The Prisoner of Beauty - Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Xiao Qiao slowly raised her eyes and met his gaze.
His eyes were fixed upon her, unblinking. Beneath his jet-black brows, the depths of his pupils seemed to gather dark, silent waves, surging and churning.
The room was so quiet that the only sounds left were the rhythm of their breathing.
Perhaps it was because he held her too tightly, but Xiao Qiao began to feel suffocated.
Seeing that he remained silent and showed no signs of releasing her, she finally stirred slightly. "Husband, you...?"
"Manman, for the longest time, I actually wanted to ask my grandmother one thing: why she insisted on her decision for me to marry the daughter of the Qiao family."
Wei Shao finally spoke slowly, his opening abrupt.
"But later, I gradually lost the desire to ask. What my grandmother thought in the end no longer mattered. Now, I find myself wanting to thank her more than ever. If it were not for her persistence back then, by what merit or virtue would I, Wei Shao, be able to take you as my wife in this life and have you treat me as you do?"
Wei Shao released her from his arms, walked to the window, and pushed it open, breathing in a deep lungful of the night wind that poured in.
The candlelight flickered unsteadily in the night breeze, casting his silhouette into shifting, erratic light and shadow.
Xiao Qiao watched him in silence.
"Long ago, I told you that I cherished you. I did not lie to you. Yet, at the same time, no matter what concessions you made for me or how much effort you put forth, in my eyes, it all became something expected—something you were simply meant to do."
"Everything stemmed from the fact that your Qiao family once owed my Wei family a debt, and your marriage to me was a Qiao family plea for peace. Therefore, even after I married you and grew fond of you, I never once considered your feelings. When I treated you well, I viewed it as a favor bestowed upon you; if you were grateful and repaid my Wei family, that, too, was expected..."
He paused for a brief moment.
"Thinking back now, I, Wei Shao, was such a scoundrel!"
Xiao Qiao remained motionless, her eyes fixed steadily upon his face.
"I took your tolerance and your efforts to keep the peace for granted. I also knew that because of your family’s debt, no matter how I treated you, you would never leave me. Furthermore, I believed that I had treated you as well as I possibly could, so time and time again, I overlooked your feelings, until it became my habit."
"After the battle of Shanggu, before I could even catch my breath, my mother died in such an unexpected way. She was confused her entire life and was never a competent mistress of the Wei household, but to me, she was a loving mother, and I found it difficult to accept her passing. In the last moments before she breathed her last, her heart was still filled with selfishness and hatred. If I think about it carefully, I am so much like my mother—my eyes may not be blind, but my heart has always been filled with hatred and selfishness. During those days, with the Xiongnu invading and my grandmother falling ill, you bore such immense hardship alone, yet I only cared about wallowing in my own grief. I neglected you once again, and even when I felt guilty, I always told myself that you would understand me and support me... until that day when you, without saying a single word to me beforehand, proposed to my grandmother that you return to the Qiao family."
Wei Shao walked toward her again and stopped right in front of her.
"Manman, at that moment, I suddenly had a feeling that you were distancing yourself from me, that you wanted to leave me. I knew clearly that you would return, but the feeling lingered, to the point where I could neither eat nor sleep in peace. Then I escorted you to the Qiao residence, and yesterday, when I saw with my own eyes how you were with your family, I felt even more unsettled..."
He paused, his brows knitted in distress.
"Though the Wei household may not be a cage, perhaps to you, it was no different. You have been in my home for years; when have I ever seen you be so carefree?"
"Today, I did not want to leave. I felt I still had things unfinished. But you did not ask me to stay, and I could not bring myself to ask to remain. When I departed, your father saw me out of the city, and at the end, he solemnly entrusted the rest of your life to me. On the road, I asked myself over and over: if the cities of Shanggu and Yuyang had fallen that day, and I had lost my grandmother and also lost you, then even if I were to annihilate all my enemies, obtain the world, and have beauties in my arms, there would never be another 'you' in this world. No one else could call me 'husband' as you do. In that future, what joy would there be in living?"
Tears slowly welled up in Xiao Qiao's eyes, shimmering and growing until, finally, a crystalline drop escaped and rolled down her cheek.
Wei Shao gazed at her, raised his hand, and gently wiped the tear tracks with his finger.
"That was when I knew that I had to let you know what I have been thinking these days. If I did not take this opportunity to say it, I would have no peace in my heart, no matter where I went. That is why I came back."
"Manman, in the past, I always felt wronged for my own sake, and more than once I mentioned to you how I had compromised my principles for your sake. But I never once considered the pressure and the grievances you had to endure because of my perspective. You were not born to come to my Wei family to atone for the sins of your dead grandfather. Even if that were the case at the start, by now, there is nothing left to owe. It is I who neglected you far too much..."
The more he wiped, the more Xiao Qiao’s tears fell, staining her collar and wetting the back of his hand.
"That I, Wei Shao, was 'captured' by you is the greatest fortune of my life. Yet, in the past, while I kept saying that I loved you and cherished you, and demanded that you give me your heart, I used family vendettas as an excuse, refusing—never even thinking—to consider your position for a single moment. When it comes to arrogance and selfishness, who in this world could compare to me..."
Xiao Qiao kept shaking her head, tears falling in a steady stream.
Wei Shao watched her as she wept and shook her head desperately; his own eyes reddened slightly.
"I am a miserable wretch, knowing only how to take pleasure from you but not how to cherish or treasure you. I promised you before: if I offended you, you could beat me to vent your anger. It will be the same from now on. If I break your heart, you may strike me, just do not become estranged from me, and do not become distant..."
Xiao Qiao balled up her delicate fists and pounded randomly against his shoulders and chest, sobbing, "You are a scoundrel... I was perfectly fine; who asked you to suddenly run back to say these things..."
Before she could finish, she threw herself into his arms, clutching his waist, burying her tear-stained face against his chest, and refusing to look up again.
The soft body in his arms trembled incessantly, and tears seemed to pour out, instantly soaking his lapels.
He placed her gently onto the bed and held her tightly in his arms.
A long time passed before he finally felt the trembling of her body subside, though her face remained buried in his chest, refusing to face him.
Wei Shao shifted his position slightly.
A small hand immediately caught his lapel, gripping it tightly.
"I want you to stay... you are not allowed to go..."
Xiao Qiao murmured in a voice thick with nasal congestion, sobbing and slurring her words.
Wei Shao gently tilted her face up.
Her eyelids were swollen and pink from crying, her nose was red, and a strand of hair dampened by her tears clung to her cheek—she looked quite disheveled.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, her long lashes trembling, with a single teardrop still clinging to them.
He leaned down and kissed her eyelids tenderly, licking away the tears on her lashes and cheeks.
Finally, Xiao Qiao slowly opened her eyes.
Their gazes met, locked together.
"I am not leaving. I thought about it on the way here: even if you wanted to drive me away, I would not go."
Wei Shao whispered, lying neck-to-neck with her, and captured her ruby-red lips.