Mei Gongqing

His rough fingers moved in a deliberate ease that when they brushed across her face, she felt a softness in the roughness, like a winter breeze that was gently prickling her heart.

“No,” he answered her.

It was quite final.

Chen Rong choked with anger. She stared at him, growling: “Ran Min, stay away from me!” Though she was growling at him, she still sounded as though she was pleading.

She didn’t want to, but for some reason, once those words left her mouth, her voice was choked.

Ran Min ignored her. Seeing her head tilting away to avoid him, he closed his fingers around her chin and smilingly repeated, “No!”

This man was actually playing with her so roguishly.

Chen Rong was beyond livid.

Her face flamed red as she glared at him. If looks could kill, Ran Min would’ve been stabbed by ten thousand arrows.

Unfortunately, looks cannot kill. Inherently, Chen Rong’s beguiling eyes still cast an implicit seduction even when she was angry.

By the time Chen Rong was gasping from anger, Ran Min knitted his brow and muttered, “You must really be angry with me.”

After talking to himself, he pulled her forward.

The sudden force caused Chen Rong to fall into his arms.

Despite the pain on her chin, Chen Rong threw her hands against his chest when she sensed his body heat and strong male breath.

She pushed hard, her face reddening from the effort. One could even see the artery popping on her neck as she tried to avoid falling into his arms.

Normally, others might have let go and stopped forcing the matter. Unfortunately, Ran Min wasn’t a normal person.

He raised an eyebrow. A flicker flashed in his eyes as his right hand let go of her chin.

Finding herself freed, Chen Rong was about to jump off when Ran Min swiftly held her waist and locked her in his embrace.

What kind of strength did Ran Min use? It was the invincible force of a thousand pounds! All he did was give a slight pull, and Chen Rong had fallen into his arms, her nose colliding against his chest.

Instantaneously, the surge of warmth she had dreamed and longed for after so many years made its way into her nose.

Chen Rong froze. Read at 428.

She widened her eyes but did not move.

Sensing that she had tensed up, Ran Min’s muffled chuckle faintly rang.

Gently, his powerful palms came to rest on her wasp waist.

While her virgin self couldn’t help trembling at his touch, Ran Min bowed his head and whispered into her ear, “You long for me so, how can there be no animosity? Ah Rong, you always make a gaffe every time you see me. Do you know why?”

Chen Rong dazedly shook her head. Her eyes were still widened – damp with a resistance from the depth of her soul.

Ran Min’s right hand moved from her waist to her back, its fingers combing through her thick, dark hair and unknowingly causing her bead hairpin to come free. “Because you love me,” he murmured when her hair spilled down.

While Chen Rong stiffened, he softly laughed. “Ah Rong of the Chen House, you’ve loved me for a very long time.”

Chen Rong became unhinged as soon as these words were said.

She suddenly leapt forward, clutched his neck, and crouched down to bite his neck.

It was a vital spot that could kill him.

The battle-scarred Ran Min laughed and swiftly dodged her attack. He then offered his shoulder to her with a husky chuckle. “Bite here instead.”

He had not finished by the time Chen Rong already chomped down.

She was actually biting him. Read at 428.

Instantly, blood oozed out and dripped from her mouth.

Chen Rong savagely swallowed a mouthful of that blood. Ran Min was stunned at first when he heard the gulping sound, but he soon broke out laughing.

While he was laughing, Chen Rong shoved him away with a sudden and maddening strength.

Ran Min certainly didn’t think the girl would suddenly gain that much strength. He gave a grunt, his large body crashing backward and hitting the carriage wall with a loud thud.

Just as his grip loosened, Chen Rong swiftly fled like an agile rabbit. She flung the curtain and jumped off the moving vehicle.

The driver cried out in shock. Quickly enough, he exclaimed with great admiration: “Impressive!”

Chen Rong, who had jumped off the carriage, steadily landed on the snow with a graceful somersault.

As soon as the driver spoke, as if she was spooked, Chen Rong lifted her skirt and ran toward the city center – unknowingly, Ran Min’s carriage had taken her to the suburb near the city gate.

Watching Chen Rong’s figure dashing away, the driver again applauded her before turning around.

He widened his oxen eyes, shouting: “Golly, this young lady is quite something if she can draw blood from our valiant General Ran!”

Ran Min shot him a glare. Caring little about his bleeding left shoulder, he looked in the direction Chen Rong had gone and muttered, “I don’t know what I’ve done to her to deserve this spite.”

The driver laughed in hilarity. “Isn’t this just capital?! It’s not every day I get to see a girl being so harsh to you.”

Listening to his gloating laughter, Ran Min gave him another glare and then also laughed out loud. He reached for a cloth and carelessly wrapped his bitten shoulder. “Aren’t you going to help me?” he snapped at his driver.

The driver unhappily took his time to get off his seat and go over to his boss, muttering as he tied the bandage: “But it’s such a pity to bandage it. You should leave it so the guys can know you’ve mistreated someone else’s daughter.”

Ran Min ignored his rambling driver. Still looking in the direction Chen Rong had gone, he murmured, “You really hate me that much, huh?” There was a laughing note in his voice.

Chen Rong maddeningly ran forward.

Before she knew it, her hair had become disheveled and rendered her appearance a sorry state.

She didn’t know how long she had run when she heard someone say: “Hey, this crazy looking girl seems a little familiar.”

Along with the cold wind, this voice startlingly doused her burning anger.

Chen Rong stopped.

At this moment, she had run to North Street, past which would be Nanyang’s bustling Main Street.

Chen Rong gazed at the increasingly crowded throng ahead and saw that many people were curiously staring at her. “Eep, she’s bleeding. She looks scary,” a child cried.

Facing those people’s eyes and hearing the child’s voice, Chen Rong’s dizzying brain gained more awareness. With the fastest speed she could muster, she looked down at the ground and quietly wiped her mouth before undoing her hair to comb her fingers through it. Then, she followed the curbside and walked on.

After hurrying away for a few dozen steps, Chen Rong saw no more strangers paying attention to her.

Quickly recalling the scene just now, she vigorously scrubbed her mouth and scathingly said, “I’ll bite you dead!”

She was surprised at her own words.

Slowly, she blinked back her tears and sped up.

Chen Rong walked for nearly an hour in the snow to go from North Street to the Chen estate.

Listening to the monotonous sloshing of snow and feeling the rush of biting wind, Chen Rong slowly recovered.

By the time she got to the Chen estate, she saw Old Shang’s carriage still parked in an alley. He was standing beside it looking out to the larger road.

He was overjoyed to see her.

Chen Rong also hastened to him. After she had lifted the curtain and climbed onto the carriage, she sat motionlessly on her seat.

At this time, Old Shang’s worried voice sounded outside. “Are you crying, miss?”

She did not answer.

The vehicle was put into motion.

A moment later, Old Shang again asked, “Do you still want to go to the Wang estate, miss?”

“What for? Let’s go home,” Chen Rong wearily replied.

“Aye.”

Amid the clopping wheels, Old Shang’s cautious voice again spoke to her. “Did General Ran do anything untoward to you?”

Chen Rong again did not answer him.

After Old Shang had hollered twice to command the horses, he continued to mumble to her: “I heard that General Ran had asked from Chen Gongrang, not for Ah Wei’s hand in marriage, but for yours. Miss, is it because of Wang Qilang that you are turning General Ran down?”

At this juncture, he sighed and dolefully said, “Miss, I don’t understand why you won’t agree to it. Whether becoming Wang Qilang’s concubine or marrying General Ran, you should make a decision and extend your acceptance soon, no? If this drags on, I’m really worried...” What he was worried about was naturally Chen Rong’s reputation.

Inside, Chen Rong remained unspoken.

Her limbs were lifeless, and she could only lie still on her seat, staring absently at the ceiling.

The carriage slowly approached the side entrance.

A gateman shouted to Old Shang: “Where did Ah Rong go in this freezing snow?”

He eyed Chen Rong’s carriage with a flicker of curiosity.

Old Shang laughed. “Nowhere, really. My mistress felt stuffy so we went out for a drive. Yah – Yah –”

At his holler, the carriage passed and drove through the green path.

It eventually entered Chen Rong’s courtyard.

At the squeak of the opening gate, Old Shang’s voice was suddenly heard: “Miss, Ah Wei is here.”

There was still no sound from the carriage.

At length, Chen Rong repeated: “Ah Wei?”

“Aye.”

Old Shang brought the carriage to a stop. He walked to the side and, with a smile displayed on his face, whispered to her, “She brought a lot of people with her. They’re sitting on the steps looking at us.”

Chen Rong at once sat up. She lifted a corner of the curtain, turning her head to take a peer.