Zero walked toward Jingliu, and the other three very tactfully found excuses to slip away.
Jingliu lowered her eyes. Her gaze fell on the jewels of various colors, and she stayed silent.
When she was on the front lines, she devoted herself entirely to killing the enemy. After returning to Luofu, she still refused to slack off and continued to study swordsmanship diligently.
Only in her spare moments would she set down her sword and drink and chat with her friends.
Now, besides her friends, she had one more person, her lover.
Only in front of her friends and her lover could Jingliu briefly pull herself away from the flashing blades and bloodshed.
So unlike Lord Dan Feng of the Vidhyadhara Clan, she couldn't casually discuss expensive objects with ease.
Jingliu would not spend her precious time and energy on irrelevant things.
If it were Dan Feng instead, seeing these jewels Zero had chosen, he would surely be able to easily identify the type and value of each gemstone.
When Jingliu first saw the jewelry laid out before her, the first thing she felt was pressure.
Even if she couldn't guess the price, she knew, they must have cost Zero a great deal.
But when she recognized that company executive, the pressure in her heart instantly disappeared.
She had only met that executive once; he was Baiheng's friend.
Back then, for reasons she didn't understand, Zero had asked her to inquire with Baiheng, whether the fox people knew anyone from the Interstellar Peace Corporation.
Only today did Jingliu finally learn the truth.
So… back when she hadn't even confessed her feelings to Zero yet, he had already been picking out jewelry for her?
As for how much effort Zero had put into choosing these precious things for her, she didn't know, but she did know that if she hadn't met Zhenzhen and Daiyang today…
Most likely, she wouldn't find out about this gift until a very long time later.
Zero always silently did all sorts of things. If someone noticed, that was fine; if no one noticed… he would probably never take the initiative to tell anyone about what he had done and how much effort he had put in.
Jingliu didn't know how to describe what she was feeling at this moment.
She was moved by the sincere heart her lover had given her.
At the same time, she felt powerless because her lover was unwilling to voice his thoughts or feelings.
Zero stayed quiet for a moment, then asked softly, "Sorry, I didn't know…"
Originally, he had thought that once he learned Jingliu's ring size, he would have the staff resize the ring, and then give her all the jewelry.
Before, Zero hadn't known how many flowers to send her, so he went to ask Dan Feng, hoping to eliminate wrong choices using the dragon lord's answer.
Using a thousand peonies as inspiration, Zero reasoned that he couldn't give all of them to Jingliu.
If he really did… wouldn't it be exactly as Hua said, that he was using Jingliu's normal sense of ethics to make her too embarrassed to break up with him?
Zero believed his mental state was much better than before, so of course he didn't want to use money to tie his lover to his side.
As for the jewelry? That had been decided long ago, so that didn't count.
As for the house he gifted Jingliu? She had said she would leave it up to him, so she definitely wouldn't get angry.
Zero decided he would give Jingliu one ring every once in a while, that way she wouldn't feel too pressured.
But how could he have known that Daiyang and Zhenzhen would immediately cause trouble for him?
When Jingliu heard him apologize, a sudden burst of anger welled up inside her.
She didn't understand, what was Zero apologizing for?
Her tone was calm, impossible to read, "Then tell me, what exactly did you do wrong?"
Zero, "…"
Seeing that he couldn't say what the mistake was, Jingliu stopped looking at the jewelry and turned her head to look him in the eye.
She shook her head. "I really don't know where you learned this from…"
Unable to find the mistake and apologizing first, did he take her for someone unreasonable?
Who would've thought, Zero actually answered her question.
Jingliu heard him say, "…storybooks."
She let out a deep sigh.
So Zero not only liked browsing forums, he also liked reading storybooks.
But what use were those?
Jingliu recalled something he'd said before.
Zero had told her that there were many things he wasn't good at, that he was still learning, and asked her to be patient with him.
As it turned out, he was right.
But she absolutely hadn't expected him to actually learn from forums and storybooks.
More accurately, it wasn't that her lover wasn't skilled… it was more like he didn't know how to love, and could only clumsily imitate? Borrowing scenes from storybooks?
But Zero and Jingliu's relationship, what did it have to do with netizens on some forum, or protagonists in romance novels?
Wasn't this like wanting to perfect one's swordsmanship, but refusing to get up early to practice, and instead reading so-called manuals every day?
Jingliu's thoughts swirled endlessly, and in the end she only said to Zero, "…Read less forums and storybooks."
Zero nodded. Seeing that she didn't reject it, he directly reached out to choose a ring.
"Since you don't like the previous one, then this time, you pick it yourself."
Jingliu froze for a moment, feeling angry and helpless.
Don't assume on your own that she didn't like it.
She had said before, whatever Zero gave her, she liked.
If he thought she didn't like it… why didn't he just ask her the moment he had that thought?
Forget it. Zero was someone who easily overthought.
Jingliu had to spell out her thoughts, break them apart, piece by piece, and explain them clearly to him.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to control her tone before asking the question in her heart, "Why did you think I didn't like that ring?"
Zero immediately picked out a blue diamond ring. He lifted it and answered, "I saw you weren't wearing it, so I thought you didn't like it."
Jingliu said softly, "I said, if it's from you, I like it. I only worried about bumping it during training. It wasn't that I didn't like it."
She asked again, "At that time, what were you thinking?"
When he reached the wrong conclusion, when he mistakenly thought she didn't like the ring, what had Zero been thinking? Had he been sad?
Zero didn't think much of it. To him, no matter how many jewels he bought, it wouldn't make even a single zero disappear from his savings. It was like eating or drinking, if she didn't like one, he'd just replace it.
He took Jingliu's hand and said, "I was thinking, if you don't like it, it's fine. There are plenty more. Here, try this one."
Zero slid the ring onto the ring finger of the person beside him.
Jingliu stared at the ring on her hand, her mind a whirl.
Zero hadn't felt sad over the mistaken assumption; he simply accepted it calmly and matter-of-factly, and immediately came up with a new solution.
If she didn't like one, he'd keep giving more, eventually there would be one she liked.
Should she be relieved that her lover didn't feel hurt?
Or should she feel sad that he seemed incapable of producing negative emotions?
Zhenzhen and Daiyang, who had been giving them space to talk privately, quietly edged over.
Zhenzhen smiled with squinting eyes, "Wrong, you know. The ring finger is only for after marriage."
Daiyang added, "Yes, yes, and by the way, proposals use the left middle finger."
Jingliu nodded thoughtfully.
Zero didn't notice her expression. Feeling puzzled, he turned to Daiyang and asked, "Why do I remember the left middle finger being for attracting wealth?"
Zhenzhen and Daiyang fell silent at the same time. They couldn't help complaining inwardly.
'Marshal! Aren't you a bit too obsessed with money?!'
'Back then when we picked concubines for you, you thought it was a waste of Xianzhou funds… and now you're still thinking about attracting wealth?!'
Daiyang's mouth twitched as she broke the silence first, "Proposals and engagements are both worn on the left middle finger… only after marriage do you wear it on the ring finger."
Zhenzhen continued, "Of course, it's not that strict. Couples often wear rings on the left middle finger too. Since we're already here, why don't we customize a pair of couple rings?"
Zero didn't hesitate and agreed.
Earlier, while choosing a birthday gift for Hua, he'd looked up many wealth-attracting tricks.
One of them involved rings.
All he had to do was wear rings on both middle fingers, and it would attract wealth.
Zero quickly settled on new rings for himself and Jingliu, "Left hand attracts wealth, right hand guards wealth. And let's order another pair of couple rings."
After Jingliu heard this, the joy she had felt because of the ring's special meaning instantly vanished.
Her lover truly was… full of whimsical thoughts.
Zhenzhen and Daiyang fell silent again. Seeing the Empress's fading smile, though their hearts were full of things they wanted to say, all they could do was complain inwardly.
'Marshal, could you stop thinking about attracting wealth?!'
'Trying on rings means preparing for marriage! Rounding up, you're already married!
'Could you be less oblivious?! At least look at the Empress's expression!'
Zhenzhen quietly approached and measured the Empress's finger size.
Considering propriety between men and women, Daiyang shot the bearded company executive a storm of signals with her eyes.
The executive immediately understood, hurried forward, and used a ring sizer to measure Zero's finger.
Then he took out a tablet and showed Zero several pictures of couple rings.
Zero thought for a moment and chose the simplest design.
Since Jingliu said she liked whatever he gave her, he could decide for her.
As his gaze swept sideways, Zero noticed a crown he had never seen before.
He asked the executive hesitantly, "This one… when did you acquire it?"
Zhenzhen, who had just finished measuring Jingliu, and Daiyang, who had been watching nearby, both turned smiling faces toward the executive.
The executive's gloved hand trembled slightly. Bracing himself, he picked up the crown and explained, "Haha… didn't you say before that I could decide on my own? So when I saw this crown at the auction, it resembles a national-treasure-level antique, I immediately bought it for you, "
Zero felt something was off. He stared at the crown, searched through his memories, but couldn't recall anything, so he shifted his gaze away.
The executive carefully put the artifact back.
Thank goodness nothing happened… otherwise even if his entire clan worked for tens of thousands of years, they couldn't pay it off.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he saw that man's gaze move to another artifact.
Executive, "…"
His trembling legs dragged him forward, and with a forced smile, he picked up the artifact and showed it, "Look, this crown can be taken apart. See? It becomes a necklace."
Zero didn't say anything more.
His gaze moved again, to where Zhenzhen was pestering Jingliu, trying to measure her body data.
Probably for wedding clothes?
Zero considered that they'd need over a dozen years, so he took the initiative to say to Jingliu, "Since we're already here, go ahead and get measured. That way we won't have to come back again."
Jingliu nodded slightly and went into another room with Zhenzhen.
Daiyang took the tablet from the executive's hands, opened the memo, and asked with a smile, "What kind of clothes do you like that lady to wear?"
Zero's clothes in the past had always been arranged by his subordinates.
Now that they finally had the Empress they'd longed for, naturally they intended to handle her wardrobe too.
He didn't hesitate, "Whatever she likes, she can wear."
Daiyang was surprised, "I thought you wouldn't appreciate modern Xianzhou fashion."
Zero said nothing.
In truth, he really couldn't appreciate Jingliu's off-shoulder, open-back clothing.
In the past, Zero could learn from historical records and constantly remind himself to avoid making wrong decisions.
In this life, he had tried to learn relationship skills from forums and storybooks, only to discover that when he actually tried them, he was completely wrong.
Only belatedly did Zero realize, he wasn't good at handling intimate relationships. From beginning to end, he had been imitating others' behavior.
Realizing this, he didn't know what to do.
Since Jingliu told him to read fewer forums and storybooks… he could only copy the way he treated his subordinates and apply it to her.
Zero respected each subordinate's choices. Even if they wished for death, he would not interfere.
As for Jingliu… then he would start from clothing.
Zero collected his thoughts and asked Daiyang, "You now… count as a Cloud Knight Ranger?"
Daiyang laughed softly and shook her head. "Not a Cloud Knight Ranger, an Nameless One."
Hearing this unexpected answer, Zero froze.
Daiyang and Zhenzhen were his two longest-serving subordinates, and they had naturally spent time with Lan before Lan became a Aeon.
When Lan was forced into slumber, the two of them, along with other subordinates, had even gone to visit Lan's mother.
After Zero became Marshal of the Xianzhou, Daiyang served as the Luofu General. After punishing the nobles who oppressed the people, she immediately tried to rescue Lan.
But with two Aeons intervening, no matter how many times Daiyang tried, she couldn't save him.
Zero never expected that Daiyang would instead begin believing in his fallen close friend, Akivili.
He hesitated and asked, "…Did the two of you… have a falling out?"
Daiyang turned her head, avoiding his gaze, and shook her head again, her tone light, "How would I dare? I just realized something, rather than praying to gods, it's better to rely on myself."
Zero understood.
How could his subordinate possibly be wrong? Of course it was Lan's fault.
Soon, Jingliu finished getting measured and returned with Zhenzhen.
With the most important clothing and ring sizes settled, Zhenzhen and Daiyang finally relaxed.
Before leaving, Daiyang paused and said meaningfully, "By the way, little Miss has never celebrated a birthday before. This time, how about preparing a gift in advance?"
Zero immediately knew that "little Miss" meant Hua.
He felt puzzled and also found it funny how similar he and his successor were.
Neither of them liked celebrating birthdays.
Zero said, "I've already given her a birthday gift."
Daiyang paused and smiled. "That's good."
After parting with the two, Zero and Jingliu walked hand-in-hand, side by side.
Suddenly Jingliu said, "One of the crowns you bought looks exactly the same as an artifact I once saw in the Xianzhou Museum."
Zero, "…"