The Marquis doesn't support his beloved wife's ambitions, so I'll take the imperial e

Jiang Zhenxue had only taken a few steps when her wrist was grabbed and twisted violently. Before she could react, she was slammed against a doorpost.

The moonlight streamed down, and he lowered his head, his gaze as still as a stagnant pool, giving her no chance to speak.

She was kissed.

A hard, unreasonable kiss, imbued with some indescribable anger or something else.

Jiang Zhenxue's mind raced.

Escape? There's no way to escape. Bite? It's useless; she just witnessed firsthand how terrifyingly high his pain tolerance threshold was.

Never mind, she won't lose out.

With a face like that, I might as well take advantage of this meal.

She didn't struggle.

Xiao Qingyan was clearly not expected her to be so calm, and he paused subconsciously.

With that one movement, Jiang Zhenxue turned her head, pushed him away half a step with her shoulder, tidied her disheveled sideburns, and looked as calm as if she were discussing a business deal.

"All taken?"

Xiao Qingyan didn't speak, but stared at her, a fleeting look of surprise crossing his eyes before he suppressed it and coldly scrutinized her: "Why didn't you run?"

"Why are you running?" Jiang Zhenxue wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, the movement casual. "With a face like yours, why are you running?"

Xiao Qingyan remained silent for a moment.

In his more than twenty years, he had never seen a woman speak to him in such a tone that sounded like "it doesn't matter if I get a good deal."

I was angry, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong.

"However," Jiang Zhenxue looked up at him, her expression changing, "if you still want to follow the old ways, like slapping someone, locking them in a cage, making them cry and beg for mercy, and then making them fall in love with you, I advise you to give up on that idea."

Xiao Qingyan narrowed his eyes: "What did you say?"

"I said," she stated clearly, "I'm not going down that road."

You have no choice.

"I have it." She didn't waste any words and said directly, "Either, the Marquis and I are completely severed now, we'll go our separate ways, and I'll slowly pay back the money I owe you. Just pretend you never supported such a person. Or—"

She paused, looked up at him, and her eyes held a pragmatic, almost shrewd clarity.

"Or, you can help me up with my Lingyunzhi."

Xiao Qingyan frowned: "What?"

"My virtuous husband has helped me achieve my lofty ambitions." She said calmly, as if she were reporting an account. "You, my lord, have no shortage of connections, money, or informants. If you do business with me, I will give you 30% of the profits. In return, you will help me keep those monsters and demons in check."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Xiao Qingyan's voice lowered. "Did I travel all this way just to run errands for you?"

"Otherwise what?" Jiang Zhenxue retorted. "The Marquis took me back, and then what? He locked me up, coaxed me, and guarded against my escape every day. Aren't you tired of that?"

Xiao Qingyan stared at her without saying a word.

She knew he was too embarrassed to admit it.

"If you take me back, I'll just run away again. If you catch me, I'll run away again. At least I still have some money now, so next time I can run further and act more cautiously. You might not be able to find me then." She counted on her fingers. "It'll be easier to find me than now."

"It's still better than finding one now," he said coldly.

"So the Marquis will spend his whole life chasing after me," she said calmly. "I run to Jiangnan and you chase me to Jiangnan, I run to the North and you chase me to the North. Is this all you're going to do to amuse yourself with me?"

Xiao Qingyan's expression darkened.

He disliked what she said, but he couldn't refute it.

Jiang Zhenxue continued, her tone serious: "My lord, I've opened a shop here, established myself, and am comfortable here. I have no plans to go any further. If you want to come, stay and work for me; I promise you won't work for nothing. If you don't want to, you can leave, just don't come looking for trouble again. These are the two paths you choose."

After she finished speaking, she looked up at him, and the moonlight shone down, illuminating her face clearly with a hint of naive composure.

Xiao Qingyan looked at her and suddenly felt like laughing.

It wasn't the kind of cold, sarcastic mockery; it was genuinely—a bit funny.

This woman, back in the Marquis's mansion, would think for ages about what to say whenever she saw him, afraid of saying the wrong word and displeasing him. Now, standing here, she's negotiating terms with him eloquently, talking about a 30% profit and a virtuous husband with lofty ambitions.

"Do you know," he lowered his voice, "that I will not choose either of these two paths?"

"Which one will Your Excellency choose?"

Without saying a word, he bent down and picked the person up in his arms.

Jiang Zhenxue was caught off guard. Before she could finish saying, "Xiao Qingyan, what are you doing?", he had already tucked her into his arms and strode out.

"Come back with me tonight." His voice was deep and uncompromising. "We can talk about the rest tomorrow."

Jiang Zhenxue was held between his legs. She moved a couple of times but couldn't break free, so she gave up.

Fine.

She did some mental calculations.

Xiao Qingyan is the kind of person who never backs down. If you force him to choose, he certainly won't; that's not his style. But the fact that he took her back tonight instead of forcibly dragging her away shows that he's softened his stance a little.

Take it slow. The one thing business people have in abundance is patience.

At the entrance of Yingxianlou, the innkeeper, seeing this commotion, lowered his head to the ground, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Fu'an, waiting at the top of the stairs, dared not even blink.

The door was closed.

"Xiao Qingyan," Jiang Zhenxue jumped down from his arms, patted her skirt, and walked confidently to the table to sit down. "You just said we'd talk about it tomorrow, so it's settled then. We'll have a serious talk tomorrow."

Xiao Qingyan sat down opposite her, propping his forehead with one hand and casually observing her.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's negotiate. You help me, I help you, and we're even. That's the right way." She picked up the cold teacup on the table, took a sip, frowned, and said, "This tea isn't good. Get another one."

Xiao Qingyan stared at her.

Who among his people would dare to sit across from him, drink his tea, and complain that it doesn't taste good?

No, there's only this one.

For some reason, he called out to Fu'an and asked someone to bring a new cup.

Jiang Zhenxue took the drink and drank a sip. This time she didn't frown, which meant she was satisfied.

"My lord, you might as well remember what I said." She looked up at him, her expression serious but without any hint of flattery. "I don't want a cage, I don't want money, I don't want all those nice things you've prepared for me. What I want is a life where I can make my own decisions. If you can accept that, we can still talk. If you can't, you can leave anytime, I won't stop you."

After listening, Xiao Qingyan remained silent for a long time.

The moonlight streamed through the window cracks, falling on her profile and illuminating her stubbornness and clarity.

He couldn't explain what he was thinking, but the anxious, desperate urge to pull the person back that he had been chasing all along dissipated in an instant.

"Go to sleep." He stood up, his tone flat and emotionless.

"Okay." Jiang Zhenxue replied without another word, and got up to walk into the inner room.

She never does a losing business, and she'll accept this meal tonight. But she'll remember the debt.