"Miaomiao, take it out."
"......what?" The light in her eyes flickered.
He patiently looked at her. "What Liu Fuyi gave you."
Ling Miaomiao suddenly raised her eyes and fire seemed to be burning within them. "Didn't you say that I saw wrong?"
He curled up the corner of his mouth. An ambiguous smile hanging on his white jade-like face.
Under this kind of circumstance and distance, she felt extremely inferior and paused for a while before blurting out in terror. "He didn't give it to you."
"........" He raised her face and fixed his complicated gaze on her eyes. A moment later, he spoke in such a soft voice, she couldn't tell if he was trying to talk to her or mutter to himself, "How disobedient."
He bent down until his lips softly touched her cheeks. "You're already in such straits yet you still don't listen?"
She dodged aside while spitting out words like a machine gun, "it must not be for me either. Since it wasn't for either of us, none of us can tear it open."
When she uttered the word 'us', he froze momentarily. His face seemed to clear up somewhat as his gaze fell upon her face again.
His tone was very warm. "It won't be very good to leave it in your hands."
"You should take it out and give it to me."
Ling Miaomiao shook her head at him, as if she was ready to face death with an upright stature.
Mu Sheng was silent for a pregnant pause.
Then, he looked towards her and weakly tapped her stomach twice.
His pitch black eyes were only exacerbated by the cold smile he put on: "Did you think that if you put it here, I wouldn't dare take it?"
Before he even finished speaking, he took a step forward and suddenly kissed her on the lips. At the same time, his hand started to snake around her until he had both of her arms locked behind her back using his left hand.
Taking advantage of how she hadn't reacted yet, his right hand loosened the belt tied around her coat and drilled its way in.
"Ugh...." She struggled furiously.
He took a small step backwards, slightly lowering his voice as he spoke.
It was like he was trying to restrain himself and give her a warning at the same time. "If you don't want me to touch you, don't struggle."
Ling Miaomiao realized the situation she was in and stopped moving. When their lips separated, the thin letter was also in his hands.
He was in no rush to open it. Rather, he helped her tie up her coat again. The fluffy fur lining the insides of her sleeves peeked out and he helped her smoothen it out, Her face was bright red. If it weren't because she was angrily glaring at him, he would've caressed her face.
Getting away with this also diminished his fury by a greater half and the elation filling his eyes was clear as day.
His expression was relaxed as he opened the letter. The section above was written in a messy handwriting and below it was a slovenly written line. "Yao'er. I've already found a way to escape. Let's meet up at Wufeng Town's Huazhe Restaurant. Take care of yourself."
His raised eyebrow shook slightly as a sneer appeared on his face. "I suppose that he has quite the patience."
"Don't throw it away." Ling Miaomiao reached forward but he lightly pulled his arm away and dodged her attempt. He didn't let her see a single word.
"Why would I throw it away?" Mu Sheng looked into her eyes and spoke deliberately. "Young Noble Liu said that once he returns, he and sis are going to get married."
"......"
The restaurant's lanterns were brightly lit. The entire hall was filled with people and waiters shuttled between tables. One of them saw them walking over as they were carrying buckets of water. Upon seeing them, the waiter took special care to go over and greet them.
"Oh yea, Miss Ling." His eyebrow was raised, "Did you finish that book?"
Ling Miaomiao was stunned for a moment. "Book...."
Mu Sheng half-blocked her from the front. The youth's face was very lively yet his smile was estranged. "Let's go back up first."
"Oh....." The waiter shook his head as he watched the girl being led upstairs tightly behind Mu Sheng with a confused gaze.
When Ling Miaomiao returned to her room, she started to flip over everything in the room. Finally, she found the book she never finished reading underneath the table. She blew away the dust that had collected on the book cover, turned around and went downstairs.
"Where are you going?" He blocked her path.
Ling Miaomiao raised her head. "Returning the book."
"I'll do it for you."
"......" Ling Miaomiao looked at him for a long time. It looked like she had enough and tossed the book at him. She then turned around and lifted the canopy over the bed.
The youth picked up the book and brought it downstairs. The old fashioned wood staircase creaked softly as he walked down them. As he did so however, he suddenly thought of something and slowly raised the book. He flipped through the book to the last page and quickly read through the conclusion.
When Ling Miaomiao had still been 'awake', she had said before that in the story, a young noble had fallen in love with another man. He tried many different ways to take him. In the end, the two were together. Albeit, a forced relationship.
The murky yellow light from the lantern swaying back and forth above his head shone down on his face. It traveled between his long lashes, casting a multitude of long, slender shadows across his face. He slightly pursed his lips.
At the very end of the book, the man could no longer endure the possessive desire of the noble, and tried to kill himself for the third time. He wanted to frighten the noble but he didn't expect that he would actually die. The noble was heavily injured as well, spurting out blood. In the end, before he died, he couldn't help but laugh derisively at himself: "A fruit one forcefully plucks is bitter after all."
The youth shut the book with a soft 'bang'. A thread of chaos flashed through his dark pupils, filling with sullenness. He clenched his fingers, enduring the surging desire to simply blow everything up with Exploding Sparks.
Fortunately, she didn't read the entire book.
"Young Noble Mu, are you here to return the book?" The waiter had been smiling all day long and he raised a handkerchief to wipe off his sweat. He took the book and placed it on one of the shelves on the first floor. Then, he walked back to continue wiping tables.
Mu Sheng stood at the side and lowered his voice: "How's that friend of yours doing? Has there been any rumors or news from the palace recently?"
"From the palace..... Are you asking about Prince Consort Liu?"
"Yes."
"I heard that Prince Consort Liu has been improving in his care everyday and the Princess's insanity has improved by leaps and bounds."
He nodded, not saying anything.
When the waiter finished wiping the table, he asked out of curiosity: "Young Noble Mu, how are your marriage preparations going?"
"Close."
He was stunned for a moment. He wasn't able to immediately understand what 'Close' meant. Then, he raised his head and spoke again: "Oh yea, Young Noble Mu. I heard that all those hailing from demon hunting clans are extremely arrogant and that they'd never marry ordinary people. I'm sure Miss Ling must be extremely charming and likeable."
He had conversed a few times with Ling Miaomiao. She was sweet and far from pretentious, an extremely cute girl. However, to cause a young master from a demon hunter clan to be in such a rush to marry her, rushing through all the formalities and procedures, truly was rise to great curiosity.
"She's....." The youth's lashes lowered and he thought for a long time. In the end, he spit out two words: "Very amazing."
"I am the one marrying up."
Ling Miaomiao held in a bellyful of anger as she splayed out on her bed, waiting. However, after waiting for a while, a certain someone still had yet to show themselves. The candlelight from the table flickered and a slim strand of smoke slithered upwards. It slowly turned blurry to her eyes and just like that, she fell asleep.
When Mu Sheng returned, he discovered that the girl under the canopy didn't even cover herself with the covers. She laid on her side with her clothes, her arm placed beside the pillow. She was deep in sleep.
He reached out and plucked off the three sharp butterfly hair ornaments from her hair and placed them on the table. Then, he pulled the covers up and covered her.
For some unknown reason, the line from the book 'A fruit one forcefully plucks is bitter after all' repeatedly swam about in his heart, rattling and disturbing his mental state. He decided that for that night, he'd let her be and not disturb her.
He blew out the candle and the room sunk into darkness. A moth that had been following the light suddenly became lost. It crashed into the window with a soft 'thud' and started to flutter its wings fiercely.
"Mu Sheng....." she suddenly groaned and he was stunned. Using the cold moonlight, he lowered his body to take a closer look at her. Her eyes were still tightly shut but her eyebrows were also tightly knit. She muttering indistinctly to herself: "Sigh, you're so annoying."
"......"
He had no idea how merely blowing out the candle could've aroused her annoyance.
His fingers repeatedly caressed her soft, pliable face. His voice was very, very low: "What did you call me?"
She didn't utter another sound. Her wrist was placed against her forehead and she seemed like she was in a daze from her sleep, almost too lazy to even open her eyes.
He used some more force to punish her a little by pinching her: "Hmm?"
Ling Miaomiao finally opened her eyes to look at him. Her dark pupils were striking under the moonlight. What a pity though, that her eyes were filled with annoyance: "Annoying ghost."
"......" He felt like he could no longer sleep well tonight.
He picked her up from the bed and kissed her forehead. Then, as he was hugging her tightly, he spoke in a soft voice: "Call me Ziqi."
"......"
He was hugged her even more tightly as he patiently repeated: "Call me Ziqi."
Ling Miaomiao suddenly grinned from anger, staring at him: "How about I call you daddy?"
He paused for three seconds. Then, he lowered his face to kiss her face: "If you want me to, then sure."
Ling Miaomiao pushed him aside, both flustered and exasperated: "Go to your room."
Early in the morning the next day, Ling Lushan's response arrived in Changan after traveling across the mountains and rivers. Along with the dowry to marry off his daughter. Coming along with the dowry were three people: A grey-robed Ah Yi along with Ling Yu's aunt and uncle from her grandmother's side. Apparently, they were here to represent the female side of the family in the marriage talks.
The meal they sat together for was terribly embarrassing. The reason was simple, Ling Miaomiao had absolutely no recollection of these two family members. She could only trouble the familiar Ah Yi and repeatedly ask: "What kind of official positions do they have?"
"How many children do they have?"
"How old are their children?"
Ah Yi was extremely adept at managing the household yet under the current situation, continuously wiped away the sweat beading on her face. She felt restless as she stammered: "Young miss, I... I don't know....."
"I.... I'm not clear on this...."
"I'm just... I'm just here as the guide...."
Ling Miaomiao was greatly disappointed and her sigh bespoke of her feelings.
Ling Lushan held an important position, one that he could not easy break away from. At the same time, he didn't have any siblings so he could only find some relatives from his dead wife's side of the family. He appointed two volunteers to help test out and verify this husband Ling Miaomiao had chosen.
Although they were here to probe out the husband candidate, they didn't exhibit the slightest behavior of someone probing someone else. They sat the at the table with beaming smiles and were overly courteous and polite.
Mu Yao was absolutely dependable when it came to handing matters. Mu Sheng took appropriate steps back when they were needed and in the mere span of a few words, already caused that convenient uncle to roar out in laughter.
In this world, the position of demon hunter clans was extremely preeminent. Even if the Mu family was merely left with an empty husk of it's former self, their disciples had fame all throughout the world. It was simply a case where a scrawny camel would still be bigger than a horse. They were considerably equally matched to her family of government officials. However, it was still to the point where if she married over, she would be picking up easy benefits.
Mu Yao spoke realistic words: "With my family's patriarch and matriarch already passed away, once Miaomiao married over she won't have anyone of the older generation to take care of her. I will take full responsibility."
The aunt's smile was as brilliant as a chrysanthemum: "Aiya, not having any in-laws to serve upon all the time is the best...."
However, the uncle immediately stepped on her foot and she hastily changed her words: "Oh, pardon me. I'm sorry, what I meant was that Miaomiao has been spoiled in the residence so we're just afraid that she wouldn't be able to serve her in-laws well. Hahaha......"
Ling Miaomiao also laughed along with them in embarrassment.
Mu Yao paused for a moment before cautiously speaking up: "Demon hunters are often drifting about all years round, having no fixed home...."
The aunt once again complimented: "Miaomiao is still young and unruly. Letting her live outside for a few years should be fine. She can just treat it like playing around. Most people from a big clan like ours never get the chance to go outside. How enviable!" She turned her head to look at Mu Sheng with intimacy. She seemed to like this handsome young master no matter how she looked at him: "That is to say, isn't there Young Noble Mu as well?"
Mu Sheng's conduct so far was extremely courteous and humble. In addition, he managed to portray a perfect amount of shyness that elder would love: "Yes, I will protect Miaomiao."
"Look, look....." The aunt turned around to look at the uncle's expression, "Like I said, there'll won't be any problems."
The uncle rubbed his chin as he nodded. He couldn't conceal his admiration: "Young Noble Mu is truly an eminent and rising youth...."
Ling Miaomiao sat in her seat placidly, just like a pretty flower vase placed on the table. After a while, she turned back around and asked Ah Yi in a low voice: "Did you watch them carefully on the road here? Are they really my relatives from our family? Are you sure they haven't been substituted?"
Ah Yi's mouth opened so wide one could stuff an egg into it: "Sub.... substituted? By who?"
Ling Miaomiao smiled coldly: "Of course, by my to be husband."
"Ah?" He was increasingly shocked: "Young Miss, you shouldn't make things up like that...."
Ling Miaomiao let out a long sigh. She leaned against the chair: "Ah Yi, do we still have any wine? Pour me some."
Ah Yi had just reached out his hand but suddenly turned to look behind her. His words came out somewhat shakily: "Young.... young miss. Our soon to be son-in-law... seems to be staring at me." He felt fidgety for a long time and his expression changed. He stood up with an audible whoosh, "Young miss, please sit. I will first go out and deal with some business...."
"Sigh...." Her outreached arm was dragged back. Ah Yi ran faster than a rabbit and in the blink of an eye, had disappeared from sight.
She turned around to look at Mu Sheng. The youth's lips were slightly curled up. His eyes seemed to flicker like the water's surface: "Miaomiao, come over here, sit next to me."
She didn't move and the aunt actually reached out to poke her. She had on a face that said 'I know why you're doing this': "Go ah. Aish, this child, there's no need to feel embarrassed."
She picked up her skirt and very slowly moved beside him. As soon as she sat down, her hand below the table was immediately tightly clasped in his. It was almost as if he was afraid of her running away. Only until he had to toast the others with both hands did he reluctantly release her hand.
After three rounds of wine, the aunt decided to probe things: "Miaomiao, your father was unable to come so he wanted me to ask you something. Do you want to get married here or do you want to return to Taicang and hold a ceremony according to our traditions? To get married after a 30 day ceremony?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Sheng's fingers clenched around his cup. His fingertips turned slightly pale.
"I won't return to Taicang. We'll just get married here." She calmly replied.
The aunt and uncle exchanged glances: "That's fine then.... we'll stay here and help you prepare for your wedding?"
Miaomiao raised her head and asked: "Aunt, how long will it take for you to prepare the wedding ceremony?"
"Oh! It'll take at least 20-30 days." She counted her fingers, "We have to order the wedding clothes, and there has to be a residence as well...."
The youth's head was lowered, his expression somewhat pale. He silently guzzled down a cup of wine.
Ling Miaomiao smiled: "We have to set out to Wufang Town ten days after. Let's just go with a simple marriage ceremony."
The aunt felt somewhat weird: "......How.... how simple do you want it to be?"
"Look for a match-making temple in Changan and make our vows. Then we'll be married."
Four pairs of eyes landed on her face. Mu Sheng's eyes were dark, dark to the point where nothing could be read from them.
"What?!" The aunt wiped her sweat profusely, "I'm afraid that this is...."
"With the heavens and earth as witness, I offer my respects to my parents. There's nothing to be afraid of." The girl softly smiled. Her eyes were exceptionally clear, "Let's get it done in two days."
Mu Sheng's expression suddenly froze for a moment. The wine in his wine cup spilled out — It perfectly coincided with the end of the seven days.