Chapter 69
Is it really necessary?
Of course it is!
In Yuan Qiong's view, what belongs to her is not to be touched by anyone else, let alone the man she has her eye on.
"Girl." Lin Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. It was better to let out his anger than to hold it in. "Let me explain this to you."
Yuan Qiong sneered: "What difference does it make whether you explain or not? Do you think I'll stop caring if you explain? Do you think I'll believe you have absolutely no connection with that Tan Xiaoque?"
A daughter's intuition is the sharpest; Yuan Qiong could naturally see that Tan Xiaoque had never hidden her feelings for Lin Qiang.
She lifted her skirt and walked in the opposite direction of the street: "Big Beard, I believe you like me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have done all those things before. But I want more than just liking. You know me, I can't stand seeing anyone else touch anything I've set my sights on, do you understand?"
"I see."
Lin Qiang followed behind her, his deep and handsome face gradually losing its smile. He tried to reach out and take her hand, but she shook him off.
"Understand?" Yuan Qiong stopped and turned around, her beautifully shaped chin slightly raised, looking at the man in front of her with cold eyes: "What do you understand?"
"I really have no improper thoughts about Tan Xiaoque. In my eyes, she's just a child, like the neighbor's little niece," Lin Qiang explained.
His statement made Yuan Qiong scoff: "Child? Back then, wasn't I a child in your eyes too? Hmm? Do you also think of me as your little niece?"
Back then... would you have believed me if I said I treated you like my daughter?
Tsk, saying that will probably get you beaten up.
"You two are different."
“How are they different?” Yuan Qiong’s thin lips pressed tightly together: “In my opinion, she is exactly the same as I was back then.”
Yes, exactly the same.
Same age, same relationship, same feelings for the man in front of them.
Lin Qiang frowned; her words made him uneasy. How could they be the same? He only had one little girl; how could the other women be considered the same?
"You are mine, she is an outsider. How can our relationship be compared to that of other people?"
"Why can't we be compared? You've known Tan Xiaoque for many years, even longer than you've known me. She's an outsider, but I'm not?"
"From the time we met to when you took a knife for me, it's only been a little over a month. You, bearded man, tell me, why are you so open and honest with a complete stranger in just a month or two?"
Why… Lin Qiang was speechless. He didn’t know why, he just wanted to do it… he couldn’t control himself.
"Back then, you first abducted Yuan Liuniang to the mountain, and then you abducted me. If it weren't for me, wouldn't you have already married Yuan Liuniang? If you had met another beautiful woman instead of me back then, would you have done the same? Hmm?"
For the suspicious Yuan Qiong, this was a knot in her heart.
Lin Qiang was somewhat stunned; he had never thought about these things before. In his view, his feelings for Yuan Qiong were as natural as eating when hungry or drinking when thirsty—a part of his life that required no thought at all.
Do you need a reason to like someone?
"Girl, you don't need to think about these things..."
How could I not want to?
She interrupted him, staring intently at the man before her. Her initially cold gaze gradually deepened.
"Between you and me, everyone thinks I betrayed you. It's me, Yuan Qiong, who is sorry to you, Black Beard."
Yes, back then I was just a little girl full of lies. You saved me, taught me to read and write, taught me martial arts, shielded me from harm, and showered me with love. Yet I abandoned you and heartlessly married someone else. How noble and devoted you were, with your long black beard! For a woman who was already married, you entered the palace alone, pursuing her relentlessly and sacrificing so much. Didn't you find yourself quite moved?
"But you, big bearded man, surely you know why I left a few years ago, right? Tell me yourself, who wronged you, me or you wronged me?"
"..." Lin Qiang watched as her slender, fox-like eyes gradually reddened, revealing a sorrowful expression, and his heart ached terribly. He quickly cupped her cheeks in his large hands and said guiltily, "I'm sorry, I've let you down."
"Yes! It was you who betrayed me! It was you who didn't want me..." The words "I'm sorry" seemed to flip a switch on her emotions. Yuan Qiong suppressed the stinging in her nose, stubbornly glaring at him with her red, fox-like eyes, fiercely shaking off his hand: "It was you who didn't want to marry me! You said you would be with me for life, that you would be with me for life, that you would never blame me no matter what, that was your promise! And what happened? You heartless man, you actually said you never thought of marrying me?!"
Even after so many years, when she thinks of that scene, of that man looking at her with amusement and saying, "How could I possibly marry you?!" she still can't suppress the sadness and grievance in her heart.
She felt that she had never felt so wronged in front of anyone in her entire life, not even her grandfather, not even when her grandfather forced her to marry Yuwen Jing, she had never felt so wronged! Only this man, only in front of this man, could she be so easily stirred up with emotions that she shouldn't have been vulnerable to.
She, who was usually proud, now had red eyes and held her head high to keep her tears from falling, maintaining her dignity and self-respect, but the sob and grievance in her voice were hard to hide.
"Do you know how heartbroken I was when I heard you say you didn't want to marry me? Do you know how heartbroken I was being forced to marry someone I didn't want to marry? Where were you then? I'm asking you, where were you?!"
"When I got married, I so wished you would appear before me. I thought more than once that if you appeared, I would go with you regardless of any consequences. I didn't care about Grandpa, Yuwen Jing, or even the Prince of Yan!"
"However, that night, I sat at the door of my room with the broken stone you gave me. I waited all night. All night long, until the matchmaker came in, did my makeup, combed my hair, sang my wedding song, helped me put on my wedding dress, covered my head with a veil, and step by step, I stepped out of the Yuan mansion. I stepped into another unfamiliar place, to become someone else's wife... Do you know how heartbroken I was at that time? Ah?"
"sorry......."
Yuan Qiong couldn't hold back her tears. She turned her face away, trying to hide them as if she were trying too hard to conceal them.
"Big Beard, you've given me hope more than once, and disappointed me more than once. In my entire life, I, Yuan Qiong, have only ever suffered such a great loss because of you, yet I still choose to believe in you time and time again. Therefore, I cannot tolerate even the slightest thing—any other woman—getting even the slightest bit closer to you..."
Yuan Qiong rarely cries loudly; when she does cry, it's like a small animal, with only sobbing sounds, yet it's heartbreaking.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. It's my fault, all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Faced with her questioning, he didn't know what else to say besides "I'm sorry." Lin Qiang pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as if she were embedded in his own body: "I'm sorry, girl, it was my fault."
He lowered his head and gently kissed her temple. Lin Qiang rested his chin on the top of her head, his heart aching with each sob.
"It will never happen again, believe me. I will never leave again, and I will never let you down again."
On a day of celebration for everyone around them, Yuan Qiong held him in her arms, clutching his clothes, and cried her heart out, her sobs filled with unbearable resentment. All the resentment she had suppressed over the years turned into bitterness.
"Big Beard, sometimes, I really hate you..."
“Hmm…” Lin Qiang understood what she meant. He said, “It won’t happen again, never again.”
"Big Beard, I have nothing left now, only you. You absolutely cannot betray me..."
From childhood to adulthood, she was always burdened with the title of the eldest daughter of the Yuan family, and also adorned with the noble aura of the Crown Princess and future Empress. No one ever treated her as a human being. Those people saw only power and status in her, a path to the heavens. Including her grandfather, they all used her as a pawn, as capital for the family's glory.
Now, the title is gone, the glory is gone, and her grandfather has passed away.
In this world, there's only one person she truly cares about: him.
"Believe me, it won't happen." Absolutely not.
Lin Qiang stroked her long hair and said softly, "From now on, don't call me Big Beard anymore, just call me... Lin Qiang..."
Actually, he originally meant to say "husband"...
Author's Note: Yuan Qiong: Lin Qiang, right... what the heck is he?
Lin Qiang: Lin Qiang, that's Lin Qiang's father.
Yuan Qiong (suspiciously): Lin Qiang's father?
Lin Qiang (laughing): Hey!
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