Jingliu instinctively wanted to send Zero a message and question him.
She forced down her anger and opened their chat window, but the moment she saw their chat history, everything that happened last night came flooding back.
Jingliu couldn't help letting out a sigh, and her heart could no longer muster even a flicker of anger.
In front of her, no matter what Zero encountered or what he heard, he never showed any negative emotion.
For example, before going to their meeting, Zero went to buy sweets. The sweets he wanted to bring to them were all sold out. Anyone else would naturally feel annoyed.
But Zero didn't. He didn't complain to Jingliu, and simply chose to continue waiting for the next batch.
He was so optimistic, always seeing what others called misfortune as luck instead.
Zero had said that since he managed to buy the freshly made batch this time, surely it would taste even better.
Jingliu thought back carefully and realized that that night, Zero had only focused on drinking with Dan Feng and Yingxing.
During that time, Zero worried she would be bored, so he asked her to have sweets together with Baiheng and Jing Yuan.
In the end, he didn't get a single bite himself. All the remaining sweets went to Jing Yuan.
Jingliu, "…"
How could she forget to save some for Zero?
Jingliu thought that compared to him, she truly hadn't done enough.
She admitted she didn't understand him perfectly yet, but in this one matter, she knew exactly how he would react.
If Jingliu brought up the rumor that angered her, Zero would definitely say he didn't want her to be upset.
He would say he didn't care about what outsiders thought, that those words were meaningless.
It was precisely because he didn't care that he hadn't told her.
A sense of powerlessness rose in Jingliu's heart.
The two of them were lovers. They should be honest with each other and face everything together.
But how could Zero shoulder these slanders by himself?
If she hadn't heard it from colleagues… Zero probably would've kept hiding it forever.
Jingliu had no idea how to handle this, so she opened her contacts list, looking for someone to consult.
She had originally wanted to ask Baiheng, but then remembered the fox woman had recently come into a huge sum of money, apparently from introducing high-level customers to the company who bought a lot of expensive items.
The moment Baiheng got the money, she paid off her debts first, and now she was planning to donate the rest, going around searching for reliable charities.
Jingliu didn't want to disturb her and continued searching for someone else.
She first eliminated her disciple, Jing Yuan.
Talking about relationship problems with the younger generation… that would be too embarrassing, wouldn't it?
Next, she ruled out Yingxing.
Jing Yuan said that Hundred Refinements had been pulling endless overtime the moment he returned to the Luofu.
Jingliu thought about it, and felt Dan Feng was the best choice.
Dan Feng definitely had time.
He was the Dragon Lord of the Vidyadhara, the Head of the Alchemy Commission, surely very few people were capable of ordering him around.
Jingliu had once gone to Dan Feng because Zero didn't seem to care about his own safety.
After looking through the case files, the Dragon Lord told her that people like him had tendencies toward self-destruction, loved to say the opposite of what they felt, and rejected anyone who tried to get close.
Jingliu no longer hesitated. She opened Dan Feng's chat window, briefly summarized the problem, and asked for his thoughts.
———
Far away in the Alchemy Commission, Dan Feng had just finished arguing with a dragon teacher and a troublesome patient.
"…"
Can this day stop giving him trouble already? He had already been annoyed scolding the dragon teacher.
'What? Someone called Zero a kept man?'
The moment Dan Feng saw it was the Marshal's black history, he quickly suppressed his irritation and seriously gave Jingliu advice.
[Dan Feng: …]
[Dan Feng: Remember the wine I sent to your estate earlier?]
[Jingliu: What about it?]
Faced with Jingliu's confusion, Dan Feng let out a cold laugh and sent another word.
[Dan Feng: Force]
Dan Feng Jun kept his word, he promised Baiheng he'd let them see the tail, so he wouldn't go back on it.
Earlier, he had even used his dragon tail to tease a cat, but that person was either talking to Jingliu or drinking the whole time.
This tail he spent countless patrol cycles maintaining was not for nothing.
Since he couldn't witness more of that man's black history himself, he would simply have Jingliu do it for him.
The Dragon Lord continued typing.
[Dan Feng: As the saying goes, truth comes out after drinking. Force it out of him.]
Jingliu remembered the mark she had left on Zero's shoulder and neck.
'It probably hasn't healed yet, right?'
Thinking of this, she asked Dan Feng, [Jingliu: If he's injured, can he still drink?]
Dan Feng quickly answered.
[Dan Feng: He can]
Right after sending it, Dan Feng's brain blanked out, unable to process the massive amount of information.
'Injured? Who? The Marshal?'
If he had been previously injured for the Xianzhou's sake, he didn't need to suffer anymore.
Dan Feng remembered that earlier, Jingliu had brought Zero to him for a checkup.
She only wanted the checkup, didn't ask for medicine.
Back then, Zero had asked when bruises and bumps would heal.
Dan Feng had assumed they were minor, just that Zero's body constitution was unusual. But it had been so long, why were there still injuries?
'It couldn't be… from the two of them practicing sword together, right?'
The more Dan Feng thought, the more likely it seemed.
He had helped Jingliu before by giving her a chance to be alone with Zero, only for her to turn around and practice sword with him for hours…
Never mind calling her the Swordmaster, just call her a sword maniac.
His friend had only ever fallen for Zero, and Dan Feng couldn't find another reference point. He could only compare with his disciple Jing Yuan.
When Jingliu taught Jing Yuan swordsmanship, she never held back.
———
On the Luofu, she made him get up at four to practice.
On the frontlines, he got to relax a bit, not waking early, just squeezing in spare time to spar with her.
As for the non-bleeding bruises from sparring? That was already the result of Jingliu giving him her full attention and deliberately holding back.
Besides, these injuries didn't count for much to people of the Xianzhou. Enemies on the battlefield wouldn't care whether you were hurt, they only cared about killing you.
For someone of her level, sparring with Jing Yuan was like teasing a cat.
That was one of the few forms of entertainment for him, Yingxing, and Baiheng during frontline days.
So thinking of it this way, after Jingliu and Zero started dating, wanting to continue sparring… made sense, too much sense.
And on top of that man's pampering attitude toward the Xianzhou… and never having been in a relationship, he would definitely accept all of Jingliu's reasonable and unreasonable suggestions.
But the Marshal, whether in this life or the last, was essentially a civil officer.
He spent most of his time in Yaoqing handling paperwork, and with his high position, he almost never needed to fight personally. Subordinates handled things.
Now, he didn't need to pour his life into the Xianzhou anymore. He finally managed to enter a relationship… so why was he still sparring with Jingliu? Could a civil officer handle that?
Dan Feng frowned and advised his friend, [Dan Feng: He's just a civil officer. You'd better not treat him like you treat Jing Yuan.]
Jingliu froze for a long time.
She felt Dan Feng's message came out of nowhere.
She had no idea what the Dragon Lord was thinking. Comparing her message with his, she pondered for a long time before finally digging up her memory of drunkenly sparring with Zero.
She typed to defend herself.
[Jingliu: I didn't spar with him.]
Dan Feng said the Alchemy Commission was busy and stopped chatting.
Just when Jingliu thought he believed her, the Dragon Lord dropped one more line, [Dan Feng: No matter what happens, talk it out properly. Don't use your hands.]
Jingliu, "…"
It seemed no amount of explaining would help.
Jingliu took a deep breath, closed the chat window, and sent an invitation to her lover.
Very soon, the two set a time and agreed to meet at her residence.
Jingliu put down her jade communicator, just as Jing Yuan walked over.
She looked at her disciple and asked, "Which kind of sweets taste the best?"
Jingliu never cared much about food or clothing.
When it came to food, she had only one requirement, as long as it filled her stomach, it was fine.
She couldn't tell good sweets from bad, so she had to ask Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan blinked, then quickly listed a few.
Jingliu memorized their names and asked, "And how do they taste?"
Jing Yuan thought for a moment, then described each one's flavor in detail.
Jingliu listened and tried her best to remember his evaluations.
She planned to tell Zero.
This time, Jingliu rarely followed the other Cloud Knights' habits, leaving work on time. She left the camp and went to the sweets shop.
She ran into the same situation Zero had before.
The sweets she wanted were sold out; she had to wait.
Fortunately, she only waited a few minutes before getting them.
Jingliu carried the sweets home.
Her lover had arrived early.
Zero had left work early, bought plenty of snacks, and even brought her a bouquet of flowers.
He didn't want to repeat the kinds of flowers he had previously given, so he first ruled out pink peonies and pink lychees.
This time, Zero chose bellflowers.
He picked up the bouquet and said as Jingliu approached, "Bellflowers bloom longer, almost half a month…"
Jingliu sat down and quietly listened to him describe the bouquet.
She used to think the male leads in storybooks had terrible character and acted too impulsively.
How could someone forget everything around them just because they met the female lead?
Jingliu's gaze slipped uncontrollably onto Zero's face. Suddenly, she leaned in and kissed his cheek.
Zero froze, raised his hand, and touched where she had kissed, momentarily forgetting what he was going to say.
He turned his head toward Jingliu, who looked perfectly calm as if she had done nothing, and let out a soft laugh.
Zero leaned closer. Looking straight at the lover who was only an arm's length away, he said with meaning, "Looks like you're not that fond of flowers."
Jingliu raised her hand, hooked it around his neck, and shook her head solemnly, "As long as it's from you, I like it."
She closed her eyes and let him kiss her.
In the courtyard, it felt like the only sound was her heartbeat.
She was too shy to say sweet words. But facing Zero, who overthought everything and always blamed himself, she could only endure the embarrassment and speak her honest thoughts.
Her lover carefully chose and brought her gifts. How could she possibly dislike them?
There was only one thing… that no expensive item or beautiful flower could compare to.
'Compared to flowers, I like you more.'
She didn't know how much time passed when she suddenly remembered the sweets she had brought. She opened her eyes, only to meet Zero's gaze directly.
Her eyes widened instinctively, and she felt her cheeks heat up rapidly.
Wait, Zero hadn't closed his eyes earlier?
Did that mean he saw all her embarrassing expressions?
Jingliu grew flustered and angry. She pulled away from him and quickly raised a hand to cover his eyes.
Her breathing was slightly uneven, and her tone carried annoyance, "Looks like next time, I'll have to cover your eyes."
Once she got her emotions under control, she moved his hand off her face, grabbed the bag of sweets, and said,
"Last time, because of my oversight, you didn't get to eat the freshly made ones. I'm making it up to you today."
She didn't look at his expression again and turned to find the wine Dan Feng had sent earlier.
Following Dan Feng's advice, Jingliu chatted casually with Zero while they ate snacks and sweets, and while she made sure he drank several cups.
Last time, Zero had fallen over after drinking Dan Feng's wine, revealing a completely different side of himself in front of her.
Would it be the same this time?
Zero had no idea what Jingliu was thinking.
He drank cup after cup she poured for him.
Only when his head began growing heavy did he sense something was wrong.
He glanced at the wine jar by Jingliu's hand.
It looked familiar yet unfamiliar.
After thinking for a long moment, he finally remembered, he and Yubie had buried this jar together.
Zero, "…"
'Dan Feng… seriously?'
He closed his eyes briefly. One hand pressed against the stone table for balance, and the other secretly pinched his thigh hard.
Zero had incredible alcohol tolerance, he almost never got fully drunk.
The last time he had was because of Dan Feng's wine.
Thinking about it now, it was probably something he and Yubie brewed together.
If he were alone, he could control his emotions.
But with Jingliu beside him… he wasn't sure he could stay rational.
He was just about to say goodbye when he heard her say, "I heard some very nasty things. Why didn't you tell me?"
Maybe because he was drunk, Zero tried very hard to control his expression, but Jingliu still saw through him.
Her tone revealed no emotion, "So you did hear those nasty things too. What? Surprised? Thought I wouldn't find out?"
Zero looked straight at her. Making sure she couldn't see his movement under the table, he silently pinched his thigh again.
He slowly shook his head. "No. How could I be? I just didn't want you to get angry, so I didn't tell you."
Jingliu's tone held anger. "Then did you think that hearing it from someone else wouldn't make me angry?"
Zero weighed his words, his reactions much slower than usual.
He said, "You see? I just didn't want you to be angry like you are now."
He knew that Jingliu was gentle, restrained, and very attentive.
If she heard slander calling him a kept man and started worrying about some men's fragile pride, what would happen?
Pride isn't something you need from your lover.
Zero slowed his voice further, "If a relationship requires one person to swallow everything and hide their sharp edges, what's the point in maintaining it?"
"I didn't want you angry. I didn't want those comments to affect you."
Jingliu looked at him and asked, "And what about you? What about your feelings?"
As expected, Zero, who always thought about others first, froze again.