Chapter 5.04 – Spread Your Root

Xu Yan Ze’s expression was dark but he remained silent. Narrowing his eyes at Xiang Han, he turned around and headed for the bath.

Touching his nose, Xiang Han managed to persuade the old madam to leave before he silently went in.

The old madam’s expression was terrible. After leaving Chenghui Courtyard, she turned towards Wang Shi, who was supporting her, “This Yan lad isn’t loyal. I suspect there’s something up with him.”

Wang Shi nodded furiously, adding, “Definitely! Old Madam, earlier on you were too excited and didn’t see it. The bump on the young master’s head that’s as big as a thumb is most likely because… the young mistress pushed him.”

“That actually happened?” The old madam was shocked.

Wang Shi immediately exaggerated, “Why would I lie to you? Your old servant personally saw it. It’s even become blue-black.”

Eyebrows knitting, the old madam’s expression changed again, but she finally said, “Once he married into our family, Xiao Bao recovered. This shows the lad has good fortune. We’re the ones receiving good luck, so we’ll just pretend we don’t know of this. Except…”

She hesitated upon speaking to this point. Patting Wang Shi’s hands, she continued, “Xiao Bao is young and naive while that Yan lad doesn’t care for him. If they were to get into a conflict, it wouldn’t be good. You just need to help me watch over them.”

“I will.” Wang Shi bowed and nodded.

In the room, hot water had already been prepared. When Xiang Han entered, Xu Yan Ze was in the middle of undoing his belt. Seeing him come in, the other person glanced at him, expression unchanged.

However, it was Xiang Han who felt awkward instead. Watching Jin Cui holding a washcloth coming in after him, he hurriedly stepped back, his face red. In a small voice, he reminded, “I requested for the water.”

Xu Yan Ze had already stripped and laid inside the tub, letting out a comfortable groan. How long had it been since he could properly enjoy a hot bath? This little fool truly knew how to enjoy life.

Seeing that Xu Yan Ze didn’t seem to have heard him, Xiang Han couldn’t help taking another step forward, “Hey, this water is…”

Suddenly, Xu Yan Ze opened his eyes. They were filled with caution and iciness that even he had not noticed, frightening Xiang Han who hurriedly choked, “S-Since Wifey likes it, Wifey can have it. Your hubby will call for another.”

Unexpectedly, Xu Yan Ze laughed, his laughter containing a trace of perverse evil. Thinking of the soft white body, he abruptly reached out to touch the other person’s face and teased, “Why bother? Husband and wife are of one body… Hub– cough –by shouldn’t mind. Let’s bathe together.”

“No, no…” An ominous feeling washed over Xiang Han and he hurriedly backed away.

But Xu Yan Ze didn’t give him a chance. After releasing his cheeks, his hands grabbed Xiang Han’s arms and dragged him in.

Unable to resist, Xiang Han fell headfirst into the tub and swallowed a mouthful of water. Looking at Xiang Han’s drenched-rat appearance and how he was unable to hide himself, it further provoked his lust. So Xu Yan Ze reached his hands deeper in to grope him.

Xiang Han was simply startled and fell backwards, his back pressed tightly against the wall of the tub while his hands hugged his chest nervously, “W-What do you want to do? Granny is still waiting for us to go out and serve tea.”

Xu Yan Ze waggled his eyebrows, grinning, “Of course it’s to serve Hubby… in bathing.”

Without waiting for Xiang Han’s cry of surprise, he pulled the other person into his arms and in just two moves, peeled off all his clothes. Then, he washed Xiang Han thoroughly from head to toe, especially his soft and tender waist. It would probably feel extremely comfortable to hold him to sleep. He rubbed for a long time while complimenting, “You feel pretty good.”

With a bitter expression, Xiang Han finally managed to crawl out of the tub with much difficulty. He covered his most important parts and hurriedly put on his clothes.

The amusement in Xu Yan Ze’s eyes grew deeper. He suddenly felt that transmigrating wasn’t bad. He could eat and drink his fill and even had a wife; it was much better than his life in the post-apocalyptic world.

They quickly finished up everything and before they could leave, Jin Cui called out to them hesitantly, “Young Master, the young mistress… hasn’t put on any makeup yet.”

Xu Yan Ze’s lips twitched and Xiang Han had to hold his stomach to endure the laughter threatening to burst out.

“About that… the young mistress – cough – was born naturally – cough – beautiful. He doesn’t need those things.” Xiang Han’s face had turned red from holding it in. Xu Yan Ze harshly pinched his fingertips.

“But later, when you meet your great aunts and the others… you should at least put on some powder and touch up your eyebrows,” Jin Cui said nervously, unable to get used to Xiang Han’s sudden change. In the past, apart from Wang Shi, she held the most power in Chenghui Courtyard and her words were absolute. Even Jin Bao Han listened to her.

Xiang Han pondered for a moment before he said, “Bring it here.”

Jin Cui grew gleeful, thinking to herself that the young master still heeded her words.

On the other hand, Xu Yan Ze’s face had turned dark. He gritted his teeth, “You dare?”

“Uh, it’s just a little. It’ll be very little, you can’t even tell,” Xiang Han convinced him softly. He definitely wouldn’t admit that this was revenge for pinching him earlier.

“You seem very clear on this?” Xu Yan Ze snorted lightly, glancing at the person who resembled a hamster awaiting its death, looking at him nervously. He couldn’t help pinching Xiang Han’s face and immediately felt better, making a reluctant sound of agreement.

Xiang Han’s eyes lit up. When Jin Cui came back, he quickly took it from her and tip-toed to help Xu Yan Ze touch up his eyebrows. Feeling ticklish, Xu Yan Ze grabbed his hand.

Xiang Han was forced to stop, and asked, “What is it?”

When Xu Yan Ze laughed, his voice carried a trace of evil, giving Xiang Han a bad feeling. He hurriedly struggled to break free as the eyebrow powder was taken from him. Then, his chin was seized.

“Wurt are vou fuving?” Xiang Han shook his head furiously, his words unclear.

Jin Cui was also dumbfounded, “Young Mistress, h-how can you be so disrespectful? Release the young master…”

Ignoring her, Xu Yan Ze told Xiang Han, “Stop moving.”

Xiang Han immediately froze, staring at him with wide tearful eyes.

He was indeed like a hamster! Xu Yan Ze secretly thought before dipping his finger into the makeup and drawing on the other person’s brows. After he was done, he finally released Xiang Han and stood to the side, laughing hollowly.

Xiang Han had a bad feeling when he saw Jin Cui’s flabbergasted expression and dashed into the washroom. He didn’t even look into the mirror before grabbing a washcloth to furiously wipe at his face.

Xu Yan Ze, who had followed behind, gave a light cough, “Why did you wipe it off? You look quite cute.”

He turned towards the mirror and stared at it for a moment, nodding, “Indeed, it isn’t too obvious.” It was just a little – cough – tender.

“Do you think that I’m you?” Xiang Han threw off the cloth, feeling depressed, “Let’s go. Granny is waiting for us.”

Xu Yan Ze stared at the mirror a little while longer before he shrugged, frowning.

The two of them didn’t tarry any further and quickly arrived in the main hall. But even so, they were already quite late.

A woman sitting by the old madam’s side saw them arrive and laughed mockingly, “Ah, the sun has already risen to the height of three poles1. Your arrogance is truly great to keep so many people waiting.”

Xu Yan Ze’s forehead throbbed. What was going on? Did he come here to get involved in a power struggle ?

Meanwhile, Xiang Han turned away and laughed nervously, pulling Xu Yan Ze along to pay respects to the old madam before greeting the woman, “Aunt.”

Jin Su Rong’s hands trembled and nearly knocked over the teacup in shock, “Y-You’ve really recovered?”

Xiang Han revealed a toothy grin while the old madam turned unhappy, “Didn’t I already say so, why are you so shocked?”

“No… I was just feeling happy for Mother,” Jin Su Rong laughed awkwardly.

The old madam snorted lightly, while instructing Lady Li to bring the tea.

The tea ceremony required them to kneel on the ground. Xu Yan Ze was extremely uncomfortable, but since he was using another person’s identity, he felt a sense of responsibility. Moreover, the old madam was very old, so it wasn’t a big deal for him to kneel.

The old madam’s face creased with laughter. Without waiting for their knees to touch the floor, she already instructed her servants to help them up. “Good,” she said as she bestowed the bracelet from her wrist to Xu Yan Ze, “Since you’ve entered the Jin family, you must follow the rules and uphold your responsibility to help Xiao Bao spread his roots2.”

Xu Yan Ze’s smile didn’t reach his eyes and he almost let out a sarcastic ‘hehe’.

Remembering the matter about the fruit, Xiang Han’s heart was practically in tears.

After paying their respects to the old madam, Lady Li brought them in front of other people and introduced them one by one.

The Jin family had many branches but the main branch had Lord Jin, as the only master. The lord passed away many years ago, leaving behind three sons and two daughters. However, of the five, only the youngest son and the eldest daughter were born from the main wife while the others came from concubines.

The eldest daughter who just spoke was Jin Su Rong, while the youngest son was called Jin Xue Li, also known as Jin Bao Han’s father. He was the Third Master of the Jin manor but went crazy from studying and was locked up in the rear courtyard by the old madam. He wasn’t even allowed to attend the tea ceremony today.

Out of the other two concubine-born children, the eldest was called Jin Xue Ren, while the second eldest was called Jin Xue Yi. It was likely that they’d been beaten into obedience from a young age, so they dared not show any hint of defiance in front of the old madam.

Throughout the entire tea ceremony, neither Xiang Han nor Xu Yan Ze completely knelt down before they were told to ‘not stand on ceremony’ and helped up. Standing beside them, the woman’s smile was extremely forced. Her fists were tightly clenched when she said, “The heavens have truly blessed us, our Xiao Bao has finally recovered.”

Xu Yan Ze inwardly raised an eyebrow in response. When they finally returned to Chenghui Courtyard, he threw himself onto the rattan chair without any regard for his image and ordered a servant to bring food. Then, he tried to probe, “Looking at the situation earlier, after you became clear-headed, your relatives didn’t seem that happy?”

Xiang Han frowned, and just as he wanted to reply, “Isn’t that very normal?” He paused. Thinking of it from another perspective, Jin Bao Han had just recovered so he shouldn’t know about such agendas. Therefore, he quickly changed his words and feigned ignorance, “Who said so? My aunt was clearly very happy. Didn’t she give you a hairpin and a bracelet?”

Speaking of this, Xu Yan Ze’s face darkened. He beckoned, “Come here.”

Xiang Han had a bad feeling and hesitated, “What is it?”

“Tch, I’m calling you to come over.” Xu Yan Ze got up and dragged him into his embrace before arranging all the jewellery into a row. Then, he carefully selected the brighter looking ones and put them on Xiang Han.

Xiang Han was stunned and finally began to struggle, “What are you doing? These are for you.”

“I think they look nicer on you.” Xu Yan Ze narrowed his eyes as he slipped the jade bangle onto Xiang Han’s wrist and began to admire it.

The lustrous emerald hue of the jade contrasted against his milky-white skin, causing it to appear like a pure crystal under the sunlight. This made Xu Yan Ze remember the phrase ‘as pure as jade’. Although it wasn’t appropriate to describe a man in this way, he couldn’t help loving it. Touching the bracelet on Xiang Han’s wrist, Xu Yan Ze was suddenly overcome with the desire to kiss him.

***

1

[1] a unit of measuring time in China by the ancient people.

2

[2]开枝散叶: here refers to the flowering/blooming of a great big tree. The implication here is that Xu Yan Ze needs to help Xiang Han create a big family by giving birth

Chapter 5.04 – Spread Your Root

Xu Yan Ze’s expression was dark but he remained silent. Narrowing his eyes at Xiang Han, he turned around and headed for the bath.

Touching his nose, Xiang Han managed to persuade the old madam to leave before he silently went in.

The old madam’s expression was terrible. After leaving Chenghui Courtyard, she turned towards Wang Shi, who was supporting her, “This Yan lad isn’t loyal. I suspect there’s something up with him.”

Wang Shi nodded furiously, adding, “Definitely! Old Madam, earlier on you were too excited and didn’t see it. The bump on the young master’s head that’s as big as a thumb is most likely because… the young mistress pushed him.”

“That actually happened?” The old madam was shocked.

Wang Shi immediately exaggerated, “Why would I lie to you? Your old servant personally saw it. It’s even become blue-black.”

Eyebrows knitting, the old madam’s expression changed again, but she finally said, “Once he married into our family, Xiao Bao recovered. This shows the lad has good fortune. We’re the ones receiving good luck, so we’ll just pretend we don’t know of this. Except…”

She hesitated upon speaking to this point. Patting Wang Shi’s hands, she continued, “Xiao Bao is young and naive while that Yan lad doesn’t care for him. If they were to get into a conflict, it wouldn’t be good. You just need to help me watch over them.”

“I will.” Wang Shi bowed and nodded.

In the room, hot water had already been prepared. When Xiang Han entered, Xu Yan Ze was in the middle of undoing his belt. Seeing him come in, the other person glanced at him, expression unchanged.

However, it was Xiang Han who felt awkward instead. Watching Jin Cui holding a washcloth coming in after him, he hurriedly stepped back, his face red. In a small voice, he reminded, “I requested for the water.”

Xu Yan Ze had already stripped and laid inside the tub, letting out a comfortable groan. How long had it been since he could properly enjoy a hot bath? This little fool truly knew how to enjoy life.

Seeing that Xu Yan Ze didn’t seem to have heard him, Xiang Han couldn’t help taking another step forward, “Hey, this water is…”

Suddenly, Xu Yan Ze opened his eyes. They were filled with caution and iciness that even he had not noticed, frightening Xiang Han who hurriedly choked, “S-Since Wifey likes it, Wifey can have it. Your hubby will call for another.”

Unexpectedly, Xu Yan Ze laughed, his laughter containing a trace of perverse evil. Thinking of the soft white body, he abruptly reached out to touch the other person’s face and teased, “Why bother? Husband and wife are of one body… Hub– cough –by shouldn’t mind. Let’s bathe together.”

“No, no…” An ominous feeling washed over Xiang Han and he hurriedly backed away.

But Xu Yan Ze didn’t give him a chance. After releasing his cheeks, his hands grabbed Xiang Han’s arms and dragged him in.

Unable to resist, Xiang Han fell headfirst into the tub and swallowed a mouthful of water. Looking at Xiang Han’s drenched-rat appearance and how he was unable to hide himself, it further provoked his lust. So Xu Yan Ze reached his hands deeper in to grope him.

Xiang Han was simply startled and fell backwards, his back pressed tightly against the wall of the tub while his hands hugged his chest nervously, “W-What do you want to do? Granny is still waiting for us to go out and serve tea.”

Xu Yan Ze waggled his eyebrows, grinning, “Of course it’s to serve Hubby… in bathing.”

Without waiting for Xiang Han’s cry of surprise, he pulled the other person into his arms and in just two moves, peeled off all his clothes. Then, he washed Xiang Han thoroughly from head to toe, especially his soft and tender waist. It would probably feel extremely comfortable to hold him to sleep. He rubbed for a long time while complimenting, “You feel pretty good.”

With a bitter expression, Xiang Han finally managed to crawl out of the tub with much difficulty. He covered his most important parts and hurriedly put on his clothes.

The amusement in Xu Yan Ze’s eyes grew deeper. He suddenly felt that transmigrating wasn’t bad. He could eat and drink his fill and even had a wife; it was much better than his life in the post-apocalyptic world.

They quickly finished up everything and before they could leave, Jin Cui called out to them hesitantly, “Young Master, the young mistress… hasn’t put on any makeup yet.”

Xu Yan Ze’s lips twitched and Xiang Han had to hold his stomach to endure the laughter threatening to burst out.

“About that… the young mistress – cough – was born naturally – cough – beautiful. He doesn’t need those things.” Xiang Han’s face had turned red from holding it in. Xu Yan Ze harshly pinched his fingertips.

“But later, when you meet your great aunts and the others… you should at least put on some powder and touch up your eyebrows,” Jin Cui said nervously, unable to get used to Xiang Han’s sudden change. In the past, apart from Wang Shi, she held the most power in Chenghui Courtyard and her words were absolute. Even Jin Bao Han listened to her.

Xiang Han pondered for a moment before he said, “Bring it here.”

Jin Cui grew gleeful, thinking to herself that the young master still heeded her words.

On the other hand, Xu Yan Ze’s face had turned dark. He gritted his teeth, “You dare?”

“Uh, it’s just a little. It’ll be very little, you can’t even tell,” Xiang Han convinced him softly. He definitely wouldn’t admit that this was revenge for pinching him earlier.

“You seem very clear on this?” Xu Yan Ze snorted lightly, glancing at the person who resembled a hamster awaiting its death, looking at him nervously. He couldn’t help pinching Xiang Han’s face and immediately felt better, making a reluctant sound of agreement.

Xiang Han’s eyes lit up. When Jin Cui came back, he quickly took it from her and tip-toed to help Xu Yan Ze touch up his eyebrows. Feeling ticklish, Xu Yan Ze grabbed his hand.

Xiang Han was forced to stop, and asked, “What is it?”

When Xu Yan Ze laughed, his voice carried a trace of evil, giving Xiang Han a bad feeling. He hurriedly struggled to break free as the eyebrow powder was taken from him. Then, his chin was seized.

“Wurt are vou fuving?” Xiang Han shook his head furiously, his words unclear.

Jin Cui was also dumbfounded, “Young Mistress, h-how can you be so disrespectful? Release the young master…”

Ignoring her, Xu Yan Ze told Xiang Han, “Stop moving.”

Xiang Han immediately froze, staring at him with wide tearful eyes.

He was indeed like a hamster! Xu Yan Ze secretly thought before dipping his finger into the makeup and drawing on the other person’s brows. After he was done, he finally released Xiang Han and stood to the side, laughing hollowly.

Xiang Han had a bad feeling when he saw Jin Cui’s flabbergasted expression and dashed into the washroom. He didn’t even look into the mirror before grabbing a washcloth to furiously wipe at his face.

Xu Yan Ze, who had followed behind, gave a light cough, “Why did you wipe it off? You look quite cute.”

He turned towards the mirror and stared at it for a moment, nodding, “Indeed, it isn’t too obvious.” It was just a little – cough – tender.

“Do you think that I’m you?” Xiang Han threw off the cloth, feeling depressed, “Let’s go. Granny is waiting for us.”

Xu Yan Ze stared at the mirror a little while longer before he shrugged, frowning.

The two of them didn’t tarry any further and quickly arrived in the main hall. But even so, they were already quite late.

A woman sitting by the old madam’s side saw them arrive and laughed mockingly, “Ah, the sun has already risen to the height of three poles1. Your arrogance is truly great to keep so many people waiting.”

Xu Yan Ze’s forehead throbbed. What was going on? Did he come here to get involved in a power struggle ?

Meanwhile, Xiang Han turned away and laughed nervously, pulling Xu Yan Ze along to pay respects to the old madam before greeting the woman, “Aunt.”

Jin Su Rong’s hands trembled and nearly knocked over the teacup in shock, “Y-You’ve really recovered?”

Xiang Han revealed a toothy grin while the old madam turned unhappy, “Didn’t I already say so, why are you so shocked?”

“No… I was just feeling happy for Mother,” Jin Su Rong laughed awkwardly.

The old madam snorted lightly, while instructing Lady Li to bring the tea.

The tea ceremony required them to kneel on the ground. Xu Yan Ze was extremely uncomfortable, but since he was using another person’s identity, he felt a sense of responsibility. Moreover, the old madam was very old, so it wasn’t a big deal for him to kneel.

The old madam’s face creased with laughter. Without waiting for their knees to touch the floor, she already instructed her servants to help them up. “Good,” she said as she bestowed the bracelet from her wrist to Xu Yan Ze, “Since you’ve entered the Jin family, you must follow the rules and uphold your responsibility to help Xiao Bao spread his roots2.”

Xu Yan Ze’s smile didn’t reach his eyes and he almost let out a sarcastic ‘hehe’.

Remembering the matter about the fruit, Xiang Han’s heart was practically in tears.

After paying their respects to the old madam, Lady Li brought them in front of other people and introduced them one by one.

The Jin family had many branches but the main branch had Lord Jin, as the only master. The lord passed away many years ago, leaving behind three sons and two daughters. However, of the five, only the youngest son and the eldest daughter were born from the main wife while the others came from concubines.

The eldest daughter who just spoke was Jin Su Rong, while the youngest son was called Jin Xue Li, also known as Jin Bao Han’s father. He was the Third Master of the Jin manor but went crazy from studying and was locked up in the rear courtyard by the old madam. He wasn’t even allowed to attend the tea ceremony today.

Out of the other two concubine-born children, the eldest was called Jin Xue Ren, while the second eldest was called Jin Xue Yi. It was likely that they’d been beaten into obedience from a young age, so they dared not show any hint of defiance in front of the old madam.

Throughout the entire tea ceremony, neither Xiang Han nor Xu Yan Ze completely knelt down before they were told to ‘not stand on ceremony’ and helped up. Standing beside them, the woman’s smile was extremely forced. Her fists were tightly clenched when she said, “The heavens have truly blessed us, our Xiao Bao has finally recovered.”

Xu Yan Ze inwardly raised an eyebrow in response. When they finally returned to Chenghui Courtyard, he threw himself onto the rattan chair without any regard for his image and ordered a servant to bring food. Then, he tried to probe, “Looking at the situation earlier, after you became clear-headed, your relatives didn’t seem that happy?”

Xiang Han frowned, and just as he wanted to reply, “Isn’t that very normal?” He paused. Thinking of it from another perspective, Jin Bao Han had just recovered so he shouldn’t know about such agendas. Therefore, he quickly changed his words and feigned ignorance, “Who said so? My aunt was clearly very happy. Didn’t she give you a hairpin and a bracelet?”

Speaking of this, Xu Yan Ze’s face darkened. He beckoned, “Come here.”

Xiang Han had a bad feeling and hesitated, “What is it?”

“Tch, I’m calling you to come over.” Xu Yan Ze got up and dragged him into his embrace before arranging all the jewellery into a row. Then, he carefully selected the brighter looking ones and put them on Xiang Han.

Xiang Han was stunned and finally began to struggle, “What are you doing? These are for you.”

“I think they look nicer on you.” Xu Yan Ze narrowed his eyes as he slipped the jade bangle onto Xiang Han’s wrist and began to admire it.

The lustrous emerald hue of the jade contrasted against his milky-white skin, causing it to appear like a pure crystal under the sunlight. This made Xu Yan Ze remember the phrase ‘as pure as jade’. Although it wasn’t appropriate to describe a man in this way, he couldn’t help loving it. Touching the bracelet on Xiang Han’s wrist, Xu Yan Ze was suddenly overcome with the desire to kiss him.

***

1

[1] a unit of measuring time in China by the ancient people.

2

[2]开枝散叶: here refers to the flowering/blooming of a great big tree. The implication here is that Xu Yan Ze needs to help Xiang Han create a big family by giving birth