Chapter 82: Long Yang's Mistake

  Yan Zhaodi looked at Xia Tian, her heart filled with uncontainable surprise and self-abasement. Subconsciously, she glanced at Yuwen Qiming, and a hint of desolation crept into her eyes. Only such a noble and beautiful young lady could be worthy of him!

  Yuwen Qiming, how could he not see her thoughts, intentionally placed their clasped hands on the table, and in a very intimate low voice coaxed: "Don't be afraid, in the future you will become Yuwen Qiming's wife and will have to meet people."

  Yan Zhuo's originally flushed face suddenly turned bright red, she tried to pull her hand out but couldn't overcome his strength, and could only whisper softly like a mosquito: "Young master, let go quickly!"

  Yuan Longlin and Xia Tian exchanged a glance, with the former's eyes clearly filled with surprise, while the latter was completely terrified.

  "Wu Wen Qiming!" Xia Tian suddenly sat up, frowning and glaring, "Don't harm people, okay?!"

  The people around her were bewildered and turned their heads, even Yan Zhao Di forgot to be shy and stared at her with wide eyes in confusion.

  Yuan Longlin coughed lightly and pulled her: "What are you doing? Sit down quickly."

  He looked around, and in a fit of rage, he unwillingly sat down. How could this be? He wanted to like "comrades" - let him go ahead and like them if he wants, but how can he so ruthlessly harm an innocent girl without any sense of morality?

  "May I ask, who did I harm?" Yuwen Qiming asked with a calm and collected tone.

  "Yan Niang, ah! Yuwen Qiming, don't you know what's wrong with yourself? You can't be too selfish as a person, you need to be more magnanimous, or else you'll ruin the happiness of that girl for her whole life!"

  Yuan Longlin only felt a group of crows flying over his head, and when he looked at Yuwen Qiming's expression, which seemed to have swallowed a fly, he couldn't help but laugh. Summer pulled him back, lowering his voice to scold: "What nonsense are you talking about!"

  "I'm not talking nonsense, you just don't know! Yuwen Qiming he... " Xia Tian looked at Yuwen Qiming hesitated again and again, but finally gritted his teeth and said quickly: "He likes men!"

  Pffft! Yuan Longlin spat out the mouthful of tea he had just drunk all over the table.

  "Long Xiaosi! What are you doing?! Are you going to let people eat or not?!" shouted Xia Tian, as if his tail had been stepped on.

  Feeling the shocked and hurt gaze of Zhaodi, Yuwen Qiming could no longer sit still. Without regard for the etiquette between monarch and subject, he grasped Xia Tian's wrist and gritted his teeth in indignation: "Third Madam, I don't know where I offended you, why do you repeatedly slander me? What exactly do you want?"

  "In the summer, she was not weak at all, and glared at him angrily, 'If you want to keep it a secret, don't do anything wrong. Do you think I have no evidence?'"

  "What evidence?!" Even Long Wang's scales were stunned, and he couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at Yuwen Qiming, whose face had turned pale.

  "What evidence does the third lady have?"

  "Fine, this is what you wanted me to say, don't regret it! That day in the outskirts of Beijing, when you came to rescue me and Xiao San, I saw with my own eyes that you were extremely intimate with a man dressed strangely, your noses touching. Later, you even tried to do the same thing with my family's Xiao San, if I hadn't appeared quickly, you would have succeeded! Can't this prove that you like men?"

  The table suddenly fell silent, Yan Zhoudi's eyes became even more desolate, Yuan Longlin's shoulders began to shake irregularly, Yuwen Qiming let go of Xia Tian's hand, his expression was so complicated that it couldn't be described in words.

  "Hahaha!" Yuan Longlin couldn't help it and burst into loud laughter, wiping away tears as he laughed.

  "What are you laughing at?"

  Yuan Longlin, who had been trying to calm down for a long time, finally couldn't help but tease with a smile: "Are you doing it on purpose or are you being deliberate?! That's the nose-touching ritual of the Mani people, don't tell me you didn't know!"

  " Eskimo kiss? What's an Eskimo kiss?"

  "You really don't know!" Yuan Longlin's smile faded, and he looked at her like a rare animal. "The fourth young lady of the Protector General's mansion, Xia Si, is a famous talented woman, with a poem 'Ruyi Fu' circulating in the capital. How could she not even know about the Mo Ni tribe's nose-touching ritual?"

  "Genius girl?!" Xia Tian smiled awkwardly, "I'm not a genius girl at all! Those are just rumors spread by others." The waiter happened to bring up new dishes, and Xia Tian quickly picked up her chopsticks, enthusiastically inviting everyone: "Everyone eat, it won't taste good if it gets cold!"

  Yuwen Qiming took a deep breath, ignoring Xiatian who was eating with his head down and Yuan Longlin who was studying Xiatian. He held Yan Zhaoji's hand very solemnly and seriously and said: "Zhaoji, the nose-touching ritual is a ceremony of our Mani people to express respect, a very sacred ceremony. Can you understand?"

  Looking into his eyes, Yan Zhaodi nodded heavily.

  "Zhaodi!" Yuwen Qiming couldn't help but place her hand on his lips and gently kissed it, immediately causing her to blush.

  In the summer, Xia Tian held chopsticks and looked at Yuwen Qiming, then looked at Yan Zhaoji, suddenly feeling a little envious.

  "Master, I've finally found you!"

  "Shí shū? How did you find this place?"

  Shi Shu wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at Yan Zhaojun and said in a low voice: "Qu Cuilao has arrived, he wants to see Young Master and... Miss Yan."

  In the large courtyard of Yuwen's residence, an elderly man with white hair and beard sat upright in a taishi chair, flanked by two robust men dressed in Manchu attire. Shi Shu stood at the foot of the steps with his hands hanging down, while Yuwen Qiming and Yan Zhaoji stood in the center of the courtyard, accompanied by two uninvited onlookers - Yuan Longbi and Xia Tian.

  The old man twirled his white mustache, his tone gentle: "Young master, you should know the purpose of my visit this time. You just need to write a letter of resignation, and let Shi Shu handle the rest. Pack up, and you can follow me back to Xili now."

  "Yuwen, are you going to resign?" Yuan Longlin couldn't help but call out.

  Yuwen Qiming shook his head at him, gazing at the old man with clear eyes and said in a loud voice: "Qu Xuan Grandfather, Qiming will not resign. On that day, Qiming left Xili alone and came to the capital city, hoping to rely on his own ability to create a career. Now my original intention has not changed, I am impossible to agree with you."

  Qu Mao's mouth curved into a smile, "Well, young master has always had big ambitions since he was a child. With more experience, he will be even better at taking over the family business in the future. However, the patriarch has already arranged a marriage for you, and after you get married, you can return with your wife."

  Yan Zhuo was taken aback for a moment, pursed her lips and slowly lowered her eyes.

  "This matter makes me even more unwilling to agree." Yuwen Qiming held onto Yan Zhaojun's hand, looked at her with a faint smile, and said gently but firmly: "I, Yuwen Qiming, will only marry Yan Zhaojun as my wife in this lifetime, I absolutely will not marry any other woman."

  "Young master, this is...this is against the clan rules!" Shi Shu hastily interjected in a low voice from the side, making eye contact with Yuwen Qiming.

  She looked at him quietly for a while, and her words still didn't show any severity: "Young master, have you forgotten that it's forbidden to marry outside of our tribe? This Miss Yan is not from the Mani tribe. I'd like to know how you plan to take her as your wife?"