The two of them faced off for a while before the middle aged woman backed away, letting the young man's collar go..she cleared her throat and said, "You'd better not marry this slut."
Cao Haoran said nothing and merely raised the corner of his lips as he grabbed the young 'man's' wrist, dragging the latter away from the crowd.
Li Mei finally had had enough as she shook off his hand, which itself was impossible for ordinary people. This action of hers showed she had more muscle power than her peers, especially the men. Even though she was a woman, she perfectly acted like a powerful man who could swat the hand of a person who exceled in martial arts.
Her actions seemed to have surprised the third prince so much that he turned back and raised his eyebrows, staring at the 'man' with his eyebrows raised.
"Impressive." Cao Haoran leaned closer and pulled a strand of hair that dangled on the 'man's' face as he rubbed the soft hair between his index finger and thumb, staring at it in a daze for a second as he said, "How about joining my secret army?"
Li Mei, who had prepared a whole lot of things to go against the man was stumped after hearing those words. She raised he head in shock, looking at the man with her beautiful doe-like eyes. She looked so innocent that Cao Haoran couldn't help but stare at her in a dazed state.
He stared and stared as he looked at her face without blinking his eyes.
Why….. Why did he have a fleeting thought of kissing this man….? Did he really turn gay or something?
He shook his head and backed away a little, distancing himself and cleared his throat. "That's right. I'm giving you a chance to repent for your mistake."
"But…" Li Mei couldn understand these turn of events as she frowned. She had clearly stolen from the man. How could he offer her to become a part of his secret army?!
Wait….. Secret army?!
She would join army?!
She refused without even blinking. "No, thanks."
She had no desire to do anything for the Cao dynasty. Her life was already miserable as is. She didn't want to force herself to do something good for the bunch of people who saw her as a demon.
Thanks but no thanks.
"I'm good. I'll become your harem member instead." Li Mei would surely be able to run away after seeking some benefits from this place. She was sure of it. After all, she had once even ran away from the imperial prison.
Now, please don't ask how she had ended up there. It was a way too embarrassing story in the first place.
In short, she knew she wouldn't stay here longer. So why should she bother herself with joining an army or a dynasty she hated? Nope. She wasn't done kind of Saint.
"I'll give you free food for your entire life." For some reason, Cao Haoran felt like he shouldn't let this talented short statured 'man' get away from the grasp of his hand.
".....Still no." Li Mei pursed her lips as she felt like her heart had moved slightly, but she remained firm in her resolve.
"How about I give you lodging?"
"....."
She wanted to reply when the man spoke further.
"I'll hire personal trainer to customize your martial arts."
"...."
"And you don't have to work or fight for the Cao dynasty."
That sentence was enough to hook Li Mei to the point she blinked and looked at the man with interest. Finally, the corner of her lips curved up as she said, "Alright."
Cao Haoran released the breath he was holding, but when he realized what he did just now, his entire face turned blue.
Did he get crazy or something? Or did he momentarily transformed into another person to make that kind of decision out of the blue?!
To think he actually hired a thief for his special military services and even told the man indirectly that he wouldn't be using that army for the Cao dynasty!
Had he finally lost his mind?!
Cao Haoran continued to stare at Li Mei as his expression continued to turn darker and darker, and finally, he turned around swiftly and stomped outside that place without turning back. When he felt that Li Mei wasn't following, he turned around and said, "Li Chen, the first teaching is to follow your superiors' orders at all times. Looks like you still aren't ready to accept your possition yet." The corner of his lips ticked up as he sneered. "Why don't you join the military to wipe up the soldeirs' *sses?"
Li Mei's face turned dark.
Had the Third prince always been so moody?! She didn't want to continue interacting with him at all!
But since she had already decided to enter the army, she shrugged off his words, sending the man's words from one ear to another, throwing it out of the window. She still hurried toward him and continued following the man expressionlessly.
They slowly reached the inner courtyard of the third prince's palace as Cao Haoran finally stopped and turned toward Li Mei and said, "You'll be staying there." He pointed at the small house at the left, looking discolated at most so much that even the garden was full of shrubs and unwanted weeds, creating a dark atmosphere.
Li Mei felt the corner of her mouth twitching, but she still didn't dare to complaint. This house, by far, was probably the most luxurious place she had ever lived in. In fact, she was even a little grateful to actually give her a separate place to live, unlike her own Li family who, only threw her into a horseshed full of terrible smell of horseshit.
At one point, even her nose started to hurt because of that terrible shitty smell.
She pursed her lips and bowed, showing her gratefulness to the man. "Thank you."
Now it was Cao Haoran's turn to become stunned. He had expected this elegant thief to flip out seeing the terrible state of the house he was going to live in, but he hadn't expected the man to actually bow sincerely and thank him.
Suddenly, Cao Haoran wondered what kind of life this person left throughout his life for him to be grateful with only this discolated house.
Before he could think about it, he automatically opened his mouth and blurted out, "I'll clean up this place first. You can rest in my pavilion until then."