latelenovela Chapter 136 Tang Ling, do you want me to fight?
Chapter 136 Tang Ling, do you want me to fight?
"Draw a portrait of my mother?" Qi Xiao kissed Tang Ling. "What were you thinking about so intently just now? Did I scare you?"
Tang Ling leaned on Qi Xiao's shoulder, glanced at the drawing paper covered with ink stains, sighed softly, and didn't know where to start.
Qi Xiao frowned and asked, "Did your mother give you a hard time?"
"It's difficult?" Tang Ling smiled softly and looked up at Qi Xiao. "That's not the case. It just gave me a difficult problem."
Qi Xiao held Tang Ling's hand with a bit of force. "Did my mother say anything to embarrass you or make you uncomfortable? Although she is strict with me, she dotes on me very much. When I told her about you that day, she didn't object at all..."
Tang Ling pressed her finger on Qi Xiao's lips to stop his wandering thoughts: "Why are you so anxious? Let me finish what I'm saying."
"Isn't it?"
"No." Tang Ling shook her head. "Noble Lady Lin said she hopes you'll be safe and happy. I think I'm your joy, so she asked me to keep you safe."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Qi Xiao was happy to hear Tang Ling say that he was her joy, and couldn't help laughing, but the request confused him.
"Lady Lin hopes you'll return to Fuzhou. Stay out of the court, and don't get involved in the Three Kingdoms conflict."
Qi Xiao sighed deeply: "You still say that I'm not trying to embarrass you?"
"I can understand Concubine Lin's feelings," Tang Ling stroked his cheek and said, "I love you Qi Xiao, so I also hope that everything goes well for you." Concubine Lin was right. Tang Ling could do it, but he didn't dare to agree.
"Returning to Yuanjing was the path I chose. I planned and arranged it all myself. Mother knew it all, yet she still made such a request of you... I'm sorry, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have brought you to see her."
"What nonsense! Your mother is willing to entrust her son to me. Do you know how much this means to me? Lady Lin gave me a difficult question, but she didn't mean to embarrass me."
When Tang Ling looked into Concubine Lin's eyes, she could hardly find any spirit. Her eyes, once beautiful, now held only a stagnant, desolate, hopeless expression. Only when she mentioned Qi Xiao did a glimmer of warmth return. She was a pitiful woman, her life's pursuits in vain, save for Qi Xiao, whom she could not let go.
"You...really think so?"
Tang Ling leaned forward and kissed Qi Xiao. When Concubine Lin asked him to let Qi Xiao go, he felt a deep pain in his heart for no reason. The sharp pain was so clear that it didn't even fade away, but got deeper and deeper. At that moment, he knew that he couldn't let go.
Qi Xiao closed his eyes and felt Tang Ling's obvious greed and demands. This seemed to be the first time that Tang Ling did not gently comply or comfort him softly, but wanted to possess him with all her might, just like he had always done to him.
"Qi Xiao, I don't want to escape anymore. I want you to be by my side forever."
Qi Xiao laughed: "Wasn't this agreed upon long ago?"
Tang Ling wasn't amused by Qi Xiao. Instead, she lowered her head and whispered, "I'm sorry. I've been avoiding you and trying to put you off. I meant what I promised you, but I never knew how to keep it. I always thought that no matter what the future holds, I'd be willing to indulge in pleasure for a while. But today, Concubine Lin's words suddenly made me realize that I want you, Qi Xiao, for the rest of my life."
Qi Xiao looked at Tang Ling, his eyes full of smiles: "Okay. I promise you a lifetime, not just for show, nor for a momentary pleasure. You have to believe that I can do it."
"How can we do this?" Tang Lingyi sighed silently in Qi Xiao's arms. The four words "peace and happiness" were as difficult as climbing to the sky for him and Qi Xiao.
"Returning to Fuzhou and living as an idle prince for the rest of my life is my mother's wish. What about you? What do you hope to do?"
Tang Ling shook her head: "I don't know. I don't want to be self-righteous and do what's best for you. I want to be a force of support and help you do what you want to do."
The best outcome that Lady Lin could imagine for Qi Xiao was a life of idleness, solitary confinement, with no worries and ultimately nothing accomplished. But Qi Xiao was only seventeen years old. He was intelligent and quick-witted, had excellent martial arts skills, and was as ambitious and talented as his brothers. How could he accept this?
If Qi Xiao was willing, Tang Ling could imagine him inheriting the throne, or even ascending to the highest position. But if that were the case, there would not be, and could not be, a place for Tang Ling by Qi Xiao's side.
Qi Xiao had said he would return to Great Zhou with Tang Ling, but Tang Ling had dismissed him as a joke. Going to Great Zhou might be possible, but asking Qi Xiao to abandon his status as a prince and defect from Great Chen was something Tang Ling could never agree to. Would he abandon his throne for Tang Ling and stay by her side as her bodyguard? Or perhaps as her lover? How could Tang Ling wrong him like that? How could love last forever when it treated an eagle like a house sparrow and locked it in a cage?
Qi Xiao lifted Tang Ling's chin, looked her in the eye, and said, "I want to investigate Liu Bai's case. I also want to take my mother back to Fuzhou and live a peaceful life from now on. If I hadn't met you and fallen in love with you, I would have gone back and pretended to be muddleheaded for the rest of my life."
Tang Ling's hand on Qi Xiao's neck trembled slightly. He didn't notice it, but Qi Xiao noticed it immediately. He raised his hand to cover the back of his hand and held it in his palm.
"But I can't go back. You and I both know it, even Mother understands it. His Majesty has handed the Ministry of Revenue and Luo Yu's case over to me, so he won't let me go back to Fuzhou easily. And as for the Tiance Camp... Tang Ling, do you want me to fight for it?"
Tang Ling pursed her lips. He... was hoping for that, wasn't he? He looked up at Qi Xiao and could imagine him standing majestically in the imperial court, clad in a brocade robe, jade belt, and pearl crown. Just the thought of it made Tang Ling fall head over heels in admiration. He imagined Qi Xiao like that, soaring through the heavens, soaring with wings spread.
Qi Xiao looked at Tang Ling's eyes. Even though he didn't know what he was thinking, he could see the love in her eyes too clearly. It made Qi Xiao very happy. He couldn't help but want to do something else and put all the problems behind him.
Qi Xiao kissed Tang Ling and suddenly said seriously, "Tang Ling, you may not know it yourself, but you are the light that suddenly appeared in my life, helping me find my way in the maze. Because of you, I will make and can make different choices."
"...Me?" Tang Ling didn't understand. He thought he was Qi Xiao's calamity, and would only bring him trouble. Was Qi Xiao so blind because he loved him so much?
"My mother taught me patience and how to survive. My master taught me freedom, martial arts, and wanted me to become a successful person. But he never told me what I should live for. What use are those things to someone destined to be mediocre? Until I met you, I seem to have figured it out a little bit."
Qi Xiao's fingers traced across Tang Ling's eyebrows and eyes. Seeing that he only had his own reflection in his eyes, he smiled softly, "If I were just an arrogant and conceited prince, you would definitely not look at me and love me like this."
"you are not."