the cat in emperor's arms

begonia

Ming Luomeng wanted to say that she had seen countless doctors. However, she was born with a stubborn disease, and could only take one medicine after another to warm her body and prolong her life. There was no way to completely cure it.

The man's voice was low, yet it seemed to carry a faint trace of hope.

“Consider it my repayment for the meal you treated me to last time, can you?”

Fine rain drizzled down like strings of pearls dripping from the eaves. The determination and persistence in his eyes fell into her pupils along with the raindrops.

Ming Luomeng felt a vague sense of daze.

It was as if the fact that she cherished her body, free from illness or disaster, was already the greatest gift to him.

Amidst the misty mountain fog and the dim rain, the woman’s light-colored pupils shimmered with a gem-like brilliance, like a beacon drawing Pei Shenyu's gaze.

She was his direction, the sole object of his prayer.

Ming Luomeng met his eyes and could no longer utter a word of refusal.

She pressed her lips together, and finally agreed:

“Alright.”

Pei Shenyu lowered his gaze, looking at the gentle expression on Ming Luomeng's face, his heart softening like ripples in a lake, stirring countless waves.

After all, she was still the tender-hearted little kitten he adored.

Not long after Pei Shenyu finished speaking, the rain gradually stopped.

Out of concern for the two Wei sisters being present, he didn’t want to cause Ming Luomeng any unnecessary gossip, so he left without lingering, taking his leave first.

The man appeared like a gust of wind and disappeared just as swiftly. His black attire merged with the fine rain, like a dragon plunging into the sea, stirring up waves only to vanish without a trace.

Ming Luomeng's heart was still fluttering with unease.

But then she heard Wei Shanyao, who had been silent the whole time, timidly ask in a careful tone:

“Sister Meimei, who was that gentleman? Is he someone you know?”

A trace of hesitation arose in Ming Luomeng’s heart, and she stammered:

“Previously, when a playboy blocked the street, it was him who intervened and saved me from being abducted by that man…”

“So, I suppose he is my benefactor.”

Wei Shanqi, who was aware of the situation, quickly explained the matter in a few words to her younger sister to prevent further questions.

Wei Shanyao, however, still couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Huh? Then he really is a chivalrous and righteous person…”

A righteous person?

Ming Luomeng stared silently at the lake, which now sparkled in the newly clear skies.

She always felt there was something mysterious about him.

As if fate itself always brought them together at critical moments, and as if everything wasn’t entirely coincidental.

And each time she saw him, her heart seemed to run wild, as though it was no longer within her control. It felt as if this heart no longer solely belonged to her.

…

That day, the weather was clear and bright.

Ming Luomeng sat at her dressing table in a daze, looking at the woman in the mirror, whose face was as delicate as a flower, her moist eyes full of confusion.