Tao Lengshuang pursed her lips and walked to the side to sit down, widening the distance between herself and Mo Lingxi. Her eyes gazed out the window with a hint of emptiness. "Mo Lingxi, we've discussed this topic before, and I don't want to talk about it anymore."
Mo Lingxi sat behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, and coaxed her with immense patience. "I know what you're worried about and what concerns you. I will handle all of this. Just wait a little longer."
Tao Lengshuang turned to look at him, gazing at him for a long while before speaking slowly. "Then have you thought clearly why you want to be with me? Is it a momentary impulse, pure interest, or some other reason?"
Mo Lingxi shook his head, indicating he hadn't thought it through. "I haven't thought it through yet, but that doesn't stop us from being together."
Tao Lengshuang found it ironic and laughable. She slapped his hands away. "What you call being with me is just wanting to sleep with me. Mo Lingxi, I'm afraid in your heart, the only difference between me and those women in the pleasure houses is that you don't have to pay silver to sleep with me."
Mo Lingxi's face darkened, and he said unhappily, "What nonsense are you talking about! If I were truly that kind of person, would I have waited for you all this time?"
Tao Lengshuang tilted her head back and exhaled, as if trying to expel the slight bitterness from her heart. "Mo Lingxi, Mo Lingxi, you haven't even thought it through, yet you want me to serve you. Have you ever respected me?"
Before Mo Lingxi could answer, she continued, "No, you haven't considered respecting me. You once said that since I am your wife, I should fulfill my wifely duties and have marital relations with you."
She had been foolish to hope.
She should have understood that in this ancient, strictly hierarchical society, women were appendages to men. Especially for men of royal and noble status, they would never look down on a village woman.
Mo Lingxi, who had indeed said those words, now understood how deeply his words had hurt her after hearing Tao Lengshuang's speech. "I'm sorry. I don't look down on you or humiliate you in any way. I just want to be with you."
Tao Lengshuang let out a cold, humorless laugh. "You want to be with me, so I must be with you? Just like what you said to me back then. Back then, you didn't believe me, hurt me with cold words, and even wanted my life. Did you see any change in me then?"
She slowly shook her head, the bitter smile spreading across her lips. "You don't see it, and you never will. You only see what you want to see."
"Sometimes I can't help but think that perhaps from the very beginning, I should have chosen to divorce you, or perhaps taken Xiao Feng and hidden far away. Maybe none of this would have happened."
This was the first time Tao Lengshuang had spoken her true feelings, clearly telling Mo Lingxi her thoughts and dissatisfaction. Hearing this, Mo Lingxi felt both heartache and unease.
Yes, as Tao Lengshuang had said, when he knew she wasn't the original Tao Lengshuang, he still didn't believe her, wanted to kill her, and refused to listen to her explanations.
And now, he was doing the same. Before she had truly agreed, he was already thinking of having marital relations with her.
This was unfair to her, and it was not right.
"I'm sorry."
He took Tao Lengshuang's hand and apologized sincerely. "I apologize for everything I've done. Please forgive me. In the future, I promise I will never force you to do anything you don't want to do, alright?"
Tao Lengshuang didn't know whether to believe him.
The man before her, the dignified Prince Mingrui, had now lowered his status and pride, all to gain her forgiveness.
She frowned and sighed. "Mo Lingxi, I still say the same thing. Think it through clearly before you come and tell me these things."
Mo Lingxi deeply regretted his past indifference and heartlessness towards Tao Lengshuang, and now he was suffering for it.
"I will think it through this time. However, before that, I have something to give you."
"Give it to me?" Tao Lengshuang saw him take out a gift list from his sleeve and looked at him strangely. "What are you giving me this for?"
Mo Lingxi gestured for her to look closely.
When Tao Lengshuang saw what kind of gift list it was, she was surprised, delighted, and even more so, touched with a hint of sadness. "A betrothal gift list."
"Yes, a betrothal gift list." Mo Lingxi looked at her with gentle eyes. "Originally, there should have been a formal proposal with matchmakers, but given the current situation and my circumstances, I can only give you the betrothal gift list for now. I will arrange the rest once things are settled."
Tao Lengshuang's hand, holding the betrothal gift list, tightened slightly. She looked at him with complex emotions. "You don't have to do this."
"This is what I owe you, not what I owe that Tao Lengshuang."
Mo Lingxi held her hand and softened his voice. "What other women should have, you must have. What other women don't have, you must also have."
"Once I've handled everything, I will marry you with a grand procession, letting you marry me in splendor, amidst everyone's envy."
It was impossible for Tao Lengshuang not to be moved, but she felt even more uneasy. She was acutely aware of what she would have to face and understood the instability of this relationship.
She returned the betrothal gift list to Mo Lingxi and said very seriously, "Wait until you've thought it through clearly before deciding whether to give me this betrothal gift list."
Raising her hand to stop Mo Lingxi from speaking, she said softly, "A betrothal gift list is a very important thing. Giving it to me before you've thought it through is improper. If you think it through and then regret it, wanting to take back the betrothal gift list, and I am unwilling, what then?"
Mo Lingxi wanted to say he wouldn't regret it, but seeing Tao Lengshuang's clear and bright eyes, he nodded heavily and agreed.
"This time, I will definitely think it through."
He pulled her into his embrace, resting his chin on her shoulder. "In the future, I will no longer force you to do anything you are unwilling to do."
Tao Lengshuang sighed softly in her heart, feeling a pang of sadness, and remained quietly with Mo Lingxi.
Neither of them spoke further, simply staying together in a silence so profound they could hear each other's heartbeats.
Both of them enjoyed and cherished this tranquility.
However, in Shili Slope Village, there was a scene of commotion and uproar.
A troop of two hundred soldiers arrived directly at Tao Lengshuang's house. The leading general kicked open the door without a word.
"Search! We must catch the bringer of disaster!"
The onlookers murmured amongst themselves.
"Now it's good. I see how Tao Lengshuang, this bringer of disaster, can escape. Once the bringer of disaster is gone, our lives will get better."
"Hmph, if it weren't for Tao Lengshuang, this bringer of disaster, how could we have lived such hard lives and become displaced? I've long wished for her death."
"Pah! Bringer of disaster, I curse you to die a terrible death and have your soul scattered!"
Aunt Wang San and Aunt Shen Er held hands anxiously. They wanted to help but couldn't. They could only hope that the Mo family was not at home.
It was all their sons' fault for doing such wicked things.
The soldiers, unable to find any trace of Tao Lengshuang, proceeded to smash the immovable items in the house, steal everything that could be moved, and even damaged the main door before leaving in a menacing manner.
Seeing this, the villagers who had gathered rushed in to see if they could grab anything. Some displaced people even occupied the property.