Transmigrated as the Villainess, She Made the General Blush - Chapter 83 - Blood Exchange Brotherhood 4

Chapter 83 – Blood Exchange Brotherhood 4

After the three women left, only Tuoba Yunxiao and Chen Chu remained in Xiao Wangshu’s room.

Tuoba Yunxiao glanced at Chen Chu and spoke to Xiao Wangshu with absolute certainty. “I’m staying here to take care of you.”

Xiao Wangshu happened to have something to discuss with him as well. She looked toward Chen Chu and said, “A large number of spies were caught today. General Chen, you should go and assist General Lu.”

Matters involving enemy spies were of great importance, and Chen Chu knew he couldn’t delay for too long.

Before heading out, he shot a look at Tuoba Yunxiao and instructed Xiao Wangshu, “I will send soldiers to guard outside your room shortly. Rest and recover in peace, Miss, and do not go running about.”

Chen Chu had always been a blunt, straightforward man; this was the first time Xiao Wangshu had heard him speak with such pointed implication.

“Alright, I understand. Please, go attend to your duties, General,” Xiao Wangshu replied with a faint smile.

Chen Chu nodded and turned to leave.

After he departed, the room fell into a long silence.

Eventually, Tuoba Yunxiao spoke up. “I’m sorry. I was too willful today, and it resulted in you being injured like this.”

Before Xiao Wangshu could respond, he added earnestly, “From now on, I will treat you with all my heart. Once we return to the tribe, I won’t let anyone bully you. If I break this oath, may heaven strike me down with a bolt of lightning!”

Xiao Wangshu smiled and asked him in return, “Brother Yunxiao, do you truly not know what I want to say?”

Over these past few days, she had expressed to him more than once that she wanted to stay by the side of her parents and siblings; she did not want to marry into the far north.

How could Tuoba Yunxiao not know?

After another long silence, Tuoba Yunxiao still felt a sense of unwillingness. He asked her, “Is marrying me truly something you’re so reluctant to do?”

Was he really so lacking that she would reject him time and time after again?

If she didn’t have even a shred of romantic affection for him, why would she risk her life to save him today?

“Brother Yunxiao, you are of noble status and young achievement. In the Tuoba Tribe, there is no shortage of women who admire you. Is the reason you’re so persistent with me because of true love, or is it just a temporary desire for conquest?”

Xiao Wangshu’s gaze was calm as she looked at him, speaking sincerely. “I only see you as an elder brother, Brother Yunxiao. I also hope you can see me as a younger sister, just like Sister Xin. Do not take me away from my mother’s side just because of a momentary whim.

“My roots are planted in the Central Plains. My kin and my dearest friends are all here. If you forcibly dig me up from my native soil and transplant me to the northern lands, only to watch me wither day by day, would you truly be happy?”

Imagining Xiao Wangshu being forced to leave her mother, kept like a caged pet by his side, and eventually treating him with cold indifference-would he truly be happy?

Tuoba Yunxiao asked himself, and the answer was no.

He liked her current, vibrant self-the way she hurried between various shops, meticulously calculating for her businesses.

If she went to the Tuoba Tribe, would there even be so many businesses for her to manage?

In truth, there wouldn’t be.

For the first time in all these days, Tuoba Yunxiao truly faced Xiao Wangshu’s needs. For the first time, he clearly understood that the life Xiao Wangshu wanted was one he could not provide.

“Brother Yunxiao, we have a bond forged through life and death, no different from blood siblings. What does it matter if we don’t have that marriage alliance? My father and Uncle Tuoba will always be allied friends!

“And you and I, Brother Yunxiao, will always be brother and sister.”

Xiao Wangshu’s voice echoed in Tuoba Yunxiao’s ears again and again. Her soft words were deafening, forcing Tuoba Yunxiao to look at himself and realize just how unreasonable he had been lately.

“If you are willing to take a step back for my sake, Brother Yunxiao, our agreement will still stand forever. Three years from now, I will regularly transport grain and rice to the northern lands every six months to ensure the people of the Tuoba Tribe never have to worry about food.”
“As long as I live, this promise shall remain in effect.

“I will give my all, until my dying breath!”

Xiao Wangshu’s words were clear and powerful. The moment she finished speaking, Tuoba Yunxiao stood up abruptly.

“Stop it!”

When he had heard these words some time ago, he only felt that this girl was arrogant and ignorant, completely unaware of the weight her words carried.

Now, hearing them again, he could only feel the depth of Xiao Wangshu’s resistance to marrying him.

“Brother Yunxiao?” Xiao Wangshu looked at him, her gaze clear.

It was so clear that it held no trace of romantic affection.

Her eyes were so pure that they held only the cautious inquiry and expectation of a younger sister making a request of her elder brother.

“I understand. Rest well and recover from your injuries. I will go speak with Prime Minister Xiao.”

Tuoba Yunxiao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened them to look at her. “Since you’ve learned so much about Tuoba customs, you should also know that the Blood Replacement Ceremony requires a full bowl of blood. You’re injured right now-how do you plan to give that much?”

In Tuoba customs, there was a ritual held in even higher regard than a wedding-the Blood Exchange Brotherhood.

This was the solution she had proposed to him from the very beginning, a way to dissolve their marriage alliance without affecting the friendship between their factions.

This so-called Blood Exchange Brotherhood was simple. In the family ancestral hall, before the assembled kin, those becoming sworn siblings would cut their palms to draw blood. Once a full bowl was collected, they would exchange and drink it.

From then on, each would have the other’s blood flowing through their veins.

They would not be siblings by birth, but they would be closer than blood.

After such a ceremony was performed, according to Tuoba custom, the sworn siblings were considered immediate family, no different from biological brothers and sisters.

They would not be husband and wife, but they could be brother and sister, and the alliance would remain intact.

It could even make the relationship between the two allied parties even closer.

“Don’t worry, Brother Yunxiao. I will definitely recover before the ceremony begins,” Xiao Wangshu promised with a bright smile.

“Fine.” Tuoba Yunxiao nodded to her with some difficulty and turned to leave the room.

–

In the beginning, he had indeed insisted on marrying her solely to complete the marriage alliance.

The reason he hadn’t wanted to go through with the blood exchange wasn’t for any deep reason; he simply thought a bowl of blood was too much. Drawing it would be a hassle, and it wasn’t as convenient as just marrying her.

Furthermore, he had reached the age to take a wife. Rather than marrying a stranger, it was better to marry a little girl he was familiar with.

To him, marriage was nothing more than having an extra person in bed. As long as her personality was suitable and she was decent-looking, it was enough.

Later, as he heard her propose so many different solutions, he grew more and more irritated.

There were plenty of people who wanted to marry him; he had never felt so frustrated.

Because of that, he had set his heart on making her marry him.

But no matter how often he took her out to play, bought her things, or spoke kindly to her, her heart was set only on dissolving the marriage alliance and nothing else.

He was stubborn by nature, so he had dug his heels in and clashed with her.

After clashing for so long, it was only today that he finally realized just how many times she had deferred to him.

She had always respected and loved him as an elder brother, yielding to him at every turn.

Yet he had used a marriage contract to make things difficult for her at every opportunity.

He had never been a good match for her.

Before, he had only thought of her as a delicate flower raised by Prime Minister Xiao and Madame Xiao-someone who would show her true colors and cry in frustration the moment she encountered the slightest problem.

But now he realized she was never a delicate flower.

She was a trumpet creeper clinging to a sheer cliff; she was a lonely orchid blooming in a deserted valley.

Soft and slender, yet born of the wind and rain, she was indestructible.