Chapter 144

Qin Shaozong quickly thought of the scene downstairs just now.

After his wife finished her dinner and set down her bowls and chopsticks, the young man had taken the initiative to approach her. The tables weren't set very far apart at the time, and coupled with his excellent hearing, he clearly heard the kid tell her he had something to discuss.

Connecting this to her current strange behavior, he felt that the kid, Qin the Second, had nine times out of ten told her about his desire to join the army.

To report this on the very first day out of the city, Qin Shaozong was somewhat surprised by Qin Yanzhou's impatience, but thinking about it carefully, it wasn't incomprehensible. It meant that his wife was firmly against it, which was why Qin the Second needed more time to persuade her.

However, for her to catch him and interrogate him the moment he returned was indeed beyond his expectations.

But this fox had always been full of schemes; perhaps she had figured something out on her own...

His thoughts took a few turns, but Qin Shaozong's face remained impassive. He didn't directly answer Dai Li's question, but asked in return, "My lady, that is a strange question. We have known each other for so long; when have I ever lied to you in the past?"

Dai Li, standing by the window, turned completely around. The candlelight fell upon her face, giving it a jade-like coldness and aloofness. She looked at the man a few steps away, scrutiny in her eyes.

The man, on the other hand, was calm and composed, as if he knew nothing.

Dai Li scoffed coldly. "Just now, Zhou Zhou told me he wants to join the army and go exterminate bandits with the other soldiers. Qin Changgeng, did you secretly push for this?"

"It might have something to do with me, or it might not," Qin Shaozong said.

Dai Li laughed out of anger at his words. "If you did, you did; if you didn't, you didn't. Stop playing games with me here. Being so vague, it seems..."

"My lady, there are some things I haven't told you. Actually, before coming south, Qin the Second told me he wanted to establish himself and requested to go to the front lines." Qin Shaozong stepped forward and reached out to pull her into his arms, but just as he moved, his hand was slapped away.

The man helplessly retracted his hand. "I asked the kid at the time whether the agreement you and I signed was with him."

Hearing him take the initiative to mention the Divorce Agreement, Dai Li shot him a sideways glance, remaining silent to listen to what he had to say next.

Qin Shaozong continued, "After signing the agreement back then, you immediately went out with it. I thought it over and felt that you would most likely give it to Qin the Second for safekeeping. Later, exactly as I expected, the kid admitted to it. I then asked if he had read the agreement, and he said he had."

Dai Li pursed her lips.

"Although my Qin family has guarded the borders for generations, and aside from those with weak constitutions like Yunce, most in the clan start going into battle in their early teens. Qin Yanzhou is now my son, and to tell you the truth, my lady, I do hope he can make a name for himself on the battlefield and become a true, indomitable man, rather than a useless dandy who can only rely on his mother for the rest of his life."

Qin Shaozong sighed. "But how could I forget the agreement we signed earlier? I knew in my heart that you definitely wouldn't be happy about it, so at the time, I specifically brought up the third clause of the agreement with Qin the Second, and upon hearing it, the kid said he would persuade you himself."

Having mentioned it a few times, he always vaguely referred to it as the agreement, avoiding the first two words.

Dai Li looked at Qin Shaozong suspiciously.

What this man said sounded quite plausible. Could it be that she had guessed wrong? Could it be that in this matter, Qin Changgeng was merely a triggered participant from start to finish?

If that was truly the case, then what he said earlier wasn't false, and the main responsibility couldn't be pinned on him.

But she still felt like something wasn't quite right.

"I guarantee upon my title as Marquis that there is absolutely not a single lie in what I just said," Qin Shaozong finally added.

Dai Li's expression shifted slightly. She still didn't speak, but the coldness between her brows faded considerably.

Qin Shaozong reached out to embrace her, and this time, his hand wasn't slapped away. He smiled and guided Dai Li toward the bed. "Today's journey was exhausting, and we have to continue traveling tomorrow. My lady, let's rest early."

This was the best suite in the inn, much larger than the ordinary rooms. There was some distance from the window to the bed, and they had to pass by a desk holding a candlestick.

The candlelight cast two overlapping dark shadows. As the movers' robes fluttered, the edges of the shadows became erratic. For a moment, they looked like agile flowing water, or perhaps a black sack that could be pulled in any direction.

Dai Li suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"My lady?" Qin Shaozong turned his head.

Dai Li stared at him. "You just said that Zhou Zhou told you he wanted to make a name for himself. Where did he say this?"

Qin Shaozong: "The study."

"Did he go looking for you himself, or did you have someone call him over?" Dai Li asked again.

Qin Shaozong paused, realizing she wasn't just asking casually. And it was this exact pause that allowed the little seed of doubt that had been making Dai Li feel uneasy to quickly take root and sprout.

"You had someone look for Zhou Zhou, didn't you?" She looked at him.

It was a question, and her tone carried heavy doubt, but there wasn't much uncertainty in those perfectly shaped peach-blossom eyes.

Qin Shaozong just opened his mouth to speak, but she was a beat faster than him.

"You can deny it and say no right now, but as long as something has been done, it will inevitably leave traces. For example, the soldier who ran the errand to pass on your message, or the guards stationed at the door of the study, they can all testify. I think a few soldiers in the convoy look quite familiar; they are probably the guards from around the study earlier. It's not particularly late right now, and asking a few questions won't take much time. Why don't we call them up and ask them one by one, what do you think, husband?" Dai Li said with a smile.

Her voice was extremely soft, like the murmuring flow of a warm hot spring. At this moment, a cool breeze blew in from the open window, making the candle flame on the desk sway slightly.

The flickering candlelight reflected on her smiling face, possessing a dizzying, magnificent beauty like a peony blooming to its absolute peak.

A current of electricity seemed to rise from Qin Shaozong's tailbone, stirring up waves of numbness wherever it passed. Without saying whether it was a good idea or not, his expression remained very calm: "My lady doesn't believe what I just said? Even though I told you I guaranteed it with my title as Marquis."

Dai Li, however, said, "Qin Changgeng, let me tell you a story first. A home invasion murder occurred in a certain place. When the patrol arrived, they ran into a man in front of the residence and asked if he had seen the killer. The man said he heard the killer and the homeowner arguing over a debt, and claimed that the perpetrator was wearing brown short clothes and a white headband. However, because his position was wrong, he didn't see the killer's face clearly. At the time, that man raised his hand and swore, vowing confidently that he absolutely wasn't lying, or else he would never strike it rich in this life and everything would go wrong for him."

The electric current climbing up his spine seemed to instantly intensify. The muscles beneath his robes tightened uncontrollably, trembling with irrepressible excitement.

"After multiple verifications, this person indeed did not lie, but standing in front of the house, he, the most suspicious one, is also indeed the murderer. Everything he described is correct, only he blurred out the key parts or inverted the information. He said he heard the argument between the murderer and the homeowner; as one of the main parties in the argument, of course he could hear it. His claim that 'because the position was wrong, he did not see the murderer's face clearly' was naturally not a lie either. After all, eyes grow on the face, and since he wasn't standing in front of a bronze mirror, how could he see his own full appearance?" Dai Li said.

In later generations, this kind of lie had a specific name, called a montage lie.

The word "montage" was originally a film term. And turning truth into falsehood through editing and blurring the sequence is called a montage lie.

"Just now, you never answered me directly whether you were the one who sent people to look for Zhou Zhou. I think it's highly likely, and later you said he wanted to establish merits and build a career, requesting to go into battle..." Dai Li sneered, the gentleness on her face like a spring breeze instantly dissipating without a trace. "Before this, you must have guided Zhou Zhou, right? You started this, didn't you?"

Qin Shaozong did not speak, only looking unblinkingly at Dai Li. The flickering candlelight gathered in the depths of his eyes, seemingly condensing into a dazzlingly bright color.

As bright as glazed amber, and as scorching as fire.

"As for what you said at the beginning, mentioning the agreement when you were talking with Zhou Zhou, it was absolutely not to reassure me, but to hint to him at that time, making him come to find me on his own." The fire in Dai Li's heart flared up wildly.

Seeing the man in front of her remain silent, especially with this unrepentant look in his eyes, Dai Li was so angry that her fingertips were trembling. "Qin Changgeng, you treat my words like wind past your ears, don't you? Since you broke the contract first, there is no need to continue living this life together. I won't be your Marquis's wife, and I won't go to Chang'an to receive the conferment..."

Before she could finish her words, she was suddenly enveloped in an embrace.

An extremely aggressive wave of hormones rushed over her, like the weapons of a long-fought battlefield, and also like boiling wine. Dai Li was a head shorter than Qin Shaozong, and her skeletal frame was far less robust than his. Now held by him, she couldn't move at all.

Qin Shaozong raised his hand and stroked Dai Li's back, again and again, as if soothing a bristling little animal. "Madam, there is a reason for this."

"Still trying to quibble? Let go of me!" Dai Li didn't want to listen to his nonsense.

Qin Shaozong carried her to the bed, letting Dai Li be on the inside and him on the outside, blocking her way out. "Madam, Qin the Second wants to establish merits and build a career, there is no need to doubt this. If he didn't want to go into battle himself, could I point a silver spear at his back and force him up?"

Dai Li was still wearing her curved-toe shoes. The shoes were new, and she had spent most of the day in the carriage. The dirtiest path she had walked was just from the carriage into this posthouse, so the soles didn't have much dust on them.

Even so, when she was carried onto the bed, Dai Li still subconsciously lifted her feet to avoid dirtying the bedding.

Qin Shaozong's words fell on her ears like pouring oil on a fire. Originally having nowhere to put her feet, coupled with the fire raging high in her heart, in a fit of anger, Dai Li pressed her foot against his hand and kicked him outward. "Utter nonsense!"

Qin Shaozong opened his palm, cupping the sole of her shoe, then slightly tightened his grip, making the curved-toe shoe narrower and longer, and then took the opportunity to take it off.

"Madam, Qin the Second has now reached adulthood and is a grown man. He has his own ambitions and plans for the future. As parents, we cannot always keep our children confined by our sides. If a young eagle doesn't spread its wings on its own for a day, it will never be able to shake off the word 'young'." He directly threw her shoe to a place she couldn't reach.

Dai Li was so angry at his action of throwing the shoe that her brain buzzed. He threw away the left one, so she used her right foot to step on him.

The curved-toe shoe stomped on the man's arm, leaving a shallow footprint on his black robe. Dai Li angrily rebuked, "Nonsense! Qin Changgeng, stop secretly swapping concepts here. When did I confine him by my side? I just don't want him to go take other people's blades."

After taking a kick, Qin Shaozong remained completely unmoved and continued to help Dai Li take off the other shoe. "Madam, Qin Yanzhou's skills are not weak. That time he sneaked into the mansion alone to find you, he even fought back and forth with Bai Jianping. He has reached adulthood; he is no longer that nine-year-old child. You should believe in him."

Dai Li didn't listen. She wanted to get off the bed to pick up her shoes, but just as she moved to the edge of the bed, Qin Shaozong scooped her back by the waist.

"Qin Changgeng, you bastard! Not only did you break the contract, but you also tried to deceive me with a mouth full of nonsense. I can't live like this anymore. I want to divorce you." Dai Li pinched the flesh on his arm.

Whether it was from her pinching or stung by the last sentence, the man's arm suddenly tensed, his muscles as hard as a rock.

He couldn't stand hearing those two words. His fairly stable emotions were instantly shattered. "What divorce? Which clause on it did I violate? Madam, take out the agreement and point it out to me."

Dai Li's eyes widened slightly. This man actually had the nerve to ask her for the agreement! Being away from home, how could she possibly carry such an important document with her?

"You are at least a Marquis officially conferred by the imperial court. How do you have the nerve to act like a rogue?" Dai Li gritted her teeth.

Qin Shaozong curled his thin lips. "A lifetime is so long, one can't always stick to just one identity."

"Move away, I want to go out." Dai Li raised her hand and pushed him.

Qin Shaozong took the opportunity to hold her hand. "It's getting late, and everyone else has already gone to sleep. There is no one outside to listen to your orders. Where are you going, Madam?"

Dai Li was expressionless. "I won't trouble anyone else. I'll walk back to Yuyang myself to get the 'Divorce Agreement'."

The curve on Qin Shaozong's lips gradually disappeared: "..."

The two looked at each other. Qin Shaozong saw raging flames in her eyes, while Dai Li saw his unyielding determination.

"Qin Changgeng, you are really a jerk." Dai Li withdrew the hand he was holding, grabbed a brocade pillow, and smashed it over. "Only one person can stay in this room tonight. Either you go out or I go out!"

Qin Shaozong caught the pillow in one fell swoop. Seeing her face covered in frost, he said helplessly, "Madam, the guest rooms on the third floor are already full, and there are people from the imperial court staying on the second floor. You and I are currently in our honeymoon period. If I go out at this time, it will inevitably arouse suspicion from others."

Hearing him say "in our honeymoon period," Dai Li couldn't help but sneer coldly. Daring to pull this kind of stunt right after their wedding, did he think she was easy to bully?

"If you can't go down to the second floor, then I'll trouble the Marquis to squeeze in with the other military generals on the third floor. Anyway, you are their superior. If you tell them to open the door, would they dare to disobey your order? As for your pride, didn't the Marquis just say that changing identities to play the rogue isn't bad?" Dai Li suggested coldly.

Qin Shaozong: "..."

He raised his hand, wanting to hold that soft hand again, but she avoided it. Just now Dai Li couldn't get off the bed, so now she simply didn't try. Hugging another brocade pillow, she shrank inward, refusing to let him touch her.

Dai Li retreated to the inside, clearing a space on the outer part of the bed.

Qin Shaozong glanced at it, itching to move; in the past, this was where he slept. But before he could take advantage of the situation and sit on it, a quilt flew out from the inside. If Qin Shaozong hadn't been quick-eyed and deft-handed to roll it up, his head would likely have been covered by it.

"Get out," Dai Li glared at him.

Qin Shaozong held a pillow in one hand and a blanket in the other. "Madam..."

Dai Li simply lay down and rolled over, turning her back to him to cut off any further communication.

Qin Shaozong stared at the empty space beside her on the bed. After a long moment of internal struggle, he finally let out a soft click of his tongue and refrained from climbing in.

However, the man didn't leave the guest room with his blanket and pillow, either. He scanned the room and eventually walked over to the only daybed available.

The small daybed was originally designed for guests to recline and relax on, but now it had to serve as Qin Shaozong's bed.

When the tall, broadly built man lay down on it, the piece of furniture looked pitifully small. It wasn't even as long as he was tall, leaving his lower legs dangling over the edge.

Lying on the cramped daybed, Qin Shaozong stared up at the ceiling. With his arms completely empty, he felt thoroughly uncomfortable.

Tsk, that brat Qin Yanzhou really was useless at getting things done.