After sharing a body with her husband

Xie Zhaoqing doubted that he had misheard.

"Am I making things difficult for you?"

She scoffed, "You were the one who promised to marry me, and now you're saying I'm making things difficult for you?"

Xie Zhaoqing felt a sharp pain in her chest. Had she made a mistake?

Without a second thought, Xiao Jing pulled the person into his arms.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault. Please give me some more time, I will try my best, Ah Xuan..."

Although every word he uttered was an apology, Xiao Jing's eyes did not reveal deep remorse; he only wanted to appease him for the time being.

Xie Zhaoqing remained silent for a long time, and Xiao Jing breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"What do you want to eat? Or where do you want to go? I'll go with you. Shall we go see Mr. Zhuang together?"

Xie Zhaoqing rolled her stiff eyes and broke free from his embrace.

"Lend me some money."

Xiao Jing affectionately flicked the bridge of her nose. "You're talking to me about borrowing? What's mine is yours. How much do you want?"

"Two thousand taels."

Xie Zhaoqing said.

Xiao Jing was taken aback. "Two thousand taels? What do you need so much money for?"

Xie Zhaoqing looked at him, "Reluctant to part with them?"

"No... it's not that I'm reluctant to part with it, two thousand taels is no small amount, it's just that I don't have that much money right now."

Xiao Jing looked troubled.

Xie Zhaoqing closed his eyes, too exhausted to even suggest that he ask his parents for the money.

If he cared, he would have gone to great lengths to help her borrow those two thousand taels even if she didn't say anything, instead of acting like this now, just staring at her with a troubled expression, passing the problem to her and telling her to give up on her own.

Xie Zhaoqing suddenly recalled fragmented memories from her past life...

She had no mother, and her father didn't care about her. She grew up with her aunt. During her teenage years, she had a boyfriend, but her aunt told her not to lower herself like that and forbade her from staying overnight at the boyfriend's house, saying that once she got what she wanted, he wouldn't cherish her and would look down on her.

She wouldn't listen and had a big fight with her aunt. For the next eight years, she didn't set foot in her aunt's house.

Xie Zhaoqing has always scorned those old ideas. She believes that the older generation should be swept away by the younger generation. It's as if the more she goes against those old-fashioned ideas, the more she appears trendy and unconventional.

She is different from others.

But now, she gave a bitter smile and suddenly realized that what her aunt said seemed to be right.

Since arriving at the Xiao family, she has been working hard in everything. She strives to showcase her talents and gain the approval of General Xiao and Pei Zhiying. She works hard to go out and do business, making Honey Tea House a sensation in Shengjing. She makes an appearance at various poetry gatherings and wins the favor of Mr. Zhuang...

And what about him?

What has he done for her?

He has yet to marry her as his legal wife.

He can't even control his servants...

Xie Zhaoqing's eyes darkened, and her weak voice was filled with disappointment, "I don't need it anymore. I'm tired. I'm going to get some sleep."

"Oh, Ah-Xuan..."

Watching her departing figure, Xiao Jing opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't call out to her.

Xiao Jing's eyes churned with complex emotions, and finally he sighed as if admitting defeat, "I can't do anything with you."

He went to find his father and mother, but General Xiao was not home; only Pei Zhiying was there.

Firstly, Xiao Jing didn't beat around the bush and said directly:

"Mother, this relationship between Ah Xuan and me is not a long-term solution. I want to marry her."

Pei Zhiying was leisurely drinking tea and eating snacks when she heard Xiao Jing say that, and she choked, dropping her snacks.

"Ahem...Didn't I already tell you? Why are you bringing it up again?"

Xiao Jing plopped down, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and said helplessly:

"Mother! We have already consummated our marriage; I should have given her a proper status long ago."

Pei Zhiying nonchalantly brushed the crumbs off his clothes.

"So what? When you marry a wife, she has to be properly brought into the house in a sedan chair. She's already living in our house, so why would we need to marry her again?"

"It's not impossible for me to give her a formal title, but she can only be a concubine. Originally, it was fine for her to be a concubine, but now that she's Mr. Zhuang's female disciple, it's not appropriate for her to be your concubine..."

Pei Zhiying hesitated, wondering what the best course of action would be.

Xiao Jing thought so too.

"Ah Xuan is strong-willed; she would never become my concubine. Now that she's Mr. Zhuang's female disciple, we also have to consider Mr. Zhuang's reputation. How can we let his disciple become a concubine?"

Pei Zhiying pursed her lips. "So strong, so strong. If she really had any sense of shame, would she come to live in a man's house?"

Isn't this just running away to become a concubine?

Now that you're already here and have consummated your marriage, it's ridiculous that you claim you're too proud to be a concubine.

In the past, Pei Zhiying would have said it aloud, but now she only thinks about it in her heart.

"In my opinion... why don't I adopt her as my daughter? That way, she won't be a distant relative, and she can live openly and legitimately in the Xiao family. What do you think?"

Pei Zhiying came up with a good idea. Anyway, the family had raised adopted daughters before, so having another one wouldn't be a big deal. It's just an adopted daughter.

Moreover, the title of adopted daughter is only for appeasement, to prevent her from causing trouble again.

"Mother! I said I was going to get married, so why are you bringing up this whole 'raising a daughter' thing again?" Xiao Jing didn't understand.

Pei Zhiying clicked her tongue, then put on a stern face and scolded him.

"Silly child, try saying 'marry her' again! If your father were here, he would surely scold you. Are you stupid? She's Mr. Zhuang's female disciple now, how can she be kept at home?"

Of course, we should encourage her to go out and socialize more; it will benefit our family more. Since she's a talented person, let her use her talents freely. Once she's married, she can't be in the public eye anymore. Would she be willing to do that? Or would you agree to it?

Seeing that Xiao Jing seemed to be thinking about her words, Pei Zhiying advised again:

"Furthermore, although she is now Mr. Zhuang's female disciple, her background is unknown. She has no family or connections and came here on her own. What family would marry a woman like that? Your father and I absolutely cannot agree to it!"

Xiao Jing fell silent.

Yes, Ah Xuan is not the kind of woman who can stay at home embroidering and sewing. Her ambitions lie elsewhere, and he should indeed respect the life she prefers.

Xiao Jing looked annoyed. Why hadn't he thought of that?

I should have told Ah Xuan earlier that life would change after she got married, but she couldn't accept it, so it ended without a trace. It was her own choice.

Yes, after he got back, he pretended that his mother had agreed, but required that she not go out freely after marriage, not participate in poetry gatherings to recite poems, and not show her face in public.

Just when Ah Xuan was feeling troubled, he offered a second solution: that her parents could also adopt her as their daughter, thus giving her both dignity and substance.

After making up his mind, Xiao Jing looked up at Pei Zhiying.

"What Mother said makes sense!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Zhiying smiled with relief. She was still planning something in her mind, which was to arrange a marriage for A Jing. However, it was not appropriate to bring this up openly. She would discuss it with the general first and then make a decision.

Upon receiving Pei Zhiying's message, Xiao Jing immediately went back to find Xie Zhaoqing.

But no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the person.

"Where is Miss Ah Xuan?" he asked the servant.

"Miss Ah Xuan just packed her things and left. I assumed you knew that," the servant replied.

Xiao Jing's expression changed.

"What did you say? Ah-Xuan is gone? How did she leave? Where could she have gone?"

The servant was startled by Xiao Jing's reaction and stammered:

"Yes...they were picked up by a horse-drawn carriage..."

Xiao Jing's face turned grim. He immediately went inside to search, but the clothes were gone, the jewelry was gone, and the silver notes were gone.

She ran away from home!