Chapter 31 Dealing with Unwanted Romantic Encounters
Xiao Cui, the personal maid, stood on the veranda holding a cup of tea. Seeing her mistress's restless and anxious state, she tried hard to maintain her composure, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upwards.
"Miss, don't scare yourself like that! You know how skilled Miss Li is; even three or five strong men couldn't get close to her. What can Miss Liu do to her with her little strength? She'll be fine!"
"What good is being highly skilled in martial arts?!" Tang Xiaoning suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She turned around and glared at Xiao Cui, her round eyes full of worry: "I'm afraid they won't use force, but will use a softer approach!"
That woman, Liu Yiyi, is a master at playing the victim and acting weak!
Minghua... Minghua, that person, looks cold and hard, but actually..."
Her voice lowered, carrying a bittersweet feeling she herself wasn't aware of: "Actually, I can be quite soft-hearted sometimes!"
She recalled Li Minghua's quiet indulgence and occasional tenderness towards her, such as brushing the dust off her nose or tacitly allowing her to tug at his sleeve.
The vat of jealousy in my heart was instantly overturned, and the sour water bubbled up.
Just as she was about to explode with anxiety and could hardly contain herself, preparing to rush to the west of the city to "rescue" her female knight-errant, who might be entangled by the "weak witch," a familiar figure that made her heart race suddenly appeared under the arch of the moon gate.
"Minghua!" Tang Xiaoning shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, rushing forward with a gust of wind.
She eagerly grabbed Li Minghua's arm and scrutinized her from head to toe, from her hair to the tips of her boots, looking her over and over again.
Her voice was urgent and rapid, almost trembling with tears:
"Are you alright?! Did she do anything to you?"
Are you hurt? Has the matter been resolved? She didn't try to hold you accountable, did she?
A barrage of questions popped out like beans, each word brimming with undisguised concern and anxiety.
As soon as Li Minghua stood still, he was enveloped by the urgent atmosphere that rushed towards him.
She looked down at Tang Xiaoning's cheeks, which were slightly flushed from running and excitement, and the slight annoyance she felt from dealing with Liu Yiyi's entanglement unexpectedly dissipated.
She nodded slightly, her voice much gentler than when she was speaking to Liu Yiyi: "It's resolved."
Just three words, yet they carry a reassuring and calming power.
"How was it resolved?!" Tang Xiaoning's anxiety eased slightly.
Immediately, gossip took the lead, and the hand gripping Li Minghua's arm tightened slightly:
"Is her mother really that sick? Desperate to the point of 'blood loss'? Is she really that pitiful?"
Her eyes were fixed on Li Minghua, as if afraid of missing the slightest change in his expression.
Li Minghua succinctly and clearly concluded: "There may be an illness, but there is no need for 'blood depletion'."
Her words were largely exaggerated, and her motives were impure.
She paused for a moment, then met Tang Xiaoning's probing gaze with a frank look, and added, "I have already explained to her that the debt of gratitude has been settled, and she should not pursue this matter any further."
Every word was clear and powerful, like a reassuring pill.
Tang Xiaoning was overjoyed to hear this, and the corners of her mouth almost uncontrollably turned up. However, when she thought of Liu Yiyi's clingy nature, a trace of doubt crept into her heart again.
She leaned closer, lowered her voice, and questioned him with a hint of nervousness:
"Then...what did she say? Did she just let it go like that?"
She stopped crying and wailing, threatening to kill herself... saying she wanted to follow you to repay your life-saving grace?
She knows Liu Yiyi's tricks all too well.
Li Minghua looked at Tang Xiaoning's face, which instantly tensed up again, her bright eyes filled with "Tell me she ran into a wall" and "Tell me she didn't succeed."
A fleeting, almost imperceptible, indulgent smile crossed Li Minghua's eyes.
She repeated it in a flat tone, as if stating something ordinary that had nothing to do with her: "She said she missed me day and night and wanted to be by my side all the time."
These words, spoken without any emotion, were like a pebble dropped into Tang Xiaoning's heart.
Tang Xiaoning's heart skipped a beat and instantly jumped into her throat!
She held her breath, her fingers gripping Li Minghua's arm tightened unconsciously, and her voice trembled: "And then what?!"
She stared intently at Li Minghua's lips, as if awaiting the decisive verdict.
“Then I told her…” Li Minghua began clearly.
Her gaze calmly locked onto Tang Xiaoning's eyes, which widened instantly in tension. She deliberately paused for a moment, and this brief silence made Tang Xiaoning's heart almost leap out of her chest.
Just as Tang Xiaoning was about to shake Li Minghua, she continued, her voice low but each word carrying immense weight: "—Absolutely impossible."
"Pfft—cough! Cough cough cough..." Xiao Cui, who had been listening intently and trying her best to play the background character, finally broke down completely!
When she heard the crisp, ruthless words "absolutely impossible," combined with the instantaneous change in her young mistress's expression from extreme tension to disbelief to ecstatic joy, she was deeply moved.
She pinched herself hard to stop laughing, but suddenly choked on her saliva and burst into a violent cough.
She coughed and covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently, but she was still laughing so hard that tears were almost streaming down her face.
"Oh my god, Miss Li's way of refusing... is just too... too Miss Li!" she thought to herself.
Tang Xiaoning was stunned, her mind seemingly blank for two seconds.
Li Minghua's cold "absolutely impossible" sounded to her ears at that moment more beautiful than the most melodious heavenly music in the world!
An overwhelming sense of joy and peace, like a surging tide, instantly overwhelmed her, and sweet bubbles bubbled up from the bottom of her heart.
She suppressed the urge to jump up and spin around in cheers, trying her best to keep a straight face and maintain a bit of composure and ladylike dignity.
She stretched out her finger, with a hint of coquettishness and a triumphant sense of relief, and gently poked Li Minghua's strong forearm:
"Hmph! You're smart to stand up for yourself! Your stance is firm and your attitude is clear! You deserve praise!"
Her slightly raised chin and the dazzling light in her eyes revealed her inner joy.
Looking at her charming appearance, where she was clearly overjoyed but still trying to appear calm, Li Minghua finally saw a clear smile in his eyes, though it was fleeting.
She ignored Xiao Cui's suppressed laughter that was still audible beside her.
"Hmm." Li Minghua responded in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over Tang Xiaoning's collar, which was slightly open as she rushed out to find her, and a stray strand of hair was blown by the autumn wind and clung to her slender white neck.
Li Minghua naturally raised her hand, but instead of brushing away her hair, she precisely grabbed Tang Xiaoning's wrist, which hadn't yet retracted after poking her arm.
Her wrist was slender and soft, with delicate skin, and was firmly enveloped by her slightly cool palm with calluses.
Her movements were fluid and natural, with an air of familiarity. She took her hand and led her towards the warm house under the eaves: "It's windy, be careful not to catch a cold. We'll talk about it when we get back."
Her tone remained calm, yet it conveyed a concern that needed no words.
Tang Xiaoning was caught off guard when her wrist was grabbed. The warm touch instantly spread from that point to her whole body, making her body stiffen slightly.
She then relaxed completely and obediently, letting Li Minghua lead her.
All the jealousy, anxiety, and resentment that had been surging just now had been completely washed away by the warmth brought by this sudden act of intimacy.
She followed closely behind Li Minghua, half a step behind, her gaze involuntarily drawn to their clasped hands.
Li Minghua's well-defined fingers held her wrist firmly, the strength neither too loose nor too tight, yet conveying a reassuring and stable power.
The evening breeze lifted their sleeves, causing them to occasionally entangle and rub together.
Tang Xiaoning felt her face burning again, her heart pounding uncontrollably, and the little voice inside her was already singing:
Her heroine Li's swift and decisive methods for dealing with those unwanted romantic advances were truly... clean, efficient, and without any hesitation! Absolutely amazing!
Although the process gave her a heart-stopping scare, the result... well, it was perfect!
Quite satisfactory!
The incident that Liu Yiyi meticulously planned but was quickly dismantled by Li Minghua with a "straightforward" approach seems to have truly become a thing of the past.
The next few days passed peacefully, and there was no further news about her.
Tang Xiaoning's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was completely put back into her stomach. Because of Li Minghua's decisive and clear-cut, almost cold-blooded, handling of the situation, the secret joy and sense of security in her heart were almost overflowing, and the smile that could not be hidden was flowing from the corners of her eyes and brows.
After dinner that evening, before it was completely dark, the deep blue sky, like fine velvet, was dotted with a few scattered stars.
On a whim, Tang Xiaoning excitedly pulled Li Minghua aside, avoiding the servants, and quietly climbed to the roof of the tallest viewing pavilion in the mansion.
"Wow! The stars are so clear here! It feels like I could reach out and pluck them!" Tang Xiaoning carefully found a flat spot on the roof ridge to sit down.
She excitedly tilted her head back, her slender finger pointing to the sky: "Minghua, look! That golden star in the southeast corner, isn't it the Venus we talk about in the old saying?"
The evening breeze ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead and carried with it her sweet fragrance.
Li Minghua sat down a step away from her, his posture still as upright as a pine tree. Even sitting on the sloping roof tiles, he was as steady as a rock, exuding a reassuring power.
She looked up in the direction Tang Xiaoning pointed, her gaze calm and serene, and nodded: "Yes, it appears in the west at dusk, which is called Venus."
Her voice sounded particularly clear and crisp in the deepening night.
"Tsk tsk, you guys are really knowledgeable from your travels!" Tang Xiaoning chuckled, her body unconsciously relaxing as she leaned back comfortably.
Her arm accidentally brushed against Li Minghua's straight back.
The warmth of another person emanating from through the thin fabric made her tremble violently. She immediately withdrew her hand as if electrocuted, and two blushes instantly spread across her cheeks, clearly visible even in the hazy moonlight.
She hurriedly turned her face away, pretending to focus on finding the next star, but out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but steal glances at the aloof figure so close to her, her heart pounding.
The evening breeze, carrying the gentle warmth unique to early summer, softly caressed the rooftops and brought with it the faint fragrance of gardenias from the depths of the courtyard.
The surroundings were so quiet that only their shallow breathing and the intermittent chirping of insects in the distant grass could be heard, as if the whole world consisted of only the two of them.
"Minghua," Tang Xiaoning gazed at the vast starry sky, her heart entirely focused on the person beside her.
After much hesitation, I finally let out the question that had been lingering in my mind for several days, carried gently on the night breeze, with a hint of barely perceptible tension:
"That day... Liu Yiyi was outside Jishetang, crying and saying she missed you day and night. When you heard that... did you really feel nothing at all?"
She held her breath and strained her ears, afraid of missing any subtle reaction from Li Minghua.
Li Minghua did not answer immediately.
She remained silent for a moment, her gaze still fixed on the deep night sky, as if seriously considering the question of "feeling".
The night breeze ruffled a few stray hairs on her forehead, and her profile was outlined with cool and beautiful lines in the moonlight.
After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice low and clear, like jade striking each other: "Yes."
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