Chapter 79 - Xingan

"So, you are trying to tell us that you went out looking for a shop to buy, in the main market area of Capital City?"

"Yes!"

"And then you bought the Jewelry shop of Jing Family that is almost about to crumble any second?"

"Yes!"

"And then you had your lunch with the Young Masters, whom you call your friends and brothers, as you had something important to discuss with them?"

"Yes!"

Li Ming looked at the two men who were still staring at her like she had committed some kind of crime.

They had been nonstop asking her questions about what she was doing the entire day and why she didn't take them with her?

Well, it was mostly Zhang Yong asking all the questions while Ruoshan just sat there quietly, continually looking at her.

"Why didn't you tell me that you wanted to buy a shop? I would have bought the best shop in the entire Capital City for you." Zhang Yong said with a pout and his eyes were looking at her accusingly.

"Thanks for the offer, Your Highness. But I have bought the best shop on my own." Li Ming replied.

"See! That's where you are wrong Ming'er. That Jing Lin has taken advantage of your innocence. That shop can't even stand a few strong gusts. Sooner or later it will fall apart. Why do you think the Jing Family was so eager to sell it?" Zhang Yong asked the girl.

"I'm very well aware of the condition of the shop and I'm a hundred percent sure that it is exactly the shop that I wanted to buy." Li Ming once again tried to explain to Zhang Yong, who for some stupid reason was stuck on his belief that she had been manipulated by Jing Lin.

"But...."

"Who wanted to buy the shop?" Li Ming asked as she cut off Zhang Yong before he could start again with his reasons and all.

"Huh?" The Forth Prince looked at her confusingly.

"Who wanted to buy the shop?" She repeated her question.

"You."

"Who knows the requirements of the shop that I needed to buy?" She asked another question.

"Of course You."

"Who knows about my budget the best?"

"You."

Li Ming didn't ask any more questions and just looked at Zhang Yong with raised eyebrows.

Zhang Yong sighed and then said, "Fine. If you are saying then I'll believe you for now."

"Good." Li Ming nodded her head as she silently let out a sigh of relief. She finally got rid of his whining. Oh, how wrong she was!

"But Ming'er you should have told us if you needed anything. You just disappeared this morning without telling us anything. Do you have any idea how worried both of us were for you?" Zhang Yong complained.

"Stop your overacting. And do you seriously think that I'm blind or an idiot? Do you think that I won't notice when there are people following me the entire day?" Li Ming asked as she gave Zhang Yong a hard glare.

Of course, she knew that Long Jie was following her the entire morning and noon. It didn't take a genius to know that he was following Zhang Yong's order.

"We just wanted to make sure that you are safe and alright." Zhang Yong said in his self-defense.

"I'm not some most wanted criminal, neither there's an assassin after me that I will need protection. So exactly from whom were you trying to protect me?" Li Ming asked.

"You are forgetting about Prime Minister Zhu!" Zhang Yong said as he looked at Ruoshan who had not spoken a single word since Ming'er had returned about an hour ago. But his eyes hadn't left her for even a second all this time.

"And you are forgetting that the Old freak isn't looking for a fourteen-year-old girl but for three colorfully dressed faceless males. And you yourself confirmed that there's no way he could trace the incident back to me." Li Ming told the man.

He was making her go off-topic. She had some important questions to ask him.

"Now stop all this unimportant nonsense. I have something important to ask you." Li Ming said in a serious tone that got the attention of the two Immortals.

"What is that?" Zhang Yong asked.

For the next few minutes, Li Ming explained about how she needed to visit the Jin Empire to buy some important herbs.

Just as Zhang Yong was about to open his mouth, Li Ming interrupted him. "No. Don't even think about suggesting that stupid idea. I want to go on my own and I'm not taking either one of you with me."

"It's a pleasure that you even considered me." This time it was Ruoshan who spoke but his words were full of sadness even though there was a smile on his lips. A smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Li Ming completely ignored his comment and looked at Zhang Yong.

The Forth Prince peeked at the defeated look on Ruoshan's face and for a single second, he almost felt bad for him.

If he was in Ruoshan's place and was suffering the same fate, he didn't even know what he would have done.

He looked at Li Ming and asked, "Are you sure? If you want I can bring those herbs to you in just a day and if not then let us accompany you.....!"

Li Ming gave him her coldest glare which shut him up instantly.

Zhang Yong looked at Ruoshan as he said, "I need to return to the Imperial Palace due to some important works. Why not let Lord Ruoshan answer all your questions? He will tell you all that you need to know."

Saying that he immediately stood up and left the room after giving Ruoshan a wink.

"If you don't want to help, you could have just said so. No need to pretend." Li Ming murmured under her breath as she cursed Ruoshan in her mind.

She didn't give a chance to Ruoshan to speak and immediately entered her mansion.

She appeared inside the spell room. She was thinking about making some new healing potions when suddenly she felt his presence behind her.

She turned around and glared at the man. "Did I not made it clear that you are not allowed to set foot in my mansion? Or are my words worth nothing to you now?" Her tone was so cold and unfriendly and it could freeze people.

"I only come here to help you with your problem of traveling to the Jin Empire. As for the other matters, we will talk about them later." Ruoshan said as he looked directly into her cold eyes.

"No need. I'm not that desperate to take help from those who lie to me and take advantage of my trust. It's better for you to leave right now, not only from here but also from my life." Her words were like a sharp knife penetrating his heart.

The next second he was standing right in front of her as his hand grabbed her waist and pulled her in his tight and warm embrace.

There was no space left between their bodies and Li Ming felt electric shocks passing through her entire body. They were like tingles running through her body which almost made her whimper but she tightly bit her lips to keep the sound inside.

Ruoshan made her look up at his face as he said, "Don't. Not right now. Let's first talk about how you can reach the Jin Empire in a short period of time and after that, we will talk about us."

"Why not now? Are you really that desperate to help me or are you just looking for a reason to ignore answering my questions?" Li Ming asked in a taunting voice. Due to some unknown reason, she wanted to rile him up.

The arms holding her tightened and for the first time in all those months she had known Ruoshan, a totally different person was standing in front of her.

The eyes which were always full of amusement, fun, intelligence, and adoration were now staring at her full of fire and hurt.

"I know I was wrong. And I know that I'm still wrong but can you stop treating me like this, Xingan." His voice sounded so raw and painful. But what shocked Li Ming was the term of endearment that he used.

"Why?" Li Ming's voice came out in a soft whisper. She also didn't want to be rude to him. His sadness was making her unhappy too. All that she's asking for was an explanation. But the stupid and stubborn man was not telling her anything, which only made her frustrated.

**********

Xingan - literally means 'heart and liver'. While that might sound a bit too odd but the term is used to recognize the most important person, without whom you can not live (Just like how you can't live without your heart or liver).

The closest English term could be 'My Heart and Soul'. Overall it's a very strong term of endearment reserved only for those who are extremely precious to you.

(This explanation is completely based on Google, so it can be wrong. If so, please let me know. Also, if you have ideas about cute endearments then leave them in your comments.)