Chapter 93: What Do You Want
Chapter 93: What Do You Want
Xiang Ling’s hands froze in the middle of stripping out of her outer robe as a very familiar voice entered her ear and her brain registered the question that he just asked her.
Turning around in the direction where the voice came from, her surprised gaze landed on Li Xian who was sitting next to the round window at the far left wall of the chamber. There was a dumbfounded look on his face as if he was taken aback by something. She found his gaze fixed on a particular spot and when she followed the line of his sight, she realized that he was looking at her right shoulder which was left completely exposed as the outer robe had slipped down.
Her instinct was to pull up the robe and cover herself, but she didn’t do it when a dangerous but naughty idea formed in her brain. Keeping her face straight, she started walking toward the man.
"Li Xian?" She called out to him in surprise as she approached him. "What are you doing here?"
The man was finally pulled out of his trance and he quickly shook his head once as if to get rid of whatever had taken over his mind. Once his senses were under his control, he locked his gaze with Xiang Ling’s and replied, "I wanted to talk to you so I came here after dinner. When I didn’t find you here, I decided to wait. I didn’t realize that I had fallen asleep until I heard you opening the door and stepping inside. Judging from the pain in my body because of the uncomfortable angle I dogged off in, I can tell that several hours have already passed. You stayed out for a while."
As Xiang Ling observed him closely, she realized that there was no judgment in his eyes. Instead, he looked mostly curious and a little bit worried as he waited for her reply.
Smiling softly, she presented the story she had already prepared in her mind. "I saw Dao Ming and Xin Cheng heading out after dinner. They were going to the Night Market. Since the night looked really pretty and I was curious about the nightlife of the market, I followed them. Everything was fun and exciting and we ended up losing track of the time." She even pretended to be excited as she talked about the night market to convince Li Xian.
Thankfully, her idea worked as Li Xian slowly nodded his head in understanding. "It’s good that you enjoyed your time out. But you should also take proper rest. You are always working tirelessly throughout the day and night is the only time you can rest."
Xiang Ling took a moment to appreciate the gentleness and care that Li Xian was showing her. What was making her mood even better was the realization that the man was doing his very best to not look at her exposed shoulder. She almost let out a chuckle but somehow succeeded in holding it back.
"Oh right, you mentioned that you came here to talk to me about something. What was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked when she recalled the reason he presented for appearing inside her private chamber.
The expression on Li Xian’s face changed so suddenly that Xiang Ling was left stunned. He appeared hesitant to speak and it made her realize that the matter was somewhat serious. "What is it, Ah Xian?" She pressed while calling him endearingly which definitely surprised him, to say the least.
"I... Maybe we should talk later. It’s late. You should rest." He tried to flee but Xiang Ling didn’t give him the chance.
"It’s alright. I can spare a few minutes. Tell me what you wanted to talk about." She fixed her gaze on the man who looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there with her at the moment.
Li Xian didn’t speak for a few long moments before he finally let out a sigh and broke the silence. "I just wanted to ask the reason for which you have been ignoring me."
This time, it was Xiang Ling’s turn to stay silent as she tried to process his words. When did she ignore him? She found herself wondering. Though she had been keeping some distance from him because of how frustrated she felt because of his mother, she never purposely ignored him, or at least, that was what she believed.
"I... I am not ignoring you." Xiang Ling finally spoke.
"Yes, you are."
Xiang Ling stared at the man with her mouth wide open in surprise as she tried to think of something to say. "But... I speak to you almost every day."
"Yes, you do." Li Xian finally agreed with her but his next words made Xiang Ling realize what the man was really complaining about. "You speak to me during meal times but only when I ask you something. Other than that, there’s nothing. No proper conversation, no meetings other than during meal times, nothing. I feel like I’m the only one in this courtyard who is being left behind while the others are having a nice time rebuilding their relations with you."
A knowing smile made its way to Xiang Ling’s lips as she inched closer to the man. Once she was close enough for him to be trapped by her presence, she spoke, "Then what do you want from me? Do you want me to approach you? Or do you want us to spend alone time together? Do you wish to be the one who accompanies me to the night Market tonight? Or..."
She inched even closer to him and brought her close to his ear as she continued in a whisper, "... do you wish to be the one who kissed me on the night of our drinking game?"
She pulled her face back to look into his sapphire blue eyes and found him breathing harshly while his cheeks were tinted bright pink.
"Tell me, Ah Xian, what do you really want?"