Chapter 63

  Waking up from sleep is more painful than not sleeping at all.

  This is Little Phoenix's most intense physical sensation at this moment, because every inch of her body is screaming in sourness and pain!

  Lu Xiaofeng supported his waist and struggled to sit up, his face twisted in pain.

  Zhan Zhao returned with his prey and saw her pale and in pain, clutching her waist as she struggled to sit up. He hastily threw down the wild chicken he was holding and rushed over to support her.

  "It's so uncomfortable."

  Seeing her like this, Zhan Zhao felt both heartache and embarrassment, he was too impulsive.

  Lu Xiao Feng leaned against him, her heart full of resentment. "Zhan Xiao Mao, don't ever think about touching me again. This is too painful... it feels like this body isn't even mine anymore... hurts..."

  Zhan Zhaomo silently stretched out his hand to help her massage her waist and back, without expressing any opinion.

  Little Phoenix's eyes wandered aimlessly around the room, and when she saw the dark red seal on the cloak, she involuntarily turned her face away. "Burn that thing."

  Zhan Zhao responded with a "good".

  After being massaged by the noble cat, Lu Xiaofeng felt much better and went to rummage through his personal luggage, planning to change out of his clothes and destroy any evidence.

  Zhan Zhao did not avoid him, but simply turned his back.

  Xiao Feng didn't let him back down either.

  She turned her back and changed all the clothes on her body, also did some simple cleaning work, then took that cloak to wrap up the clothes and handed them over to him, "Burn them all."

  Zhan Zhao slightly raised the corner of his mouth, nodded, and went to one side to burn his clothes.

  While Little Phoenix was massaging her arms and legs, complaining to herself on one side, the Royal Cat finished burning the clothes, went out to clean up the prey, and then came back to roast chicken to fill their bellies.

  Rice is something you must eat.

  Lu Xiaofeng ate almost half a roasted chicken by himself and only then did he feel his body recover some of its vitality.

  That kind of physical labor is too energy-consuming, she's basically being woken up by hunger.

  "Is the road outside muddy?" After eating and drinking enough, Little Phoenix continued to massage herself, wanting to feel a bit better.

  "It's not too bad."

  "It's not very good either."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Let's not rush today, let's take a break." She felt that continuing to hurry with her current physical condition was self-torture, and didn't even want to think about it.

  "Good."

  Lu Xiaofeng lay down on the temporary bed with a newly spread cloak, resting his head on the package and closing his eyes to continue sleeping.

  Zhan Zhao extinguished the fire and sat down beside her, seeing that she looked tired. He felt both heartache and guilt, mixed with some inexplicable joy.

  He reached out to smooth her disheveled long hair behind her ear and finally asked, "Is it very uncomfortable?" He didn't know she would be so unwell, at the time he just felt like he was on cloud nine, and now thinking about it, he realized he had lost control.

  Detecting the guilt in his words, Lu Xiaofeng said: "It's nothing, I just need to rest and I'll be fine. Most women have to go through this, it's okay."

  But she really didn't think it would be so painful!

  I really want to buy some regret medicine to eat.

  She felt dizzy and confused at the time, vaguely agreeing to his behavior, indirectly encouraging his actions... It's indeed a rhythm of self-inflicted doom.

  "After returning to Beijing, I went to propose to Tai Shi."

  Little Phoenix Maiden was frightened and opened her eyes, "Zhan Xiaomao, do you want to die?"

  "Xiao Feng——" No matter what he has to face now, he still has to go and face it.

  Lu Xiaofeng grasped his hand and sat up, staring at him: "I know you want to take responsibility for me, but why don't you ask if I want you to be responsible?"

  "Now that it has come to this—"

  "What's the point now? I still don't think marriage is a good thing, last night was normal, but that has nothing to do with whether or not I want to get married."

  Zhan Zhao's moral view suffered a huge impact.

  "How can this be..." He couldn't let himself off the hook, originally it was under the premise of marrying her that he would permit himself to be so indulgent, and she only had a fear of marriage, not being heartless towards him.

  They have feelings for each other, and some things will happen naturally.

  But now she still refused to nod and marry, which really gave Zhan Zhao a headache.

  Lu Xiaofeng rubbed his temples and said somewhat irritably, "Anyway, before I've made up my mind, you're not allowed to mention marriage. Also, aren't you afraid of my godfather chopping you?"

  "No matter how Tai Shifu did it, this is what Zhan Zhao must endure."

  "You want me to be responsible for you? Get it straight, even if I'm willing to take responsibility, as the person involved, I won't agree, can you handle that?"

  Uh...

  This is indeed the biggest problem!

  "In short, it's like this for now, I still need to think it through before saying anything."

  "What happened last night can't be ignored."

  Lu Xiaofeng's face turned red, "This...". She couldn't pretend it didn't happen either, it was too damn real and felt so good.

  Zhan Zhao held her in his arms and whispered in her ear, "I can't restrain myself like I used to." There were some things he was afraid he couldn't bear.

  Lu Xiaofeng exerted force on his waist and twisted it, saying in a fine voice like a mosquito: "Then don't guard it." Since things have already been messed up, just let them be.

  Zhan Zhao's hand tightened, his voice slightly urgent, "Xiao Feng..."

  "It's absolutely impossible today, I'm feeling unwell." Little Feng hurriedly expressed her stance.

  Zhan Zhao was immediately made to laugh by her, "Am I someone who doesn't understand how to cherish and appreciate a lovely jade? You..."

  "Zhan Zhao, let me think this through clearly. If I myself can't figure it out, even if you force me to get married, it's useless." How do you cure the fear of marriage anyway?

  She just thinks about becoming a relative and facing a lot of family problems, she wants to run away.

  Zhan Zhao sighed and said, "Alright, I'll wait for you to figure it out."

  "Show off your cute side, I know you're the best."

  "I won't propose to Auntie for the time being, but this time you need to return home with me to worship our ancestors, so that Zhan Zhong and the others can acknowledge your identity as the mistress."

  Lu Xiaofeng thought for a moment, then agreed, "Alright, don't take matters into your own hands on my adoptive father's side, I'm afraid you'll make things worse." Thinking of the discord between Bao and Pang, Lu Xiaofeng felt that she needed a lot more candles.

  Zhan Zhao hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Alright." If there were no special circumstances, he would follow her lead. But if something unexpected happened that they couldn't anticipate, then they wouldn't have time to worry about much else anyway.

  He nodded in agreement, and Lu Xiaofeng also lay back down, his hands clasped together on his abdomen, staring at the ceiling with a hint of annoyance. He muttered to himself: "Zhan Xiao Mao, I knew this was bound to happen eventually, but in reality, I always thought it wouldn't happen too soon. But you've shattered my three views and completely destroyed my dignity...I don't even know how to get past Master Taishi now..."

  Zhan Zhao seemed to have an epiphany, and this was the reason why she often dared to tease him without fear, because she thought - he was stubbornly adhering to etiquette and wouldn't easily lose his composure.

  The noble cat is deeply speechless, just how much does she think he's like Liu Xiahui?

  He is a normal man, facing the girl he loves, and this girl also has feelings for him, and is not particular about trifles, sometimes even with a hint of intentional teasing.

  She allowed his approach, accepted his intimacy, and under such circumstances, some things that happened were beyond his control. He was eager to possess her heart... But the girl still had reservations about marriage, and this was the problem they needed to solve.

  Although Teacher Pang must have opposed their marriage, there's still a way to resolve it; but if her heart knot cannot be untied, that would be the thing that makes others helpless.

  "If the Grand Tutor gets angry, just shift the blame onto me." The die has been cast and the rice has been cooked. Even if he gets angry, the Grand Tutor will probably only scold him.

  "You're really stupid."

  Zhan Zhao was somewhat perplexed.

  Lu Xiaofeng closed his eyes and said: "If things were pushed onto you, it would be hopeless. You don't understand my adoptive father's character at all."

  "Anyway, it's not like I'm going to let you take this on..." Zhan Zhao trailed off.

  "Shut up, little cat. You're so annoying. I've told you before to stay out of my adoptive father's business and I'll handle it myself. Besides, I think your methods will only make things worse, not better. You'll just add fuel to the fire."

  Zhan Zhao felt a bit helpless, and had to admit that in dealing with the Empress Dowager's affairs, as the adopted daughter of Empress Dowager Wang, she was indeed more skilled and suitable than him.

  But this kind of awareness is really not comfortable, the affairs of two people have to be faced and solved by her alone, he is very unaccustomed. All along, he was the one responsible for solving things, but suddenly one day, someone said to him "I'll take care of this, you just don't mess it up", especially when the person who said this was his own beloved girlfriend, Lord Cat felt that he himself was not good anymore.

  Mushroom, are you really stupid like this?

  Unfortunately, that beautiful woman was completely unaware of it. She closed her eyes for a long time but couldn't fall asleep, so she opened them again. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Zhan Zhao staring at her intensely, and her heart skipped a beat.

  Lu Xiaofeng felt that he was no longer himself.

  Nan Xiaozhao, the imperial cat of Kaifeng Prefecture, never thought that one day she would see this person who once stood in the temple, gazing tenderly at a girl - and that girl was herself. Was she seeing things due to her dizziness?

  It's definitely true, this is too unrealistic, right?

  "Can't sleep?"

  Lu Xiaofeng sat up again with his help, leaned back into his arms in a comfortable posture, playing with a strand of his own hair, and said: "Don't you think that when others are sleeping, you're staring at them, and the person who's sleeping suddenly opens their eyes to see you, they'll be scared?"

  "Is there?"

  "Of course, you've been staring at me like this, have you seen flowers?" Lu Xiaofeng couldn't help but tease him.

  Zhan Zhao said: "Aren't you just a flower?"

  "Zhan Zhao, I didn't expect you'd be speaking such romantic words."

  "I'm telling the truth."

  "If I say we don't get married, can't we just stay like this forever?"

  Zhan Zhao did not respond.

  Lu Xiaofeng twirled her hair around her fingers, saying nonchalantly: "I also know you definitely can't accept my way of thinking, but every time I think about the things I'll have to face after getting married, I get goosebumps all over and feel like I'm going to be sick."

  "Getting married isn't that scary, I'm here with you."

  "If another man said this, I might have believed it. But, Zhan Zhao, since you're the one saying it, I really won't believe it." You are the Imperial Cat of Kaifeng Prefecture, just like those frontline police in later generations, your family always comes after your work, and with what you say, even the yellow flowers would have wilted.

  "Why?"

  Lu Xiaofeng silently answered him in his heart with a phrase he had once read: Because Nan Xiang Zhenxiang can bear the trust of all people under heaven, but cannot bear the happiness of one woman.

  Not hearing her response, Zhan Zhao also didn't ask again.

  It wasn't just because of her knot, but also because she didn't trust him enough. This must be because he hadn't done well in some aspects, so he tried his best to do better and make her feel at ease.

  "Xiao Feng, believe me."

  Lu Xiao Feng suddenly looked up at him and smiled brightly, "Zhan Zhao, I think that apart from trusting others, the most important thing is to trust oneself."

  Zhan Zhao looked at her.

  "When you like someone, you want to wrap them in your love and protect them from all the storms. But if I were to love someone, I would strive to be their pillar of support, so they can move forward without any worries."

  This isn't to say that I don't believe his promises, it's just that I understand sometimes he can't keep those promises because he has more important things to do.

  "At this time, I think it's more important for him to trust me than for me to trust him."

  Zhan Zhao suddenly smiled too, "Xiao Feng, I believe you." Yes, he should believe her and had reason to trust her.