"Jealous? What are you talking about?"Despite the anger that she was putting into her questions, Qin Feng could see Lingxi"s face turning a deep red as she roared at him. Which was enough to tell him that he had picked the right method to deal with her ceaseless queries.
"Oh? Then why did you take the time to wait for me to return tonight? Don"t tell me that you had sneaked out of the Rear Gardens merely to warn me about Elder Ming"s daughter! Or should I say, to warn me off the girl so that you can have me to yourself?"
He continued to tease her relentless, even as he unleashed his most shameless grin in her face. Lingxi seemed to squirm as soon as she heard his last question, and she reached out to smack him immediately.
Only to find her wrist caught in his firm grasp. And he didn"t waste any time, rubbing his thumb over the back of her knuckles either. Which was enough to make her blush deepen. And that seemed enough make her blurt out a denial:
"You smelly boy! Don"t be stupid! Who wants you for herself?"
"Oh? So you are not intent on keeping for yourself then? In that case, who are you saving me up for? It can"t be Lingyuan or any of the other girls from the Rear Gardens, I"m certain. So ... Can it be Xuan Mei?"
Lingxi"s eyes flew open at once, and she stopped trying to tug her hand free from his grasp momentarily, as soon as she heard the Elder"s daughter"s name.
"Are you mad? Do you want to die? Xuan Mei is Elder Xuan"s daughter! What are you talking about? She"s not interested in ...
"In any case, if she tells him that she saw you ... You would be cut into eighteen pieces before you even realize it!"
Qin Feng groaned as Lingxi reminded him about what had happened earlier. That was certainly enough to toss him off the teasing track! Then he quickly shook his head, and pointed a finger at the slightly despondent woman in front of him.
"Don"t forget that she was the one who burst into my house without warning! If anyone should be blamed, it certainly shouldn"t be me! It was not as if I knew that she would be walking straight in, without a word!"
"Like Elder Xuan would even bother to listen your excuse, flimsy as it is!" Lingxi snapped back at him.
"How can you call it an excuse? Don"t tell me that you have forgotten what happened earlier already! You were standing right beside the tub when I dropped my ..."
Lingxi ran up to him at once, and pressed her free right hand against his mouth. Her left was still being tightly held at the moment, so that seemed like a reasonable response. Or rather, one that was reasonable for someone like her.
"Stop! Stop talking about that!" she shouted at him with a look of embarra.s.sment on her face, even as she realized what she was doing and jerked her hand away. Qin Feng"s answering grin seemed to have reminded her that she was a little too close for comfort.
"You were the one who brought ... Anyway, that has nothing to do with what you are planning to do about Elder Ming and his precious daughter. Are you really going to ... Did he not mention anything at all?"
Qin Feng sniffed at the female disciple. And dragged his focus back to the original issue. Apparently, Lingxi was truly concerned about that, since she was insisting on a firm answer.
"You are just being ridiculous. Haven"t I said it already? There is nothing going on! He had just invited me for dinner to show his appreciation for my efforts. And for helping him pick up a few more useful herbs. That is all.
"I really don"t understand why you lot from the Rear Gardens have to turn everything into a scandal or a romance!"
Lingxi sniffed, and pulled at her left wrist again. This time, he released her, and was promptly rewarded with another pout from the woman. "I am merely looking after my interests. If you get ... involved with Elder Ming and his daughter, who am I supposed to get my medicines from? And there are almost sixteen of us in the Rear Gardens relying on that every month."
"That will change soon, given the adjustments that Elder Xuan had proposed to the ones in charge of the Medicine Hall. You should find a lot more herb-growers putting in some effort to grow those plants in the coming Spring."
"That still leaves us short of those herbs in the Winter. And they will take some time to go too. So what choice do we have but to rely on you?"
She gave him another glare as she reminded him. Then looked away in the direction of the Rear Gardens once again. "But I will not argue about that with you now. So long as you are not ... tied to Ming Qingsong, and not due to become Elder Ming"s son-in-law any time soon, we should be fine with our arrangement.
"It is getting late, and I should return to my rooms. I will speak to you again, when I have more leisure time, on another day."
Then, without waiting for him to respond, she turned and took off at a run. And with her Lightness-of-Body martial arts, it didn"t take long before she reached the hill that separated the Medicine Fields from the Rear Gardens.
Qin Feng took a deep breath as he watched Lingxi go over the summit of the hill and fade from view. Being questioned like that was far more taxing than he had expected. Then he cursed the Rear Gardens rumor mill that had generated all those baseless stories about him and Elder Ming"s daughter. Why didn"t those idiots use their wits properly? It wasn"t as if it was a great secret, regarding MIng Qingsong"s age and her ill health.
Whatever made them think that Ming Guanhe would allow his daughter to get romantically involved with anyone, given those two conditions?
If he didn"t know any better, he would suspect those stupid girls in the Rear Gardens of deliberately trying to embarra.s.s him!
Then he shook his head. There was no point in venting now, since the whole issue did not have too much of an adverse effect on him. In fact, if he was more optimistic about it, it might even be of benefit to him!
After all, these stories about him and the Elder"s daughter would certainly ensure that his name spread far and wide throughout the Heaven Sword School. And attract more attention to the fact that he was growing herbs there, in the medicine fields, as well as his recent appointment as Elder Ming"s a.s.sistant on the Hunts in the Southern Woods.
All of that should be enough of a cover for him, wouldn"t it?
* * *