After s.h.i.+hong felt like he explained everything to Xing, he looked at her sweetly that made Xing retch," What? ", she asked without hiding her disgust towards s.h.i.+hong."I know your brother"s name is Táng Xing and he was recently with the Earth Kingdom"s Royalties making deals with them", he smirked as if he made an important discovery.
Xing played along by widening her eyes by surprise and then getting angry, "You cannot touch my brother!", she gritted her teeth all the while laughing in her heart how pitiable s.h.i.+hong is.
s.h.i.+hong looked intently at Xing for a moment which made Xing"s skin crawl, "How come you escaped my fate when we both had the same situations? Was it because you had a blood brother? My friend was like a brother to me and he was three years older than me too but he could not protect me... Look at me now...Thirty two years old... I"m not a woman... I"m not a man either...I cannot have a family... So how...?... Why..? Why am I in such a wretched position when you are having everything...? ", he almost whimpered when he asked how and Xing could feel the jealousy and feelings of regret emitting from him.
Xing wondered why too. Well, nothing could be changed now. But still...
She was only inches away from the fate of s.h.i.+hong. There was a bunch of old guys who tried to solicit her, but Haru saved her from them, successfully.
She had seen abused women and never once thought that it is okay if she did that too and she never felt happiness seeing others suffer unless they had crossed her baseline.
She had thought the life of a man would be better because they could do whatever they want without restrictions and they were physically stronger too. She saw how Haru grew up taller than her and he could lift more just eating the same food she ate. There is a difference between men and women. If she was left alone she"d have gone and done something stupid like s.h.i.+hong did too trying to be stronger like men... Maybe...! She is an arrogant person! Stupid too! When she got her monthlies she had thought, it would be fine if she just stopped being a woman and why must women go through this torture every month!
And there were G.o.ds who would have preferred for her decision to stop being a woman, for their own agenda and they could have changed her mind if she had let them.
But she had her mother who taught her how to be a lady even though she wasn"t that interested. And there was Lady Shaoyao who taught her that being a woman cannot stop her from doing whatever she wanted to do and she taught her to embrace her beauty and femininity along with her strength. They both taught her how to be herself and be careful while at it too. Lady Zhong taught her how to take care of her body so that she could be stronger and be healthy.
Xing was thankful to those strong, motherly figures in her life who guided her properly and patiently, through their words and deeds, helping her understand that being a woman is not all bad and even though there will be people who oppose, people who mock, she must stand her ground. There are cruel people in this world and there are good people too. They helped her, truly!
And Xing didn"t bother about those who spoke against her either. She only cared a lot about those who loved her and only saw those who loved her.
And also let"s be honest here.... If there was no Chenglie in her life.... She probably wouldn"t have thought much about her feminine side or worried about morals either. That guy brought out the woman inside her just by being near to her.
His caresses, his kisses, his whispers of sweet nothings...
Xing sighed!
I miss you, Chenglei...
Just then...
The door opened and Chenglie entered that room and brought in a breath of fresh air for her lungs in that congested room and his arrival was like a fresh bloom of spring for her congested heart filled with worries.
"Oh, look here, the obedient dog!", Xing said with a sneer but she could not prevent her eyes tearing up in happiness. With everything going around her like the Emperor"s sudden changes and hearing tragic stories, only he could calm her heart.
Chenglie whispered in s.h.i.+hong"s ear and Xing could hear him say, "They got all the children" and s.h.i.+hong nodded in approval.
Chenglie stood beside s.h.i.+hong and Xing could feel his heart beating erratically for her seeing the pain in her eyes he could feel. She took a deep breath controlling her emotions.
So s.h.i.+hong knew the children are getting rescued and he is not bothered by it? So what is going on? She wondered.
" So are you going to let me go or not? Or do you plan to keep me here forever? You know I could steal YOUR WOLF in a heartbeat, right?", Xing smirked and her eyes emitted her usual confidence.
"I decided to have a family", s.h.i.+hong spoke in a gentle tone.
"By all means... Do have a family!", Xing answered rather irritatingly.
Like that is important...!
Anyone can make a family... Although he ruined my chance... But, can he be trusted with little children? No, right? I"ll kill him before that!
"With you..", s.h.i.+hong added that made Xing flabbergasted and she cleared her throat that had gone dry by this sudden development.
He wants a family...? With me...??? What...???
"How?", Xing scoffed, " With a daddy wolf and a mommy snake, both me and my brother will be the little tiger cubs living the happy herd life...?"
Xing"s mocking tone made s.h.i.+hong flinch a bit but he still composed himself while Chenglie was standing beside him gritting his teeth controlling himself from flaring up.
He didn"t expect s.h.i.+hong brought Xing up for this kind of talk! If that was the case he"d have avoided this meeting at all costs!
"Look.... I know you are worried... I have always stood against you. But this time I want to do right. Whether you like it are not, we are family. The Emperor is my little brother and you are his wife and you want to have nothing to do with my wolf while I love him and there is only one part missing... ", s.h.i.+hong paused.
" Common sense? ", she asked in a mocking tone. Anyone with a little common sense will know that there is no way she would have anything to do with s.h.i.+hong.
"A child..", s.h.i.+hong spoke in a soft tone, "No matter how much I love my wolf, we cannot have a child. So..."
"Sorry... I already have parents", Xing shrugged off which provoked s.h.i.+hong but he still kept his cool.
"So... I want you to give your firstborn son to us to raise. We are related by blood afterall", s.h.i.+hong spoke in a soft and gentle tone almost pleading.
He wants to raise my child with another man with my man?
And Isn"t Chenglie his brother too?
Xing who was displeased, disgusted and whose head was spinning as her brain started to wrap around what s.h.i.+hong had mentioned, could feel Chenglie"s heart beating so fast as if it would jump out of his chest and she carefully trained her gaze that tried to look at him to the floor.
He is deeply hurt and he will only feel more bad if I look at him now! Xing knew.
"What?", Chenglie could not keep his cool anymore and screamed. Xing could see the gooseb.u.mps in his skin from where she sat.
Xing didn"t know what to think of this proposal. This crazy person, who had tried to gang her the beginning of this week and tried to spoil her name by framing her is now asking for her firstborn child?
Just.... What in the....
Xing"s brain stopped functioning by the absurdity in that request.
Seeing her completely blank, s.h.i.+hong continued, "Of course I will give Old Rong in exchange for your child"
And that makes it a fair trade? What makes him think that I will need this deal to get Old Rong?
Xing"s mind entirely blanked out and she wasn"t hearing what Chenglie and s.h.i.+hong were discussing more like, Chenglei was fighting with s.h.i.+hong for proposing such an absurd thing.
What is going on.....?
And I can"t even have a child which is s.h.i.+hong"s fault.... How is he asking that of me with a straight face?