Engagement Annulled? Now The Husbands Kneel and Beg for Her Favor

The study was silent.

The young man’s pen paused. He lifted his gaze to Baili Jing, his voice perfectly flat. ”What do I think about what?”

”You can drop the act in front of me, can’t you?” Baili Jing said with a smile. ”You know what I’m asking.”

”This is the New Era. It’s about time you reined in that rotten ’main husband’ attitude of yours,” Xie Youchen said, continuing to sign his documents. His voice was faint. ”Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with you.”

Baili Jing: ”...”

The young, award-winning actor sensed the other man’s hostility, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

There were two knocks at the door.

Housekeeper Wu’s voice came from outside. ”Young Master.”

He glanced at Baili Jing and hesitated to speak.

Baili Jing ignored Xie Youchen’s pointed glare, sitting on the sofa with his hands folded in his lap. He clearly had no intention of leaving.

Xie Youchen paid him no mind, tapping his fingers on the desktop.

Housekeeper Wu’s gaze flickered between the two men before he lowered his head and said respectfully, ”Young Master, the guest list for the banquet has been drafted. The Family Head asked for you to review it first. It’s been sent to your email. Once you’ve confirmed it, we’ll proceed with making the physical invitations.”

Baili Jing averted his gaze.

In the New Era, environmentalism was encouraged, so paper products had been gradually phased out, making them a rarity.

’It seems the Xie Family places a fair amount of importance on this newly returned member. At the very least, they’re excellent at keeping up appearances.’

After reporting on matters related to the banquet, Housekeeper Wu moved on to a few other household issues, such as renovating the back garden. Finally, he asked if Xie Youchen wanted this study remodeled.

The study Xie Youchen was now using had belonged to his mother ten years ago. No one had set foot in it for years. The maids had only been sent in for an emergency cleaning this morning, after they heard he would be working here. A faint, musty smell still lingered in the air.

”There’s no need,” Xie Youchen said. ”You may go.”

Housekeeper Wu nodded. As he left, his gaze swept over Baili Jing, full of probing curiosity.

After closing the study door, Housekeeper Wu didn’t leave right away. Instead, he pulled a thumb-sized earpiece from his pocket and put it in his ear.

After a faint crackle of static, Baili Jing’s mild voice came through the earpiece. ”I was worried you wouldn’t be able to adjust, but it seems you’ve already adapted to life here.”

Xie Youchen said nothing, but his breathing grew a little heavier.

Baili Jing, not at all awkward, said with a laugh, ”Youchen, why are you being so distant? I was hoping to help you.”

Xie Youchen snorted. ”You’d be so kind?”

”If that’s what you want to think, there’s nothing I can do,” Baili Jing responded with a smile. ”Anyway, it’s getting late, and I have to get back to work. I’ll take my leave now.”

Footsteps sounded, followed by the soft thud of something being placed on the desk.

Baili Jing said, ”This is a specialty sweet fermented rice from Uncle Zhou, sent all the way from the Three Cities. We have more than we can eat, so I’m sharing some with you.”

”The nights are long and lonely. You can have some to drink when you feel that way. I won’t be here to keep you company, though.”

The young man’s voice softened as he chuckled. ”After all, the one I have at home doesn’t let me drink. She keeps a tight rein on me.”

Xie Youchen sneered. ”Did you come all this way just to show off your worsening delusions?”

”Ah, my apologies. I shouldn’t say things that make you jealous. But you do have quite a temper...”

CRASH!

Something smashed against the floor. Inside the room, it sounded like war was about to break out.

Housekeeper Wu couldn’t help but take a step forward, only to hear a voice suddenly pipe up from behind him. ”Housekeeper Wu? Are you looking for the Marshal?”

Housekeeper Wu spun around to see Chen Mi adjusting his glasses.

He was so frightened he nearly jumped out of his skin, and he quickly made an excuse to slip away.

Chen Mi watched him hurry off before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

Once the footsteps receded, silence returned to the study.

Slender fingers picked up a listening device from the desktop. It was barely a centimeter long.

Baili Jing enveloped the bug with a ’Barrier’ and flicked it with a fingertip. ”This ’sister’ of yours really spared no expense.”

It was the military’s latest technology. It would cost a million at the very least, not to mention having to pull strings in secret to get it.

”She’s not my sister,” Xie Youchen said with a frown. ”And this was completely unnecessary.”

Baili Jing’s eyes curved into crescents. ”Is that any way to treat someone who just helped you?”

’Help? After Baili Jing found the bug, all he did was unload a stream of his true feelings. It was more than just unnecessary; it was like he was using it as an excuse to vent. The ”truth” content in those last few sentences was at least 100% genuine.’

Baili Jing glanced at his watch and rose to take his leave.

Before he left, he informed Xie Youchen that Zhou Yanli had entrusted him with delivering the local specialty.

”Youchen, you should know what this means.” Baili Jing’s smile vanished, his expression turning completely serious. ”Uncle Zhou has helped me a great deal over the years, so of course I won’t defy him. But I also have no desire to do any favors for a love rival.”

”If your love life goes too smoothly, I’ll get jealous.”

Therefore, the most Baili Jing was willing to do was not stand in the way.

Xie Youchen grunted. ”And I won’t be thanking you.”

He picked up the bug and casually tossed it back where it had been.

...

As Housekeeper Wu reached the elevators, he suddenly felt a pat on his back.

He turned around, and upon seeing who it was, he bowed hastily. ”Miss.”

Xie Guanqi stood with her arms crossed, looking down at him. ”Did you ask about everything I told you to?”

”No...” Housekeeper Wu saw her expression darken and quickly explained, ”I’m sorry, Miss. It’s not that I didn’t ask. There was a visitor.”

”Who came?” Xie Guanqi wondered aloud. ”Chen Mi? Song Zhizhou? Don’t tell me it was Jiang Qingli?!”

”None of them,” Housekeeper Wu said, shaking his head. ”It was Mr. Baili Jing.”

”What was he doing here?” Xie Guanqi asked.

Housekeeper Wu thought for a moment. ”I don’t know, but it looked like there’s some conflict between them.”

He recounted the conversation he had overheard to Xie Guanqi.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of delight flashed in Xie Guanqi’s eyes.

Although everyone said that Baili Jing and Xie Youchen were on good terms, Xie Guanqi had been his subordinate before he graduated from the Imperial Royal Academy. From what she had observed, their relationship was mediocre at best—in fact, you could even call it somewhat hostile.

When the military academy and the Imperial Royal Academy held joint events, the two of them, acting as representatives, rarely interacted.

There was a lighthearted debate tournament once where Xie Youchen and Baili Jing were on opposing sides. The way they went at it, you’d think they wanted to turn their words into knives and stab each other to death.

That evening, after the banquet, Xie Guanqi had accidentally overheard them arguing in a stairwell. They were blaming each other for not taking good care of ”her.”

These two titans of their respective fields, drunk, sounded like a pair of incompetent losers, slinging vicious, cutting remarks at one another. They told each other to get lost before finally parting on bad terms.

It had recently become common knowledge in their circle that Baili Jing’s female master was Jiang Qingli.

While she was grounded all last night, Xie Guanqi had tossed and turned, finally putting the pieces together. The ”her” they had been arguing about all those years ago had to be Jiang Qingli.

Xie Guanqi had been wondering if she could somehow probe Baili Jing’s attitude. Now, hearing that he and Xie Youchen were fighting over Jiang Qingli, she couldn’t help but break into a satisfied smile.

’That two million I spent on the bug wasn’t wasted after all.’

She hurried off toward the garage, only to spot Baili Jing waiting for an elevator.

Xie Guanqi took a deep breath and called out to him, ”Senior Baili, do you have a moment to talk?”