Li Jing was silent for a beat while Liu Xin Yang had his whole attention on her, studying her reaction, every crease that appears on her eyebrow, every emotion that passes through her face, he examined it.
Liu Xin Yang might look calm and collected at the surface but his heart was beating so fast he could hear it in his ears.
Li Jing blinked a few times, looking very timid, "Lord Liu must be jesting me. How can I, a mere bastard daughter, dare think of marrying someone with Lord's status."
Liu Xin Yang's mood darkened, he held Li Jing's hand tightly, "Don't use that word again to address yourself, that is a command. I have thought it through and your father has agreed with our union."
Upon hearing his last statement, Li Jing's brow arched and a bitter smile appeared on her face. "You have only met me today, my Lord, but you have already discussed my marriage with my father? It seems like everything is set in stone no matter what my opinion be."
It seems like Liu Xin Yang is experiencing all his firsts with Li Jing. It was the first time that he was rendered speechless because of a girl. He sees now where he had made a huge mistake. He should have courted her first before announcing their impending marriage.
Li Jing retracted her hand from the man, her face calm as she looked at the scenery outside the window, "I fear I can't marry in this lifetime, my Lord."
A deep frown appeared on Liu Xin Yang's forehead, "And why is that?"
"I have so much to accomplish and marrying isn't one of them."
Liu Xin Yang's observation is excellent and meticulous, he had long discovered that behind the calm and timid look Li Jing often wears there is a storm brewing behind her brilliant eyes.
He put down the cup in his hand and leveled her his most solemn gaze, "Marrying me might accomplish all your troubles."
"It wouldn't solve my problems, my Lord."
"What if I promise I'll grant all you wish for once you marry me?"
Li Jing's face revealed a disbelieving smile, "What if I wish for the whole world to be engulfed in a sea of flames, would you still grant my wish, my Lord?"
Liu Xin Yang chuckled, "Is it really the whole world you want to bury in flames, or is it the whole Lee clan and Guo family?"
Li Jing's eyes contracted, with unsteady hands she reached for the pot of tea. Hot tea splashed everywhere when she tried pouring it into her cup. Her mind was reeling in. How? She thought she had hidden her intentions well. How can someone know her goal? And it is the scion of the Liu clan of all people. Li Jing's face was drained of any color.
Liu Xin Yang grabbed Li Jing's trembling hands and poured the tea for her.
"If it's the annihilation of an entire clan, I had already done it in the past let alone end people in a blink of an eye. "
Li Jing furrowed her brows. It seems like Liu Xin Yang had already seen through her, she sees no point denying his allegations now.
"What I'm about to do will send me straight to hell, my Lord. This is my personal vendetta and I can't bring you down with me."
His voice was hoarse as he stared intently at her, "I'm halfway there. Why not we accompany each other?"
------
In the end, Li Jing did not give Liu Xin Yang any response. He let it go for now and told Li Jing to think about his proposal. He also announced that he will come to visit the Guo residence more often from now on.
It has been three days since then but not once did the man visit her. Instead, a pest comes every day to annoy her.
Zhang Yong presented her with a small rectangle box, "Li Jing, this is for you."
They were currently in the back garden admiring the flowers under the gentle rays of the morning sun. it would have been a perfect day for Li Jing if she's alone without a pest circling her.
Li Jing opened the box and a complicated look entered her face. She closed the lid and held the box Zhang Yong to return it. "I can't accept such an expensive gift, Mr. Zhang."
Seeing the troubled look on Li Jing's face, Zhang Yong couldn't help but reveal a gentle smile. He opened the box and took out the bracelet lined with small luminescent diamonds. He put it on Li Jing's wrist. He was right, the bracelet suited the woman's delicate and fair skin.
"Keep it. It's my gift for you. I haven't apologized enough for what happened a while back. And please call me Ah Yong from now on."
Li Jing put more distance between them, rubbing at the spot where Zhang Yong touched, and she pursed her lips.
"I don't want trouble, Mr. Zhang. My sister might misunderstand me again if you continue to act this way."
Zhang Yong's good mood plummeted when he heard her last statement.
"I just wanted to get acquainted with you. You've been distant with me since you've returned. We were so close when we were children remember?"
She gazed at the distant trees as her mind conjured a little girl of eight and a boy of ten happily playing in this exact garden as another girl only a year older than the other girl looked on, hiding behind those trees.
It was that year when Adviser Guo announced that his mistress and his other daughter, Tang Ruyi and Guo Yiyi, will be leaving with them. She remembered her mother's distraught and listless face lying on the bed crying day in and day out, refusing to eat. That's when her health started to decline.
Not before long, her father divorced Li Jing's mother and made the mistress his official wife.
Li Jing and her mother were driven out not only from the Guo property but out of the Liu clan only because her mother was originally from the detested Lee clan.
The ten-year-old Zhang Yong, who never played with Li Jing had dotingly held Guo Yiyi's hand while the little one chased a butterfly.
Hah! So close? Did he perhaps lose a few screws on his head?
[Hua Mei]
[Yes, Milady]
[Is she looking?]
[She's by the window, she looked like she wanted to devour you whole, Milady]
Li Jing smiled, [Good, let's give her more to see. I want her to devour her own heart this time]
Li Jing frowned deeply but with a tinge of red colored her tender cheeks. Seeing her bullied look, Zhang Yong wanted to pull the lovable girl in his embrace.
"We were kids back then, Mr. Zhang. You are to be married to my sister in a few weeks and I don't want to put any more strain in my and Yiyi's sisterly relation."
Zhang Yong's mood darkened some more when he heard his impending marriage with Guo Yiyi. "Yiyi had nothing to do with what we have, Ah Jing. And our marriage is canceled for the time being, didn't you hear?"
Of course, she heard.
Adviser Guo and Zhang Duan had a heated discussion the day after the incident. Then a wail that sounded like a pig being butchered echoed throughout the entire property. A physician had even been invited to sedate the pig.
Li Jing shook her head and started to back away again, "I have to go, Mr. Zhang, I forgot I have prior engagements."
She hadn't ascertained her footing properly and tripped on uneven ground. Her body started to sway and was about to fall backward.
"Ah Jing!" Zhang Yong's swift hands catch her this time. The two bodies were so close that no air could pass through them.
Zhang Yong was hyper-aware of the soft body pressed on his own, the delicate scent of wildflowers that seemed to follow Li Jing was also present. He was instantly intoxicated. He had been restraining himself for the longest of time and, alas, could endure it no more.
Li Jing flailed when the hands-on her waist suddenly snaked around her back and hugged her tightly. The man buried his face on Li Jing's hair smelling the enticing aroma from it. In the process, he had not seen the disgusted look displayed on the woman's face, nor the lift on the corner of the woman's lips as her eyes lingered on the upper window of the west wing.
"Ah Jing… I have liked you the moment I laid my eyes on you. I know you feel something for me too."
Yes, I do. I feel disgusted.