Consulting My Husband

"I'm doing pretty well! How about you?"

"I'm asking, did you break off the engagement with him?"

"Oh... haha!" Grace chuckled and said, "I've already brought it up with my father."

"And then?"

"My father slapped me." Grace covered her face. "Right on my cheek. It was swollen for three days..."

Byron White looked at her face, his expression gradually darkening. "So, you're not planning to break off the engagement with him, are you?"

"Sigh! You have no idea what my father is like. He values keeping promises above all else—"

Honestly, with your abilities, you don't even need to go through the assessment! I can appoint you as Vermilion Chapter Leader right away. I can also take you straight to the Eastern Alliance." Byron White took out a gold-embroidered scroll and opened it for her to see.

It was her official appointment scroll for Chapter Master.

"Huh? Weren't we just talking about... that other thing? Why are we suddenly on this topic?" Grace felt something was off.

"If you don't break off the engagement with him, you can forget about everything else!" Byron White replied.

"...Is the Alliance Master threatening me?" Grace looked at him.

"I'm not threatening you, I just... like you too much." Byron White softened his tone, gazing at her affectionately.

"Haha... you scared me for a second!" Grace said. "Actually, Alliance Master, I have a plan."

"What plan?"

"Since my father and Evan Xiao both refuse to break off the engagement, I'm planning to go directly to Emperor Henry and ask him to annul it!" Grace said. "I've helped the Emperor before, so he should agree to my request."

"Great!" Byron White flashed what he thought was his most handsome smile. "So when are you going to ask for the imperial decree? I'll be waiting for you."

"I'm going right now!"

"Alright, go ahead!"

"Then you rest here, Alliance Master. I'll head to the palace now." She hurried off in a fluster.

Grace wouldn't dare actually go to the palace to ask for an imperial decree—not even as a bluff.

After Xi Fu left last time, it took a lot of effort for her to coax Evan Xiao back to normal.

She headed straight for the General's Manor.

When she saw Evan Xiao, she stammered as she told him about it.

"He threatened you?" Evan Xiao asked calmly.

"Yeah!"

"So you came to tell me you want to go to the palace and ask for the decree?"

"No." Grace scratched the back of her head. "I'm here to talk it over with you, to see how we should handle this."

Evan Xiao looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"Why are you smiling? I'm about to lose my mind over this!"

Evan Xiao grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace. "That's more like it! When you run into something like this, you should talk it over with your husband. Don't just act on your own, got it?"

"Oh..." Grace stayed in his arms for a moment, then looked up and asked, "So what should we do?"

"Wait here for me," Evan Xiao said. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

Evan Xiao leaned down and kissed her forehead, then left without answering.

Grace touched her forehead and followed him out for a peek, but he was already gone.

So she went to find Shannon.

Even though it was pretty cold, Shannon had set up a lounge chair in the courtyard, half-reclining with a jade bottle in her hand, shaking it back and forth.

Grace tiptoed over and suddenly shouted, "Boo!"

Shannon jumped in fright, and the bottle in her hand hit her.

She scrambled to pick up the bottle, as if afraid it might break.

Then she gritted her teeth and said, "Grace! That's not how you scare people!"