Chapter 91
Chapter 91
No matter what possibilities Qiao Ying might have imagined, she would never have guessed that she and Ding Yanyu were connected.
From Ding Yanyu’s words, it seemed her mother had sent him a letter before Qiao Ying’s accident, inviting him to Jade City with the intention of making a match between them.
However, Ding Yanyu had not arrived as invited, so naturally the arrangement had come to nothing.
What sent an even greater chill through Qiao Ying was the young man’s gentle laughter beside her.
“This young master must possess extraordinary qualities to have won such favor.”
In an instant, wind whipped Shen Qingyu’s azure robes into a frenzy. The smile remained on his lips, but killing intent surged over everything like a tidal wave.
“Shen Qingyu!”
At Qiao Ying’s cry, Shen Qingyu’s Blind Staff stopped abruptly just before Ding Yanyu’s brow. The force of its approach blew Ding Yanyu’s hair back, loose strands clinging to his stunned face. He had clearly been caught completely off guard by the young man’s swift and sudden killing intent.
The violent aura around Shen Qingyu became like a raging tide frozen in an instant. His billowing azure robes fell still, as did the white hair draped over his shoulders. Only the white silk blindfold over his eyes continued fluttering in the residual breeze, outlining the exquisite curve of his profile.
He did not turn around, yet he precisely caught the urgency in Qiao Ying’s voice. His tone, edged with icy blades only a moment ago, now softened until it seemed capable of dripping water.
“Yingying, you won’t let me bully him?”
Ding Ling stumbled forward and instinctively put herself in front of Ding Yanyu. She was deeply afraid of Shen Qingyu. That she could rush out now went against every timid and cowardly instinct she possessed.
Shen Qingyu paid no heed to a mere wandering spirit. His Blind Staff advanced another inch, only for Qiao Ying to jump up and throw her arms around his arm.
“You can’t kill him.”
Shen Qingyu smiled. “Why not?”
“Because… Because neither I nor Young Master Ding wanted that supposed marriage!” Qiao Ying’s mind raced. “If Young Master Ding truly wished to marry me, he would have left for Jade City the moment he received the letter. Instead, he used the family business as an excuse to remain here until now. That proves he didn’t want it either. Isn’t that right, Young Master Ding?”
Ding Yanyu was still enveloped by that vast, invisible killing intent. It seemed as if countless unseen blades surrounded him in a tightly woven net. At the slightest movement, they would slice him apart.
At Qiao Ying’s words, Ding Yanyu calmed himself and said, “Indeed. With so many affairs to attend to at home, I have no intention of marrying yet.”
Qiao Ying tugged at Shen Qingyu again. “I may not have recovered my memories, but I can tell that Young Master Ding is a junior my mother thinks highly of. Shen Qingyu, have you forgotten? I still need to take you home to meet my parents. My mother is your mother-in-law. You need to learn how to please her instead of doing things she will hate. What if she refuses to accept you as her son-in-law?”
As she spoke, Qiao Ying could almost see that scene unfolding before her. Her concern became entirely sincere. “That would put me in a very difficult position!”
Shen Qingyu still understood little about being human, but he knew that Qiao Ying had once worried that his family would not like her, which had made her uneasy about marriage.
Then, by the same logic, he ought to worry whether her family would like him.
Qiao Ying softened her voice. “Shen Qingyu, I still want to live a peaceful life with you.”
Shen Qingyu lowered his face slightly, as if “looking” at her.
After a moment, the Blind Staff lowered naturally. Shen Qingyu tilted his head slightly, white hair spilling over his shoulder and making his peerlessly handsome face appear even gentler. The suffocating danger from moments ago vanished as if it had never existed, leaving only his unique obedience toward her.
“All right. I won’t bully him for now.”
With the crisis resolved, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiao Ying wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. They had come within an inch of turning the place into a river of blood. If that happened, she would truly have committed a terrible sin.
Ding Yanyu naturally realized that Qiao Ying and Shen Qingyu shared an unusual relationship, and that Shen Qingyu was an exceedingly dangerous man.
Under immense pressure, he stepped forward and offered what was in his hand. “I had no ulterior motive in showing you the pendant, Miss Qiao. I only wished to return it. A match of gold and jade should go to someone more suitable.”
Qiao Ying stole a glance at Shen Qingyu’s expression and swiftly accepted the pendant. “Thank you.”
Ding Yanyu asked, “May I speak with you both now?”
He had already extended an olive branch. As the saying went, one did not strike a smiling face.
Holding Shen Qingyu’s hand, Qiao Ying nodded.
Ding Yanyu reserved a private room in a nearby restaurant. After some thought, Qiao Ying brought the Demon-Subduing Sword along.
She deliberately ordered sweet-and-sour mandarin fish. After removing the bones, she placed the meat in Shen Qingyu’s bowl. Shen Qingyu obediently lifted it to his mouth with his chopsticks. Once his bowl was empty, he set the chopsticks down and sat quietly until Qiao Ying fed him another piece, whereupon he picked them up again.
This cycle repeated itself. He was absurdly well behaved, with no trace of the terrifying, murderous figure from moments ago.
After observing them for a while, Ding Yanyu asked, “You have lost your memory, Miss Qiao?”
Qiao Ying nodded. “Yes. I don’t know who abducted me, but Shen Qingyu saved me. We endured danger together and ended up becoming a couple.”
She spoke so frankly that no one else had room to criticize.
Ding Yanyu therefore said amicably, “Miss Qiao comes from the Qiao family of Jade City, and both your parents are alive. You and Second Miss Qiao are famed for your celestial beauty. Younger Miss Qiao was betrothed ten years ago to a fitting match from a family of equal standing. Now they need only choose the date before she marries in splendid style.”
He continued, “As the elder sister, how could you fall behind and entrust your life to just anyone? I imagine that is why Madam Qiao grew anxious.”
Qiao Ying remembered her earlier dream. In it, she seemed to have had a cousin named Mianmian.
She and Qiao Mianmian were close in age, so outsiders inevitably compared them. Qiao Mianmian had found a young and promising fiancé while Qiao Ying had made no progress at all. Naturally, Madam Qiao had become anxious.
At the thought, Qiao Ying glanced at Shen Qingyu, increasingly uneasy about returning home.
Once they arrived, the parents she no longer remembered might have any number of objections.
Shen Qingyu’s bowl had been empty for quite some time. He turned his face toward her and said softly, “Yingying, fish.”
Never mind. She would meet whatever came and deal with future troubles when they arose.
Qiao Ying placed another piece of fish in his bowl. After some thought, she asked Ding Yanyu, “Young Master Ding, could I trouble you to deliver a letter to the Qiao family for me? I’ve been missing for many days, and they may be worried. I want to tell them I’m safe and that I will return home soon.”