Chapter 61
Li Minghua, carrying the heavy package that had almost emptied her pockets, stood outside Tang Xiaoning's courtyard gate and took a deep breath.
She, who had never flinched in the face of swords and spears, now had a thin layer of sweat on her palms.
She took a deep breath, trying to keep her expression calm as usual, before stepping inside.
Tang Xiaoning was sitting in front of the embroidery frame by the window, struggling with the piece of cloth she was given to practice on. Sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting a soft halo around her.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw Li Minghua. She immediately smiled brightly and said, "Minghua! You're back! I haven't seen you all afternoon. Where have you been?"
Her smile was as bright as ever, without a trace of gloom.
It was this smile that Li Minghua wanted to protect forever.
Li Minghua walked up to her without saying a word, but gently placed the bulging package, which was out of character for her usual simple style, on the embroidery frame in front of Tang Xiaoning.
"This is..." Tang Xiaoning looked at the large package with a puzzled expression, then at Li Minghua's unusually serious and even tense face.
Li Minghua didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed on the package, as if he wanted to burn a hole through it with his eyes.
She reached out, her fingertips trembling slightly, and began to unbutton the buttons.
The first things to be revealed were several pieces of shimmering brocade and soft gauze.
Next was the exquisite wooden box containing the white magnolia hairpin.
Then there was that huge, beautifully packaged box of candied fruit.
Several brand-new storybooks with flashy covers.
Finally, there was that small box of rouge with a red paper label on it.
All sorts of things were piled up in one corner of the embroidery frame.
Tang Xiaoning looked at these things, initially bewildered, then an unbelievable thought flashed through her mind like lightning.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at Li Minghua in disbelief.
Li Minghua finally shifted his gaze from the gifts and met Tang Xiaoning's shocked and inquisitive eyes.
She opened her mouth, but the solemn words she had rehearsed countless times in her heart about the "six rites," about "status," and about "protecting each other for life" seemed to be blocked in her throat the moment she met Tang Xiaoning's gaze, and she couldn't say a single word.
She simply looked at Tang Xiaoning, whose usually cool and calm eyes were now churning with a complex mix of emotions.
She tried hard to speak, to utter that request. However, before the words could be uttered, her eyes uncontrollably reddened. A thin layer of moisture quickly filled her eyes, blurring the figure of the person before her.
A scalding tear, without warning, slid down from the corner of her always stubbornly pursed lips, silently landing on the softest piece of brocade, leaving a small, dark stain.
She cried.
Tang Xiaoning felt as if her heart had been violently clenched, a mixture of soreness and numbness.
Li Minghua seemed startled by her own sudden tears. She turned her head away in a flustered manner, trying to wipe them with the back of her hand, but Tang Xiaoning grabbed her wrist.
“Minghua…” Tang Xiaoning’s voice choked with sobs. Looking at the heroine in front of her who could even hold back her tears but had given her all her wealth, she felt an overwhelming surge of love and heartache. “What…what are you going to do with all this?”
Li Minghua, his wrist gripped by hers, turned his head, his reddened eyes staring straight into Tang Xiaoning's tearful eyes. With all his might, he finally uttered the words that had echoed a thousand times in his heart, his voice trembling with sobs, clumsy yet clear:
"Xiaoning...I...I want to marry you."
"This... is all I can give... It might... it might not be good, and it might not be enough..."
"Would you...be my wife?"
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Tang Xiaoning finally couldn't hold back her tears any longer, and they rolled down her cheeks in large drops.
She laughed again, a smile as radiant and captivating as a rainbow after the rain.
She nodded vigorously, again and again, her voice thick with nasal tone, yet utterly resolute:
"Yes! I do!"
"Li Minghua, you idiot! How could I not agree!"
"Who needs you to earn more! I want you! I want you just the way you are now!"
She threw herself into Li Minghua's arms and hugged her tightly, as if she wanted to merge herself into the other's bones and blood.
Li Minghua was knocked back half a step by her, then hugged her tightly.
She buried her face in Tang Xiaoning's neck, inhaling her familiar sweet scent. Her tense body finally relaxed, and all her unease and anxiety vanished in that embrace and that "I do."
The two embraced, letting their tears soak each other's clothes.
Without many words, all the promises and love were transformed into this tight embrace and intertwined tears.
The warm sunlight shone down, and the gifts that symbolized Li Minghua's heartfelt wishes lay quietly on the embroidery frame, witnessing the solemnity and romance of this moment.
After a long while, Tang Xiaoning finally lifted her head from Li Minghua's embrace, hastily wiping the tears from her face with her sleeve. She then wiped Li Minghua's face, saying with a sob in her voice but a smile, "Look at you, you look so ugly crying..."
Li Minghua let her do as she pleased, looking at her red eyes and nose, and said in a low voice, "You too."
The two looked at each other, then burst into laughter through their tears.
Tang Xiaoning picked up the white magnolia hairpin, handed it to Li Minghua, lowered her head slightly, and said softly, "Help me put it on."
Li Minghua took the hairpin, her fingers still trembling slightly, but she carefully and solemnly inserted the jade hairpin into Tang Xiaoning's cloud-like hair.
The jade hairpin is warm and smooth, and the person is more beautiful than the flower.
"Is it pretty?" Tang Xiaoning looked up and asked with bright eyes.
Li Minghua looked at her, his gaze deep and focused. She nodded gently, her voice low and tender:
"nice."
"My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world."
The word "wife" came from her lips, and Tang Xiaoning's cheeks flushed instantly. Her heart was filled with immense happiness, and she threw herself into her arms once more.
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