Ulterior Motives

“Stop.”

Magistrate Liu was sitting in the first carriage. With one look, he gestured for his men outside to register while he sat firmly within the carriage.

Jiang Danhe felt the carriage stop, so he lifted the curtain and looked ahead. He realized that it was just the usual registration process, so he sat back down in relief.

Soon, the convoy was let through. The moment the soldiers at the gates saw them, they sent someone to bring the letter back to the military camp. After all, with such a large group entering the city, it was standard procedure to inform the governor.

When they arrived at the inn where they were going to stay, Magistrate Liu kindly handed Jiang Danhe a key. Xiaoguo waited for the magistrate to pass one to her. To her surprise, there was only one key. After handing it to Jiang Danhe, the magistrate left happily, as if he had done something good.

Xiaoguo and Jiang Danhe looked at each other. One was dumbfounded while the other was overjoyed.

“Let’s go,”

Jiang Danhe carried his bag and led Zhuang Zhuang up the stairs.

He did not forget to steal a few glances at Xiaoguo, who was right behind him. He guessed that Xiaoguo would not want to share a room with him. That was why he was bringing her bag and Zhuang Zhuang with him. By doing so, he was sure that she would follow behind them. Jiang Danhe was so proud of his idea that he gave himself a thumbs up.

Xiaoguo really didn’t want to share a room with him and was thinking of getting her own room, but he had taken the bag away and her purse was in there. Therefore, she could only follow him reluctantly.

Jiang Danhe slowed down when he saw her approaching. A smug smile appeared on his face.

Magistrate Liu had done a good job. The bed in the room was pretty big so Xiaoguo didn’t have to sleep so close to Jiang Danhe. With the adults taking either sides of the bed and Zhuang Zhuang sleeping in the middle, there was still some room left.

Xiaoguo’s mood returned to normal. She smiled and happily made the bed.

Jiang Danhe wasn’t feeling as good as her. One room was great, but why was this bed so big? It wasn’t the narrow bed he had imagined.

“I’m going out for a while,”

Jiang Danhe said to Xiaoguo with a troubled expression.

Xiaoguo nodded to show that she understood. Jiang Danhe wasn’t here for leisure. He must have some business to attend to.

Seeing that Xiaoguo wasn’t going to ask him any questions, Jiang Danhe was rather dismayed. In the end, he vented his frustration on Zhuang Zhuang, who was watching from the side.

“Muack!”

Jiang Danhe kissed Zhuang Zhuang so hard that his face was scrunched together. “Son, I’m going out.”

With that, he glanced at Xiaoguo again before leaving hastily. “Seriously, why isn’t she asking me where I was going?!”

After Zhuang Zhuang was released from Jiang Danhe’s arms, he groaned and moaned as he ran to Xiaoguo’s side. His eyes were filled with tears as he begged for her comfort. Those kisses hurt so much.

Xiaoguo was also dumbfounded. She rubbed Zhuang Zhuang’s little face with her hands. Earlier on, Jiang Danhe looked like he was going to flatten Zhuang Zhuang’s face with all his kisses.

After leaving the inn, Jiang Danhe arrived at Zhu Yang’s residence at dawn. Zhu Yang was the governor of Luoyang City. The two of them had known each other for a long time. When Jiang Danhe was still a soldier, Zhu Yang had taken good care of him.

When Jiang Danhe arrived at the mansion, he explained his purpose for visiting. The guard at the door was about to kneel down when Jiang Danhe stopped him. “Could you help to inform the governor that I’m here.”

“Okay! Wait here for a moment. I’ll go right now.”

Jiang Danhe nodded and waited on the spot to admire the surrounding scenery. He did not expect the governor to appreciate all these. The environment around the mansion was quite beautiful and poetic.

However, Jiang Danhe couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of Zhu Yang. It wasn’t surprising that he could live in such a poetic and cultured setting.

“Old Jiang, long time no see!”

A refined voice came from behind.

Jiang Danhe, who had his back turned, heard the familiar voice. He smiled from the bottom of his heart and slowly turned around. “Long time no see, top scholar!”

Zhu Yang strode forward quickly when he heard Jiang Danhe’s familiar quip, with a stretch of his arms, he elbowed the latter and hugged him.

Jiang Danhe also placed his hand on the other party’s shoulder excitedly and patted him.

The two men hugged each other with red teary eyes. Although the scene was a little strange, it was very pleasing to the eyes.

Zhu Yang was extraordinarily beautiful. He was a man, but he had snow-white skin, rosy lips and sparkling teeth. Just by looking at his face, one would definitely mistake him for a young lady.

Being beautiful has its advantages. If the scene was replaced by two ugly men hugging each other, disgusted bystanders might be tempted to bury them.

“Let’s go in!”

Zhu Yang pulled Jiang Danhe along excitedly.

As soon as they entered the house, Zhu Yang pulled Jiang Danhe along to admire the scenery around the mansion. He kept talking along the way. Jiang Danhe could not help but feel a little awkward. Zhu Yang had not changed a bit, he was still so chatty.

“By the way, why are you here today? You were part of the convoy at the city gate just now, right?”

Zhu Yang had spoken a lot before he remembered to ask Jiang Danhe about his visit.

Jiang Danhe gave him a brief update of the situation.

Zhu Yang nodded and suddenly realized, “You have a child too!”

He had always known that Jiang Danhe had a wife, but he didn’t know that he had a child!

“Yes, yes. I only found out when I was reunited with them.”

“That’s great. We both have kids now!”

Zhu Yang had gotten married to a child bride a long time ago. The couple enjoyed a good relationship and became parents to a son and daughter when they were very young.

“By the way, my wife has just given birth to a little girl. We are having a full month celebration tonight. Bring your wife and son over.”

Zhu Yang clapped his hands. It was perfect timing.

“You have another child?” Jiang Danhe looked shocked. So now, he had a son and two daughters?

“That’s right!” Zhu Yang looked proud. “Three children, one son and two daughters!”

Jiang Danhe was speechless. Zhu Yang was younger than him and wasn’t as fit as him. Why is he so productive? He was feeling so jealous of his friend.

Zhu Yang patted Jiang Danhe’s shoulder with a proud look on his face. “I am talented!”

“Go away!”

Jiang Danhe’s face darkened. “I am pretty mighty myself!”

“Hahahahaha…”

–

Jiang Danhe only returned to the inn when it was almost dark. The first thing he did was to look for Xiaoguo.

“What? You want us to attend the full month celebration?”

Xiaoguo stopped pouring the water in her hands.

“That’s right!”

Jiang Danhe nodded like he was looking forward to the three of them going together.

Xiaoguo looked at the clothes she was wearing. She couldn’t wear these to someone else’s full month celebration. For convenience sake, Xiaoguo had brought mostly loose and comfortable clothing for this trip. These garments were suitable for traveling, but they were not appropriate for visiting someone’s residence.

Xiaoguo was intending to turn Jiang Danhe down, but she couldn’t bear to dampen his spirits. She gave it a thought while watching Jiang Danhe attempt to change Zhuang Zhuang into a new set of clothes.

Oh right! Didn’t Jiang Danhe give her a set of clothes?

Jiang Danhe had already dressed Zhuang Zhuang and was about to grab Xiaoguo out of the house.

Xiaoguo pushed them out of the room.

“Guo, there’s no need to change. Although it’s called a full month banquet, there’s only a few of us and no one else.”

Xiaoguo did not expect a straight man like Jiang Danhe to understand. Hence, she chased him away and told him to wait for her. She will be ready soon.

Jiang Danhe stopped knocking on the door when he realized that it was futile. He was thinking to himself that Xiaoguo was so beautiful even on normal days. If she were to dress up, she would definitely look like a fairy. But in any case, the main point of letting Xiaoguo attend the full month banquet was to let her see the newborn girl. Along the way, she might get motivated and pester him to make a baby with her…