Chapter 154 Tang Ning, I am also a man
"Hmm?" Song Tangning was stunned for a moment, then looked up, a little bewildered: "What's going on?"
"Why did Madam Fu come to visit today? I don't believe you didn't hear it." Xiao Yan lowered his eyes to look at her, "The Fu family is a good family..."
"The Fu family is pretty good."
Song Tangning leaned on the table beside him with her legs curled up, pulling her wide sleeves and leaning to the side. She looked very casual. Just one word from her made Xiao Yan, who was about to try to test her, suddenly lose his breath.
His heart seemed to be squeezed by something as he listened to the little girl's sweet voice.
"Old Madam Fu is kind and benevolent, and the Fu family is a noble family. I've met Young Master Fu before; he's an upright and capable man, and he has the protection of Lord Cao and Old Master Fu, who has passed away but has been enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. As long as the Fu family doesn't make any major mistakes, and Young Master Fu also strives to improve himself, there will be no problem for him to establish himself in the imperial court and maintain his wealth for three generations."
Xiao Yan's fingertips curled slightly. Originally, he wanted to ask something, but now that it came out of Tang Ning's mouth, he felt inexplicably depressed.
He glanced away from Tang Ning, not looking at her: "So, you are also interested in the Fu family?"
Song Tangning shook his head slightly: "No."
She lay on the wide sleeves, her fingertips touching the bronze animal incense burner on the table, her eyelashes drooping as she spoke in a very low voice.
"No matter how good the Fu family is, that's not what I want."
She once loved a man with all her heart and gave him her entire life. She thought that as long as she treated him well, she would get the same love in return. She thought that she and him were destined for each other. But later she realized that her love was just one-sided. The result of her giving everything was just to be abandoned, hated, treated like a piece of worn-out shoe, and she died in that abandoned old courtyard.
She doesn't think there's anything wrong with herself now.
Tang Ning turned her head to look at the person next to her, with a sweet dimple at the corner of her mouth.
"Women don't have to get married. Look at Sister Qin. She doesn't have to rely on men, and she can still live a carefree and free life. People admire her as much as men when they mention her. I don't want to be trapped in the backyard, I don't want to wait for my husband to come home every day, and I don't want to spend my whole life guarding the backyard."
"Brother, you know, I actually have ambitions too. I want to run the academy well and do what I can do just like Sister Qin. If one day people mention me not as the daughter of the Song family but as the headmaster of the academy, then my grandfather would surely be extremely happy if he knew about it."
The Fu family is a good family, and Madam Fu is very kind. They probably won't torture her as harshly as the Lu family did, but they still won't allow a woman to show her face in public and make achievements like a man under the watchful eyes of the public.
Perhaps because he had been stupid once, Tang Ning had no expectations in matters between men and women, and was unwilling to put his future on a marriage with an uncertain future.
She leaned on his arm and looked at Xiao Yan, saying softly, "Brother, I don't want to get married. Can you let me stay in Jiyun Lane and accompany you forever?"
Xiao Yan was disabled and could not marry and have children.
She has no mood for love and doesn't want to get married, so it would be great if she could always stay by her brother's side.
Xiao Yan's heart tightened when he heard her say that the Fu family was great, but relaxed when he heard that she didn't want to marry into the Fu family. He looked at the little girl who was so carefree and unrestrained in front of him, and even when he heard her say that she wanted to stay in Jiyun Lane and stay with him forever, he didn't feel happy at all, because he knew very well that the girl in front of him only regarded him as a disabled "brother".
In her eyes, he was a eunuch, a pitiful man who was inhumane. She had no desire to stay with him and keep him company, and that was why she was so unrestrained in front of him.
Even though she was barefoot, wet clothes, and showing her wrists, she had no shame at all, simply because she had never considered him a normal man.
Xiao Yan suddenly felt that it was a little ridiculous. His mind was in a state of confusion, but the little girl in front of him didn't understand at all. He suddenly felt a little depressed.
"Tang Ning, I am a man too."
Song Tangning was stunned for a moment, and then she saw Xiao Yan, who was sitting next to her just now, suddenly leaned down. Such a dignified and cold man, his nose almost touched hers when he approached, and there was a hint of intimidating solemnity in his sword-like eyes.
"You want to accompany me, do you know what it means in the eyes of outsiders?"
Every word he uttered fell on her lips, making Tang Ning's scalp tingle.
"Eunuchs can also marry."
Song Tangning's pupils constricted.
The two had known each other for a long time. No matter how cruel and cold Xiao Yan was to outsiders, he was always gentle to her. He kept his gentlemanly manners and never overstepped the line. He also rarely got so close to her. Their eyes met, their breaths intertwined, and she was completely enveloped by the cold fragrance of pine and cypress mixed with the smell of blood on his body.
She suddenly realized that Xiao Yan was much taller than her. When he was no longer gentle, his beast-like aura made her tremble with fear, as if she would be swallowed up in the next moment.
He could easily hold her in his arms, and the shadow covered her entire body.
Facing the suddenly aggressive Xiao Yan, Tang Ning widened his eyes and leaned back to avoid him, but was suddenly grabbed by the lower back and pressed onto the couch.
Tang Ning's face suddenly turned pale, and he looked terrified: "Brother..."
She placed her hands in front of him, trembling slightly.
When Xiao Yan held the person in his arms, the beast in his heart broke free from its cage. For a moment, he even wanted to ignore the person. However, when he heard the cry with a hint of crying, his expression froze. When his rationality returned, he suddenly stopped.
Song Tangning was freed from the shackles and quickly turned over and pushed him hard. He stood up in a panic and wanted to walk out in a hurry, without stopping at all.
"Tang Ning..."
Seeing that the little girl was really angry, Xiao Yan suddenly regretted and spoke.
Song Tangning stopped, but just stood by the door without looking back.
Xiao Yan slumped beside the couch, staring at her back with an unfathomable expression. After a moment, he reached out and brushed his hand across her waist, pressing it hard. His face suddenly turned pale, and his voice dropped to a very low voice:
"Tang Ning, it hurts."
Song Tangning's heart ached: "If you feel any pain, go find Sister Qin."
Xiao Yan said softly: "Xiao Haitang..."
His breathing became heavier, and he seemed particularly short of breath when he called her softly.
Tang Ning wanted to ignore her, but the threshold that was so close seemed impossible to cross. She looked down at her toes for a moment, hesitated, and finally turned her head to take a look. She saw the man who had been so dignified and majestic just now, holding his waist with his hands, his face pale.
The man who never showed weakness to others collapsed on the side of the couch. The wound on his waist seemed to have split open again, and blood seeped through the gaps between his fingers as he covered his waist.
Song Tangning was both annoyed and angry. She wanted to ignore him but couldn't move. She puffed out her cheeks and glared at him angrily, but after a while, she deflated her cheeks. She bit her lip and walked back, but stood a few steps away from him.
Xiao Yan's eyebrows softened: "Don't be afraid, I'm just kidding."
Tang Ning took a closer look at him. Seeing that he was as casual as usual, with a hint of amusement in his eyes, she immediately became angry: "Brother, how can this be a joke?!"
At that moment just now, she really thought that her brother had such thoughts.
Xiao Yan knew that he had frightened her, so he sighed softly and gave in: "I was just joking with you, I didn't mean to scare you."
Song Tangning was furious when he heard this: "How can you joke about something like this?"
She was angry and anxious. She couldn't help but feel angry when she thought about how her voice was trembling just now, and the moment he approached her, she actually thought about the eunuch marrying a wife.
"Next time you do this again, I'll be angry!"
Xiao Yan covered his waist and groaned.
"You let me mess around and the wound opened again."
Seeing the little girl's cheeks puffed up with anger, but still coming forward to check his injuries, the wariness in her eyes disappeared completely, and she just mumbled and complained like a child who was annoyed by his teasing.
Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel soft-hearted. This little girl had obviously experienced so much, but why was she still as gullible as before?
He just said it and she believed it.
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