Hearing He Mu Li’s proposal, De Xue suddenly stiffened with shock.

Why is it the minute he said he likes her and the next minute he wants her to be his woman?

However, she was not opposed to his proposal.  She even thought that if they were to be married, they would be able to spend more time together.  As husband and wife, they will be in the same bedchamber, they will be sleeping together and they can be together all night…..

De Xue was tempted by his proposal but she did not give him an affirmative response.  She only just nuzzled her hot face against his chest.  After a long time, she said.  “This…….you have to ask my Father.”

When she thought of her father, she could not help but grimace.  Although she had run away from home in order to escape a marriage, she did not have the intention to stay away from home forever.  She had often thought of her father.   However, since she had run away from home for so long, her father had never once come to look for her.  He did not even send her Brothers* to look for her.   In her mind, he must still be angry with her.

(DX is referring to her father’s disciples as Brothers and they are either referred to as Shixiong, Senior Brother or Shidi, Junior Brother.)

Moreover, she is afraid to return home.  She is very sure her Father will pressure her to marry her Su Shixiong and she is not willing! !

In particular now that she realized she likes Li Dage and it is even more impossible for her to marry Su Shixiong.  But what if Father does not agree with their relationship?  What if he still insists on the marriage between her and Su Shixiong?

Thinking of this matter, De Xue felt inexplicably guilty and did not know how to explain to He Mu Li.  What should she do?

“Of course, we must seek approval from your father regarding our marriage.  I will send someone to your home to make a marriage proposal.”  Immediately, He Mu Li thought of the hidden trouble that had not been resolved. 

(In ancient times, before marriage is confirmed, a marriage proposal must be made to the woman’s family first.  The man’s family will send a matchmaker to the woman’s family to ask for her hand.  If the woman’s parents agree to the marriage then an auspicious date will be picked to deliver the betrothal gifts to confirm the marriage.)

“No!”  Hearing his words, De Xue instinctively said.

His eyes darkened and looked at her intently.  He asked slowly.  “Why not?  Could it be Xiao Xue does not like me anymore?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.  I……when did I say I don’t like you?”   She responded in a faint voice.

“That’s good.  Since I like Xiao Xue and Xiao Xue likes me as well, so is there any problem?  Or is it because my He Mu Family is not worthy of Xiao Xue’s Family?”  He Mu Li asked despite knowing the truth about her family.

He just wanted to force her to tell him personally the reason for running away from home and the marriage.  He had to find out what she really thought about this marriage then only he would know how to solve the obstacles in front of them.

“It is not this problem……”  De Xue said with hesitation.

Her Father had always looked at a person’s talents and never placed any importance on their status.  So the status of a Hou-ye or a General would be insignificant to him.  However, she believed He Mu Li’s talent would definitely earn praises from her Father. 

However, even if her father would have praises for He Mu Li but the person her father praised the most was still her Su Shixiong!

“Then what is the problem?”  He Mu Li’s hugged her to prevent her from escaping and persisted in continuing with his questions. 

“Don’t force me, I can’t tell you.”  De Xue lowered her head in distress.

“What else is there that can’t be said between us?   Xiao Xue, don’t you believe in me?”  He asked in a low voice.  He noticed she was sad and he frowned.  After quite a while, she finally said helplessly.  “I ran away from home because my Father wanted me to marry someone he chose.”

He Mu Li raised his eyebrows.  Finally, she had told him the truth about her running away from home to escape from a marriage arrangement.

“So you don’t like the person your Father chose for you?”  He asked carefully.

“It is not true that I don’t like him but I had always treated Su Shixiong as my brother.”  De Xue responded with distress.

“Huh?  You like him?”  He Mu Li’s voice tone lifted higher and continued to ask with the intention to find out clearly about her feelings for her senior brother.

“Like Him?  No……it is not that kind of feeling.  Su Shixiong is very good to me.  He is a very good senior brother but I had never thought of marrying him.”   Seeing the gloom in He Mu Li’s eyes, De Xue quickly explained.   She remembered that once he is petty, he can be very petty.

“Then what about him?   Does he like you?   Does he like you enough to want to marry you?”  He would never underestimate a potential threat.

“Do you mean Su Shixiong?   He did not refuse this marriage probably because he did not want to disappoint my Father.”   As to this question, she also felt very depressed.  Why did Su Shixiong agree?  But he had always been very respectful of her Father and she could only think of this reason as to why Su Shixiong did not want to disappoint her Father.

“But you said he is a very good brother to you.  How do you classify ‘good’ to you?”  He Mu Li was not very happy with the words ‘good brother’.

“How to classify ‘good’?  Well, from young until now, Su Shixiong had never said a harsh word to me.  He would accompany me in whatever I want to do, want to eat, want to drink, want to play and as long as there is anything I want, he would always do it for me.  Every time when I make my Father angry, he would plead for leniency on my behalf.”

She had always felt very lucky with such a good senior brother.

“And he had even sacrificed his life for me!   One summer, I was being playful and fell into the water........Su Shixiong, who did not know how to swim, jumped into the water to save me without a thought.  He almost lost his life.”  Fortunately, there were other people nearby who knew how to swim and saved the two of them.  Otherwise, there would have been two more ghosts in the lake.

Doesn’t this seem like it had crossed the limits of brotherly concern for a sister?   Not only was he there to fulfill her every wish, but he was also like a guardian angel and disregarded his own life to save her.

No matter how he listened to this, He Mu Li still felt that her Su Shixiong, the first disciple of De Rou Qing is clearly someone who is sly with evil intentions…….  However, it seems that his kitten did not sense this and suddenly he felt it is fortunate that she is emotionally slow.

“So the reason why you don’t want me to go to your house to propose marriage is that you are afraid your Father will disagree?”  He tightened his arms around his kitten, trapping her in his embrace.

The blushing De Xue said.  “My Father likes Su Shixiong very much and my Father is a very stubborn man.”

Otherwise, she would not have delayed returning home.  She knew that once she returns home, her father will definitely pressure her into marrying and her Su Shixiong will not have any objection thus leaving her to fight this on her own.

“But the person you like is me, right?”

Feeling a little shy, De Xue nodded.  Yes, she likes Li Dage, she wants to marry him, spend a lifetime with him and totally does not want to marry her Su Shixiong.

“Then leave everything to me.  All you need to do is to like me and I will be responsible for all other things.”  As long as he is certain her heart is his, even if he has to snatch her, he will make sure to keep her by his side.   Moreover, it will not be the first time he had snatched her!   Since he had snatched her the first time, then he will do it the second time and even the third time.  She is already his woman!

“Ah?  But my Father is a very powerful man.  Li Dage, my father is……”

“He is the Sifu of Warfare Strategy and Weapons, De Ruo Qing, right?”  He Mu Li continued the sentence with confidence.

“Yi……how do you know?”  She blinked in amazement and thought…….she had never told him about her life.

“Xiao Xue, you have underestimated me.  Since I like you, I naturally want to know everything about you.”  He said evasively.

De Xue eyebrows knotted and faintly felt something was not right.  She is simple-minded but not stupid.  She mulled over this and very quickly she understood.

Her crystal eyes stared brightly at him.  With annoyance, she jabbed his chest with her index finger and asked.  “Just now were you forcing me to tell you everything with your questions?  Actually, you already know about Su Shixiong, right?”  It had made her feel so awkward and she did not know how to explain to him. 

He Mu Li lifted his eyebrows.  “I had heard about it but hear-say is only a rumor.  What I want to hear are Xiao Xue’s true feelings.  Xiao Xue, the person you like is me and not that senior brother of yours, right?”  He asked in an overbearing manner to get a confirmation from her.

After a moment of exchanging looks with his strong and determined eyes, De Xue finally softened.  “Now only I realized that you are truly a rogue!”

Always bullying her! !   She stretched out her hands and pinched his cheeks to vent out her annoyance.

Ignoring her action, He Mu Li leaned over to plant a kiss on her lips and his fiery eyes revealed his pride and joy.

“Xiao Xue, kiss me…..”  He had the look of begging for candy.

“You…….why do I have to like you?  You’re a rogue!”  She blushed and complained but she still placed her delicate small face close to his face and gently gave him a peck on his lips.

But when she was about to withdraw, her waist was tightly hugged and his hot lips sealed her lips again.

Perhaps they had mutually confessed, De Xue felt that this time, their kiss feels sweeter and more passionate than before.

Her soft tongue was trapped as he sucked her tongue deeply.  The sweetness was tasted as their tongues entangled with each other.   His big hand clasped her waist tightly and pulled her snugly to his body.  It was not known when his other hand had found its way under her clothes and was caressing her chest that was covered with a layer of silky clothing.