Chapter 440: Don’t Be My Boyfriend, Be My Husband

Night fell.

Zone A was ablaze with lights.

After Lü Xin’s matter was resolved, the Twelve Cities returned to their bustling prosperity, as if nothing had ever happened.

Yuan Liang was hosting the banquet at the Snake Barrel’s clubhouse again, though in a different private room this time.

An identification number was carved beside the room’s door. The interior was exceptionally luxurious, with motes of light floating in mid-air, making it seem as if the stars were within arm’s reach.

Someone looked around the room and said in shock, "Not bad, Old Yuan! You actually managed to book A-01! Isn’t this room reserved for the clubhouse owner? Last time, even Qin—I mean, the Ninth Prince couldn’t get it. You’ve got some serious pull!"

Yuan Liang looked a bit embarrassed by the comment and glanced at his secretary.

The secretary said, "The rooms here are always hard to book. I just told the manager we didn’t want the same room as last time... I didn’t expect them to give us this one."

A colleague gossiped, "Could it be true, like the rumors say? Their boss vanished, and someone else took over?"

"Who cares? As long as we got in, it’s fine."

The group entered the private room.

Jiang Qingli had just sat down when she heard a commotion at the door.

She could faintly hear someone shouting Xie Youchen’s name, followed by muffled, ugly curses.

Xie Youchen and a few military officers walked out of the room. The officers’ tall figures blocked the doorway, completely obscuring the situation outside.

Yuan Liang shook his head, pressing a hand to his forehead. He asked a waiter to pour some fruit wine for Jiang Qingli first.

He glanced left and right, then lowered his voice. "The Ninth Prince is just like that... It’s all talk. He won’t cause any real trouble. Advisor Jiang, you don’t need to worry too much about Youchen."

’Qin Xiangning?’

After Qin Yu was convicted, Qin Xiangning, her younger half-brother who had accompanied her to the Lower District, had also been summoned for questioning.

However, after several investigations confirmed that there was no possibility of him being an accomplice and that he was unaware of her activities, the military command lifted their surveillance on him.

’Logically, Qin Xiangning should be continuing his mission in the East District right now. Why is he suddenly here?’

Chen Mi checked the drink for poison. After confirming it was safe, he placed it in front of Jiang Qingli and whispered the latest gossip, "It’s not the first time the Ninth Prince has ignored military regulations. He often sneaks into Zone A for fun, and the supervisors just turn a blind eye. After all, a member of the Imperial Family who flaunts his connections isn’t someone you want to mess with."

"It’s no wonder he’s throwing a fit," a researcher nearby commented with a sneer. "I heard that during the investigation, they discovered Qin Xiangning had been maintaining... intimate relationships with three high-ranking female officers, all arranged by Qin Yu."

"Meaning, he, a single male, was involved with three females at the same time!" The person shook their head with a sigh of dismay. "To win over those officers, Qin Yu gave them tacit permission to... do whatever they wanted with Qin Xiangning..."

"Even for a Prince, who would marry him after something like that?" someone lamented. "No wonder Qin Xiangning’s temper has been getting worse and worse..."

"He did it willingly," someone else said. "Please, he’s always prided himself on being open and free-spirited, claiming he’s setting new trends, right? He even had a side account on the Star Network dedicated to documenting all of it. He had no idea the people following him were just waiting to watch him make a fool of himself."

"Well, what did he expect, doing things like that? What good end can an unchaste male possibly come to—"

He was cut off mid-sentence as the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

The gossipers all looked toward the man’s side and fell silent in unison.

The man looked up, his mouth hanging open as he stammered, "M-Marshal Xie..."

His Majesty the Emperor had once recognized Xie Youchen’s talent, and Xie Youchen was an ally of Qin Shu, so he was generally respectful toward the Imperial Family and disliked his subordinates gossiping about them.

He never expected to be caught red-handed by Xie Youchen himself.

The man’s hand trembled, and he lost his grip on his wine glass, sending it tumbling down.

The moment the glass left his hand, time around them instantly froze.

Xie Youchen had used his Superpower, "Time Stop."

After picking up the glass, the Time Stop dissipated. Xie Youchen handed it back to the man, his voice completely flat. "You’re welcome."

Everyone: "..."

After a moment’s pause, Yuan Liang was the first to react, bursting into laughter. "I never realized you had a talent for telling dad jokes! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, bending back and forth.

The tense atmosphere that had just filled the room dissipated with the sound of his laughter.

Xie Youchen raised an eyebrow. "You just never noticed."

The young man’s lips curved into a slight smile as he sat down beside Jiang Qingli. He draped an arm over the back of the sofa behind her while chatting with the others.

The posture almost encircled the girl in the crook of his arm, looking slightly intimate under the hazy, dreamlike lights.

But because Xie Youchen’s posture and movements were so practiced and natural, no one present, aside from Yuan Liang and Chen Mi, thought anything of it.

In fact, someone even commented, "Marshal Xie and Advisor Jiang have such a great relationship. My sister and I rarely talk now that we’re grown up. Sigh... she always says I’m too controlling."

Xie Youchen said nothing. He was already used to outsiders describing their relationship this way.

This time, however, Jiang Qingli suddenly smiled. "Maybe it’s because Marshal Xie isn’t really my brother. We’re childhood sweethearts."

Xie Youchen froze abruptly.

The person who made the comment was also a bit stunned.

’Wait, while that’s technically true, it sounds like... it has another meaning...’

Yuan Liang let out a laugh and casually changed the subject.

The two officers who had been clamoring for Yuan Liang to introduce their nephews to Jiang Qingli the previous night were also there. Upon hearing her words, they exchanged a look, and both saw the shock and disappointment in each other’s eyes.

-

Xie Youchen snapped out of his daze and looked at the girl beside him.

After saying that, she had lowered her head to look at the wine in her cup, her thoughts unreadable.

Xie Youchen was intimately familiar with every one of Jiang Qingli’s minute emotional shifts.

And because of that, he could tell that her spirits weren’t high at the moment.

’Something’s on her mind.’

The topic of conversation had already moved on from them, shifting to questions about Yuan Liang’s daughter’s marital situation.

Xie Youchen leaned in close to her ear and asked in a low voice, "You don’t like it here?"

"It’s not that."

Jiang Qingli shook her head, glanced at him, and hesitated for a moment. "Brother..."

Xie Youchen looked at her intently, his gaze gentle. "What is it? I’m here."

Jiang Qingli took a deep breath and said, "Actually, I don’t think this can go on. You can’t keep being my boyfriend forever."

Xie Youchen froze.

His heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

’Has she grown tired of me?’

’Did someone spread malicious gossip to her, making her resent me?’

’Or have I been too clingy lately? Have I not been acting right?’

’Could it be because of what I said last night? She doesn’t want to wait anymore?’

Xie Youchen had, in fact, long considered his status.

’At first, he had just thought that if she wanted to play with his feelings for a bit, he would let her.’

’Girls are often playful. It didn’t matter to him. If she abandoned him, it would just mean he was improper. He would deserve it.’

But now that the day had actually come, faced with that possibility, Xie Youchen felt an icy chill run through him, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

He subconsciously grabbed her fingers, his mind a dazed and confused mess, not knowing what to say.

Just as he was frozen in a stupor, Jiang Qingli leaned in and whispered in his ear:

"Brother."

"—Be my husband."