“Your coming-of-age hairpin ceremony is in three months, right.” He had changed the subject too quickly, and Darling Qiao couldn’t react quickly enough.
She gave a low “mhm,” her cheeks still puffed out while in his embrace.
“Actually, I’m not angry at you.” Mo Lian lifted up her small face. He closed in on her forehead and nuzzled gently. “I’m angry at myself for not protecting you well.”
“You don’t know how agonizing and regretful I felt when I saw those withered vines and snapped branches on the snowy peaks…” He murmured next to her ear, “But this is all in the past now. I don’t want to know anything nor do I want to think about anything more. I just want you to stay by my side. From this moment on, don’t leave me.”
Qiao Mu actually didn’t want to argue with him, but when she saw him wearing a mask of gentleness earlier, she felt irked for some reason.
After getting it off her chest, this little fellow’s mood eased. However, upon hearing him saying this, she was flooded by boundless guilt. She timidly looked at him and said, “I-I’m sorry.”
Coming to think of it, she had always been willful and reckless, not to mention acting spoiled, in front of him. She really couldn’t suffer any bit of grievance from him.
His lukewarm attitude just now made her feel aggrieved and depressed.
Qiao Mu’s eyes slightly reddened, and her small hands unconsciously circled his neck as she said pitifully, “Mo Lian, I didn’t disappear on purpose. It was only that that period of time was so agonizing that I didn’t want to think about anything at all.”
“Murong Xun died, Mo Lian. She had promised that she would attend my hairpin ceremony, but she died. She’s a big fat liar.”
Mo Lian patted her back gently. When he thought about how helpless she was, all alone, at that time, his heart involuntarily ached.
“The sect master died, Aunt-Master also died. The ferule you gifted me broke, Big Treasure also died, they all died. I was the only one left in the end.”
“Don’t talk such nonsense, how are you the only one left? No matter what happens, I will always be by your side, do you understand? Qiaoqiao, you have to believe in me more, okay?”
Seeing his focused and expectant gaze, it was difficult for Qiao Mu to not nod her head.
Mo Lian’s lips turned up slightly, and he stroked her small head in satisfaction.
“You don’t know, I didn’t dare say anything to your parents after relocating them to the capital. I only lied to them and said that you were cultivating in the Holy Water Sect. Do you know how much they’ve missed you?”
“But I only bring disaster to others.”
“You’re spouting nonsense.” Mo Lian abruptly covered her small mouth with his hand. “How could what happened to the Holy Water Sect be blamed on you? That’s because public morality is not what it used to be, leading to covetous thoughts. It was never your fault in the first place.”
“Rest assured, we will definitely settle this account no matter what.” Mo Lian gently swayed her small body while hugging her. “Promise me, darling. Don’t let your imagination run wild, okay?”
“I’ll send you home tomorrow, okay?” He cupped her small face and gazed at her. “Your parents and family all miss you very much.”
How could she reject him when he was like this?
Qiao Mu nodded sullenly.
“I’ll also have Royal Father send along a betrothal edict to your family.” While hugging this darling, Crown Prince Mo closed in with a grin and asked, “How about it?”
Faced with his gentle but enticing tone, as well as his handsome and picturesque features, a certain someone continued to sullenly nod her head without contemplating carefully.
She abruptly widened her eyes immediately afterwards. “Betrothal? Who?”
Holding in his laughter, Mo Lian tapped her small nose, then pointed at himself. “You, and me!”