Ning Rongrong saw the vines and immediately knew that Su Ming had intervened. She turned around with a look of delight and excitement, glancing at Su Ming, who gave her a slight nod.
For a brief moment, Ning Rongrong had genuinely panicked. While Dai Mubai probably wouldn't seriously harm her, getting hit would still be painful, and she had never been hit before in her life.
Dai Mubai, furious, glared at Su Ming and shouted, "Su Ming, what do you think you're doing? Let me go right now!"
Tang San and Oscar were both shocked, surprised that Su Ming had stepped in to help Ning Rongrong. Tang San frowned slightly as he thought deeply. He felt Su Ming had acted impulsively. Both Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai came from noble backgrounds, while Su Ming was just a commoner. Offending Dai Mubai over someone he had only recently met didn't seem like the wisest choice. In Tang San's view, the best approach would have been to stay neutral and maybe mediate the situation later, rather than stepping in directly.
Su Ming lazily looked at Dai Mubai and said, "Mubai, I think you need to calm down. I'll let you go in a bit. Besides, I agree with Rongrong. In this world, it's normal for nobles and strong people to have multiple women. Zhuqing must understand that, growing up in the Zhu family. Your biggest mistake was abandoning her to face everything alone and betraying her expectations."
Dai Mubai's face stiffened, but he remained defiant, saying, "So what? As long as she's from the Zhu family and I'm a prince, her fate is to marry me!"
"And besides, I'm the third prince of the Star Luo Empire. You, Su Ming, are just a commoner. This is none of your business. Let me go, or I won't be polite!"
Ning Rongrong quickly retorted, "You're just a runaway prince!"
Then, turning to Su Ming, Ning Rongrong said earnestly, "Su Ming, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan isn't afraid of the Star Luo Empire. They don't have any Titled Douluo. You should come to our clan. With your talent and strength, I'm sure my father and my two grandfathers would welcome you!"
Ning Rongrong looked at Su Ming with hopeful eyes, but Su Ming simply shook his head slightly in response.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was powerful, but compared to the Spirit Hall, it was still far behind. Besides, Su Ming had plans for Ning Rongrong to become his wife one day, so how could he join her clan? If he did, even if he married her, it would feel like he was marrying into her family.
With his memories of his past life, Su Ming had strong feelings against becoming part of another's family. It wouldn't sound good, and with his talent, strength, and system, there was no need to do so.
So, Su Ming leaned more toward joining the Spirit Hall instead. The Spirit Hall was powerful, home to three beautiful women, and had far more influence than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. It would also provide better opportunities for the plans he had in mind for the future.
More importantly, the Spirit Hall supported commoners in a way that reminded Su Ming of the government from his previous life.
Seeing Su Ming's refusal, Ning Rongrong felt a bit disappointed but quickly collected herself.
From the shadows, Gu Rong felt irritated seeing Su Ming reject Ning Rongrong's offer. Who did Su Ming think he was, rejecting such an opportunity? Talent without resources was useless! But he also understood that this could be the arrogance of a genius. Perhaps Ning Rongrong's invitation alone wasn't enough; he would observe Su Ming for a while longer. If Su Ming's character was sound, perhaps Ning Fengzhi himself could extend the invitation.
Seeing Ning Rongrong's disappointment, Su Ming gently patted her head and smiled, "Rongrong, even though I won't join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, we're still friends. No need to worry about things like this. I don't want to be tied down by joining any clan."
Ning Rongrong, not resisting Su Ming's head pat, felt her heart flutter. Maybe it was because Su Ming's intervention had significantly boosted her opinion of him.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, pouted when she saw Su Ming pat Ning Rongrong's head and how shy Ning Rongrong looked. She felt a pang of jealousy—it was supposed to be her special treatment!
This made Xiao Wu feel a growing sense of urgency. Su Ming was making his move on Ning Rongrong!
Meanwhile, Gu Rong, who had been observing from the shadows, was increasingly annoyed. His fists clenched—his little princess was going to be taken by this boy! His jaw tightened as he struggled to contain his frustration.
Ning Rongrong, still worried, said, "But you've made an enemy of Dai Mubai now because of me. Will he try to do something to you?"
Hearing this, Su Ming glanced at the still-furious Dai Mubai and calmly said, "Mubai, surely you wouldn't hold such a small matter against me, would you?"
"And honestly, can you really deny that Rongrong spoke the truth? With your attitude, do you still think Zhuqing will change her mind about you? Refusing to admit your mistakes will only make people look down on you."
Dai Mubai looked into Su Ming's calm, deep eyes, and for some reason, he felt a bit uneasy. It was just a normal conversation, but why did it feel like an invisible pressure was weighing on him?
Now that Su Ming had intervened, Dai Mubai was slowly regaining his composure. Taking a deep breath, he said reluctantly, "Fine, I won't do anything to Ning Rongrong. As for Zhuqing, I'll apologize and try to make things right. We both need to calm down."
Tang San and Oscar chimed in at the right moment, "Yeah, Su Ming, Dai Mubai knows he was wrong. Let him go."
Su Ming nodded and released Dai Mubai. Outwardly, Dai Mubai appeared to have softened, but deep down, his resentment toward Su Ming had grown. The only reason he wasn't acting on it now was that he couldn't beat Su Ming. He would have to wait for a better opportunity to teach him a lesson.
But Su Ming also knew that this incident had likely caused a rift between him and Dai Mubai. Still, he didn't care. Dai Mubai was just one man, with unimpressive talent and strength. He wasn't nearly as important as Ning Rongrong, who, in Su Ming's mind, would eventually become his wife.
The head pat he gave Ning Rongrong had been a bold test to see if she would resist—and she hadn't. In hindsight, his actions were a bit presumptuous given that they had only known each other for two days. But in the heat of the moment, it had felt like the right thing to do. Maybe he had just grown too accustomed to patting Xiao Wu's head.