He’s actually making tea? Tang Si felt that it was too unfair. She was hard at work reading and yet this brat was leisurely brewing tea. Her temper instantly boiled over. “Hey you, I’m talking to you! Are you deaf or are you ignoring me on purpose?”
Mo Ruo didn’t reply.
“Hey!” Tang Si stood up in anger. “If you still refuse to speak to me, I’m going to look for Ah Ji.”
Mo Ruo remained calmly seated. He raised the teapot and poured out a cup of tea. The refres.h.i.+ng scent of tea permeated the room. “Really, why can’t you be more sensible?” he drawled sarcastically.
Tang Si walked over. “How am I not sensible?”
Sigh. He was too tired to explain and merely waved a hand. “You should get back to reading. Books are a fountain of knowledge and wisdom. If you read more of these medical books, not only will you learn how to heal injuries and save lives, but also regulate your flow of qi.” Patiently advising her.
“What is there to regulate? This lady is furious right now.”
“Furious about what?”
“About that dogs.h.i.+t official!” She puffed out her chest and stamped her feet. “No one in this world has ever dared to tie this lady up. Even worse, he actually forced me to the ground and hit me! Does he think that this grandmother is so easy to bully?” This poor girl will soon be dead of anger!
Mo Ruo smiled. “I say, what’s there to be angry about? Weren’t you merely tied up for a while and had a few shallow marks left on your wrists? Magistrate Zuo was beaten half to death by your whip, and you barely left a single inch of skin uninjured. If Jing Rong didn’t order you to stop, I reckon that he would have been flayed alive by you. Tell me, what exactly are you angry about? Do you think you came off worse in this exchange?” [1]
“How could this lady be taken advantage of?”
“Why are you still angry then? Quickly go read instead of talking nonsense.”
“I…” She was lost for words.
The next moment, she opened her eyes wide and tilted her head as if she were thinking about something. She plopped down next to Mo Ruo and reached out for that cup of tea.
Pah! Mo Ruo slapped the back of her hand unceremoniously.
She winced and withdrew her hand, glaring at Mo Ruo. “That really hurts.”
“If you knew that it would hurt, why would you still touch other people’s tea?”
Tang Si was speechless. She didn’t argue but instead stared intently at him with her large eyes, as if she were calculating something.
Mo Ruo was concentrating on brewing his tea and only just noticed her stare. He turned his head to meet her gaze and frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“No.”
“Then why are you staring at me?”
She bit her lip, scooted her b.u.t.t closer to him, and exposed her gossipy side, “Let me ask you, have you ever liked a girl?”
“Of course!”
“Ah!” Her face fell. “Who is it?” She had an air of an empress carrying out an interrogation.
Mo Ruo started immediately, “Plenty of them. For example, Miss Lin of Shangshan Palace, Miss Jiang of Treasure Pavillion, and Miss Lu Yun of Waterflow Place in West City. She has a lovely voice and her singing is as pleasant as that of an oriole. Of course, my favorite is still Miss Que’er of South City Pavilion. Her zither playing is excellent. Just looking at her playing the zither is so moving that one would savor it for a long time afterwards.” His eyes gleamed with pleasure as he reminisced.
Tang Si became increasingly upset as he spoke. She raised her fist, thumped it on the table, and glared at him. She demanded loudly, “What’s so good about those women? They are merely unclean prost.i.tutes.”
Mo Ruo did not feel offended at all, and instead smiled, saying, “those that can’t eat grapes say that the grapes are sour.”
“This lady wouldn’t stoop to that level! So what if they can play the zither? This lady knows martial arts! Those useless things still haven’t experienced the power of my whip! I even once saved your life using my whip; could those people do the same with their singing and music?” Tang Si groused. Of course not!
However, Mo Ruo found all this hilarious. He sneaked a peek at her. That woman’s face was full of fury, as if… she were jealous. Could there be something wrong with his eyes? His heart thumped a little harder. He then pushed the cup of tea Tang Si was previously aiming for towards her. “Come, douse your fury with this!” [2]
Pfft! “You’re the one that has to douse your fury.”
Mo Ruo sighed and shook his head.
Tang Si was not happy. Her chest felt stuffy and tight, in addition to the anger that was already churning in her stomach. She stretched out her foot and sharply kicked Mo Ruo’s knee under the table.
“Ouch!”
That heart-piercing pain!
The culprit then escaped to the desk and opened the medical book to stare at the tightly packed words as if nothing had happened at all. The face hidden behind that medical book seemed rather dissatisfied.
Actually, Tang Si herself couldn’t understand what exactly she was thinking. She couldn’t decide whether she loved or hated Mo Ruo. This feeling tormented her so much she started to hate herself.
Mo Ruo just had to be so heartless as to be unable to discern Tang Si’s inner thoughts at all. He merely thought that she was being annoying again, so he could only grit his teeth against the pain and ignore her.
The two of them sat there just like this, neither speaking another word.
One fully occupied with swis.h.i.+ng the tea inside his cup, the other staring dazedly at the medical books without taking in a single word.
……
The next day, Jing Rong ordered for Wen Pans.h.i.+ to be brought in front of him.
It had merely been two days, but that man’s das.h.i.+ng and elegant features had now transformed into a face full of messy bristles, with bruised listless eyes, and sunken cheeks. It was as if he had lost his soul.
Jing Rong sat there and carefully sized him up. He suddenly smiled pleasantly and asked, “General Wen, is it comfortable in your jail cell?”
“Certainly not lacking in snakes, mice, beetles and ants.”
“Would you like to go back in?”
“Your Highness, why do you need to beat around the bush? Just say what you want to say.” Wen Pans.h.i.+’s face was as stiff as a rock.
Jing Rong couldn’t help but smirk at his expression. He raised his cup and took a small sip of tea. “If this prince hadn’t already known about your plan, would you really have killed this prince?”
“Yes!” There was no hesitation at all.
Ha! “Then do you think that this prince would kill you if Teacher Ji hadn’t stopped me then?”
“Yes.” Wen Pans.h.i.+ answered directly.
“That’s right. You and your soldiers would all already be dead if not for Teacher Ji.”
However, Wen Pans.h.i.+ remained stubborn. “Just kill us if you want.” You can take my life or my head as you wish. The minute he made the decision to take revenge for the Imperial Duke fourteen years ago, he had already been prepared to sacrifice his life at any time.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Your Imperial Father could kill everyone under the sky for his throne. As his son, why would you care so much about killing a few people for your own interests?” Ha!
[1] Dude, she's acting up to get your attention without knowing it and that poor guy got flayed because she was so frustrated at you.
[2] Are you finally realising that she's jealous after all those times she acted cute and tried to get your attention??