After Being Forced to Marry the Evil Star General

The weather was gradually getting warmer. There was no need for heavy cloaks anymore, but mainly light, thin clothes, which helped Li Yucheng’s Jiangnan silk shop make a fortune as people rushed to buy soft, comfortable, and breathable fabrics.

In the evening, Yin Pinglu took the time to come to the General’s Mansion, just in time to meet Zhao Yelan, who had returned from the Imperial Academy, and check the accounts with him.

The two talked about business in the study, but it was very lively outside. Zuo Ran and He Cuizhang were dueling in the courtyard.

Yan Mingting lay on a reclining chair, watching them fight. He held a bunch of grapes in his hand and said a few words from time to time, greatly enjoying it. 

According to Yan Mingting’s words, if he stayed in the mansion every day, he would truly be too idle.

Zhao Yelan first found Mrs. Qin to chat with him and relieve the boredom, but the old lady was so fond of gossiping that she nearly led Yan Mingting astray. Zhao Yelan had no choice but to invite the old lady to return to the back mountain, and and invited a storyteller to come to the mansion.

When he heard the scene where Zhao Yun charged in and out of the enemy ranks seven times,[1] Yan Mingting waved his hands and said that he didn’t tell it well enough. He snatched the other’s xingmu from his hand, placed it on the table, and began to speak endlessly to the storyteller.

As soon as Zhao Yelan returned to the mansion, he saw the storyteller and the servants squatting in the courtyard, listening to Yan Mingting vividly tell a battlefield story. It was so eventful and exciting that even he couldn’t help but stop and listen for a while, and at night, he was still asking what happened next.

But the storyteller was not paid, with the justification that he had only come to listen to a story, and a different storyteller was brought in who was a young girl.

This time, it was not about the bloody battlefield, but an emotional story that moved heaven and earth. Yan Mingting was fascinated by it, and could not extricate himself from it.

As a result, Zhao Yelan looked at him a few more times and said: “Fellow, put away your dirty little thoughts.”

Yan Mingting was swatted at by him, and he said: “Do you know who you’re beating? A prestigious general, a man favored by the heavens. No one else dared do this to me, you were the first. Very good, I’ll make you pay.”

“…….” Zhao Yelan tugged his ear and smiled wickedly. “Hehehehe, fellow, are you trying to attract my attention in this way? Very good, you’ve succeeded. Next, I’m going to kiss you.”

Zhao Yelan pushed his face away.

Unfortunately, the female storyteller was also fired.

But fortunately, Yan Mingting’s body was healing well. He ate a lot and gradually gained weight, and was no longer as thin as he was at the beginning. Yan Mingting dared to look in the mirror now. At one point in the past, he was so ugly that he couldn’t bear to look, yet Zhao Yelan never left, and he was so moved that he had to kiss him forcefully.

Zhao Yelan: “Scram.” The aftereffects of listening to an opera were so severe?

Today, He Cuizhang happened to come to talk with Yan Mingting about some serious business. After the talk, they bumped into Zuo Ran, who had come to accompany Yin Pinglu, and the three of them chatted outside. Yan Mingting looked around and suddenly said: “Let’s have a competition, ba.”

The two people: “Why do you want to compete all of a sudden?”

“I haven’t supervised you for a long time, and I want to inspect how you’re doing now,” Yan Mingting said without a change of expression.

He called it an inspection, but it was actually a show.

After the two finished, he set down the grapes and wiped his hands. “Zuo Ran has made progress. He Cuizhang, you can stop going so easy on her next time.”

Zuo Ran refused to admit defeat, and said: “It’s because I have memorized too many books recently, and delayed my practice time.”

While they talked, the two people in the study emerged. Zhao Yelan said: “It’s getting dark, let’s go eat first.”

As soon as they sat down at the table, Li Yucheng rushed in, shouting: “Zhao Yelan, I thought of another way to make money! You see if it can be done!”

As he spoke, he squeezed beside Zhao Yelan, and Yan Mingting squeezed him back out. “Go, go, go. Do not speak when eating or sleeping, don’t you know? Finish eating and then talk.

Li Yucheng pouted and sent a meaningful look at Zhao Yelan, signaling him to deal with this fellow.

A smile flashed through Zhao Yelan’s eyes, and he said: “Eat your meal first, ba.”

Li Yucheng: “…….” Life is bitter.

In June, after the doctor’s examination and a full recovery, the first thing Yan Mingting did was rush to the training grounds to exercise, then he went to the Imperial Academy to pick up Zhao Yelan and go home.

“There are really no problems?” Zhao Yelan confirmed again and again.

“Not any more!” Yan Mingting patted his chest. “Don’t worry, I just came back from the training grounds. Although I have to catch up to where I was before, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been active, I can catch up with practice.”

“That’s great.” Zhao Yelan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his teetering heart finally stabilized.

At night, the two lay in bed and talked, and Zhao Yelan yawned several times but insisted on not sleeping.

“Since you don’t want to sleep, let’s do something else.”

“Do what?”

“Didn’t you say……” Yan Mingting turned over and put his hands on his sides, looking down at him with a smile, “…..Anything?”

“…….”

Ever since Yan Mingting began to recuperate from the detoxification, they hadn’t done such things. The main reason was that Zhao Yelan feared something would go wrong and delay his recovery, so it was strictly prohibited, and he was pure-hearted and ascetic.

Now, it seemed that he had fully recovered, and he was outrageously full of vim and vigor.

Of course, he was no monk, and naturally had needs. So even if he was aware that Yan Mingting was asking the question while already knowing the answer, he still replied proudly, “Anything.”

“What kind of anything?” Yan Mingitng asked with a smile.

“Such nonsense.” Zhao Yelan grasped his chin, lifted his head, and kissed him.

While breathing heavily, Zhao Yelan faintly heard the sound of clappers being beaten outside and pushed the person away a little, his chest rising and falling slightly. He asked, out of breath: “What time is it?”

“June thirteenth, midnight.” Yan Mingting’s eyes brightened.

Zhao Yelan looked at him with a slight arc to his eyebrows: “Fangli, it’s an auspicious birthday.”

“En. This year’s birthday wish is still the same as last year’s. That we spend every birthday together in the future.”

“En……hmm!”

In the early morning, the sun shone into the room. Zhao Yelan was already fully dressed, and after eating longevity noodles with Yan Mingting, the guests arrived.

Not only friends, but also many colleagues. When everyone heard that Yan Mingting had recovered, they all came to visit and celebrate his birthday.

This time, Yan Mingting couldn’t refuse their kindness again. They had spent time together for a year and were very familiar with each other, so a rather lively banquet was set up.

It lasted until the afternoon, and the General’s Mansion was bustling. Yan Mingting was busy greeting the guests when he suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen Zhao Yelan for a while, so he went to Housekeeper Qin and asked where he was.

Housekeeper Qin whispered back to him: “Didn’t all the guests bring gifts? My lord went to check on them.”

“…….”

For some reason, Yan Mingting burst out laughing. It was as if he was seeing that person who was addicted to the gift money on their wedding night again.

The guests gradually dispersed. Yan Mingting sent them out the gate one by one, then turned to look for Zhao Yelan, but he was nowhere to be found. So he headed to the storeroom again, but there was still no sign, so he asked: “Where did he go?”

Housekeeper Qin thought for a moment, and then said: “He and Xiao Gao seem to have gone to Zhao Mansion.”

“Zhao Mansion?”

At this time, the Zhao Mansion was much more deserted than in previous years, and there were usually only a few servants to clean and maintain it.

When Zhao Yelan stepped into the mansion again, he felt as if he had been in another world. Looking at the rather exquisite rockery, he unexpectedly felt that there was not enough vitality, and that he should add a chicken coop or a fish pond to make it livelier.

Amused by his own thoughts, he returned to his previous bedroom, which was still clean and tidy. After looking around, he sat down by the window and admired the scenery in the courtyard until Yan Mingting appeared in his sight.

Yan Mingting also wore ocher-colored clothes today, which Zhao Yelan chose for him. He had a similar outfit that he had worn on his birthday last year that Yan Mingting liked very much, so Zhao Yelan had gone out and had one made for him, which he didn’t wear until today.

This person usually only wore black and silver clothes. Suddenly putting on brighter clothes, he was even more flamboyant. 

However, Yan Mingting had still worn a more dazzling color. The vermillion wedding robes had made Zhao Yelan’s eyes light up at first sight, as if his heart had been touched at the time.

“Look at that flower. It rained heavily last year, and it almost wilted. I thought it must have withered.” Zhao Yelan waited for him to approach the window before pointing to the flower outside the window and saying so.

“It looks pretty good now, ah,” Yan Mingting said.

“Yes, it’s unexpectedly strong.” Zhao Yelan smiled to himself, remembering the moment he had just received the Imperial decree of marriage. Comparing himself to a flower on a rainy day, he only felt that he was at the end of his rope, and never expected that the clouds and fog would be lifted away to reveal the sun.

At this thought, he suddenly recalled another thing and asked: “At that time, I asked Xiao Gao to send you some broken flowers and withered willows. Did you ever receive them?”

“I received them.” Yan Mingting was a little moved. “I received your kindness.”

Zhao Yelan looked bewildered: “What do you mean?”

“The fallen flowers for desire, and the broken willows to express love, ah,” Yan Mingting said.

“…….”

Zhao Yelan looked at him slowly. Why didn’t I know there was such a meaning?

No wonder this fellow was so confident when they first married. It turned out that he made a mistake a long time ago.

Just as he was thinking, he heard the sound of boxes being rummaged through. He turned his head and saw Yan Mingting poking around his bedroom.

“It’s the first time I’ve been in this room,” Yan Mingting said with novelty. He later found several sachets stored in the room, and upon picking them up, he smelled the scent of sweetgrass. He tossed it out immediately, just as he had tossed out the one in the General’s Mansion a few days ago.

Zhao Yelan smiled helplessly: “Do you know why I wore sweetgrass when we got married?”

“Why?”

“I just thought, ah, if you were an ugly monster with bad conduct, I would poison you to death first, and at worst, we would die together.”

“Whoa!” Yan Mingting patted his chest in fear. “Fortunately, I am handsome and dashing, and a family man.”

Zhao Yelan walked out of the bedroom and across the bluestone slabs step by step, thinking back to the spring of last year. He wore wedding robes as he walked down this path, and aside from the red before his eyes, he could only see the slabs under his feet. He didn’t know what obstacles and difficulties would appear ahead, and didn’t know where he would end up.

At this time, a big hand suddenly reached out from the side and landed in the center of his vision, and he took it without thought.

“Your mansion is really elegant.” Yan Mingting gazed around.

There was just a bit less of a human touch.

Zhao Yelan had only lived in the Zhao residence for a few years, and hardly talked with the servants. It had a cold appearance each day, and there were no friends to visit, so it was even more quiet and deserted.

The two walked outside the gate. Zhao Yelan entered the sedan chair, and Yan Mingting followed.

After a while, Zhao Yelan lifted the curtain and looked outside. Someone spotted him and smiled at him before getting back to business. 

“Last year, when I was sitting in the wedding sedan chair, many people cursed me on this street,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting was taken aback for a moment, and then realized that this street was the one the other party had taken when they married. He said: “Not anymore.”

“Of course, I was cursing you in my heart.” Zhao Yelan smiled.

“Actually, I also…….”

Zhao Yelan swiftly glanced at him.

“Actually, I didn’t know what to say!” Yan Mingting promptly changed his words and raised his hands halfway in the air, making a gesture of surrender. “At that time, I was waiting for the sedan chair in the mansion. My mind was full of guessing what you might look like, and whether we would still recognize each other.”

Zhao Yelan put away his murderous gaze and said calmly: “And then?”

“Then I realized that you had grown even more good-looking. I recognized you at a glance, but it is a pity that you didn’t recognize me.”

“You should be glad I didn’t recognize you, ba. If you still looked like you did when you were young……”

“Forget, forget, forget about my ugly face!”

The sedan chair slowly returned to the General’s Mansion. Yan Mingting got off the sedan chair and then reached his hand through the curtain. The familiar scene somewhat stunned Zhao Yelan, and the corners of his mouth hooked up.

Compared with last year’s hand, this hand had a few more scars. Zhao Yelan took it and was led to the door by him. He asked: “I was wearing a veil and couldn’t see other people. Did any of the guests look at us and mock us?”

“To be honest, they were all there to mock us,” Yan Mingting sighed. “I couldn’t wait to grab your veil and cover my head, but no, as the host, I had to be dignified.”

“…….”

A very sumptuous dinner had been prepared in the mansion, and the two of them retired to their room after eating.

Zhao Yelan took out his congratulatory gift, a safety talisman.

“You don’t have to worry about food or clothing, and after much deliberation, I still wanted to give you health.”

Zhao Yelan hung the safety talisman on him and said: “This is the talisman I prayed for you last time in Lingyun Temple. I wish for you to stay safely by my side in the future.”

“I will.” Yan Mingting touched the talisman solemnly. This was what Zhao Yelan had begged for after crawling all day and risking half his life.

Zhao Yelan pressed his hand again: “Don’t move.”

Yan Mingting froze, and then saw him take out two concentric knot bracelets. They were made with red rope, and one was tied around his wrist to cover the scar.

The other was handed to Yan Mingting. He slowly put it on for the other party, and it made his slender white wrist look even more attractive.

The two red bracelets were like the red line of fate, holding them together in perpetual unity.

“Wait……the thing you’ve been working on for the past few days, is this it?” Yan Mingting suddenly realized, “You made these yourself?”

Zhao Yelan gazed at him silently.

“Really, ah?” Yan Mingting was amazed, and took his hands to rub them. “Hard work, hard work, it’s been really hard on these hands. I will definitely wear this for the rest of my life!”

The two gazed at each other for a long moment, and Yan Mingting remembered something else. He went out for a moment, and when he returned, he held a jug of wine in his hand and said with a smile: “We haven’t drunk the wedding wine yet. How about we make up for it today?”

Two cups of wine were placed on the table. Zhao Yelan walked over and the two picked up their cups, crossed their arms, raised their heads, and drank it all in one gulp.

Zhao Yelan wrinkled his face and set the cup down, looking at him faintly: “Very strong wine.”

Yan Mingting averted his eyes guiltily. 

“You know I’m not a good drinker.” Zhao Yelen narrowed his eyes slightly.

“That is…..I just think you’re very provocative when you’re drunk, and you take the initiative to say a lot of love words.”

“Sleep in the study tonight.” Zhao Yelan drove him out.

Not long after, Yan Mingting dove in from the roof, kissed that blushing and sweating person, and asked in a low voice: “Mengting, who is your favorite person?”

Zhao Yelan bit his lower lip, refusing to speak.

Yan Mingting liked his appearance very much. His eyes revealed love and desire, but he was very proud and arrogant, waiting for his devout believer to offer him everything.

And Yan Mingting was willing to be his only believer in this life.

“Mengting, I love you, I will never leave you.” Yan Mingting continued to kiss him.

“En, my love will never change.”

Zhao Yelan caressed his cheek. There was light in his eyes, and this man stood in that light at all times.

The two of them tangled together, and Zhao Yelan grasped a strand of black hair: “Fangli, let’s grow white hair together.”

“All right, it’s a deal.”

[1] This is a famous scene from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. ⮐