I Will Marry You

A child’s voice.

It sounded about four or five years old, so for a moment it was impossible to tell whether it belonged to a boy or a girl.

Fang Rulai, half-buried beneath the quilt, craned her neck to look. The carriage was far too dim; not only could she not make out the child’s face, she could not even tell the child’s sex.

“Get lost!” Guan Shiyin did not care whether the child was old or young, male or female. The one in his arms was still sweating coldly for reasons unknown, and he had no time to play guessing games.

His leap toward the carriage did not falter. When his foot landed on the floorboard, he freed one hand, grabbed once, then flung the child aside as though tossing a bundle.

Fang Rulai jumped in alarm and reached out from under the quilt, wanting to hit Guan Shiyin. No matter what, it was still a child, and he had been far too rough.

But just as her bare arm emerged, she heard the child burst into giggles in midair.

Fang Rulai’s face rarely showed such open shock. Had this child gone mad?

“Haha, I can fly! Sister, I can fly!” The child’s delighted voice sounded nothing like a pretense.

Fang Rulai twitched her mouth. Fine, children’s points of attention were always on a different wavelength from adults’.

“Half—” Fang Rulai was about to call for Bansia to come out and catch the child, but just as she uttered the first syllable, she saw a pink figure spring upward. One sweep, one catch, and the child was gathered into her arms before the two of them landed.

As soon as they touched down, both knelt on their knees. “Stone Bi-lian and Stone Xiao-dou from Stone Family Village greet the young master and young lady!”

Guan Shiyin acted as though he heard nothing. With one hand he stuffed Fang Rulai’s arm back under the quilt, while with the other he drew down the carriage curtain. “Set out!”

Whoever these lilies and beans were, they could go to whoever cared. It had nothing to do with him.

The curtain fell. Guan Shiyin slapped some hidden spot on the floorboard, and a luminous pearl sprang automatically from the roof to serve as a lamp. Using its light, he reached for Fang Rulai’s forehead. “What is it? Are you sick? Why are you suddenly sweating coldly?”

Fang Rulai smacked his hand away irritably. “Isn’t it all because of you?”

“Me? What did I do?” Guan Shiyin was truly puzzled.

Fang Rulai suddenly went scarlet. The moment she opened her mouth, she remembered the matter could not be explained in detail. She pulled the quilt up again and turned to lie down. “Forget it, it has nothing to do with you. Get out. I’m going to sleep.” After all that fuss, the blood in her chest had begun to move freely again, and the pain was gone. Since it no longer hurt, there was no need to bring it up again and invite another possible bout of his roguish hands.

Guan Shiyin found it strange, but no curiosity could match the excitement of seeing Fang Rulai blushing so vividly. His eyes turned, and he lay down as well, wrapping an arm around Fang Rulai’s waist from behind. “No. I’m not leaving. I want to sleep with you!”

“You—” Fang Rulai turned in anger, preparing to drive him out.

But as she turned, Guan Shiyin deliberately leaned in, and under his precise and utterly shameless control, their lips met in a fervent encounter in midair.

This time Guan Shiyin was quite obedient. He did not seize the chance to pounce and kiss her wildly; instead he blinked his long lashes in an innocent, bewildered manner, his expression practically spelling out: this time you were the one who kissed me first, so you have to take responsibility.

Fang Rulai shuddered and quickly withdrew.

At that moment, voices came from outside the carriage.

“Miss, make way a little. We’re about to depart.”

“Take me with you.”

“Ha, take you with us? And who exactly are you for us to take along?”

“The village chief’s brother already spoke to Young Master Guan. He’ll take me to the capital to visit my aunt.”

“Is that so? But wasn’t Young Master Guan’s meaning just now that you were being invited aboard?”

“Bi-lian would never presume to board the carriage. Bi-lian only asks for permission to travel along. It is only that my younger brother is still small—could he perhaps squeeze together with the coachman?”

“Hey, I say, no one said anything about agreeing to let you travel with us—”

Before Zhu Xishi could finish, the child called Stone Xiao-dou suddenly cut in.

“No! I refuse to squeeze with the coachman! I want to sleep with that beautiful sister! When I grow up, I’ll marry her!”

Zhu Xishi’s voice turned strangely odd. “You’re saying that when you grow up, you want to marry the one in the carriage?”

“Yes! A man’s word is worth a thousand gold. I never joke.”

“Pfft—hahahaha!” Zhu Xishi burst into laughter.

Inside the carriage, Fang Rulai awkwardly scratched her scalp and called out, “Though it’s a little embarrassing to say so, for the sake of not disappointing the little brother when he grows up, I think I’d better make things clear in advance. By the time you’re grown, sister here will already be old, with wrinkles on her face. You won’t want to marry me.”

As soon as she finished, Zhu Xishi’s laughter rang out even louder. “Hahaha!”

Fang Rulai was baffled. Why was everyone laughing? What now?

Stone Xiao-dou’s voice came again. “What do your wrinkles have to do with me? I’m not the one who’s going to marry you!”

Eh? Then what had he just said? Fang Rulai’s face stiffened. She had been wrapped in the quilt and had not even seen the child clearly. Could the child have seen her? But he had said beautiful sister... could he have meant...

Fang Rulai sat up abruptly and looked toward Guan Shiyin beside her. By then, Guan Shiyin’s face had already gone black as the bottom of a pot.

The declaration he had wanted had not come from left or right after all this waiting; when it finally came, it was from a child, and a boy at that! Enough!

He suddenly flung open the curtain and roared, “Whoever you asked should be the one to take responsibility! All hands in the convoy, move out! Anyone who blocks the road—kill them if you must, spare them if you wish—clear the way for me!”

“Yes!” came the answer from all around. Whips cracked, and the carriages rolled forward.

Fang Rulai had expected the pair of siblings to plead again, but through the curtain gap she saw them quietly step aside without making a sound.

Fang Rulai and Guan Shiyin exchanged glances inside the carriage.

People from Stone Family Village?

They should be.

What do you mean, should be? Didn’t she say the village chief had spoken to you? Don’t tell me you don’t remember?

There have been far too many who have spoken to me. How should I remember who is who?

Fang Rulai’s gaze darkened.

No wonder you insisted on setting out in the middle of the night. So it was to avoid having more people cling to us once dawn broke.

Still, I didn’t expect there would be people waiting at the back gate even in the middle of the night...

And one of them is even fairly skilled.

Their eyes met, and each saw in the other’s gaze a smile of keen and delighted understanding.

So this was the sort of situation where the battle began before they had even returned to the capital.

Fang Rulai lifted the curtain slightly and, sure enough, saw that the siblings were following behind the convoy on their own. The younger brother looked unwilling, his lips pushed out in a sulk. Yet after his sister lifted him onto her back, he obediently clung there without moving. Only his pair of rolling black eyes kept staring this way without once shifting away.

“Stop!” Fang Rulai called out. “Please have Miss Stone come aboard.”

Zhu Xishi got down from the carriage and came over to stop her. “Are you stupid? That girl knows martial arts at a glance, and she’s obviously no good. Why are you still inviting trouble?”

Fang Rulai shook her head. “If someone is intent on following us in secret and scheming against us, we might as well invite her along and keep her close for easier watching.”

“But that’s too dangerous.”

“I trust Young Master Guan won’t let such a thing happen.” Fang Rulai glanced sideways at Guan Shiyin.

Guan Shiyin thumped his chest. “Don’t worry. It’s best if she never makes a move. Otherwise, the moment she does will be the moment she dies.”

“All right, if you’ve already made up your minds.” Zhu Xishi, unable to persuade them, withdrew at last.

But before she left, Fang Rulai called her back. “Hey, we may not come back from this journey. You—” Fang Rulai indicated the rear of the carriage with a glance. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye?”

Wasn’t the man who had stood by the back gate all this time watching them leave hard to ignore?

Zhu Xishi’s retreating step halted at the carriage door. After a moment, she said, “I’m just a widow who butchers pigs. What is there to say to the government lords?”

She drew the curtain and was gone.

Fang Rulai and Guan Shiyin looked at each other.

Guan Shiyin said, “That flirtatious woodpecker has a heavy heart. Even if Zhu Xishi offered herself to him now, he probably still wouldn’t be able to accept it.”

Fang Rulai was dissatisfied. “What kind of deep enmity does he have, that he must remain untouched by love and desire?”

“I can’t say. His own affairs should be told by him.”

“Hmph. I knew it—there isn’t a single good man among you. If he can’t accept her, why did he kiss her in the first place?” Fang Rulai felt indignant on Zhu Xishi’s behalf. “What is this? He kisses and hugs her, then in the end decides he doesn’t want her? Tch. A coward with desire but no courage!”

“Hey, I should say a few good words for him here.” Guan Shiyin might insult his brother himself, but if others spoke ill of him, he still found it unpleasant. “You know what Pingsheng is like now. Though we’ve basically taken full control of the city, we deliberately exposed the secret that you’re a woman. The point was to see who in Pingsheng would spread the news, so we could trace the thread and catch them all. But you know very well that sorting out the backgrounds of everyone entering and leaving Pingsheng has never been simple.”

He leaned back, hands behind his head, his face losing its easygoing air. “As for those who want to cling to us and return to the capital, what will they do if they discover at dawn that we’ve already left? Who exactly is the still-unfound spy in the Salt Road Boat Clan? Will the stewards and various assistants in this household truly submit in their hearts when the son of the Hundred Flowers Tower’s manager suddenly becomes an official? These are all burdens weighing on Mu Zhizhen.”

“What I can give him is only enough financial support, plus the batch of archers I brought from the capital. Everything else has to be done by him alone.”

“If he does it well, then before the Second Prince makes his move, he’ll still be nothing more than a minor county magistrate. If he slips even slightly, perhaps before the Second Prince rises he’ll already be dead and dismembered. In his position, he cannot even protect himself—so how could he shoulder another person?”

Outside the carriage, Zhu Xishi, hearing every word clearly, could not help turning to look toward the back gate and Mu Zhizhen.

He wore a black long robe, and upon his chest the sunflowers still bloomed brilliantly, reflecting a warm glow beneath the lantern light.

Mu Zhizhen met her gaze from afar, but there was only calm and stillness.

Zhu Xishi abruptly turned away. She was already a widow; she did not want a second chance at widowhood. If there was truly a chance to remarry, then the sole condition was this: the man must not die young. Mu Zhizhen, whose life was in danger at every moment, did not qualify.

Watching Zhu Xishi board her own carriage, Mu Zhizhen finally called out, “Zhang Sheng.”

“I’m here.” Zhang Sheng, already changed into night clothes, appeared at once.

“From this moment on, you are Zhu Xishi’s personal secret guard. I want you to ensure her absolute safety throughout this journey, all the way to the capital. Until I return to the city!”

“Yes. But—” Zhang Sheng glanced at Mu Zhizhen with his small eyes. “The fair competition you mentioned before, does it still count?”

“It counts!”

“Good. Then I, Zhang Sheng, swear to protect Big Sister with my life.”

With that, Zhang Sheng ran after the carriage and vanished into the distance.

Mother Mu stepped out from behind the door and slapped the back of Mu Zhizhen’s head. “You fool! You won’t keep the man yourself, and yet you send another one over. Was your last injury so serious it damaged your brain too?”

Mu Zhizhen’s eyes darkened. He said nothing and turned back inside. He was not a fool. This was merely his final effort on behalf of his private feelings—a way to do something that would neither affect the larger plan nor leave him regretting in the future that he had done nothing at all.

If that child Zhang Sheng could truly move Zhu Xishi’s heart, then her later life would at least have a place to settle. If not, then at least her personal safety would be secured for now. And if even that failed, did it not mean Zhu Xishi was still waiting for him in her heart...

Night deepened further. Mu Zhizhen, back in his room, still could not sleep; nor could Guan Shiyin, already outside the city on the road.

Not because he did not wish to sleep, but because he was being kept awake by someone.

That someone was the five-year-old child, Stone Xiao-dou.

“No! I just won’t get on this carriage! I want to sleep with the beautiful sister! I want to sleep with the beautiful sister! No other carriage and no one else will do! No, no, no! Beautiful sister, I want to sleep with you!”

He cried to the heavens and the earth, threw tantrums, and rolled about on the ground, to the point that the onlookers could not help silently praising him from the bottom of their hearts: what a pampered and overbearing little young master.

Zhu Xishi’s remaining patience with children was finally worn through. “Bansia, seal his mouth!”

“If anyone dares seal my brother’s mouth, I’ll cut off his head!” With a swish, Stone Bi-lian drew her sword and blocked Stone Xiao-dou in front of her.

Zhu Xishi was startled, then laughed. “Well now, I didn’t realize Miss Stone was also such a pampered and overbearing heroine of the martial world!”

Stone Bi-lian reddened at the mockery and opened her mouth to explain. “No, I—”

“Listen carefully. Letting you ride with us is already a great kindness. If you sister and brother are willing, then keep your mouths shut and behave yourselves all the way. If you are not willing, then you may take your brother and follow behind the carriage. But if you intend to push your luck and scheme for more, then hmph, I advise you to put away that thought as early as possible.” Zhu Xishi turned back into the carriage. “Go. Don’t bother with him. If he gets on, he gets on; if not, then he doesn’t. Let’s move!”

“You!” Stone Bi-lian was so pressed that she could not get a word out.

Yet Stone Xiao-dou seemed not to hear a thing. As the turning carriage passed him, he suddenly sprang forward and clung to the front beam of the carriage Guan Shiyin was riding in. “Y-you! If you won’t let me on this carriage, I’ll die for you to see! In this whole life you’ll never meet another husband as rich and handsome as I am!”

“Pfft.” Fang Rulai burst into laughter inside the carriage. Where had this shameless little brat learned that notorious martial-world skill of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide?

Guan Shiyin’s hand, poised to steal a kiss, froze an inch from the quilt. Then his temper flared at once. This little bastard still wasn’t done, was he?

He yanked open the curtain, intending to personally throw Stone Xiao-dou down.

But in that instant, before his words could even leave his throat, Stone Xiao-dou slipped into the carriage like a little rat.

That speed! Guan Shiyin’s gaze abruptly deepened.

Stone Xiao-dou shrank into a corner of the carriage, clutching tightly at the window frame to steady himself. “Haha, am I so dashing, so extraordinary, that you fell for me at first sight... ah!”

Guan Shiyin moved like lightning. Before he could finish, Guan Shiyin reached out and easily seized him by the throat. “Speak. Who are you?”

…The title for volume two is giving me a headache, so let’s leave it blank for now…

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