She didn’t know why, but when Cold Clear saw the all-black cat at first glance, a sense of fear and sadness inexplicably arose in her heart.
Fear? She, who wasn't even afraid of people, why should she fear a cat?
Sadness, perhaps, was because when she was scrambling on the ground, trying to catch the cat that knocked over the vase she was holding, Qin Zheng walked in arm in arm with Ruan Lingyin.
Lost in a daze, the shattering of the vase was very loud.
Cold Fei rushed over and pointed at her nose, constantly clucking like a hen who had laid an egg, attempting to prove to everyone that this bastard who barged in from the outside was extremely vulgar, and was trying to ruin her coming-of-age ceremony by all means possible.
Cold Clear seemed as if she had heard nothing, shooting Qin Zheng a brief smile. A week ago, she was Qin Zheng's woman, but now Qin Zheng was with Ruan Lingyin.
And she was sold by Qin Zheng to the most terrifying man in this world.
He said, "Cold Clear, you should marry Huo Quan in Lingyin's place, she is not like you..."
After hearing this sentence, Cold Clear stared blankly for a long while. The dumpling dough and meat stuffing in her hands were pinched together into an ugly mass, and with a faint smile, she said, "You should have told me earlier. I'm from the south and I don't know how to make pastries. I spent three entire hours rolling out this dumpling dough."
Qin Zheng's lips curled into a faint smile that carried a certain haste that chilled one's heart. He said, "Huo Quan is also from the south. You shouldn't need to go through so much trouble."
"What if I agree? What if I don't agree?" Cold Clear's heart sank as she lifted her gaze to meet his. Today's Qin Zheng was no different from before. Even the gentleness in his eyes when he looked at her was the same.
But she knew better. He was a frighteningly cold man who would never have raised such a request without a perfect plan in mind.
After all, she was different from Ruan Lingyin, wasn't she? If she got desperate, it could mean someone's death.
"You've always been this intelligent. If you agree, I would free your adoptive father from prison. If you refuse, your secret, deep in your heart, would become public knowledge." Qin Zheng retained a sunny smile on his face, as though he was simply discussing with her whether they should have chives or cabbage filling for tonight's dumplings.
Cold Clear looked at him expressionlessly. How much love and trust had she held for him to spill her secret? She couldn’t recall it now.
The Qin family and the Ruan family are both incredibly powerful households, with the Ruan family somehow seemingly a bit more formidable than the Qin's. The terrifyingly prestigious title of Ruan Lingyin's father was something that Leng Qing could never remember.
That's why she was powerless to reject Qin Zheng's request.
"Let me help you," Ruan Lingyin advanced two steps towards the aloof black cat standing on the windowsill. A gust of wind lifted the white curtains, letting in a shaft of sunlight that enshrouded her. The scene resembled a pure and holy goddess purifying this muddled world.
Leng Qing stared coldly with a sarcastic smile playing on her lips, speaking in a hushed tone, "That cat is wild. Be careful not to get hurt, Miss Ruan."
"It won't..." Ruan Lingyin turned back, her serene smile remaining as the black cat hissed twice dramatically in response at her, its fur standing on end.
Seeing this, she jumped into Qin Zheng's embrace like a startled rabbit. Qin Zheng remained unfazed and didn't even glance at Leng Qing. He merely commanded in a deep tone, "Catch that cat for Miss Ruan."
His men immediately moved towards the black cat.
Leng Qing's eyes narrowed suddenly, extending her hand to stop him, "There's no need to trouble yourselves."
"Leng Qing, what exactly are you trying to do? The banquet is already a mess thanks to that damned stray cat, and now you won't even let us catch it!" Leng Fei stormed over and shoved Leng Qing in her temper.
Leng Qing quickly caught the man trying to move forward, speaking before him, "I'll catch it!"
The cat's paw clutched her jade pendant that she'd worn since childhood. It must've snagged it accidentally when they tried to catch it earlier.
She couldn't allow this item to fall into anyone else's hands.
"Leng Qing, Mr. Huo will be here shortly, don't get injured by that cat," Ruan Lingyin held onto Leng Qing's hand tightly.
"Thanks for your concern, Miss Ruan. But unlike you, I'm not delicate. It won't matter if I get hurt," Leng Qing flung her hand off. But by the time she rushed over, Leng Fei was already seething, holding a gas-doused cloth-wrapped torch and had cornered the cat against the wall, scorching a large patch of its fur.
The black cat, no longer maintaining its former aloof and elegant demeanor, frantically and furiously hissed at them.
Leng Qing suddenly felt a pang of sourness in her heart. She pushed Leng Fei away, dashed over, and caught the cat by its neck, hugging it in her arms. The cat continued to struggle, leaving several scratches on her arm.
"Ah, Leng Qing, you should let it go, what if it scratches your face? Huo Quan is coming soon, today he is specifically here to propose to you." Ruan Lingyin left Qin Zheng and ran over, scared of the cat, she stopped a few steps away from Leng Qing.
Leng Fei opened her mouth wide in shock, pointing at Leng Qing she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, "You, you, you want to marry Huo Quan? The merciless killer Huo Quan?"
Holding the cat, Leng Qing turned around and glanced at her indifferently, "Have you ever seen him kill? How can you be so sure he doesn’t blink an eye?"
"I heard that when he was five, he cut open his mother's stomach with a knife, when he was ten, he drowned his younger brother in boiling water, and when he was fifteen, he killed all members of the Huo family to become the head. Do you really want to marry that devil?" Leng Fei's teeth chattered at the mere mention of his name.
Many of the legends about him have been turned into horror cartoons. She had nightmares for several days after watching one of them.
If Leng Qing marries him, it will bring endless calamity to the Leng family.
A deep coldness spread in Leng Qing's clear eyes, she smiled and said, "When we were five, we got lost in the snow mountains. Remember the rabbit I killed with my bare hands and roasted for you to eat? When we were ten, you were bullied by boys in our class. I almost killed that boy, do you remember? When we were fifteen…"
"Stop!" Leng Fei, pale as a ghost, interrupted her, then covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom.
Leng Qing still had a faint smile on her face, she gently stroked the cat and turned solemnly to Qin Zheng and said, "You see, he and I, we’re simply a match made in heaven."
Qin Zheng, however, was whispering with Ruan Lingyin and did not even look at her. Suddenly, she felt this one-woman show to be sad and laughable.
Ruan Lingyin didn’t dare to lift her head to see Qin Zheng's expression, because she knew without looking that his deliberately faked smile was flawless, and only by standing next to him could she clearly feel the rage emanating from his body.
He didn’t even glance at Leng Qing, yet he was angry because of her.
"Leng Qing, you better think it over, if you don't want to, no one will force you." Ruan Lingyin looked at her pitifully, the sincerity in her eyes almost made Leng Qing moved.
"Why wouldn't I want? Everything he has is fought and snatched by his own two hands. Such a stalwart man, I admire and cherish him deeply. Looking at the whole Lonely City, who else has his spirit, who else can command the wind and rain like he can?”
The black cat finally quieted down under the cool touch, purring pleasantly in her arms.
At least, she thinks it's more pleasing than the self-righteous gibberish spoken by these wolves in human skin.
As soon as Leng Fei finished vomiting, she heard her passionate speech and immediately slapped her in anger, "I think you've gone mad! Huo Quan, who looks like a ghost, is also a lame ugly ghost. You want to marry him, you..."
Leng Fei's words were interrupted by several muffled thuds.
That sound was produced by the collision of wood on wood, as timeless as the sound of an ancient pharaoh's scepter angrily resonating on the sacrificial altar.
