Chapter 284 - 137: After All, Being Young and Hot-Blooded is Understandable

Chapter 284: Chapter 137: After All, Being Young and Hot-Blooded is Understandable

Several figures flashed through Jiang Mu’s mind.

Bai Xiang, who always loved reading in the wicker chair. Ling Ye, who carried a watermelon around all day.

And that quirky, clever little medicine girl...

He smiled and said,

"Not yet. A man should make his mark on the world. How can I even think of starting a family before I’ve accomplished anything? Besides, with Demon Fiends running rampant, I’m in no mood for romance."

"Pfft—"

Shui Miaozheng chuckled at his pompous tone, tapping the back of his head lightly with the comb and chiding him,

"Oh, you. Stop trying to fob me off with such grand excuses. It’s only natural for a man to marry and a woman to wed. Don’t think you can take your time just because you’re young. A good woman won’t wait forever. If...

If you don’t have anyone in mind right now, you tell your Aunt Shui. I still have some old connections in the Capital City and elsewhere. I can look around for you, and I’ll be sure to find you a girl who is both beautiful and virtuous."

Jiang Mu quickly waved his hands, a theatrically fearful expression on his face.

"Aunt Shui, please, spare me. I’m perfectly happy as I am, free and untethered. If you really found someone to keep an eye on me, with my personality, I’d probably send her running in three days.

Besides, this job with the Demon-slaying Bureau... my life is on the line every day. Why would I want to ruin a good girl’s future?

And in any case, I’m not interested in just any run-of-the-mill girl. Unless I can find someone as gentle, virtuous, and beautiful as you, Aunt Shui. Then I’d marry her in a heartbeat."

Shui Miaozheng was so amused by his words that she shook with laughter, her hands stopping their work.

"That mouth of yours... it’s really dripping with honey."

Perhaps feeling it was best not to be constantly on the defensive, Jiang Mu casually asked a question in return. "What about you, Aunt Shui? With your looks and talent, how is it that I’ve never seen anyone by your side?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Jiang Mu cursed himself internally.

The topic seemed far too private and presumptuous to bring up with a woman who had been single for many years.

Sure enough, the combing movements behind him paused for a moment.

Through the blurry bronze mirror in front of him, Jiang Mu could see the smile on Shui Miaozheng’s face fade slightly, a flicker of unease crossing her features.

Jiang Mu was just about to change the subject.

But Shui Miaozheng had already composed herself. She gave a faint smile, her tone tinged with self-deprecation and a hint of world-weariness.

"At my age, I’m just an old woman nobody wants. Why even talk about marriage? It would just give people something to laugh about."

"Aunt Shui, you must never say that."

Jiang Mu said seriously, "With your looks and bearing, if you walked outside and said you were a young lady in her twenties, people would believe you. If word got out that you were looking to remarry, I’m afraid the line of suitors would stretch all the way from Yunzhou City to the Capital City.

Our own Director Ran speaks of you in private, and he’s full of nothing but praise. He can’t seem to forget you."

Shui Miaozheng smiled, her eyes twinkling. A playful mood suddenly struck her, and she went along with his joke.

"Oh? Is that so? Then if this old woman said she wanted to marry you, would you take me? Would you dare?"

She was only teasing, wanting to see the young man get flustered.

But to her surprise, Jiang Mu simply laughed, his gaze clear as he replied, half-joking and half-serious,

"Of course I would! If Aunt Shui truly wanted to marry beneath her station to be with me, I’d bring you home in a grand procession for all to see. Only a fool would turn down such a beautiful and capable wife."

"..."

Shui Miaozheng was momentarily speechless. She opened her mouth but had no idea what to say.

A blush crept up her cheeks.

’This kid doesn’t play by the rules, does he? His reply was just too... blunt.’

For a moment, they were both at a loss, an awkward silence hanging between them.

A peculiar tension filled the air.

Jiang Mu quickly laughed it off and began laying on the flattery thick and fast.

"But in all seriousness, an extraordinary woman like you, Aunt Shui—so elegant and with a heart as wide as the world—how could any ordinary man be worthy of you? I imagine only a god descending from the heavens would be enough to catch your eye."

His bout of clowning around finally managed to dispel some of the subtle atmosphere.

Shui Miaozheng also came back to her senses, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart. She shook her head with a smile. "Slick-tongued and never serious."

But she didn’t pursue the topic any further.

Once his hair was combed, Jiang Mu didn’t dare stay a moment longer. He stood up and said, "Aunt Shui, I’ll be heading to bed then. You should get some rest, too."

"Alright, go on. Get a good night’s sleep."

Shui Miaozheng nodded with a smile.

Watching the man’s hastily retreating back, Shui Miaozheng stood lost in thought for a moment. Then she shook her head with a wry smile and muttered to herself, "That boy... he really has a sweet mouth. No wonder the girls like him so much."

She turned and walked to the bedside, preparing to undress for sleep.

Her gaze swept casually over the spot by her pillow where she kept her folded undergarments. Suddenly, she caught sight of the corner of her own water-red bodice, peeking out.

Shui Miaozheng froze.

She remembered very clearly folding the bodice and tucking it at the very bottom of the pile. How could it be sticking out?

A thought struck Shui Miaozheng, and she reached out and took the bodice.

The silk fabric had several unnatural creases, as if it had been hastily crumpled and then stuffed back in...

She stared at it blankly. In the next instant, a surge of rage shot through her. She shot to her feet with a SWISH, her brows arching in fury, ready to erupt.

But after taking just one step, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The anger on her face slowly gave way to a complex, indescribable expression, and the blush returned to her cheeks.

She thought of Jiang Mu’s half-joking words just now. She thought of his usual sharp and steady demeanor, contrasted with the rare boyish awkwardness he had just shown. Her expression shifted unpredictably, finally settling into a sigh.

She sat back down on the edge of the bed and murmured,

’That boy used to be a Casanova, never short of female companionship. Then his family suffered a calamity, and he put it all behind him, focusing solely on slaying Demon Fiends and staying away from women.’

’But he’s still a young man in his prime, spending his days surrounded by blood and slaughter, with no one to confide in... It’s inevitable... inevitable that his passions would run a little high. It’s only human.’

’It must be hard on him.’

Shui Miaozheng found what seemed to be a reasonable explanation.

Besides, though she had joked about being an "old woman," Shui Miaozheng was not entirely unaware of her own charms.

’I suppose it’s my own fault for not putting my private things away properly...’

She picked up the bodice, intending to toss it into the basin to be washed.

But as she moved, her gaze drifted involuntarily to the bamboo pole on the veranda outside, where Jiang Mu’s newly washed old clothes were hanging to dry, swaying gently in the night breeze.

A flicker of uncertainty crossed the woman’s eyes.

A vague idea, one she herself was not yet fully aware of, quietly slipped into her mind.

In the end, she did not wash the bodice. Instead, as if guided by some strange impulse, she folded it neatly and tucked it back under her pillow.

Then she blew out the candle.

In the darkness, the woman’s breathing seemed a little more ragged than usual.