Brother Dao Ming?
For some weird reason, Xiang Ling felt like the name sounded familiar, and looking at how worried Xin Cheng seemed for the other man, the latter was definitely someone related to the previous owner of her body. But before her mind could have further processed this thought, her attention once again shifted to the man with beautiful gray eyes as he suddenly called out to her, grabbing way too much attention from the passersby.
"There you are..."
The man pulled out of Xin Cheng's arms and started walking toward a very confused Xiang Ling. If not for Xin Cheng, he would have fallen several times on his way but the former grabbed him every time his legs started giving away.
"Who's he?" Xiang Ling couldn't help but ask Xin Cheng once both the men were standing right in front of her. Instead of an answer, she received a deadly glare from the man. She opened her mouth to say something to that stupid Third Master Xin when the man with gray eyes suddenly moved forward and wrapped his arms around her.
While Xiang Ling was too stunned to utter a single sound, the same couldn't be said about those who had stopped on their way just to catch another scene of entertainment involving the infamous Chen Xiang Ling and two men. There were a few surprised gasps from several of the women along with hushed whispers that were talking about how shameless she was.
Xiang Ling felt her blood boiling. It was the man who jumped on her in the broad daylight and yet, she was the one being called shameless. What was wrong with these stupid mortals?
"Yaoyao..." the man suddenly called out an unknown name as he tightened his hold around Xiang Ling and hugged her.
"W-what...? "
She looked at Xin Cheng for help and the man looked just as irritated as her. He turned his deadly glare toward the onlookers who immediately ran away without sparing a single glance in their direction. Once it was only three of them left, he returned his attention to the man with gray eyes and moved forward to pull him away from Xiang Ling.
"Let go of her, Brother Ming. She's not Mu Yao." He told the man while trying to pull him away.
"Who is she then?" The man asked as he pulled back from the hug and immediately grabbed Xiang Ling's face between his palms to take a closer look at her face. "She looks familiar..."
"She's Chen Xiang Ling."
The moment Xin Cheng said these words, Dao Ming let go of Xiang Ling's face as if she were some sort of plague. He even went as far as stepping back several steps to put as much distance between them as possible.
"You-" Xiang Ling was at a complete loss for words. She just stared at the man in disbelief. What was his problem? Was she that bad in his eyes?
"Who's he? And who is this Yaoyao?" She once again turned her questions toward Xin Cheng. She was really missing Fu Xiao at that moment. That girl had been the only one who helped Xiang Ling by providing the much-needed information in such moments.
The man with gray eyes suddenly started petting his cheeks before he brushed away the loose strands of his hair from his face. "Xin Cheng, am I looking that bad right now? She even refused to recognize me now." His tone was accusing and so was his gaze as he stared at Xiang Ling.
"I-"
"Stop with your drama, will you?" Xin Cheng appeared angry as he glared at Xiang Ling. Despite the crimson glow of his eyes that matched the persona of a warm fire, his gaze was icy as he looked at her with a clear warning.
"I'm not pretending. I really don't know who he is!" Xiang Ling tried to defend herself. She couldn't even pretend to know the man because it could possibly cause more problems, so she just continued with her amnesia strategy which was more or less a truth considering her situation where she knew nothing about the previous owner of her body.
Xin Cheng scoffed as if he still didn't believe a single word leaving her mouth. "Sure. You have really taken this drama to heart, haven't you? Alright, I will help you to recognize these two people whom you have tortured just as much as the rest of your family. This man over here... he's your husband - Li Dao Ming, and that Mu Yao, she is Ming's favorite courtesan from the Blooming House. Now, can you recall anything?"
To say that Xiang Ling was unable to speak would be an understatement. She opened her mouth several times only to close it immediately as no words were able to escape the confinement of her lips. What she was even supposed to say?
Her gaze once again shifted toward the other man and she found her head throbbing in discomfort. Every time she started thinking that no more surprises were waiting for her, the colorful life of the previous owner of her body proved her wrong.
Now, she had met another husband of hers and this one was not just as handsome as the others but also equally troublesome, not only he loved spending all his time in the brothel but he was also infatuated by the top courtesan of the brothel.
"You... you take him back to Manor. I still have things to do." Xiang Ling didn't wait even for a second to hear Xin Cheng's response and quickly walked away. She needed some time away from these men. She quickly found another secluded and small alley near the end of the market area and used the privacy to enter her space.
At first, she was planning to use the money to buy rations from the market but then she remembered that she had painstakingly grown an entire vegetable and fruit garden in her space. She decided to save the money and use the rations from her space.
Little did she know that there was another huge surprise awaiting her inside her space...!