Wife Doting Addiction：My Abducted Tsundere Husband - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Raw Banquet

Xiao Lie took a deep breath, pressing down the fury in his chest. He asked, “Where is my jade pendant?”

Su Jiu lifted her left hand, touched her chest, and said softly, “Under my pillow.”

The jade pendant was under her pillow back in the bedroom at Ji Manor. These last few days, to keep Ji Yuxian from coming over at night to take her clothes off, she had taken off the jade pendant and hidden it under her pillow.

Watching Su Jiu touch her chest, the man’s brow furrowed. Thinking back to the softness that he’d held in his hands that day, his ears could not help but burn for a moment. Unconsciously, he moved sideways a bit to block her behind him. Frowning, he retorted, “Alright!”

Su Jiu obeyed and lowered her hand. Nangong Bi suddenly looked back, came close to Su Jiu, and said mysteriously, “Su Jiu, I’ve discovered that the girl who plays the zither has really long fingers!”

Su Jiu turned her head and had a look. The girl’s head was down, two hands flowing over the zither. Indeed, her hands were slender, and her fingers were especially long. Faintly but surely, her hands were also callused from playing the zither for a long time. Su Jiu and Nangong Bi whispered among themselves. Xiao Lie took a sip of wine. After a very long moment, he realized that he was still holding Su Jiu’s hand under the table. Her actions were not at all ladylike, but her wrist was not like a man’s. Her skin was exquisite and smooth. Holding it in his hand, it felt fragile, almost boneless. Naturally, Su Jiu had not thought of escaping. Xiao Lie had already understood this, but he still did not let go.

“Your name is Su Jiu?” Xiao Lie asked as he tugged at Su Jiu’s wrist, lightly pulling her away from Nangong Bi and closer to himself.

Su Jiu turned her body toward him and nodded. She tried to think of the man’s identity, which made her very curious. She asked, “Who are you?”

The several individuals present were all nobles from the imperial court, but when he had been introduced, he had not revealed his identity. Seeing that Liang Wenzhuo respectfully deferred to him, however, it was obvious that he was most definitely not just any common man. His family name was Xiao, and Liang Wenzhuo had called him ‘Master Rui.’ Xiao Rui?

Xiao Lie glanced over suspiciously and said, “Same as you. I came for the food!”

Su Jiu rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. Xiao Lie watched the fluidity of her gaze, also noticing the occasional loveable charm that she would let slip in the form of an inadvertent smile. That smile was like sunlight bursting in the spring, shining into his eyes, which were as deep as rippling pools.

While they spoke, the jars of wine on the table continued to empty. Liang Wenzhou had partaken of enough and began to get tongue-tied. Nangong Bi took advantage of Nangong Shu not paying attention. Discretely, she drank half a cup of wine. Her cheeks flushed with a reddish tinge. Sometimes, she spoke a bit with Su Jiu, then giggled mischievously with her chin resting in her hands. Su Jiu urgently had to relieve herself and shot a glance at the man holding her hand. She had just decided to speak up when, suddenly, her eyes locked on their connected hands. She stared blankly at the sight for a moment.

She lifted her head and asked, “People who play the zither, are they supposed to have calluses on their fingers?”

Not understanding why Su Jiu had asked this question out of nowhere, Xiao Lie lightly nodded. “Yes, sir!”

Su Jiu’s expression changed a little bit. The woman was using her fingers to play her zither, how could she have seen calluses on her fingers? The calluses she saw were clearly on her palms! And only people who practiced swordplay developed calluses on their palms!

Su Jiu quickly turned to face the zither player, just in time to see the flash of a knife. Then, suddenly, it shot out toward Nangong Bi’s back. Then, another woman, who had been holding the lute, suddenly drew a slender sword and simultaneously thrust it at Nangong Shu.

In the shock of the moment, there was not enough time to warn Nangong Bi. Su Jiu whirled out of her seat and kicked down the knife flying toward Nangong Bi, then leaped at the zither player to grab her. The zither player looked up with hawk eyes and a fierce, violent gaze. It was a man pretending to be a woman.

The entire room was quiet, and everyone was looking around in shock.

Nangong Shu’s reaction was quick, bending immediately to dodge the sword. With a flip of the body and a kick of the foot onto the attacking woman’s wrist, the two were suddenly engaged in combat.

“Trying to ruin my good day? Go die!” The man in woman’s clothing let out an angry roar. Then, with the wind guiding his palms, he suddenly attacked Su Jiu’s shoulder with a horizontal slash.

Xiao Lie frowned. He was about to advance but saw Su Jiu step forward into the attack, her waist twisting strangely as her shoulder brushed past the attacking palm. With another turn of her body, she kicked the man’s shoulder, the motion quick and violent. Smooth as water in the clouds, there was no pause in her movement as she sprang up and stepped on the man’s chest to send a fist flying in his face, right between the eyebrows.

Her attack was fast, accurate, and ruthless. The man went flying from the strike of her fist and slammed up against the wall. He cried out from the pain and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Xiao Lie slowly loosed the hand that he was holding so tightly. He watched the girl’s gaze grow darker and darker. Her skilled movements were far from frivolous tricks.

To defend against the man’s counterattack, Su Jiu flew at him, one foot going straight to his chest. An audible crack sounded as bones broke, then she raised her arm to strike him again. The man looked up at Su Jiu and stretched his mouth full of blood up into a strange smile. Su Jiu’s body was in the way, so from behind, Xiao Liu did not see that smile. Nangong Shu, however, did see it and, shocked, raised his leg to kick the woman he was fighting in the abdomen. Then, in a flash, he flew over to protect Su Jiu from the front, ferociously advancing.

Poof! With a very faint sound, several needles as slender as ox hairs and shining a blue light shot out from the mouth of the man on the ground. They brushed past Nangong Shu’s back and embedded themselves into the wooden chair.

“Brother! Su Jiu!” Nangong Bi cried urgently and rushed to the two people on the ground.

Meanwhile, the lady assassin was seizing her opportunity to attack Nangong Bi. Xiao Lie’s eyes grew cold as ice. With a wave of his hand, the chopsticks on the table flew up and whistled through the air with the force of thunder. They swiftly lodged themselves into the woman’s shoulder.

“Ah!”

Bang! The woman let out a piercing shriek. Her sword fell to the ground, and she retreated, clutching her shoulder. Then, Wei Rong, who was in the room, reacted as well. He drew his sword and aligned it with the woman’s neck. She suddenly stopped, not daring to move. Nangong Shu was laying on Su Jiu, and he felt that the body beneath his was strangely soft. He quickly stood up, pulling her up along with him while asking, “Master Su, are you alright?”

Su Jiu grinned at him. “No problem. Thank you, Brother Nangong, for the rescue!”

Nangong Shu shook his head. “No, I should be thanking you for saving my little sister!”

Both of them had been attacked. No matter how fast he had reacted, he would not have been able to defend everyone—at least one of them would have gotten hurt. Thank goodness Su Jiu had sprung into action. Xiao Lie’s dark eyes swept across Nangong Shu and Su Jiu. He was nearly sure that Nangong Shu was not aware that Su Jiu was a woman.

Liang Wenzhou ran over, scared straight into sobriety. His face was stark white. He said in a complete panic, “Brother Nangong, I was not the one who hired those two. I truly had no idea that they were assassins!”

By that time, the man in the corner had fainted. Meanwhile, the other woman had chopsticks embedded in her shoulder. Blood dyed her clothes a deep red. Wei Rong still stood beside her, his sword at her throat.

Nangong Bi ran over and pulled out a small dagger. She pressed it to the woman’s chest and asked coldly, “Speak. Who are you, and why are you trying to kill my brother and me?”

The woman had sustained heavy internal wounds from exchanging blows with Nangong Shu. Hearing this, she spat out a mouthful of blood. She did not seem intimidated the slightest bit, and said sternly, “Cut the nonsense. If you want to kill me, just do it!”

Nangong Bi frowned and raised her leg to deliver a violent kick to the woman’s knee. Then, in a voice full of hate, she said, “Still stubborn to your last breath!”

“Bi’er!” Nangong Shu called to her quietly, then said softly, “There will be an investigation by the proper people. There is no need to waste your breath now.”

Without torture, this kind of person would yield nothing. He turned to Wei Rong and gave the order, “Take them away and question them thoroughly!”

“Yes, sir!” As captain of the imperial guards under the military’s command, Wei Rong naturally followed Nangong Shu’s order.

“Brother Nangong,” Liang Wenzhou stuttered, trying to provide some sort of explanation.

“We will end here today. I have other matters to attend to, so let’s meet again another time!” said Nangong Shu.

“Yes, yes. I will investigate this to the end. I will get to the bottom of this for you, Brother Nangong!”

The room stank of blood from the assassins’ attack. No one had the stomach to drink wine anymore. With this, the banquet ended, and everyone left and went downstairs. Su Jiu intended to head for the tavern at Sunset Road to find Chang Huan and the others. After leaving the restaurant, she said goodbye to the Nangong siblings.

“Su Jiu, you saved my life today. I will remember this!” Nangong Bi’s almond pupils gleamed as she looked at Su Jiu. She smiled charmingly.

“It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it!” Su Jiu’s words were calm, but she was completely sincere.

“We truly appreciate your help today. In the future, if you need anything at all, our Nangong family will be there for you!”

It was rare to see such a smile on Nangong Shu’s face and to hear him speak in a tone so warm and light. Su Jiu skipped further pleasantries and smiled at them. She bid them farewell and left. Everyone remaining gradually said goodbye to Xiao Lie as well.

“Today’s events must have startled Your Majesty. In the future, I will have to host and invite Your Majesty over!” Liang Wenzhou humbly smiled.

“Mm!” Xiao Lie gave a small nod and turned to enter the royal carriage.

Everyone in front of the restaurant began to leave. Xiao Lie leaned on the soft pillow and rested his eyes. Suddenly, he thought of something. He sat up and lifted the curtain to look outside. As expected, he saw a young woman walking ahead by herself.

“Stop the carriage!” Xiao Lie ordered quickly.

The coachman guided the horses to a stop. The carriage came to a halt next to Su Jiu. Su Jiu was still mulling over the fight that had just taken place. If Nangong Shu had not flung himself at her, would she have been able to dodge those silver needles? When the assassin had smiled at her, she had already been on alert. When she had been fighting the man, if she had crushed his jaw, perhaps he would have been unable to spit out those needles. She was pondering this as the carriage stopped beside her, so Su Jiu did not even look. She simply stepped aside and continued on her way. The carriage curtain suddenly opened, revealing a handsome man’s cold expression.

He looked indifferently at her and asked, “Where are you going? I’m taking you.”

Su Jiu looked back at him blankly. A touch of surprise flashed on her face. She watched him cautiously. Was he so kindhearted?

The man shot her a glance. “Hurry up and get in!”

“Thank you, but I will walk there myself!” Su Jiu held herself upright. The delicate features on her small face made it hard to distinguish whether she was male or female. She spoke without emotion. There was no need for deep, significant friendships. She did not want to owe any debts of affection.

The man frowned slightly and said coldly, “You don’t even know the difference between good and bad!”

He let the curtain down and ordered the coachman to leave. Watching the carriage drive off into the dust, Su Jiu kicked a foot out in its direction. She thought indignantly, you don’t know the difference. Your entire family doesn’t know the difference!

The carriage vanished quickly into the sea of people. Su Jiu also rapidly forgot all about Xiao Lie. She smelled the fragrance of the buns laid out by the roadside vendors and realized that she hadn’t eaten her fill. She went over to buy two buns and ate them while she made her way to Sunset Road.

She arrived at the tavern, met up with Chang Huan, and listened to Li Tai’s accounts of the store’s business. Then, the three of them took a carriage and hurried back to Ji Manor. The winter had cut the day short, so by the time they got to Ji Manor, it was about five in the afternoon. The sky was nearly dark. On the way, Su Jiu changed back into women’s clothing, using a cloth to clean her face. By the time they arrived and got out of the carriage, she had once again become the Young Madame of Ji Manor.

The sky was turning to night, and the setting sun’s gleam covered the whole of Ji Manor with a gold dusting. The light infused the pavilions with an even stronger air of magnificence and grace. It was dinnertime, and the servants were in their respective places getting the meal ready. On their way in, they didn’t come across many people.

Once they arrived in the Phoenix Garden, Fan Shi came out of the dining area. He greeted them with a smile, “Young Madame, you’re back!”

Su Jiu nodded and asked as an aside, “Where is Nanny?”

Fan Shi’s eyes were evasive. He said, embarrassed, “I haven’t seen her. She is probably in Young Madame’s bedroom!”

Su Jiu’s suspicions were roused. She turned, headed for the bedroom, and pushed the door open. It was dim inside, but she did not see Nanny. With a frown, Su Jiu left to look for her. She searched in many places in vain. In the reception garden, Chun Liu and Xia He were having a chat. Seeing Su Jiu enter, they immediately stood and greeted her.

“Hello, Young Madame!”

“Where is Nanny?” Su Jiu asked.

“We, we haven’t seen her!” Chun Liu answered immediately.

Su Jiu did not dilly-dally with them. She left. Behind her, Chun Liu and Xia He exchanged a look, their lips pursing into small smiles. In their smirks, there was absolute contempt.