Chapter 56

Wen Yan and Jin Zijin left the noise of the banquet hall hand in hand and boarded the private electric cart waiting nearby, heading for the villa that belonged to them.

The door closed softly, shutting out the crisp night wind outside and the lingering music and singing from the hall.

As soon as they sat down, Jin Zijin let go of her tension and leaned back into the soft leather seat, looking a little weary.

She lifted a hand and lightly pressed the bridge of her nose.

"Tired?" Wen Yan turned to look at her, concern plain in her eyes.

"A little," Jin Zijin said with her eyes closed, her voice slightly hoarse. "I just got drained."

She was naturally more energetic than most people; as long as she got six hours of high-quality sleep a day, she could handle heavy work and social obligations with ease.

What truly wore her out was not those formulaic greetings and performances.

It was Chi Chunxin.

That woman had dropped in without warning and then, in front of Wen Yan, shamelessly started "spilling everything."

Every joke, every look, set Jin Zijin’s alarm bells ringing.

She was afraid the next thing out of that woman’s mouth would be some story about her own "wild past" or "dark history."

Damn Chi Chunxin!

She was keeping score now!

One day, when she had someone dear to her heart too, she would make sure to "return the favor" with interest!

Jin Zijin ground her teeth inwardly, but on the surface all she did was let her lashes flutter, giving away a trace of barely noticeable irritation.

Wen Yan, who had been quietly observing her, finally spoke after a moment’s hesitation. "I thought... since you were seeing old friends like Jianlan-jie and Miss Chi today, and chatting with them, you might feel more relaxed."

"But now it looks like you’re even more tired than usual."

Jin Zijin turned her head at the sound.

The overhead light in the carriage fell into her eyes in broken glimmers, revealing a faint helplessness there. "Being with Jianlan is fine. She’s always had a sense of propriety."

She paused, her tone turning complicated. "But as for Chi Chunxin..."

"Forget it." Jin Zijin curled her lip and sighed, resigned. "You saw it yourself; the two of us are probably just incompatible. Every time we meet, we argue."

"If we don’t make a mess of things, it’s like the meeting never happened."

Wen Yan looked at her very seriously, curiosity brimming in her eyes. "Why? Miss Chi seems open and easygoing. You don’t seem like the type to really clash with someone."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "And honestly... it’s hard for me to imagine you actually arguing with anyone."

In Wen Yan’s impression, Jin Zijin was calm and sharp.

Even when she was displeased or dissatisfied, at most she would cast a cool glance, carrying a kind of condescending pressure.

This sort of noisy bickering, like little kids in kindergarten, was the first time Wen Yan had ever seen her.

Jin Zijin looked at her deeply, her expression complicated.

After a moment, she said slowly, "That’s because... what you see is the me who’s with you."

She paused for a few seconds, as if organizing her thoughts, or gathering her courage.

Pressing her lips together, she lowered her voice, unusually candid. "Actually... Chi Chunxin isn’t wrong."

She paused again. "Wen Yan, don’t be fooled by how gentle I seem when I’m with you. My real temper is actually pretty bad."

She used the words "pretty bad" very carefully, as if she were choosing them with great caution.

"For example?" Wen Yan asked, neither surprised nor dismissive; she simply looked at her earnestly.

Her eyes were full of curiosity, as if listening to an important case analysis.

Jin Zijin thought about it and began to list examples.

Her voice was calm, but every word was clear. "I’m impatient with people, especially with work partners."

"The secretaries and assistants who can stay by my side long-term are almost all students Grandma has raised since they were young; they’re people I know inside and out."

"They know every one of my habits, every preference and dislike; they can even predict my mood."

"But the other executives and employees in the group aren’t so 'lucky.'"

The corners of her mouth tightened, and her gaze cooled. "If someone’s proposal at the conference table is full of holes, or they’re too slow and don’t meet my standards, I’ll scold them thoroughly."

"At banquets, it’s even worse. If someone acts without propriety or drags everyone down... I might just flip the table on the spot."

Wen Yan froze slightly. She blinked and asked, "Can you give me something more specific?"

Jin Zijin thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "All right. I’ll tell you something that wasn’t quite that outrageous."

"At one company banquet, an executive drank too much and got handsy with a female employee who was toasting him."

"I was furious. I dumped my wine over his head, then used the bottle to break his hand."

Wen Yan...

Jin Zijin paused, then blinked at Wen Yan. "After that I fired him and paid him several tens of thousands in medical compensation."

Wen Yan silently gave her a thumbs-up. "A queen."

Jin Zijin laughed and took her hand. "You don’t think I’m too fierce?"

Wen Yan smiled and soothed her, "Not at all. That was defending someone who was being bullied."

She paused, then added, "If something like that happens again, send him to my hospital. I can put him back together, and make sure it hurts and heals!"

Jin Zijin laughed too and gave her a thumbs-up. "Excellent medical skills!"

The two of them laughed themselves into a heap.

Wen Yan rubbed Jin Zijin’s hand, her eyes bright as she looked at her. "Then what about the outrageous things? What have you done?"

Jin Zijin pressed her lips together. "I’ll tell you later."

Wen Yan didn’t press. She nodded. "Okay."

Jin Zijin smiled, then said in a fairly relaxed tone, "Anyway, that’s just what kind of person I am."

"Do you know what the executives inside the company call me behind my back?"

Wen Yan shook her head.

Jin Zijin curved her brows and said two words: "Tyrant."

Wen Yan: "..."

For a moment Wen Yan had nothing to say. She blinked, then leaned in to study Jin Zijin’s face carefully.

Under the light, the face before her was breathtakingly beautiful, yet at this moment it also carried a different kind of vulnerability because of that honesty.

A tyrant?

More like a tyrant’s favored consort.

If this was a tyrant, she was far too gorgeous.

After looking at her for a while, Wen Yan finally said softly, "That description sounds a little exaggerated."

"Zijin..." She paused, then looked at Jin Zijin very seriously. "You’re not a tyrant. Because you’ve always been very gentle with me."

Jin Zijin looked at her face and gently curved her lips. "You think I’m very gentle?"

Wen Yan nodded. "Mm."

"Actually..." Jin Zijin weighed her words and sighed. "I’m not fundamentally that kind of person."

"The gentleness I show is really just a selective performance, aimed at specific people."

Wen Yan’s heart sank a little.

She chose her words carefully and asked cautiously, "So what you mean is... the way you are in front of me now, to some extent, is something you’re... 'putting on'?"

That question made Jin Zijin fall silent instantly.

She avoided Wen Yan’s gaze and looked out at the shadows of the courtyard trees flashing rapidly past the window.

Wen Yan didn’t rush her; she just watched quietly and waited for her answer.

Inside the carriage, only the electric cart’s low hum remained.

After a long while, Jin Zijin muttered a little irritably, "It’s... not completely 'put on.'"

She seemed to be sorting out her own feelings, thinking hard before answering. "When I’m facing you, I’m surprised myself."

"I don’t feel impatient. I can’t really find fault with you. Everything about you feels just right to me."

But she quickly poured cold water on her own words, her tone carrying a hint of uncertainty. "Still, I don’t know how long that feeling can last."

She turned back to look at Wen Yan, rubbing her thumb over the back of Wen Yan’s hand, and said softly, "Maybe once the honeymoon period is over and the filter fades, all the ugly parts of my nature will come out..."

"By then, once you’ve seen the real me, you might not like me as much as you do now."

Wen Yan clearly caught the care hidden in her words; more than that, she could hear the fear.

She froze.

So this was what it was like: even Jin Zijin, who seemed all-powerful, strong, and dazzling in everyone else’s eyes, cared so much about how she appeared in the eyes of the person she loved. She, too, feared being disliked.

That realization instantly washed away the bit of sourness in Wen Yan’s heart.

Connecting the dots, she tentatively asked, "So... you didn’t let Miss Chi add me on WeChat because you were worried that, on a whim, she might say something about the past that you don’t want me to know yet?"

Jin Zijin glanced at her with obvious appreciation. "Very smart, Dr. Wen."

Wen Yan laughed softly.

Holding Jin Zijin’s hand, she lowered her eyes, all relief in her expression. "You startled me."

"I thought you didn’t want my social circle to overlap with yours, and wanted to keep a clear boundary—your friends are your friends, and mine are mine."

"After all... a lot of marriages are handled that way."

Jin Zijin immediately realized that Wen Yan had been anxious all by herself just now.

She turned Wen Yan’s hand over and clasped her cold fingers without another word, holding them tightly in her palm. Her voice was urgent and earnest. "How could that be!"

"I’d be thrilled if you could fit into all of my circles! I’d even want to drag you along to meet every important friend and partner I have, and tell everyone that you’re my wife, the most important person in my life!"

She even started giving examples to prove it. "Look, didn’t I take you to meet Jianlan on my own initiative before?"

"How could I not want to take you out to meet my friends?"

Feeling the warmth and strength coming from her palm, Wen Yan nodded. "Mm."

Jin Zijin continued to explain, her words a little quicker now. "I don’t let you have private contact with Chunxin because... well, when I was younger, I lived a rather... carefree life. Or rather, I was a bit reckless."

"I did quite a few things that, by my standards now, might not count as 'mature and steady' and were even a little outrageous."

She sighed, a rare trace of embarrassment in her voice. "And as for me, honestly, I care a lot about my image in front of you."

"I’m afraid those old things will affect your judgment of me and ruin the image I’ve finally built up in your heart."

"We’ve only been married a month. The foundation of our relationship still isn’t deep enough, so I worry you’ll think I’m bad because of it, or not like me as much."

She spoke with anxious urgency, pouring out the unease she had been carrying all day.

"No."

Wen Yan immediately gripped her hand, her voice gentle yet firm, like a boulder. "No!"

Wen Yan looked up, staring straight at her. "I think the human heart is like a vast, deep ocean."

"On the surface, the sea may be calm and bathed in warm golden sunlight; beneath it, there are bound to be undercurrents and dark trenches unseen by ordinary eyes."

"But as long as those undercurrents don’t cross the legal boundary and don’t harm innocent lives, I believe I’m capable of understanding them, of accepting them."

Looking into Jin Zijin’s eyes, she said word by word, "Because I like you very much, Zijin."

"I want to know everything about you, including the parts you think aren’t good enough."

Jin Zijin’s eyes grew faintly warm, emotion surging in her chest.

But her long-standing obsession with being "perfect," and that bit of pride, still made her hesitate. "But..."

Wen Yan leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and softened her voice. "You can tell me anything, really."

"I want to know your past, to understand how you grew into the person you are today. Just as you want to be part of my present and future, I also want to be part of your whole life."

She asked gently, with infinite patience and tenderness, "Zijin, please open yourself up to me slowly, okay?"

Jin Zijin looked into her eyes, full of sincerity and love, and the last line of defense in her heart quietly loosened.

She pressed her lips together, finally giving in, though she still clung to a little delay. "...Mm. Let’s do it next time."

"When I’m better prepared, I’ll tell you little by little, and show you those not-so-glorious parts of my 'history,' like flipping through an old photo album."

Holding Wen Yan’s hand, she unconsciously rubbed her knuckles, her voice softening into something almost coquettish. "At least for now... let me keep being your 'perfect wife' for a while longer, okay?"

She blinked, revealing a childish side. "My 'idol baggage' is really heavy, you know."

"Please, wife~"

What else could Wen Yan do when she said it like that?

Her heart melted completely; all she could do was give in.

Leaning over, she gently kissed Jin Zijin’s trembling eyelashes, like a silent stamp marking the word: approved.

In the quietly moving carriage, the two exchanged a long, tender kiss.

After they parted a little, they held hands and leaned into each other once more, returning to their close, affectionate state.

Wen Yan seemed to think of something and brought it up casually. "By the way, that Miss Song Yao... are you very familiar with her?"

Jin Zijin rested against her shoulder, still basking in the warmth from before, and answered offhandedly, "Pretty much."

"She was one of my mother’s favorite students; very talented."

"She and Qingchi grew up together too, so you could say they’re childhood friends."

"But those two are both a little bad at math. When they were little, I even found someone to tutor them, and they still scored sixty..."

That was the first time Jin Zijin realized her own cousin was actually a fool; the sky practically fell.

Thinking of that, she turned to look at Wen Yan. "Why are you suddenly asking about her?"

Wen Yan’s expression remained normal. "Oh, nothing. It’s just that she came to the hospital before and registered for my appointment, so I remember her a little."

Jin Zijin asked casually out of concern, "What happened to her? Is she okay?"

"Sacroiliac joint dysfunction. A common occupational issue for dancers; I’ve already treated her and given her rehab guidance."

Wen Yan answered professionally and succinctly, then asked, "Since she’s such a good friend of Qingchi’s, did you invite her when we got married?"

Jin Zijin nodded. "I did. But she and Qingchi both had important performance tours at the time and couldn’t make it back from out of town. The gift did arrive, though."

As she spoke, something suddenly felt off. She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Wen Yan. "Why are you asking so carefully?"

She lifted her hand, cupped Wen Yan’s face, and made her turn to face her directly. Her gaze was probing, dangerous. "Dr. Wen, are you that concerned about your patient? You even need to ask whether she came to the wedding?"

Looking at her, tense and clearly focused on the wrong thing, Wen Yan felt both amused and vaguely soft with helplessness.

Thinking of Song Yao’s almost impossible-to-hide, love-filled gaze at the banquet, and then comparing it to the complete cluelessness in front of her now, Wen Yan could only sigh inwardly.

Sigh; her wife really was painfully slow in some matters.

That girl’s admiration was practically spilling out of her eyes, and yet she was utterly unaware...

No wonder she’d stayed single until now.

Suppressing her thoughts, Wen Yan leaned down and gave Jin Zijin’s slightly pursed lips a light peck, explaining, "I asked a few more questions because, since she’s someone Mom values and also a friend of Qingchi’s, we’ll probably see her often in the future."

"If I know a little more, it’ll be easier to take care of this 'younger sister' naturally when we meet again. That’s all."

After hearing that, Jin Zijin gave a soft hum through her nose, which counted as accepting the explanation.

Still, she didn’t forget to emphasize, "That’s good."

"Dr. Wen, you need to remember at all times that you’re a married person."

She poked Wen Yan’s shoulder and deliberately put on a stern face, adopting her "tyrant" airs. "Keep a safe distance from all possible men and women! Understood?"

Wen Yan was amused by her fierce exterior and jealous little act, and couldn’t help laughing. "Wow, how imposing."

She lifted the corners of her mouth and teased, "So... this is one of the tyrant’s sides? So controlling."

Jin Zijin lifted her chin; a clever, bright light flashed in her eyes as she poked Wen Yan’s chest again with her fingertip. "Hmph, this is nothing. I’m just giving you a first taste."

"Later... I’ll let you properly see what a real tyrant is like!"

As soon as she said it, she couldn’t hold back herself and laughed, falling straight into Wen Yan’s arms.

Wen Yan raised a hand, cupped the back of her head, and drew it against her shoulder; then she lowered her head and kissed her forehead with affection.

————————

Jin Zijin wasn’t unaware that people liked her, but she didn’t care.

After all, she was the emperor.

And an emperor was simply this: admiration for her, longing for her, all of it was only natural.

Chi Chunxin: What a menace indeed [cry-laugh]

TL Note:

idol baggage (偶像包袱) means the pressure to maintain a polished public image and not look imperfect.