Dandere General and his Lord

32. Match Made in Heaven

Cheng Qianye washed her hands in the basin, her face burning hot.

The man who was lying down on the bed still had traces of tears on his face as he sunk into a state of lethargy. Cheng Qianye carried the basin filled with warm water to the bedside and helped him clean up his messy body.

She had no intention of bullying him like that at first, but his reaction was too cute and she couldn’t hold back and wound up making him cry.

Cheng Qianye felt a little guilty for the naughty things she had done so she was doubly gentle as she cleaned his body thoroughly.

Mo Qiao Sheng was roused by the warm touch and opened his eyes. Seeing what Cheng Qianye was doing, his face flushed red in an instant and he reached out towards the pure white towel in her hands.

Cheng Qianye captured his wrist. “What are you doing? You still haven’t recovered your strength, lie down and don’t move.”

She used the soft, white towel to wipe every inch of his body, cleaning him carefully. Then, she pulled the red brocade quilt back over his body.

Did I go too far?

Cheng Qianye held Mo Qiao Sheng’s face tenderly and pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom, wiping the tears on his face.

“I’m not good, don’t cry, I will never bully you ever again.”

Mo Qiao Sheng held up his face with his eyes closed as he experienced the feeling of being coaxed so carefully for the first time since he was born.

I’ve been treated so gently, but Master is obviously still excited and still enduring it.

Mo Qiao Sheng reached out his hand that was still weak due to the drug and pulled the quilt down to his waist.

“Master, you…. do you need it?”

“Need what?” Cheng Qianye was blank for a moment.

Mo Qiao Sheng’s whole body was red.

“Ah, no no no, don’t worry, I don’t need it.”

Cheng Qianye pulled the quilt back up, wrapping him up tightly.

“I told you, you must never force yourself.”

The head that was exposed from the edge of the quilt was flushed scarlet. “Master, I am willing, really.”

Cheng Qianye laid down beside Mo Qiao Sheng and pulled up another quilt to cover herself. She stretched out an arm and patted Mo Qiao Sheng’s back soothingly. 

“I know that you’re willing to do anything for me, but you loathe the idea of doing these sorts of things with a man, don’t you?”

Mo Qiao Sheng’s head lowered into the quilt.

“It’s okay Qiao Sheng, I don’t need you to do these things for me. The way we get along with each other now is just fine.” Cheng Qianye continued to pat him softly.

“When I was a child, I saw a man bullying my brother right in front of me.” A muffled voice escaped through the bedding.

Cheng Qianye sighed.

“I killed that man personally. I smashed his head in with a stone.”

“Ever since then, as long as a man does this sort of thing in front of me, it makes me feel sick. It reminds me of how hopeless I was at the time. That scene seems to be carved into my heart, it can never be erased.”

The gentle pats on his back gradually soothed his heart.

“From now on, I will never let you encounter that kind of situation again.”

“You’re tired, don’t think about anything and have a good rest.”

She made idle small talk as she patted him reassuringly. It allowed Mo Qiao Sheng to relax slowly.

But Master, when you… just now, I had no thoughts of that time when I was a child.

Maybe Master is different.

Mo Qiao Sheng’s eyelids slowly became heavy.

As he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a few vague words.

“If I were a woman, would you like me?”

Woman?

If Master was a woman….

Mo Qiao Sheng had a bizarre dream.

In that dream, he was in a garden filled with thick fog. The back of Master’s figure kept appearing in the distance ahead of him, but no matter how desperately he chased after him, he was never able to catch up with him.

Master, Master, wait for me.

His heart was filled with anxiety.

Suddenly, that figure came to a halt, turning to face him. It was clearly Master’s appearance, but that face belonged to a woman. That beautiful woman laughed lightly and walked toward him,  reaching out with that lithe hand to touch his face, before calling out gently to him:

“Qiao Sheng.”

~

Mo Qiao Sheng turned over and sat up in bed. There was no one beside him. His heart was struck with panic as he panted and lowered his head, lifting up the quilt and taking a look. Unexpectedly, he had dreamt of something unforgivable.

Fortunately, the room was void of people. He got up hastily and found some clothes, dressing up before destroying the evidence of his disgrace.

He walked around the screen and stepped into the receiving room to discover that Cheng Qianye was sitting by the table and waiting for him.

Mo Qiao Sheng recalled the events of the previous night and his absurd dream, causing a dubious blush to spread across his face.

“Come, let’s eat together.” Cheng Qianye pointed at the round stool beside her.

Mo Qiao Sheng hesitated.

“Sit.” Cheng Qianye said firmly.

Mo Qiao Sheng sat in the chair and was overwhelmed with bewilderment for a moment as he looked at the gorgeous utensils in front of him.

“Eat, we’ll be having our meals together from now on. You had better get used to it as fast as possible.”

Mo Qiao Sheng pursed his lips before finally reaching out his hand and picking up the bowl and chopsticks.

This was the first time that he had sat at the table, having a meal on equal footing with others.

He bowed his head and did not say a word as he held the bowl close to his face and used the chopsticks to shovel food into his mouth.

Cheng Qianye kept adding more food to his bowl. “Eat some more, you have suffered recently. Make up for it quickly.”

Mo Qiao Sheng’s hand stopped and he swallowed all the food in his mouth.

He asked softly, “Why?”

“Why what?”

Mo Qiao Sheng did not reply.

“Why am I so good to you?” Cheng Qianye touched his head. “Because I like you, of course. You’re so adorable, where else would I be able to find such a cutie like you?”

Cheng Qianye put down her bowl and chopsticks. “I’m going to see Princess Tianxiang. Enjoy your meal and rest after you’re done, your injuries still haven’t recovered.”

“Master, I will go with you.” Mo Qiao Sheng rose to his feet. “This place is dangerous and Master does not have anyone to wait on you.”

Afraid that Cheng Qianye might disagree, he added another sentence, “I have already had a lot of rest, it’s fine for me to move around.”

He regarded the few days he had spent tied up in the stable as resting.

Cheng Qianye looked at his anxious expression, remembering that his bandages had been bloody when she had changed his dressing the previous night. She gave a loud sigh.

“Okay, we’ll walk slowly. Even if something happens, don’t be impulsive and just listen to me.”

Presently, in Yao Tianxiang’s room.

Yao Tianxiang combed her hair in front of the mirror as she listened to the maid who was reporting to her at the side.

“Last night, Guye1 extinguished the candles soon after he entered the room. At midnight, he personally came out to ask for water two times. He also asked for some medicine and bandages. He passed on having any food or drink. Right now, he’s sitting with the slave and having breakfast together with him.”

Yao Tianxiang compressed her lips into a smile. “It seems he wasn’t just coaxing me.”

“He’s just a lowly and humble slave, Guye is showing him too much favour.”

“What would you know?” Yao Tianxiang picked out some ornaments from her jewellery box. “In my opinion, one cannot care about identity when they’re in love.”

She held up a ruby earring and observed it beneath the light before inserting it into her snowy white earlobe. “If this man were a cold and ruthless person, I would not dare to place my trust in him. Being so soft-hearted is a good thing.”

Cheng Qianye brought Mo Qiao Sheng with her as she went into the principal rooms where Yao Tianxiang lived by herself.

Yao Tianxiang had already washed and dressed up as she sat radiantly in the room in all her splendor.

“Have you had breakfast?” she asked smilingly.

Cheng Qianye nodded and sat beside her, taking the cup of tea offered by the maidservant.

“How was it last night?” Yao Tianxiang leaned over and nudged Cheng Qianye with her elbow. She had a teasing expression on her face as she said, “My arrangements were pretty good, huh?”

Cheng Qianye raised her hands together to her chin in salute and said, “Thank you for your care, Princess, but please don’t do such things in the future.”

She solemnly added, “Please don’t treat him like that.”

“Hypocrite, showing off your virtue after grabbing all the advantages.” Yao Tianxiang glanced at Mo Qiao Sheng who was standing behind Cheng Qianye before cupping her palm around her ear and whispering, “Look at how unsteadily he’s walking, isn’t it the result of your good work.”

Cheng Qianye choked on her tea. She found herself repeatedly getting overwhelmed by Yao Tianxiang.

This person was fond of dressing in red and even her soul was a vibrant crimson.

Like the rosy clouds of dawn, blazing with fire. She was bright and vivid with an open and hot-headed character.

After they readied themselves, they led their attendants with them as they set off to go pay their respects to Old Lady Ji.

The man was elegant as jade and the woman was of ethereal colour and celestial fragrance.2

They joined hands as they walked together leisurely, their heads close together as they exchanged honeyed whispers.

Everyone in the mansion were amazed to see such a perfect pair matched by the heavens, evoking the envy of people towards this pair of mandarin ducks rather than immortals.3

At that moment, Yao Tianxiang was quietly whispering to Cheng Qianye, “I can see that your man appears to be much larger than you, and even his martial arts skills are obviously much better than yours. Are you the one on the bottom?”

Cheng Qianye looked at the girl who was dressed elegantly and steadily, but was quietly whispering obscene jokes to her without the slightest scruples.

The composed demeanor she had been trying to hold almost collapsed and she couldn’t restrain the smile that appeared on her face.

Yao Tianxiang lifted up and wiggled her little finger which appeared to be as white and moist as a scallion as she said, “So it turns out it’s actually you?”

Cheng Qianye defended her dignity as a “husband” and replied, “Nonsense, I made him cry several times last night.”

~

1. (姑爷 – Guye) – Son-in-law [term of address used for a man by the members of his wife’s family]
2. (丰神如玉 – fēng shén rú yù) used to describe a handsome man (国色天香 – guó sè tiān xiāng) – Idiom used to describe the beauty of a woman. Also seems to be Tianxiang’s namesake.
3. So this phrase “envy the mandarin ducks rather than immortals” is derived from a poem by Lu Zhaolin, one of the four masters from the early Tang Dynasty. It basically means to be envious of those who are able to join hands together like old mandarin ducks(affectionate couple, perfect pair), and stay together for life, and how they wouldn’t want anything else even if they could become a god in the heavens.

♥

TL Note: Okay, so, there were some concerns about consent regarding the last scene of the previous chapter, and after reading this story 3 times (and now a fourth as I translate), I have to say that I have never felt that CQY forced MQS to do anything against his will.

In the last chapter, he was drugged against his will, but that wasn’t something she did. He did ask her to leave him in a corner, but it wasn’t because he was afraid she would take advantage of him.

If you guys will recall, MQS has actually offered his body to her more than once, and even felt concerned about it, but CQY never accepted and even drilled it into him to never force himself to do something like that when he’s not willing.

And also, in the last chapter, CQY couldn’t just ignore him cause he was drugged. Those kinds of medicines are bad for the body and if he was left in such a state and just ignored, it could’ve harmed his body. And most importantly, after she said he would help him, he did not decline. You also have to remember that CQY can see his emotions. If he was unwilling or repulsed, she would’ve known, and she would’ve never forced him into it. Yes, he cried, but uhh when CQY makes him cry in this story, those are tears of happiness, shame, embarrassment, and just deep deep love.

The only instance I can think of when she lost control was when she kissed him after being overwhelmed by her feelings and she felt afraid he would be disgusted and also apologized to him, but even then, MQS did not dislike it. CQY is a special existence to him. She is different from everyone else to him and his feelings for her are indescribable. His biggest struggle regarding his feelings for her is his deep sense of inferiority and worthlessness especially when he reveres her so much. Yes, he’s a straight man and does not like men, but like I mentioned, CQY is a special existence to him. I don’t wanna reveal any future spoilers so we’ll leave it at that. I hope it’s not a miscommunication from my TL giving you guys the wrong idea.

Okay, loooooong note over. Thank ya’ll for always being so sweet and have a nice day~