The Grand Secretary’s Pampered Wife

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S T E L L A R C L O U D

[Galetron]

O R A N G E S T A R

[Alma S.] [Azurixa] [Christine G.-L.] [K.Rom]

[Lily J.] [Nevy] [Ziana K.-P.]

Y E L L O W S T A R

[Anasi G.] [Jwyla C.] [Passerby] [Xena]

G O L D S T A R

[Anne C.]

R A I N B O W S T A R

[Debra W] [Smurfinbatik]

T H E S U N

[Kiiayame]

C E L E S T I A L C O N Q U E R O R

[Antonny C.] [Ava C.] [kuroneko_chan] [Manon]

[Raquel G.] [Sophia W.] [Val Nes] [Woon Li Ying]

Also, many thanks to everyone who bought me coffee (*≧∀≦*)

The stone crevice hidden within the wall was not large at all. Shangguan Qing curled up inside it, and his tall, slender figure looked especially pitiful in the cramped space.

The luminous pearls embedded in the walls cast a gentle, moist glow, their pale light falling upon Shangguan Qing’s pallid and handsome face.

This was the first time Marquis Xuanping had taken a proper, serious look at the son he had been reunited with only after twenty long years.

His features were nearly identical to those of Xiao Heng.

This was not his original face, but one altered to resemble Xiao Heng. Over the years, in order to prevent anyone from discovering that he was not Shangguan Yan’s biological son, he had been disguising himself as Xiao Heng all along.

The thought made Marquis Xuanping feel a pang in his heart.

He crouched down on the ground, both nervous and hopeful as he looked intently at his son.

He wanted to speak, but the words refused to come out.

They say military men were clumsy with words, but that wasn’t true for him.

Yet in this moment, thousands of words clogged his throat, and to his own surprise, he stammered.

Unable to utter a sound, he hesitated for a moment, then cautiously extended a finger and gently poked his son’s shoulder.

It was done with such incredible care, as if terrified that his son might dislike being touched.

The warmth beneath his fingertip was scalding. He paused, slightly startled.

“Chang Jing!”

“What?”

Chang Jing was in the middle of racking his brain for a way to salvage his cover identity.

“The flamestick!” Marquis Xuanping said, his voice serious.

Having followed Marquis Xuanping for so long, Chang Jing could tell that whenever Lord Marquis dropped his usual unserious tone, it meant something was truly wrong.

He quickly retrieved a flamestick from inside his robe, blew on it to ignite a flame, and held it up to shine some light forward.

Marquis Xuanping began examining Shangguan Qing’s body for any signs of broken bones or visible injuries. Once he confirmed there were none, he moved on to check his pulse and breath.

He wasn’t a physician, but years of martial practice had trained him well enough to detect internal injuries.

“No internal damage either. Why is he so weak, then?”

“He looks like he’s about to die.” Chang Jing replied.

Marquis Xuanping’s fist clenched so tightly it made a loud cracking noise. “Chang Jing!”

Chang Jing immediately stepped back three paces to avoid being caught in the blast of someone’s fury.

But Chang Jing wasn’t wrong. Shangguan Qing truly was on the verge of collapse. The poison in his system was flaring up again, and without the antidote on him, he wouldn’t hold out much longer.

“Could it be the poison acting up…” A grim suspicion surfaced in Marquis Xuanping’s heart. Shangguan Yan had once said that the poison only acted up a few times each month, and that the antidote was always kept on hand...

Yet Marquis Xuanping hadn’t found the antidote on him.

His expression turned grave.

In a swift motion, he stripped off his armor, then lifted his son onto his back, striding out with long, determined steps.

“Where are we going?” Chang Jing asked.

“To the southern gate.” Marquis Xuanping said, his tone firm.

Gu Jiao was there.

Chang Jing glanced at the trail of fresh blood drops leading all the way across the floor but didn’t mention the wound on Marquis Xuanping’s shoulder that still needed tending in the end.

He only asked, “Why take off the armor?” The Jin troops were still outside; it was dangerous.

Marquis Xuanping replied casually, “The armor’s hard.”

It would dig into his son.

They had entered through a tunnel dug by the Jin army, with the exit located in a village. At this hour, the Jin soldiers were busy pouring fire oil around the perimeter, so the village itself was temporarily empty.

Marquis Xuanping saw a sliver of light shining through the cave’s exit. Just as he was about to step out with his son on his back, a tall figure suddenly appeared, swiftly blocking the way with a raised firelance pointed directly at the entrance.

Marquis Xuanping froze mid-step.

Chang Jing halted behind him as well.

Marquis Xuanping’s eyes turned cold as they locked onto the unexpected figure of Elder Lu. His voice dropped low and threatening. “Move aside. This Marquis has no desire to kill.”

Elder Lu said, “If you were able to shake off Gongsun Yu, then it seems you really do have some skills. I may not be your match, but the thing I’m holding, you might not be able to withstand it.”

It wasn’t that he might not be able to withstand it, he absolutely couldn’t!

Marquis Xuanping didn’t recognize the weapon in Elder Lu’s hand and felt no particular fear toward it, fully intending to charge forward just like that.

But at that very moment, Shangguan Qing, slung across his back, seemed to sense something. From the brink of unconsciousness, he regained the faintest shred of awareness.

His eyelids fluttered open in a daze, and his cheeks were flushed crimson from the fever.

He cast a vague glance at the firelance in Elder Lu’s hands and weakly murmured, “Don’t worry. He’s holding it backwards.”

His voice was barely audible, yet Elder Lu, with his sharp hearing, caught it nonetheless.

Elder Lu’s brows drew together in a tight frown, and he hurriedly turned the weapon around, at which point Marquis Xuanping seized the opportunity and leapt forward.

Unfortunately, Marquis Xuanping still underestimated the speed of the firelance.

It was far faster than a bow or crossbow!

The instant Elder Lu pulled the trigger, there was a deafening bang, and Marquis Xuanping froze in mid-air.

What the——

What even was that thing!?

But it wasn’t Marquis Xuanping who was hit; Elder Lu himself was blasted straight back by the force of the weapon!

The firelance clattered to the ground.

Shangguan Qing, slumped over Marquis Xuanping’s shoulder, muttered with a laugh, “Heh… dumbass.”

Marquis Xuanping: “???”

Shangguan Qing, muddled by high fever and delirium, had no idea the man carrying him was his biological father, let alone that his offhand comment had left said father frozen in utter shock.

All he knew was that this broad, solid back felt warm and secure.

He lay limply against his father’s shoulders, eyes shut, head swimming with heat, and continued murmuring in a dazed slur, “Don’t worry. Once we’re out, Brother Qing’s got your back. There’ll be drinks to share and girls to sleep with.”

The enemy hadn’t managed to bring Marquis Xuanping down, but that last line from his own son nearly made him stumble and tumble headfirst into a ditch.

——I think I finally understand why Qin Fengwan always wants to beat me to death!

The fledgling brat known as Shangguan Qing passed out right after bragging.

And Marquis Xuanping was about to pass out too. In his forty years of life, he had never experienced such emotional earthquakes.

It was all Ah Heng’s fault. His upright, disciplined demeanor had single-handedly set the standard for how he expected all his sons to behave.

Thankfully, Shangguan Yan and Mu Qingchen had arrived just then.

The moment the two of them spotted the frozen, stone-still Marquis Xuanping standing at the cave entrance with someone slung across his back, they knew.

“Qing’er!”

Shangguan Yan, being his mother, recognized Shangguan Qing in an instant, even with his face turned away.

She rushed forward at once, stopping before Marquis Xuanping. She didn’t ask why he was here. Her only concern was, “Is Qing’er having a poison attack?”

Marquis Xuanping returned to his senses and replied, “I’m not sure. He’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Let me take a look.” Shangguan Yan said, reaching out to hold her son.

Marquis Xuanping gently lowered the boy from his back, knelt on one knee, and carefully placed him into Shangguan Yan’s arms so she could examine him more easily.

“It’s the poison.” Shangguan Yan confirmed.

Having nursed Shangguan Qing through countless flare-ups since childhood, Shangguan Yan was already very adept at recognizing the signs.

She pulled out the porcelain bottle she had been clutching tightly the entire time, removed the stopper, and took out a single pill.

“Need water?” Marquis Xuanping asked.

“No need. This type of medicine melts instantly on the tongue.” Shangguan Yan replied, placing the pill into Shangguan Qing’s mouth. “When he was little, he had trouble swallowing. The Imperial Advisor modified the formula so he could take it more easily.”

Marquis Xuanping fell silent.

It was hard for him to even imagine how this son had managed to grow up at all.

“You… You’ve worked hard.”

Caring for a sick child was far more difficult than raising a healthy one.

Shangguan Yan’s hand, which had been wiping sweat from her son’s forehead, suddenly froze. In a quiet voice, she said, “I’m just glad you don’t hate me.”

Marquis Xuanping let out a sigh. “Let’s not talk about the past anymore.”

Shangguan Yan knelt on the ground, gently wiping her son’s palm. As she wrung out the cloth, she asked quietly, “Do you think Xinyang will hate me?”

Marquis Xuanping paused for a moment before replying, “I don’t know.”

Raz P.'s Thoughts

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Description:

In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.

When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.

The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.

From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.

***

Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.

After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"

Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"

Jiang Baiyan: ...?

—

After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"

Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"

Jiang Baiyan: ...?

—

Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”

Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."

Jiang Baiyan: ...?

He hasn't finished his lines yet though…