Chapter 152: Begonia (1)
After lunch, Xie Xuanchen slept for a while before waking up.
His sleep was getting shorter and shorter recently, and he could stay awake for about four hours a day. After Xie Xuanchen woke up, Mu Mingtang put a cloak on him and they went for a walk in the garden.
It is said to be a walk, but in fact, the flowers and trees were looking rather bleak now, they all withered. The reason why Mu Mingtang still took Xie Xuanchen for a walk every day was to exercise, rather than enjoy the scenery, and the chance to have a private conversation with each other.
After all, there were always people around Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang. Only when they close their door to sleep at night and when they head out for a walk, can they have some personal space. Talking at night wasn’t entirely safe, but to go for a walk outside, the garden was huge and there was no place to hide, it was a better option to talk about their secrets.
Mu Mingtang secretly noticed that their tail was left far behind, so she lowered his voice, tried to pretend as if they were having a normal topic, and asked: "This morning, the Emperor sent over a reward again, it was to reward us for our actions towards Jiang Mingwei. Should we accept it?"
"Accept it." Xie Xuanchen had expected this, and said, "He loves to show off, and especially by using my disastrous reputation to strengthen his noble character. Anyway, it’s not the first time this has happened, just accept it with peace of mind."
"But, isn’t he deliberately ruining your reputation by doing this?"
Xie Xuanchen was slightly surprised that Mu Mingtang had such a big reaction. He looked at Mu Mingtang and saw that she looked very angry, he laughed, "It's okay."
After speaking, he seemed to be afraid that Mu Mingtang would not believe him, and added: "A person’s reputation is in the hands of the person in power. Loyalty, justice, etiquette and trust are taken advantage of by those in power to control those nerds. I’m not a scholar, I’m afraid my reputation will only matter when it’s time for me to get married. But now that I have a wife, my reputation doesn’t matter much anymore."
Mu Mingtang seemed to kind of understand him, she processed his words for a while, and whispered: "Then we should just accept it?"
"Yes" Xie Xuanchen nodded, "Don't worry, you have me."
These words felt really reassuring, and Mu Mingtang unknowingly felt relieved. After she relaxed, she also was in the mood to joke around: "If we think about it, we’re really mean. It's obviously us that bullied her, but in the end, her parents sent us a generous gift, that’s too mean."
"We can be even meaner." Xie Xuanchen said, "Since we’ve already started, we have to finish it. Since he’s trying to shape himself with a noble and big hearted image, to prove himself, he would have to send more money to us to cover our accounts. Just buy whatever you like, no matter how much you spend, he’ll definitely make up for it in the end."
“Really?" Mu Mingtang was shocked. Was there really such a thing?
Xie Xuanchen smiled softly: "You might as well try."
Mu Mingtang’s eyes widened and she looked suspiciously at Xie Xuanchen: "Don't trick me, I will take it seriously."
Xie Xuanchen wasn’t very happy when he heard her words: "You don't believe me? Even if there were no one to help us, I can still support you."
"Of course not." Mu Mingtang hurriedly coaxed Xie Xuanchen and said, "You are my savior, a hero to the world, you’re like my second parent. Even if I don’t believe in myself, I will believe in you."
Xie Xuanchen was delighted when he heard the first half of her sentence, but when he heard "second parent", his eyes bulged out: "What kind of an analogy is that, second parent?"
Mu Mingtang choked and retorted, "But that's how it always is in shows and books. To repay a person for his life-saving grace, one will do whatever he can during his next life. My version is way milder, my second parent. I’ll be able to repay your kindness in this life."
"The shows you watch are so outdated. Isn't it more popular nowadays to pledge to marry the person, to repay for his kindness?”
"You are way more outdated, even my parents would agree with me.”