Cold Blooded Wife

94 Wu Xingxie's Marriage (12)

Wu Xingxie made her way to the main entrance where she waited for General Tang to arrive. She wore a brown veil to match the color of her hanfu as well as a brown shawl over her head.

Wu Xingxie already greeted Wu Dingxiang who told her to be safe since she hadn't been outside a lot of times. Of course, she knew he didn't really care but acted like she heeded his words.

Standing in front of the gates, Wu Xingxie heard the galloping of a horse and turned to see General Tang getting closer to where she stood.

Making a signal with her hand, she gestured for Sizheng to come out from his hiding spot. The young boy peeked his head out and glanced up at the man on the horse.

"Greetings, General Tang." Wu Xingxie wss about to bow when the general raised his hand for her to stop. He opened his mouth and claimed,

"No need for formality, Miss Xingxie."

Wu Xingxie's eyes lightly twitched from the way he called her. It was odd as most people around her called her by her formal title.

"Aren't you moving too fast? The number of times we've met can only be counted with in hand." Wu Xingxie assertively told the older man, holding up three fingers.

"Well..." General Tang trailed off since she stated the truth. They met once in the palace, another time when she was leaving the Gu estate and the third time to discuss the wedding.

"Therefore, please don't call me by my given name. I will continue to call you General Tang out of respect and courtesy." Sternly, she told him that and turned to Sizheng.

Her emotionless voice changed as she reached her hand out and  told the younger boy,

"Come meet General Tang. He grew up under Prime Minister Gu's care."

Sizheng slowly nodded and took her hand before glancing at the general.

General Tang looked down at the child and raised a brow.

"What is the meaning of this?" He inquired with a curious tone, pointing his chin at the boy.

Wu Xingxie bent over to pick Sizheng up into her arms and affectionately smiled at him before looking at the general with a bored look

"He grew up in the Gu estate before Madam Gu asked me to take care of him. He can't speak but he's very smart. Isn't that right?" Wu Xingxie playfully pinched Sizheng's cheek. He didn't get angry but smiled and nodded at her statement.

General Tang sat in his horse, baffled by the girl's bias attitude. Scoffing, he bit his tongue to avoid saying offensive words in front of a child.

"Are you ready? If so, get on the horse." He prompted for her to get on so that they could be over with the day.

"Here, be careful." Hoisting Sizheng onto the horse, Wu Xingxie swiftly got on behind him so that he was between her and General Tang.
Sizheng had never rode a horse before so he was smiling widely and looking down at the ground.

"Hold on tight." She moved his hands to wrap around General Tang's waist. Once he was sure everything was set, General Tang turned the horse around and began riding away.

"Stop going so fast! Don't you see there's a child riding?" Wu Xingxie harshly chided the general as they passed through the bustling streets. Multiple people stopped what they were doing to have a look but General Tang's speed was so fast, they couldn't get a glimpse of his face.

Since it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, lines of booths were set up, people were everywhere enjoying themselves.

After about twenty minutes of riding, General Tang stopped at a small restaurant. It wasn't so busy compared to the booths set up but it was great for those who wanted a quiet place to eat.

"Get off." General Tang told the two behind him. Wu Xingxie elegantly jumped off the horse before opening her arms out.

"Here, I'll catch you." Wu Xingxie beamed as Sizheng readied himself. He lightly gave his body a push, and Wu Xingxie caught him, arms under his armpit.

The general got off and led his horse to a place where he could tie the horse so it wouldn't go anywhere. After doing so, he gestured for the two to follow him.

"I've never been here." Wu Xingxie looked around the restaurant. It was small, but had around 7 to 8 tables for customers. At the moment, only 3 were occupied so General Tang told the waiter that they would take the one near a window.

"Sir, right this way with your wife and son." The waiter directed politely since he misunderstood that the three were a family.

Sizheng snickered at the waiter before following Wu Xingxie to the table. General Tang wanted to correct the waiter but seeing how people were looking at them, he refrained from doing so.

"Pick what you want to eat. The meal's on me." General Tang told as he handed them the menu.

Wu Xingxie took it and as she looked through the list, she asked,

"Why did you choose this place?"

General Tang stared at her for a few moments before he told her about why this place meant so much to him.

This restaurant was where he met Prime Minister Gu just at 10 years old. That day, he had been starving for days without food or water so he came here to beg for food.

He had no money as he grew up alone, without parents or any guardian. General Tang didn't know why, but he had no memories of his childhood of when he was 7 or before that. All he knew was that he had to survive. He survived by searching for food in the woods, but he would often be frightened when he heard scary stories from other people about the places.

The day he met Prime Minister Gu, he was sickly thin, his ribs showed through his skin and his hair was brittle from not bathing for so long. When the people saw him, they were very disgusted by him but a man came up to him.

The man was the only one who spoke to him, offering him a meal. Prime Minister Gu asked where his parents were but when the boy said he had no idea what that was or who they were, he decided to take the boy in. It was obvious that he had been living in the wild for years.
His clothes were ragged and he looked younger than his age.

"Back then, I had no name. He was the one who named me. It's weird, but I really like the name Yanan." He narrated softly, looking down at the table.

"Yanan* as in peaceful?" Wu Xingxie wondered to which General Tang nodded.

That's a nice name compared to mine.

Wu Xingxie commented mentally before choosing the dish she wanted to eat.

*****
Yanan*- General Tang's name Yanan when written is 燕安 which can be read as "Peaceful".

P.S. I named him after Yanan from Pentagon.
#SorryNotSorry

How he getting more screen time than the male leads, that makes no sense, oh wait....