Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Chapter 165: True Strength! Never Complains About Circumstances! (2 / 2)

Huang Yong: ???

Jealousy! Xu Yanmiao must be jealous!

[Damn! No wonder it’s so good!]

The sudden outburst almost made the old emperor choke on his fruit. He looked over, baffled.

What just happened?

Xu Yanmiao quickly revealed the truth.

[Hahaha—]

[Huang Langzhong definitely doesn’t know that his wife loves sweets. She soaks grapes in honey every day, eats over half a bowl herself, and leaves a few at the bottom. Then, she places them on a fancy porcelain plate to serve him when he gets home!]

The revelation hit like a bolt out of the blue, leaving Huang Yong stunned on the spot.

The old emperor took another grape. “These grapes are indeed good.” No wonder someone could eat over half a bowl in one go.

Huang Yong spoke hesitantly, “They are… quite good. My wife enjoys them very much too…” Suddenly, he remembered something, and his spirits lifted. “The orchard in the back garden is all planted by my wife for me!”

“Before we were married, I never considered growing fruits in our own garden. Most of what we had came from the market. But after she joined the household, she asked about my preferences and planted an array of fruit trees in the garden. Now, throughout the year, we always have fresh produce on the table.”

Look! With a wife managing the household, how happy and considerate life is!

But Xu Yanmiao wasn’t impressed.

He added a sarcastic remark: [Buying fruits is so convenient. Growing them yourself is such a hassle.]

[This wife sure doesn’t mind the trouble. Or is it because there are servants to handle everything?]

As he ate grapes, he idly flipped through the system. He admitted to himself that he had way too much free time—normally, he wouldn’t bother investigating something as trivial as another household’s fruit garden.

[Oh—] Xu Yanmiao nearly spat out the grape he was chewing. [She asked about your preferences? Sure, you like fish, but I didn’t see any pond stocked with fish in the backyard, hahaha! She likes grapes, peaches, and such. Oh, I see now. She did ask—she grows things you both like, so they’re always ready at home. Things she likes that you don’t dislike also appear often on the table. But the things you like that she doesn’t? Barely ever seen.]

Huang Yong froze for a moment.

“Is that true?”

Huang Yong focused his thoughts but couldn’t recall anything like it. His memories were of eating and drinking well, with the occasional dish he didn’t particularly love but didn’t dislike either. Life felt comfortable enough!

The small kitchen would serve fish every few days, carefully placed in front of him. His wife, knowing his fondness for fish, never touched it. On the contrary, because he ate so much fish, the other dishes on the table were left untouched, which his wife would then enjoy.

What’s wrong with that?

Before Huang Yong could process it, Xu Yanmiao was already stifling laughter.

[Two people eating four dishes and a soup. Three dishes are the wife’s favorites, one dish is Huang Langzhong’s favorite, carefully placed in front of him, with the soup in the middle to avoid competing for the other dishes! Hahahaha!]

Huang Yong’s hand froze mid-reach for the rabbit jerky. Suddenly, the jerky in front of him didn’t seem so appetizing anymore.

The old emperor: “…”

He began to wonder if bringing Xu Yanmiao here on impulse was a bad idea.

Perhaps it would’ve been better to let the Jin Yiwei investigate instead.

But the Jin Yiwei wouldn’t uncover this kind of thing! They would only report that Huang Yong lived happily and that his wife cared deeply about his preferences.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on this, though!

The old emperor cast a sidelong glance at Huang Yong, signaling him to say something else.

Huang Yong pondered.

What did young men enjoy besides food, drink, and entertainment? Showing off? Flattery? But Xu Yanmiao didn’t seem to care for those things. If he did, he’d already be using his magical artifact for profit.

However… beautiful companions, a gentle hand flipping pages late into the night—surely that appealed to every man…

Huang Yong hesitated briefly, recalling the Minister of Rites and the General.

He couldn’t help but size up Xu Yanmiao. “Xu Lang…”

“Hm?”

“Forgive my boldness, but…” Huang Yong carefully chose his words. “In my family, there is a young lady, 16 years old, intelligent and graceful. While it is said, ‘Marry a virtuous wife,’ my daughter’s beauty is also unmatched. To call her a rare beauty would not be an exaggeration. If Xu Lang is unattached, why not form a union between our families?”

Xu Yanmiao immediately declined.

Huang Yong transitioned smoothly and naturally. “Could it be that Xu Lang prefers gentlemen? In my family, there is also a virtuous young man who…”

Xu Yanmiao refused even more emphatically.

While declining, he internally screamed, his reaction clearly one of strong rejection.

Huang Yong felt a sense of relief.

It seemed Xu Yanmiao indeed didn’t like men, which made things much simpler.

“Is Xu Lang avoiding marriage because of concerns about being controlled by a wife?”

Such blunt remarks would normally be unwelcome, but under imperial orders, Huang Yong had no choice but to brace himself and press on. “There’s no need to worry. Regardless of their nature before marriage, most women devote themselves entirely to their husbands afterward. Take my wife, for instance…”

Although Xu Yanmiao had no inner rebuttal, Huang Yong still paused briefly before continuing.

“She supports me in everything I do. Even knowing I have three confidantes, she encourages me to bring them into the household. When I buy gifts for them, my wife never complains and even tells me that if I’m short on funds, she has her dowry to contribute.”

Huang Yong then enthusiastically described just how wonderful his three confidantes were—each possessing distinct charms: one was cold and elegant, another was playful and charming, and the third was bold and straightforward. Surrounded by these beauties, and with a virtuous wife managing the household and family affairs meticulously, Huang Yong painted a picture of married life as incredibly blissful. He emphasized that if Xu Yanmiao remained unmarried, he would surely regret it.

The old emperor felt a weight lifted from his chest and began eating fruit much faster.

—Surely now, Xu Yanmiao would be interested, right?

Indeed, Xu Yanmiao was intrigued.

[It’s impossible! Psychologically speaking, if it’s true love, there’s no way there wouldn’t be jealousy! Even if she’s not jealous, she’d at least be a little sour, wouldn’t she? And even if the wife had no extra feelings for Huang Langzhong, her dowry is her own—how could she be willing to just hand it over?]

[It doesn’t make sense! Absolutely doesn’t make sense!]

Huang Yong: “???”

The old emperor: “???”

You’ve been listening all this time about how beautiful the women are, and this is what you focus on—whether the wife’s actions make sense?!

The beauties aren’t captivating?

The allure of rouge doesn’t entice you?

[Woohoo! I guarantee there’s something fishy going on here!]

Xu Yanmiao’s enthusiasm erupted. He dove into his system, investigating furiously.

[Ah-ha!]

His obsidian-like eyes sparkled with delight.

Huang Yong’s heart suddenly raced, an ominous feeling washing over him.

Could it be… Could it be that the person behind those letters is actually a man?! Is that why Zhenzhen, Ai’ai, and Lianlian have refused to meet him in person?!

No! No way! Please let it not be true!

Huang Yong’s grip on his teacup tightened, waiting anxiously, his nerves frazzled.

Xu Yanmiao casually picked up a piece of peach, biting into it with a satisfying crunch.

[As expected, true powerhouses never complain about their circumstances.]

[Impressive! This wife, upon discovering her husband’s philandering nature, simply decided to play all three roles herself. During festivals, she receives gifts in triplicate—no, quadruplicate!]

[No wonder she doesn’t mind giving away her dowry or helping her husband pick out gifts for his confidantes with such enthusiasm and care.]

[After all, she’s choosing gifts for herself!]

Mini-Theater:

Huang Yong: My devoted wife… My cold and elegant Zhenzhen… My pitifully delicate Lianlian… My—

“Xu Yanmiao, you troublemaker!”

“I’ll fight you to the death!”

Sharp commentary from a confidant: Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.

(Zhenzhen, Ai’ai, and Lianlian are references to a joke from Journey to the West.)