Chapter 930: Such a beautiful confession (1/2)
Instead of explaining the reasons behind the falsified Pear Blossom Rain Needles, Tang Li was clearly confessing his feelings. Unfortunately, Ning Jing wasn’t here to hear his words.
Tang Li asked Second Elder, “Old man, do you know how to torment a woman?”
Second Elder clenched his fists and was about to curse Tang Li for his bullying ways and un-husband-like conduct when Tang Li exclaimed, “Make her love you and unable to leave you, then tell her to scram!”
Silence greeted his words once again. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Tang Li next looked at Third Elder. “Old man, has a woman ever fallen in love with you before? Why did she love you?”
While Third Elder found himself in an awkward spot and avoided Tang LI’s eyes, Tang Li asked next, “Do you know your wife’s favorite flowers? The kind of cloth she likes for her clothes? Her preferences for her three meals? Her favorite snacks? Or which store’s jewelry and rouge she likes best? The size of her shoes? Her preferred fragrance for baths? How late she lazes about in bed? How long her tempers last for?” Tang Li paused to chuckle, then added, “Or which days of the month are her worst moods?”
Not a bird disturbed the stillness of the chamber as the elders lowered their heads. It wasn’t clear whether they were embarrassed or just ashamed. Han Yunxi couldn’t help but think of Long Feiye and how much she suddenly missed him. Without a doubt, he knew all the details about herself. None of the servant girls were laughing either, but they were all peering at Tang Li with adoring eyes. How could they have expected the upright and proper Tang Clan Head to care about such trifling details?
How much must a man love a woman to spend his time finding out such things?
Actually, love wasn’t some high and lofty ideal above the mundane world, but an accumulation of the little things from daily life. The smaller the details, the more beautiful the love.
“I know them all!” Over the past year, Tang Li’s forbearance, compromises, doting, and shielding were already beyond mentioning, just like Ning Jing’s obstinancy, cunning, sarcasm, and viciousness. His single statement clearly showed how much he’d sacrifice, cared, and understood in the past year. As everyone stared at him and waited for him to continue, he simply chose to conclude his confession.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t torment Ning Jing at all. She hasn’t fallen in love with me yet, while I find it impossible to leave her now.”
Such a simple confession was both sincere and as beautiful as a dream, so why...so why couldn’t Ning Jing hear it herself?
Tang Li looked at Han Yunxi with an earnest gaze. “Han Yunxi, long before I met Ning Jing, the Pear Blossom Rain Needles had been all used up. I emptied it out while escaping my first wedding, or else I would be married to someone else by now. I was afraid that I couldn’t wed Ning Jing, so I lied. There’s nothing for me to explain! If Ning Jing refuses to go home with me without this betrothal gift, then there’s no need for you to release me. Just lock me up again and I’ll eat and live here. I won’t go back.”
The head elder looked towards Han Yunxi at the same time she looked back. Thanks to the disturbance at the gambling house and auction halls, Tang Li’s matters had been delayed indefinitely. It was originally Ning Cheng who suggested to the head elder to keep the couple here. His plan was to kidnap Tang Li to threaten the Tang Clan to cooperate with Cloud Realm Trade Consortium by trading in their weapons, rather than have Ning Jing waste her time running circles around the man. But now the situation had changed. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were going to form an alliance, so East and West Qin wouldn’t go to war so quickly yet. Moreover, Ning Cheng was missing and Ning Jing’s whereabouts unknown. The head elder had no way to make the final call.
The head elder thought, Since Tang Li truly likes Ning Jing, then Miss Jing’s task is all but half done. It shouldn’t be hard to wrest out an agreement eventually. Right now, the Di Clan’s unfavorable plight made it inadvisable to clash with Tang Li. It was better to let him go and tell him everything about Ning Jing instead. On the one hand, they could get the Tang Clan to help with the search efforts; on the other, they could maintain relations with the Tang Clan for any future discussions. The head elder approached Han Yunxi and voiced his thoughts into her ear. Although Han Yunxi hadn’t expected Tang Li to be so clear with his intentions, she did guess the head elder’s considerations ahead of time. She shot Tang Li a secret look, hoping it’d prepare him for the bombshell ahead and keep him calm. Tang Li noticed the look, but it wasn’t clear whether he understood her meaning.
Han Yunxi intoned, “Someone come and undo the Tang Clan Head’s bonds.”
By now, Tang Li had reached his limits. He anxiously asked, “Where’s Ning Jing? Where’s my wife?”
It was impossible for him to hide his love after such a clever confession, nor was there any need to make a show. He could now publicly declare his love for Ning Jing to anyone who listened. In fact, he’d even planned out how to threaten the Tang Clan elders with Ning Jing’s baby once he took her home. As the ninth generation heir to the Tang Clan, he’d make any of those elders regret--especially his father--if they dared to touch a hair on Ning Jing’s head!
“Hurry and tell Ning Jing to come out. If she wants a betrothal gift, I’ll make it up to her! When we go back to the Tang Clan, she can pick any assassination weapon she likes!”
Although Ning Jing picking a weapon and the Tang Clan cooperating them in a weapons trade were two completely different things, all of the elders’ eyes lit up at Tang Li’s words. They couldn’t help but feel vexed at forgetting about the Tang Clan in the past few days. If they had interrogated the man earlier, perhaps he would have already taken Ning Jing back to the Tang Clan and finish the deal. Now Ning Jing was missing, so how were they supposed to explain things to Tang Li?
For a long time, Han Yunxi didn’t speak. The various elders exchanged glances, while Tang Li finally noticed something amiss in the middle of his joy. He grew uneasy. Had something happened to Ning Jing? Or his child? Before he could ask, Han Yunxi stopped him with a stern look. Although the Council of Elders trusted Tang Li, mightn’t they think deeper into the issue after news of Ning Jing’s pregnancy broke out? She married into the Tang Clan with a mission, so she would have only kept the pregnancy if she wanted it! The fact that Ning Jing had entered Three-Way Black Market in disguise had already raised Ning Cheng’s suspicions. If he was here today, Tang Li wouldn’t be having such an easy time of things. At a moment like this, it was better to have less troubles.