in the camp outside the four gates, and he led only a personal army of two thousand men into the city. As they entered the city gates, the people were so excited they could hear the chants of ‘Marquis is back’ and ‘we will win the war’ even from the high walls of the Wei residence.

Mrs. Xu and Ms. Zhu had come to the gate to greet them.

Xiao Qiao stood quietly behind Mrs. Zhu, her eyes cast towards the wide pathway beyond the gate.

Gradually, she saw a line of people on horses appear in the distance.

The figures became clear.

The person at the forefront was Wei Shao, who had been away for four months.

Mrs. Xu finally could not restrain her joy and walked towards the front and down the steps.

When Wei Shao saw his grandmother, he hurriedly spurred his horse. Before he reached the front, he turned over and got off his horse. Took a few steps, knelt on one knee in front of Mrs. Xu, and said, “Fortunately, I have lived up to my Grandmother’s expectations and returned home today! Sorry for your worries!”

Mrs. Xu hurriedly helped him up from the ground.

Li Dian and Wei Liang, who was accompanying Wei Shao, also arrived and came forward to salute Mrs. Xu.

Mrs. Xu laughed loudly and said, “I would like to thank you all for my late husband! If not for the support of all of you, only my Wei family, how could we have the prosperity of Youzhou today? I have already set up a banquet for the soldiers to celebrate their achievements, so feel free to get drunk today!”

The crowd roared their approval and laughed, and the entrance to Wei’s house was full of pride and joy.

Wei Shao was pulled by Mrs. Zhu and when he answered a few words, his eyes went over Mrs. Zhu’s head and looked at Xiao Qiao, who was standing behind her.

When Xiao Qiao saw him looking at her, she smiled faintly.

……

Wei Shao is still wearing battle armor. Moreover, after four months of marching out to war and rolling in the men’s pile, it was inevitable that he was lax in cleaning up. The first thing he did after returning to the house was to freshen up and change his clothes.

The servants and maids of the west house were all lined up at the door to greet him. Wei Shao entered, and all of them followed him in to serve.

It was fine when he was in front of Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Zhu. Once he entered the room, Wei Shao’s gaze was fixed directly on Xiao Qiao’s face.

Being stared at him like this, Xiao Qiao inevitably felt embarrassed. They had been married for over half a year, and the time they spent together was barely half of the time they spent apart.

They are just getting familiar with each other. After a few months of separation, he is suddenly standing in front of her with his beard, which makes Xiao Qiao feel unfamiliar again.

But he wanted to look at her, she could not tell him not to look, so she slightly lowered her head. Her eyes stared at his chest and raised her hand to help him undo his clothes.

“Get out, all of you.”

Wei Shao suddenly said.

Chun Niang and the servants looked at each other and immediately put down the work in their hands and retreated in a line.

Chun Niang was the last to go out, and when she closed the door, she glanced at Xiao Qiao.

Xiao Qiao could see the meaning in Chun Niang’s eyes, telling her to please her husband, who had just returned home.

Xiao Qiao suddenly panicked. She could not ask Chun Niang to stay and watched her disappear behind the door, and the door was closed.

Xiao Qiao’s expression became serious and continued to help him untie his armor.

One of the latches on his waist seemed stuck, and she couldn’t open it no matter how she tried.

Her hand had been fiddling with his waist, but she couldn’t untie it. Xiao Qiao couldn’t do anything and felt he had been looking at her. She was more nervous, and the weather was getting hot. The tip of her nose was seeping with beads of sweat. She was about to raise her head and ask him for help when her hand was heavy. One of his hands pressed and wrapped her hand completely.

“Did you miss me?”

Xiao Qiao’s ears were hot.

Wei Shao lowered his head and whispered. While gently squeezing her hand.

Because of years of using the sword, his palms are rough with calluses, kneading her soft and boneless hand. The ambiguous atmosphere rose.

Xiao Qiao felt her face hot.

Wei Shao is teasing her. Even she, who is insensitive, perceived it.

She hesitated, finally raised her eyes, looked at him, and said softly: “Many people are waiting for you outside! It’s better to let Chun Niang and the girls come in and serve you to wash faster –”

“Did you miss me? Hmm?” He repeated, interrupting her words. Suddenly, he increased his strength and squeezed her hand hard. The force was so strong that it made her feel a little pain. His face came closer, and their cheeks brushed against each other. He seems to be intentional. She can feel the painful, numb, and itchy sensation of his beard pricking her.

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