Chapter 76: Proposal

  "Xiangju girl!" The man was shocked and looked at the woman in his arms clearly under the faint moonlight outside, shouting loudly.

  Qing Xia's hands moved swiftly and surely, one hand shooting out to cover the man's mouth, while she made silent gestures with her lips, signaling him to be quiet.

  The man understood Qing Xia's hint and nodded hastily with a silly expression.

  The footsteps outside gradually faded away, and the two stood in the pitch-black tent. The cold moonlight shot through the gap in the curtains, shining on their bodies, making them look a bit dazed. Qing Xia leaned into the man's arms, carefully perking up her ears to listen to the sounds outside until there was complete silence before she let out a long sigh.

  Today is really an unlucky day, I've repeatedly heard things that shouldn't be heard, and even mistakenly entered this guy's tent.

  Thinking of this, Qing Xia let out a light cough and naturally pushed away the man's restraints, struggling free from his embrace.

  "Excuse me, Lord Lin." Qing Xia politely nodded and reached out to smooth the slightly disheveled hair at his temples.

  "I'm so glad you're here, I'm really delighted!" Lin Mubai said hastily, laughing sincerely from the heart. Qing Xia saw that he was carrying a brazier, paper money, wine and meat cakes, with a painting scroll tucked under his arm, wearing a green cotton padded jacket, with a wind hat and cloak, and the candlelight in the tent had already gone out. With one guess, she knew this guy was up to something again, thinking of which, couldn't help but smile slightly.

  I'm already dead anyway, this lie has been exposed too, I just hope Chu Li won't be angry.

  Just then, Lin Shu's voice suddenly sounded in her ear. This guy was very obedient. Even though the patrolling soldiers had already walked far away, he still covered his mouth with his hand and said in a very small voice: "Xiangju girl, I was just thinking of going to pay my respects to you. I didn't expect you to cross the boundary between the world of the living and the dead and come to see me. You must have received my sacrificial text and come to see me for the last time, right?"

  "Ah?" Qing Xia's smile froze on her face for a moment, and she widened her eyes in disbelief as she stared at the handsome but foolish scholar in front of her.

  "I usurped the girl's merits to obtain this official position, and I have been suffering from a guilty conscience day and night. Today, being able to see the girl again, even if I die, I can be at peace."

  No matter how wise a person is, there are situations where they can be left speechless. Qing Xia was in such a state now.

  A person can be foolish, a person can be stupid, but absolutely cannot be an idiot.

  She looked at Lin Shu-sheng's serious expression, and suddenly didn't know what to say, helplessly sighed, propped her hand on her temple, and weakly said: "You still think I'm dead now, right?"

  "Not, not," Lin Shusheng was taken aback and hastily waved his hand, saying: "Miss Gao's righteousness is admirable. As a woman, she can turn the tide in times of crisis. She should be recorded in history books and revered by future generations. Miss Gao's spirit of sacrificing herself to protect the country will forever live on in my heart."

  Qing Xia looked at the man in front of her with unbelievable eyes, feeling depressed and not knowing what to say. Lin Shu Sheng saw Qing Xia's appearance and thought she was still angry, so he gritted his teeth and said: "Miss, rest assured, even if I risk my life, I will respect the facts and let you leave a name in history. Heaven is above, thick earth is below, if I cannot return the credit to Miss, then let Miss's ghost haunt me forever, no peace in life, no place to rely on after death, becoming a lonely wild ghost, never able to be reborn."

  Lin Mu Bai's expression turned serious, and after a passionate declaration, he lowered his head, looked at Qing Xia solemnly, and said in a deep voice: "Miss, rest assured, I will definitely give you justice."

  "In the dark alley, a voice whispered: 'If you want me to live a little longer, it's better not to have such a fair trial.' Looking at Lin Mubai's sincere expression, he slowly shook his head and said helplessly: 'Is it that all of you historians are so straightforward by nature?'"

  "What? Why did you say that?" Lin Shu Sheng's eyebrows slightly raised, asking with some confusion.

  "Yes," Qing Xia carefully chose her words, trying to find a way that the bookworm could accept, "In other words, whatever the Emperor says is an imperial decree, and no matter what he says, you have to believe it unconditionally?"

  "That's natural!"

  I've been defeated!

  Qing Xia looked at Lin Mu Bai with a helpless gaze, her eyes filled with sympathy and pity. A person who spent all day with Chu Li, how could he be so naive? Hadn't he read many history books, or did he just eat them for food? He hadn't grown any wisdom at all.

  "Xiangjun girl, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have died in the big fire either. I will definitely take responsibility for you!" Lin Mubai suddenly walked up with a serious face, grabbed Qingxia's icy hand that had been outside for too long, and said solemnly.

  "This has nothing to do with you!" Qing Xia's cotton-padded muscles were almost twitching, following this entangled and unclear bookworm's explanation.

  "Why wasn't it my concern, I'm a man, that day I should have been the one to lure away the rebels and let the girl go to the main camp to report. A moment's hesitation, and the girl died miserably, I will never forgive myself for eternity."

  Lin Mu Bai's expression was heavy and serious. Qing Xia, who was being held by the bookworm, tried to shake him off but couldn't pull her hand away. Just as she was about to fight back, the bookworm said in a tone that was both calm and determined: "Xiang Ju, will you marry me?"

  "Ah?" The man's mouth was so big that it could fit a whole watermelon in it for an instant, and Qing Xia stared at the man in front of her with a crazy expression, feeling like her worldview had been completely overturned. With Qing Xia's self-control, even if the president of a country came to propose to her, she might not be so shocked, but this man in front of her, hadn't he already determined that he was a dead man? Was he proposing to her as a dead man?

  "This is what you said, and you're going to be responsible for me?"

  Stammering, he finally said the words, and saw Lin Mubai's eyes shining with tears as she nodded hastily: "Right, Miss has saved my life, and because of me, drank hatred to the yellow spring, how can I ignore you, not care about you, not hear or ask about you?"

  "But... " Qing Xia pursed her lips and took a few deep breaths before saying in one go, "But I'm already dead, aren't I?"

  "Right!" Lin Mubai nodded heavily, as if making a firm decision. "That's why I should marry the young lady even more. The young lady died in her prime, with no children to carry on her legacy, and was buried alone. After I marry her, I'll enshrine your spirit tablet in the ancestral hall of my Lin family, where you can enjoy the incense and worship of future generations, how's that?"

  Lin Mu Bai's eyes were deep and profound, as if he hadn't heard him speak, Qing Xia might have been truly moved, but at this moment, looking at Lin Mu Bai's expression, Qing Xia suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He didn't know what to say to him.

  "This custom, in my hometown is called a ghost marriage. I will send someone to the girl's hometown to dig up your grave and bring it back. In the future, after I pass away, we can rest together underground."

  "Who wants to sleep with you underground!" Qing Xia rolled her eyes impatiently, she was too lazy to explain again, feeling that the people outside had already walked far away, and were about to lift the curtain to go out.

  "Miss!"

  Lin Mubai suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed Qing Xia's sleeve, seeing that she was about to leave. Lin Shusheng, who usually emphasized etiquette and was a bit pedantic, unexpectedly hugged Qing Xia tightly from behind, holding her entire body in his arms, and said in a low voice: "Don't go! This goodbye may mean we'll never see each other again."

  His cry was so mournful that Qing Xia was stunned, and before she knew it, she was in his arms. Lin Mu Bai's face was buried in the crook of Qing Xia's neck, with warm tears falling onto her pale skin one drop at a time.

  "It's all my fault, I couldn't protect you." The man's voice was desolate, filled with a deep sense of powerlessness and reluctance: "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been discovered by the rebel army, and they wouldn't have gone to set fire and kill people. I always thought that martial arts were something only inferior and rough people did, but when I knew you were gone, I really hated myself for being so useless. Now all I can do for you is this much, please don't refuse me."

  This silly bookworm, Qing Xia's mouth corners twitched, and a faint smile was drawn out. She slowly stretched out her hand to grasp Lin Mubai's palm that was wrapped around her front, and gently said: "The big fire in the East Palace's back hall has nothing to do with you, if you're blaming yourself for this, then you're too silly."

  "No," Lin Mubai slightly shook his head and said in a low voice, "My mind is made up, don't stop me anymore. I know you're doing it for my own good, afraid that my clansmen will look down on your humble status. Don't worry, even if you're not of noble birth, illiterate, of lowly bloodline, unfamiliar with the teachings of the saints, and a bit rough in behavior, without the elegance and virtue of a lady from a good family, but still, I'll take you as my wife. From now on, no matter how many concubines I take back, you are my only legitimate wife."

  Qing Xia's originally smiling face gradually turned gloomy with Lin Mu Bai's words, her face darkened, she pursed her lips tightly, repeatedly taking deep breaths to suppress her anger, and finally spoke in a low, measured tone: "Who did you say has a lowly bloodline and is illiterate? Who did you say behaves crudely and is not elegant or virtuous? Who did you say is as good as dead?"

  "Miss, miss, I didn't mean it like that, Xiangju..."

  A loud, muffled sound, Qing Xia's "Opening Mountain Palm" heavily chopped down on Lin Mu Bai's head. The scholar let out a pained cry, and before he could even react, Qing Xia grabbed his arm, twisted it back, and kneed him in the leg, sending him tumbling to the ground. This swift and precise grappling technique, which Qing Xia had practiced over a thousand times in real combat, was utterly wasted on this scholar who didn't have an ounce of martial arts skill.

  The next second, Lin Shusheng was already in a strange posture, lying on the ground. Qing Xia angrily knelt on his back and said in a low voice: "You'd better behave yourself, you're always coming to pay respects for no reason, even if you don't die, you'll be driven mad by your own actions! And don't harbor any illusions that I will marry you, just because you're foolish doesn't mean I have to give in to you on everything!"

  "I..."

  "I don't want to hear you speak now!" Qing Xia shouted, kicking Lin Mu Bai's butt with one foot, quickly bouncing up and taking a swift step out of the camp door.

  "Xiangju girl!" Lin Mubai struggled to get up from the ground, almost crawling out of the door, and shouted loudly into the empty night: "Where are you going? In two days it will be the Nanjiang Shaman Festival! You're wandering among humans, be careful!"

  The night was dark and quiet, all things were still, Qing Xia hid in the corner, looking at Lin Mu Bai's silly shadow, feeling herself depressed to the point of madness.

  Never want to meet this pervert again.