“Husband wants a reward? What kind of reward?”
Gong Zhuoliang thought that it was quite rare for Qiao Yingze to request something from him. Placing his hands on both of his sides, Gong Zhuoliang lowered his head to look at him and he’s extremely curious about it.
“I’ll tell you soon enough. For now, everyone had to make proper preparations first. Now let’s call the maidservants in to pack our things up”
Qiao Yingze reached out for Gong Zhuoliang’s cheeks and pinched it, before he sat up with him again and properly tidied their clothes and the quilts, then summoned the maidservants and gave them orders.
The Qiao Family owned two hot springs. The biggest one was for the whole family’s personal use, while the other one was built only so Patriarch Qiao would have a place to fool around with his other mistresses. Later on, an outer room was built for his mistresses to reside. At the moment, the third young Master ― Qiao Yingzi, and his birth mother are also currently living there, so right now, that hot spring doesn’t receive any guests anymore.
At the time when Madam Qiao learned about Qiao Yingzi’s current place, a thought immediately came to her mind. She thought that it would be much better to let that woman be placed under her nose as a concubine, than allow her to live outside and enjoy the blissful life of a second wife; so as a result, when she visited the Old Madam’s place, she wept and whined about this matter. After that, she then pretended to be generous and led the pair of mother and son in the household, so as a result, the hot spring became idle for a while.
(*TL/N: I’m not sure whether these two hot springs had their names or not. Similarly to the previous chapter, I left the hot spring unnamed.
If there’s supposed to be a name, then one of them should’ve been either Zhuangzi, and Fengyue. But Zhuangzi literally meant “Village” O_o… while Fengyue had a much more reasonable yet cliche meaning which is “Wind and Moon/ Scenery” and it could also mean “Romantic Affair” which totally describes Patriarch Qiao’s actions right now.
I was confused as I was translating this chapter, and I might have to come back soon and edit this chapter again >.<)
Only due to Qiao Yingze’s wedding did the Old Madam decided to give him the village hot spring for him to have a place to relax, and also, so there wouldn’t be anyone to bother him and his little wife while they were out to relax.
But honestly, Qiao Yingze hasn’t actually been there for almost a year. There’s only a one housekeeper and a few servants who takes care of it, so as a result, as soon as they received the consent from the old lady, Han Shu and Yu Hua appointed a few third-ranked servants to go clean up the place beforehand, and Ruo Lan and Wen Shu also followed to carry their materials. As for Ruo Zi, Gong Zhuoliang also brought her with them as he felt like it would not be good to let her stay; so in the end, the only ones left to look after the courtyard were Wen Shu and Qing Hua.
The next day, after saying farewell to their elders, Qiao Yingze and Gong Zhuoliang rode the carriage and traveled out of the city ー bringing with them two maidservants and three luggages.
Inside the carriage, Qiao Yingze lifted the thick curtains and only left the thin veils hanging from the window so that Gong Zhuoliang could look through the thin layer of the curtains and watch the cheerful scenery outside their carriage. Although he could only see some blurred figures moving around, he could still determine that the scene outside was indeed very lively.
Gong Zhuoliang had never ever seen the outside world ever since he was transmigrated to this world, not until today. In the past, the number of times he only went out was twice. That was when he was only married to his husband, and when he also traveled back to the Gong Family. There is no opportunity for him to go outside to see what it would look like outside. There’s also not much to see from the memories of the original owner as he himself also never even frequently went outside. Right now, Gong Zhuoliang somehow felt like.. unlike that cage he resided in before where it’s mostly dominated by women, the outside world seemed to have more men.
“Don’t be anxious, even if you’re in good health, people will still look at you”
When Gong Zhuoliang saw Qiao Yingze’s pale complexion as he tried to hide himself from the public’s prying eyes, Gong Zhuoliang just stopped looking outside and pulled the beautiful man to his arms who was dizzy due to the shaking carriage, and pressed him close to his bosom so they could take a rest.
Actually, Gong Zhuoliang was also getting rather dizzy as well. The carriage they’re riding isn’t steady and firm unlike the wedding palanquin. Although it would’ve been still fine when the carriage crosses through a smooth road, but as soon as they encountered rocks and pithole along the way, it’ll be really unbearable. By the time when they finally arrived at the hot spring house during the afternoon, Gong Zhuoliang and his little husbandー Qiao Yingze collapsed together in their room and they didn’t get up from their bed until dinner.
It was after the dinner when Qiao Yingze finally restored his strength and energy, then he took Gong Zhuoliang with him so they could walk around the hot spring together. This used to be a place where Patriarch Qiao and his fellows indulged themselves with entertainment; soon after that, it also became a place where they hide and spoil their mistresses, hence the building’s style of this house was exquisite and gorgeous.
At first, Qiao Yingze never really minded about these foreign objects lying around the places. When the hot spring was given to him, he didn’t really touched anything in here but only replaced some objects that are more simple and pleasing to the eye. But now that he’s walking around this place with Gong Zhuoliang, he began to notice some things here and there which he hadn’t actually realized about for the past few days, and the atmosphere became quite ambiguous due to their surroundings.
“I thought you have a present for me. So where is it, ah?”
When he had already walked for a long time with Qiao Yingze, Gong Zhuoliang finally decided to take the initiative to bring it up. He’s really anticipating what Qiao Yingze would be giving him and what rewards would be requested of him.
“About that…. Let us go back to our room first so we could talk about it”
It was rare for Qiao Yingze to witness an excited Gong Zhuoliang, so he deliberately delayed him a bit by taking him back to their room, and urged him to accompany him to soak into the hot spring.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Husband, how about you just say it now, ba?”
Xbcu Itebiljcu rja ja atf fvufr bo atf qbbi, kfjglcu j yjatgbyf, jcv jiibkfv Hljb Tlcuhf ab klqf tlr tjlg. Xbcu Itebiljcu kjr fnfc wbgf qldefv ktfc tf rjk atf batfg’r wsrafglber rwlif, rb tf jirb geyyfv tlr vjwq tjlg ab Hljb Tlcuhf’r ybrbw.
“Tbe’ii xcbk la rbbc”
Hljb Tlcuhf rabqqfv Xbcu Itebiljcu’r qfgnfgrf jmalbcr, atfc tfiqfv tlw mbwy tlr tjio-vgs tjlg, yfobgf revvfcis yglculcu bea j tfjvyjcv jcv qijmlcu la lc ogbca bo Xbcu Itebiljcu’r nlrlbc.
“….”
Gong Zhuoliang blinked at the headband in front of him, then helplessly looked up to Qiao Yingze who had a face that shows he’s extremely looking forward to this. He endured the impulse to laugh at Qiao Yingze for being so unconventional, and raised his head before feeling a cloth covering his eyes, then afterwards, he felt the person tying the cloth from the back of his head.
“What really is it?”
Gong Zhuoliang’s vision was thoroughly black so he had to lean on Qiao Yingze while he was assisted to walk towards a certain direction. They walked around the place with Qiao Yingze enveloping himself with his arms, and Gong Zhuoliang really couldn’t resist laughing at this actions but still allowed Qiao Yingze to assist him in this way since he very much enjoyed it.
In the past, Gong Zhuoliang found this type of sickeningly romantic actions really fascinating, and now that it was his turn to experience it, not only he found it uncomfortable but he even liked it so much.
May it be sickening or not, childish or not, so long as it made Gong Zhuoliang happy, personally experiencing these actions wouldn’t matter to him.
“Alright”
As Qiao Yingze led Gong Zhuoliang in front of the bed, Qiao Yingze turned around to him and looked at the smile hanging on Gong Zhuoliang’s face, before he gently untied the headband covering the other’s eyes. After removing the headband, Gong Zhuoliang’s shimmering eyes were revealed.
“Is this really for me?”
Before, Gong Zhuoliang thought that his present would be a food, a book, or a even a pet; but seeing the men’s attire right under his eyes, he honestly didn’t expect this to be his present. Ever since he entered the Qiao household, he had never dreamt of being able to wear men’s attire in this life ever again, that’s why he never thought of mentioning this matter to Qiao Yingze before.
But in the end, this was what Gong Zhuoliang always desired the most, so as soon as he saw the light blue men’s attire on the bed, it caused him surprise and excitement.
“Mhm. I ordered Qiao Ming to make one for you outside in secret on the pretext of giving the clothes as a present for my brother-in-law”
When Qiao Yingze found that his present had truly won the favor of his little wife, he immediately felt as though his efforts were not wasted at all and it somehow brought a rare smug feeling to him.
His Brother-in-law is Gong Zhuoliang. His little wife is also Gong Zhuoliang.
“My Husband is so kind! Quickly, help me wear it!”
As though he actually saw the floating words ‘Praise me!’, ‘Reward me!’ on top of Qiao Yingze’s head, Gong Zhuoliang suddenly had the urge to push this person down the bed to XO him; but even if he wanted to do so, he really couldn’t do it now. Also, he’s only most curious about what kind of reward will Qiao Yingze want from him so he had to forcibly suppress his wolf tendencies then he began to gleefully put on the men’s attire.
Qiao Yingze helped him put on the full set of the men’s attire including the shoes and socks, and after that, Gong Zhuoliang was now sitting in front of the dressing table, looking at Qiao Yingze through the mirror and watching him comb his hair.
Thinking of it, regarding the hairstyles during this era, Gong Zhuoliang really had so much to complain about. The childrens under the age of eight are too tragic. All of them had to tie their hairs into various kinds of pigtail style, and one of the most classic one that Gong Zhuoliang have ever seen was the hairstyle of that Qiao housekeeper’s little grandson-in-law. His little hairs were all tied into a pineapple-like shape, and each time Gong Zhuoliang recalled that strange image, he couldn’t help hugging the wall and sigh…..
At least after they reached eight, they will finally have the freedom to tie their hair into however they wanted. Some commoners would simply tie their hair into a ponytail with a cloth ribbon, while the wealthier ones would have to add more braids on their hair bun and so on, then they would either use a headband gilded with golds and jades, a hair clasp, or anything.
There are even those so-called ‘romantic person’ who would add flowers on their hairs, for instance, Gong Zhuoliang’s prodigal older brother一 Gong Zhuoyu, whose head always embedded with red flowers all over his hair. Everytime Gong Zhuoliang saw him, the line strucked by a lightning, burnt outside but tender inside would immediately come to his mind.
Not until the men finished the crown ceremony at their age of 20, they couldn’t wear any hair accessories that coincides to their status. The young men would have their hair combed into a bun in order to look neat and upright which would be considered as their beauty in this case, then their hairs would be half tied and half draped to their shoulders, similarly to the ones one would usually see from TV Dramas; but it is said here that those who are either down-to-earth or crazy will only be able to wear this sort of hairstyle.***
But Gong Zhuoliang had never seen anyone from here tying their hairs like that too. Too bad, he really find that hairstyle very cool and handsome, ah.
As his thoughts wandered off, Qiao Yingze had already finished tying his hair just as soon as Gong Zhuoliang came back to his senses. His hair was already tied into a simple yet refreshing high ponytail with a hair ribbon clasping all of his hairs, matching the color of his clothes; there’s even also a warm-colored hairclip accompanying the ribbon. With the white jade accessories on his hair, adding Gong Zhuoliang’s clear and fine features, he looked even more outstanding.
“How do I look?”
After smugly checking himself in the mirror from left to right, Gong Zhuoliang turned to Qiao Yingze and approached him to ask him. He thought in his mind― Sure enough, the way he looked would truly depend on his attire, ah…
As soon as he washed off the make-up from his face and wore the men’s attire, he is clearly a handsome young boy to begin with. Compared from his frail and thin appearance from two months ago, now that he had grown some flesh, his look right now looked even more good.
It’s also a relief that Gong Zhuoliang is a 26 years old man from his previous life. After wearing women’s attire for so long, he still hadn’t become feminine.
“Very good”
Qiao Yingze couldn’t help but caress Gong Zhuoliang’s tender cheeks with his fingers. Looking at him, he really felt like the current Gong Zhuoliang looked much better than the one he previously drew.
“I really love this present. So what reward would you like me to give you, my Husband?”
After wearing this attire, Gong Zhuoliang’s whole being looked even more poised. His desire to flirt with his husband has also incredibly increased. As Gong Zhuoliang smilingly approached closer to Qiao Yingze and started to caress his chest, he instantly saw the other’s pretty face flushing red.
“A- Am I allowed to kiss Zhuo.. Zhuoliang…?”
Without making an eye contact with Gong Zhuoliang, Qiao Yingze softly blurted out his wishes. He really wanted to kiss Gong Zhuoliang. Not the Young Madam whose true appearance was hidden under the name Gong Zhuoyan, but the actual Gong Zhuoliang.
“Yes”
Gong Zhuoliang was thoroughly whipped when he first heard this person call him ‘Zhuoliang’ that he nearly pushed Qiao Yingze down to gnaw on his lips; but he resisted this raging impulse within hik and put on a refined and upright appearance. Hanging his eyes down, he raised his chin up and waited for Qiao Yingze’s kiss.
Being watched by Gong Zhuoliang, Qiao Yingze is really flustered to kiss him at this state so he reached for Gong Zhuoliang’s eyes and gently covered it with his right hand. He then landed his eyes at Gong Zhuoliang’s slightly raised mouth then slowly leaned in, pressing his lips and gave the other a soft kiss.
As soon as Gong Zhuoliang felt the soft touch on his lips slowly leaving, he finally couldn’t help grabbing Qiao Yingze’s and removed the hand covering his eyes. Smiling and chuckling, he started chasing for Qiao Yingze’s lips then pressed his own lips on it, sticking out his tongue then licking the other’s teeth; causing a surprise look from the other’s eyes, then he embraced Qiao Yingze’s waist and pushed him towards the bed before crawling on top of him.
“Z-Zhuoliang…?”
After a short period of dizziness, Qiao Yingze already found himself laying on top of the bed. His mouth was stupidly gaped open and he stared dumbly towards Gong Zhuoliang who’s wildly smiling at him. Just now, he was really frightened by that sudden French kiss. After all, he just touched… Zhuoliang’s….t-tongue…!
“The reward that Husband wanted has already been granted. So now it’s time for the Wife’s return gift”
He purposely pressed a weight when pronouncing the word ‘Wife’, then aterwards, Gong Zhuoliang leaned in once again and covered Qiao Yingze’s lips with his own to demonstrate what a real kiss is….
It’s not out of sexual desire, nor he wanted to seek stimulation from him. Gong Zhuoliang simply wanted to properly kiss Qiao Yingze and teach him how to kiss.
***
The Gong Family’s second Young Master has also come to visit their hot spring…
The Gong Family’s second Young Master truly resembled the appearance of their Young Lady….
The Gong Family’s second Young Master and their Young Master were already getting along just as soon as they first met, hence the second Young Master got to stay at the hot spring for the time being…
The Gong Family’s second Young Master…
Gong Zhuoliang, who was now dressed in men’s attire, was leisurely walking along the meadow outside the hot spring house, and was resisting the urge to stretch out his body and howl to the sky.
Recalling the lovely appearance of Qiao Yingze who looked really confused and lost out of lust last night, he suddenly felt an itch in his heart.
He really couldn’t wait to grow up and mature right away, ah!
While he was lost in his thoughts, an approaching sound of the horse’s hooves, stomping from afar was suddenly heard. Looking over, Gong Zhuoliang noticed that the other party must’ve also noticed him, so instead of rushing towards the hot spring, he turned his horse around and rushed in his own direction…..
Looking at this person’s appearance, Gong Zhuoliang felt like this person looked kinda familiar …..
“This little brother…. Do you perhaps have the surname ‘Gong’?”
The young man riding the horse curiously looked towards the beautiful little boy in front of him, and showed an obvious amazement. Subconsciously, he gave him a bright smile.
“Youn- …. Indeed..”
Gong Zhuoliang literally almost called out ‘Young Brother-in-law’ to him. He then instantly looked up towards the man in front of him with black lines on his head.
With this bright and dazzling smile, other than this person being his own Younger Brother-in-law named Yingxuan who also had the surname of Qiao, there’s no way Gong Zhuoliang could still mistake him as some other person.
(I just recently learned how to do this dropdowns thingy〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜)
Translator’s Notes
Me and Editor-chan weren’t able to post a chapter last week since it was my first semester examination in senior high, and I wasn’t able to start translating right away, even if it’s the first paragraph of the chapter and I only started two days ago. After that one week of memorizing tons of words and math formulas, I was also suffering a slight burn out hence since Sunday I couldn’t quickly finish this chapter… (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)
I also already read the next 4 chapters right after Chapter 20 so other than burn out, the other half is lost of motivation ;-;…
But speaking of the future chapters, I don’t know about you guys but it surely made me wheeze the whole time I was reading it haha! (but I was secretly enjoying the feeling of getting worked up on an agitating plot 👀) Regarding of Qiao Yingxuan, I already assumed from the beginning that he might be those type of “love rival” who would appear then disappear at any moment, so like…spoiler alert, on the next 4 chapters, Qiao Yingxuan will appear a lot ♪～(´ε｀ )
That’s all! Hopefully you enjoyed today’s chapter! ┌|o^▽^o|┘♪
Thank you for the update when you are so busy.
Thank you for the heads up! I’m curious about that agitating plot. Thanks for the chapter!
It’s so nice that Qiao Yingze likes Gong Zhuoliang in men’s clothing as his own self without needing the appearance of a girl to kiss him.
Oh no, the light bulb will interfere with my sugar!
Thank you very much for the translation 💙💙💙💙
Cute! (≧▽≦)
Thank You for the new chapter ❤️ヽ(･ˇ∀ˇ･ゞ) Good luck with Your studies!