CALID Chapter 68

Knock on the Door

When He Simu woke up, she felt an indescribable sensation all over her body. It started with warmth, then pain, then soreness, both comfortable and uncomfortable. Complex sensations surged within her body, far more stimulating than when she first changed her tactile sense.

She lazily opened her eyes and saw Duan Xu playing with her hair in front of her. He propped up his head with a smile, his fingers circling and hooking in her hair. Their skins were touching, her arms around his waist, legs intertwined with his.

The feeling of their skins touching was subtle yet tantalizing.

Seeing her awake, Duan Xu smiled brightly, “Simu.”

He Simu squinted her eyes and rolled over, pinning him beneath her.

The next moment, she deeply regretted her action. Her body creaked from the movement just now, and the places that hurt before hurt even more. It was like inviting trouble upon herself.

She glanced at the bruises all over her body, then leaned over and stared at Duan Xu, “Duan Xu, are you a dog?”

As soon as she spoke, she froze. Was that her voice? Why did she sound so hoarse?

Duan Xu gently touched her neck and answered affectionately, “You called out for too long yesterday. Now your body is as fragile as any mortal’s.”

He Simu brushed off his hand and angrily said with her hoarse voice, “You knew?”

Duan Xu innocently blinked, pointing to the bite marks on his shoulder, “I think you’re more like a dog.”

He Simu punched his chest, gritting her teeth, “Duan Shunxi, you…”

Before she could finish, Duan Xu lifted his head and silenced her with a kiss. The wet and lingering kiss made He Simu tremble. He let her go and lay down, gently saying, “I was wrong.”

His specialty was apologizing actively without regret.

He hugged her waist and pulled her down. Her already weak body collapsed on him, fitting snugly against him. He stared at her with innocent eyes and asked, “But later, did you feel better? Was it comfortable?”

“…”

The four-hundred-year-old Ghost King, the proactive Ghost King, was blushing at this moment.

She raised her finger at him, threateningly, “You better shut…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the door burst open, and a lively girl jumped in, shouting as she ran, “Third Brother, I heard…”

Duan Jingyuan stared wide-eyed at the chaotic room, at his eldest brother lying on the bed, at the beauty beside him, her bare shoulder exposed. Just as she was about to shout out, her eldest brother quickly covered the beauty’s shoulder with a blanket and put his index finger to his lips.

“Jingyuan! Don’t shout!”

Her scream was choked in her throat by Duan Jingyuan, who stood still for a moment before walking angrily, neither leaving nor staying, and lowering her voice, she scolded, “You… in broad daylight, what have you done to my brother?”

He Simu raised an eyebrow, her face full of disbelief, thinking she misheard.

“You mean me?”

Given the current situation—a man and a woman embracing on a bed, with the man being a general, and the woman covered in bruises—how could someone ask this woman what she did? It was obvious she was the one who had something done to her!

Not to mention the mention of broad daylight, whatever should have been done in the dark had already been done.

Duan Jingyuan nodded vigorously and angrily asked, “What have you done to my pure and innocent brother?”

Her pure and innocent brother burst into laughter upon hearing the words “pure and innocent”.

He Simu squinted at Duan Xu, then turned to Duan Jingyuan, pointing at Duan Xu calmly and confidently, “Your pure and innocent brother, seduced and abandoned me.”

After they finally managed to progress this awkward encounter to a point where they were dressed properly and sitting at the table having a calm conversation, Duan Jingyuan, with her arms crossed, looked back and forth between them with suspicion. Duan Xu poured a cup of water and handed it to the unfamiliar woman next to him.

“Have some tea to soothe your throat,” he said, patting her back.

The unfamiliar woman glared at Duan Xu, then finished the tea in one gulp. Duan Xu refilled her empty cup.

“…”

Duan Jingyuan felt like although there were three people in the room, it felt like there were only two in their eyes. She cleared her throat and said to Duan Xu, “Brother, what’s going on? Just yesterday, Sister-in-law went missing at the wedding, how could you…”

“Yes, you heartless guy, you swore to me in Shuozhou, but then you abandoned me in Nandu to marry someone else. I followed you all the way to Nandu to demand an explanation, and you’re here on someone else’s wedding night…” He Simu timely continued Duan Jingyuan’s words, her voice also hoarse, lifting her sleeve to cover her eyes, appearing sincerely emotional.

Duan Jingyuan choked for a moment, then struggled to ask, “Brother… did you really initiate and abandon her?”

Duan Xu glanced at He Simu’s smiling eyes under her sleeve. He adjusted his expression, sighed deeply, and said, “I didn’t expect you to see me like this.”

He Simu raised an eyebrow.

Duan Xu then took her hand, holding it not too lightly or too heavily, and whispered, “I expressed my love to you countless times in Shuozhou, but because of your family background, you rejected me several times. Disheartened, I returned to Nandu, thinking that besides you, there was no difference in marrying anyone else, so I hastily got married. On the day of the wedding, there was an unexpected incident, and I thought it wouldn’t be fair to involve other women, so I decided not to marry anyone else in my life. When you came looking for me again, I thought you had a change of heart. Overjoyed and unable to control my emotions, I… Have you had a change of heart?”

He squeezed her hand, a hint of cunning in his sorrowful and pitiful eyes, as if to say, “That’s enough, stop pretending.”

He Simu stared at him for a moment, then let go of his hand and hugged him, burying her head in his chest without saying a word.

Duan Jingyuan felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, as if she were watching a play come to life. Could her brother really say such cheesy words? What was going on? Was it her brother with the problem, or was it her, or was it the world?

**Nomad – Duan Jingyuan: I need to wash my eyes with bleach**

She rubbed her temples, trying to organize her thoughts, “Brother, you… no matter what, you have to… be responsible for the girl… But you just made a vow… How can you give her a status? This girl… what’s her name, who is she, and what’s her family background?”

“She’s called He Xiaoxiao, a person of the martial world. She is the only one in her family for several generations. If I want to be with her, I have to marry into her family.” Duan Xu answered smoothly. He Simu raised her eyes from his embrace and added, “Just a mere status, we people of the martial world don’t care.”

“Marriage… as a wife? Just a mere status?”

Duan Jingyuan looked at them puzzled. Having only been to Daizhou and Nandu her whole life, she had never seen anyone from the martial world. She didn’t know that people from the martial world were like this.

Duan Xu patted He Simu’s back, lightly kissed the top of her head, and said to Duan Jingyuan, “Especially to outsiders, especially to Dad, just say she’s Chenying’s sister, who came from the north to visit Chenying, and you’ll need to help take care of her during this time.”

Duan Jingyuan nodded stiffly.

She felt something was off, but because so many things were off this morning that had exceeded her tolerance, even seeing her brother kiss He Xiaoxiao’s hair seemed normal now.

He Xiaoxiao yawned, complaining that she was sleepy and wanted to continue sleeping. Her fair arm stretched out from her sleeve, revealing various kiss marks. Duan Jingyuan immediately covered her eyes, and from between her fingers, she saw her brother smiling as he pulled He Xiaoxiao’s arm, lifted her up, put her back on the bed, took off her shoes, covered her with a blanket, and instructed her to rest well.

Then Duan Xu turned around, put his arm around Duan Jingyuan’s shoulder, and led her out of his room.

“Remember to knock before entering my room in the future.”

“Who would have thought there would be… someone else in your room.”

“You’ll find out later.”

Duan Jingyuan took a few steps, then stopped and turned back to carefully observe her brother’s expression. She asked in confusion, “I thought you were upset about yesterday’s events. Aren’t you worried about Miss Wang? Aren’t you being a bit heartless?”

Even Duan Jingyuan, who usually prioritized Duan Xu, couldn’t help but question him. Duan Xu patted Duan Jingyuan’s shoulder, smiling brightly, “Naturally, I still need to find Miss Wang. But worrying and feeling upset are useless. However, if anyone asks, remember to tell them that I’m indeed very upset and worried. It’s best to say that I can’t eat or sleep and toss and turn all night.”

Duan Jingyuan widened her eyes, watching Duan Xu put on a heavy-hearted expression and walk out of the courtyard. She stood stiffly in place for a while. How could she have ever wanted to marry someone like her third brother?

Her third brother was too heartless!

She couldn’t help but really start to doubt whether her brother had seduced and abandoned He Xiaoxiao.

On the second day of the wedding farce, Duan Xu received a resounding slap from his father as soon as he saw him.

Duan Xu didn’t dodge. The red marks from the five fingers gradually appeared on his face. He lowered his eyes and subtly curved his lips, looking up at Duan Chengzhang standing in front of him.

His father, usually weak and frail, would always sit whenever possible. But now, he stood before Duan Xu, full of rage. Pointing at him, he scolded, “How could you act so impulsively? Do you know who was present at the banquet? You made such a heavy oath on the spot. Do you think you can conquer Danzhi within a few years just by going to the border? What will happen in the future?”

Duan Xu remained silent, allowing his father to scold him until he started coughing. Then, as if thawed, he reached out to help his father calm down, whispering, “Huqi people insulted me so much that I was too angry and lost control of my words.”

Duan Chengzhang pointed at him, his finger trembling for a long time before he reluctantly dropped his hand with a sigh. Duan family’s offspring were already not numerous, and with Duan Xu’s words, he couldn’t remarry for many years. Even if there was an illegitimate child from the concubine, they wouldn’t be considered legitimate.

If it weren’t for Duan Yiqi among the grandchildren, he would have been fainted from the anger caused by Duan Xu.

Now that things had come to this, with the beating and the scolding, after a moment of silence, Duan Chengzhang said, “This matter is not entirely without benefits.”

In the case of the use of witchcraft by Consort Yu, Sun Zian’s household was raided. Not only did it confirm the corruption case of Ma Zheng, but also uncovered many other instances of corruption and misconduct. Jing Yan was a stern loyalist; to prevent any complications, he directly presented the evidence to the emperor. The emperor did not escalate the matter publicly but subtly dealt with the involved officials. Qin Huanda, who was most deeply involved, was demoted, losing his real power in the military.

With General Qin Huanda losing his authority and the Duke of Pei’s influence in the military being greatly damaged, Du Xiang naturally sought to capitalize on this and expand his power in the military. Considering the official positions and ranks, there was no one more suitable than Duan Xu.

Duan Chengzhang briefly explained the situation to Duan Xu, speaking solemnly, “Although I am reluctant, Du Xiang has made it clear. I have no choice. You will probably have to stay in the military in the future. Your bold words from yesterday will spread throughout the capital in no time. Once the emperor hears them, he will surely appreciate you. It may be the only benefit in this situation.”

Duan Xu smiled calmly and replied, “I will follow Father’s arrangements.”

The plan went smoothly, much to their relief. Author’s note: Duan Jingyuan: What should I do? It seems like my brother is a scoundrel