After Ling Xihan’s words landed, An Mu Lan’s spine immediately stiffened.
Ling Xihan reached out her hand, white and slender fingers, and cupped An Mu Lan’s chin, turning her head to face her.
And at this time, Ling Xihan saw that An Mu Lan, under her gaze, lowered her head slightly and quietly dropped her tears.
Crystal tears flowed out of her round eyes, somewhat like rain, staining her black curved eyelashes, before falling in large globs, An Mu Lan’s lips were tightly pursed at this moment, her face was a look of obvious patience and sadness.
An Mu Lan gave a sob and her lips trembled as she suppressed her emotions and whispered,
“You’re disappointed in me, aren’t you? You hate me like this, don’t you?”
She huffed again, then took a deep breath to calm her emotions.
Only when she had calmed down did she say in a flat tone,
“Although I was the young lady of the An family, my father did not like me, or even hate me, because my mother died for me; and my brothers never considered me as their sister. But I don’t blame them, because I hate myself just as much, because I was the one who saw my mother die, and it was all my doing.”
She squeezed her thumbs and spoke slowly,
“I don’t blame them for being indifferent to me, and I don’t blame the servants for looking down on me and bullying me, because these are all human things, but …… I hated that woman, who was a lowly maid, and yet she occupied the most important place in my father’s and brother’s heart.
I hated their resentment, she was clearly just selling her flesh, she enjoyed a large group of people taking care of her, but she acted like a victim, she even begged to come to me, how I loathed her, so …… I played a trick, I wanted her to lose her reputation under the eyes of everyone, so that everyone would see her for what she really was. She is nothing but a self-absorbed lowly servant.”
She blinked as tears crossed her cheeks, there was a look of stubbornness and vulnerability in her eyes, she suddenly turned her head away and finished wiping them roughly with the back of her right hand before continuing,
"So, I did such a thing, so, I let you down, I am not a good girl, I am not well behaved, I am not quiet, and I resent, and I am disgusted. I’m sorry …… this marriage was a decision made by my father, I will go back to the An family immediately, to see my father and ask him to break the engagement, our marriage, forget it anyway ……”
She wiped her eyes once more, but her voice was tinged with sobs, and she said viciously,
“Anyway …… Li Jiarou is single now, she is noble and prettier than me, a real lady of the house, she is the one for you, not to mention, the Li family power that is behind her, I know you need this, sorry …. I can’t be that useful to you.”
An Mu Lan made a move to break free from Ling Xihan’s arms, her face showing a grim and hopeless look, but her body’s movements, however, were extraordinarily swift.
She broke away from Ling Xihan’s grasp, then got up and got out of bed, and just as she was about to put on her shoes and walk away, Ling Xihan tugged An Mu Lan’s hand and pulled her back into her arms, and then, she spoke.
Her voice was still cold, with a bit of coolness, she said in a slow tone,
“This matter of alliance is the layout of my arrangement, you just need to obediently do my bidding and stay by my side. You are very good, you know how to use your own hands to get what you want. I like people with a vengeance and a ruthless heart.
Mu Lan, stay and be here. This matter is not up to you, you are not qualified now, you have no right to speak against it, you are just a vase with a little brain, I can provide for you, but if you want to speak on the same level as me, then you have to do what I say.”
As she said this, she lifted An Mu Lan’s chin and looked into her teary eyes. After An Mu Lan had gone through a suppressed crying session, her eyes were now slightly red and fully hydrated, looking extraordinarily soft and helpless, while her lips, which had become engorged and red from her lover’s earlier tight pursing and nibbling.
Ling Xihan looked at this face of hers, innocent and childish, and suddenly lowered her head and kissed her lightly on the lips. She rubbed her lips against An Mu Lan’s and then said to her in this intimate position,
“You and I are the same kind of person, I like your softness, but I like your darkness even more, stay well by my side and I will teach you to be evil, teach you to take revenge on those who hurt you personally, because you are beautiful enough to please me. ”
After Ling Xihan finished, she got up and straightened her slightly creased clothes, then she resumed her usual harmless indifference and said to the **blushing An Mu Lan,
“I’m going to the study to work now, it’s 7pm.”
An Mu Lan immediately understood the meaning of her words, she blushed slightly, as if she was shy about the earlier kiss, she whispered,
“I’ll clean up and wash up, then I’ll go and make dinner, you go and get busy.”
Ling Xihan narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and turned to leave the bedroom.
The door closed with a ‘bang’, and An Mu Lan’s stiff body, immediately went limp as she laid back and breathed heavily, as if she had gone through a fierce struggle.
She raised her hand to cover the soft light, the faint sting of her eyes telling her how messy she had been crying earlier. But, as messy as it was, she had finally gotten through this one and managed to turn the tables, bringing her closer and closer to Ling Xihan.
This time, it was when Ling Xihan was looking deeply at her that she came up with the idea on a whim.
As soon as she saw the deepness in Ling Xihan’s eyes, she made a show of fear, placing herself in the manner of a child who has been caught doing something bad by an adult with a guilty heart.
It was not difficult for her, for she did feel the threat of death under Ling Xihan’s grim gaze, and she knew that if she answered incorrectly, she would be thrown out of the room at the slightest, or die without a trace if she died accidentally.
There are a few places in the novel’s plot where it is slightly depicted, the frightening aspect of this person, Ling Xihan.
An Mu Lan had never underestimated her, even with this planning by the Li family, apart from the fact that she felt that it had gone exceptionally well, more than anything else, she was speculating about the helpers behind the scenes.
Subconsciously, when she saw the news, she had already switched on her autonomous defence mode, and this time, she had indeed got it right.
She was not alone in resolving the matter smoothly, though, as the familiar mechanical sound that suddenly sounded in her head as Ling Xihan licked her cheek brought her to her senses.
【The host is facing the threat of death, the system activates its self-rescue mode, redeeming 50 points on its own in exchange for one 'Intelligence Enhancement’.】
【Warning: System hosts please be cautious, your soul consciousness will be completely dissipated if the mission cannot be achieved.】
Mu Lan knew that this was her second crossing mission, she could not remember exactly who she was before she died, but she knew that her existence, was very simple, so she did not have a strong ability to defend herself, her acting skills were poor, her intelligence was usual, she could only be careful to do everything right.
But even this is still not enough, because what happened in relation to the Li family banquet has made her clearly aware that she is lacking in herself, and that she has much to improve.
And Ling Xihan was willing to give her a chance, she was willing to come and teach her to grow, no matter what the reason was, Mu Lan was grateful to her, because whatever she had learnt in this world would eventually be turned into 【Skill Collection】and added to her strength when the task was completed.
An Mu Lan wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, then got up and went downstairs to the kitchen to cook, her role now, apart from pleasing Ling Xihan, was to cook her a home-cooked dinner, she knew that Ling Xihan liked the warmth of home, so she made an effort to do so. She does it patiently and then immediately goes to correct her mistakes, her strong will is to rip off Ling Xihan and she will take her time to do it.
After the two of them had eaten dinner, Ling Xihan walked over to the sofa and sat down. She turned on the electronic video for a rare occasion, randomly pressing the button to a channel, and watched it quietly.
An Mu Lan obediently walked over to Ling Xihan’s side and took the initiative to soften her body as the other woman reached out to take her into her arms.
Then she heard Ling Xi Han’s flat and slightly cold voice say,
“Tomorrow morning go to the company with me, watch me do my work, I will teach you some things; and in the afternoon, you will go to the exercise room on the ground floor of the company, I have just found some fitness instructors for you, you go and learn some fighting skills from them.
My background is not clean, there will always be people seeking revenge, and at this time, your status as my fiancée is the disadvantage that my enemies use to retaliate against me. As long as you stay by my side, I will keep you safe, though I cannot rule out the unexpected. And at this time, for your personal safety, you need to improve your strength and practice obedience.”
After saying that, she kissed An Mu Lan’s soft cheek and asked in a low voice,
“Do you understand?”
An Mu Lan looked up at her, her wet and slightly red eyes twinkling, then she pouted and said,
“I understand.”
“That’s good!”
Ling Xihan rewarded her with a kiss, then took her hand and said,
“Go to my room tonight, you’ll move into my room after this, we’re in a fiancee relationship, aren’t we?”
An Mu Lan blushed down and mumbled her lips as she said,
“Yes, thank you for helping me, that’s very kind of you.”
At these words, Ling Xihan’s hand that was stroking An Mu Lan paused, then gently patted the top of her head and said,