Chapter 480: Meet Situ Lingshan III

Huo Mianmian stared at Situ Lingshan, speechless; she didn’t expect her first question to be about that. She had known Taixu Wuxian since childhood, and she was well aware of his feelings for her, but it was too sudden.

Huo Mianmian knew Taixu Wuxian’s character much better than Dugu Cangxu, and he sincerely loved her. However, his Taixu Clan was a royal clan, and her Huo Clan was only a second-grade clan, which made the gap between their statuses too wide.

Huo Mianmian realized that if she married Taixu Wuxian, her clan would reap immense benefits and rise to the status of a first-grade clan. However, she wasn’t a woman driven by a desire to climb the social ladder, and she didn’t want to use her marriage for such a purpose.

In the past, Huo Mianmian agreed to be engaged to Dugu Cangxu not because of status but because she liked him, and their two clans had a deep relationship. Although her relationship with Taixu Wuxian was extraordinary in the past, she didn’t have similar feelings for him, and she always considered him a good friend.

Taixu Wuxian’s heart tightened upon seeing that Huo Mianmian didn’t say anything. He liked her since they were little, but he didn’t dare show his feelings for her.

When Old Patriarch Huo betrothed Huo Mianmian to Dugu Cangxu, Taixu Wuxian’s heart was filled with disappointment and despair, yet he was powerless to stop their engagement.

Now that their engagement was over, Huo Mianmian was a free woman again. Taixu Wuxian didn’t want to be disappointed a second time, but he didn’t want to force her to accept him if she didn’t have feelings for him.

Situ Lingshan and Murong Xianyin said nothing; they stared at Huo Mianmian silently, waiting for her answer.

Situ Lingxi wanted to say something, but Tang Xiao stopped her and asked her to let Huo Mianmian think things through first.

Huo Mianmian glanced at Taixu Wuxian; she could see the hope in his eyes. She sighed inwardly, returned her gaze to Situ Lingshan, and answered her, "Aunt Situ, I know Brother Wuxian’s feelings for me, but I don’t have feelings for him yet, so I can’t accept it."

"Mianmian, I—"

Situ Lingshan waved her hand to stop her son. "Please continue."

"Okay." Huo Mianmian looked at Taixu Wuxian. "Like I said just now, I don’t have feelings for you, so I can’t marry you right now, Brother Wuxian."

"You mean?" Taixu Wuxian’s heart almost leaped out of his chest, his expression turning ecstatic.

Huo Mianmian nodded. "I don’t have feelings for you now, but I don’t mind starting our relationship from scratch. If you can convince my heart and make me fall in love with you, I’m willing to marry you in the future."

"Yes!" Taixu Wuxian abruptly stood up from his seat. "Don’t worry, Mianmian! I’ve never loved any woman but you! I will definitely convince you and make you fall in love with me!"

Huo Mianmian nodded with a smile. "I’ll wait for you, Brother Wuxian."

Situ Lingshan let out a sigh of relief after hearing Huo Mianmian’s answer. Although she wasn’t willing to marry her son, at least she was willing to give him a chance to prove his feelings. "You have to work hard, Wuxian."

"I will!" Taixu Wuxian answered seriously, patting his own chest.

Murong Xianyin smiled and teased her nephew. "You two haven’t seen each other for a long time, so you should take Mianmian with you to reminisce about the past."

"Haha," Taixu Wuxian walked up beside Huo Mianmian and extended his right hand. "Are you willing to spend some time with me today?"

"Yes." Huo Mianmian took Taixu Wuxian’s hand, said goodbye to the others, and left with him.

Situ Lingshan smiled with satisfaction as she watched the two walk away, and then she looked at Tang Xiao and Situ Lingxi. "What about you two?"

"Mhmm?" Situ Lingxi blushed. "Aunt Lingshan, I have decided on my relationship with Tang Xiao, and I want to be his wife. However, the Sun Clan will bring trouble for him if they find out about our relationship, so we won’t be getting married anytime soon."

"That’s true." Situ Lingshan nodded in agreement. "Sun Wentian died not long ago, and the Sun Clan is still mourning his death to this day. If you marry Tang Xiao now, Sun Yuheng and the others will be suspicious of your relationship, and they might act unreasonably by attacking him."

Murong Xianyin glanced at her daughter before looking at Tang Xiao. "What if you two get married in your private place?"

"Eh?" Tang Xiao looked at his future mother-in-law in surprise. "Honestly, I have no problem with that, but I can’t bring too many people there, and our wedding will be too simple."

Murong Xianyin nodded in understanding. "If you ask me, as her mother, I naturally want my daughter to get married at a grand wedding. However, you know that our situation is a bit complicated, and her father wants to marry her off to another man."

"Hahaha," Tang Xiao laughed. "Lingxi told me that her father wanted to marry her off to Xuanyuan Wenxuan or Jiang Haoming, and the idea came from Pan Yuezhi."

"Yes," Murong Xianyin sighed softly. "Pan Yuezhi knows my parents-in-law prioritize Lingxi and me over her and Situ Qingze, and she wants to reduce my influence within the Situ Clan by marrying off my daughter. There are many young men in this kingdom, but many of them have the same character as the late Sun Weitian. That’s why she gave our husband the idea to marry off my daughter to either Luo Yixuan, Xuanyuan Wenxuan, or Jiang Haoming."

"Their plan won’t work." The three women looked at Tang Xiao. "Before I came here, I already spoke to Xuanyuan Yueyao about Xuanyuan Wenxuan, and she told me that he already has a lover. However, their relationship hasn’t been made public, so no one has ever heard about it."

"Who is Xuanyuan Wenxuan’s lover?" Murong Xianyin and Situ Lingshan asked at the same time.

"The young miss of the Zhu Clan, Zhu Xuan’er."

"Huh?" Murong Xianyin and Situ Lingshan naturally knew about the Zhu Clan. However, they had never heard that Zhu Xuan’er already had a lover, let alone that her lover was a member of the Xuanyuan branch clan.

Situ Lingxi was also shocked when she heard the name. Although she was confident in her beauty, she was aware that Zhu Xuan’er was prettier than her, and the Zhu Clan was more prestigious than the Situ Clan. "Are they really lovers?"

"Xuanyuan Yueyao told me about it, and I believe she wouldn’t make up stories about their relationship." Tang Xiao took out his device and displayed Zhu Xuan’er’s image. "By the way, she went to the Lingdan Pavilion to meet Xuanyuan Wenxuan, and she will arrange a meeting for us."

Situ Lingshan raised an eyebrow. "Are you thinking about seeing Xuanyuan Wenxuan?"

"Yes." Tang Xiao turned off the device and put it away. "He is one of the talented alchemists in the Lingdan Pavilion, and I have several alchemy recipes that I obtained from my late master. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ingredients to concoct them, so I want to meet him and collaborate with him. If he is willing to cooperate with me, I will open an alchemy shop in this kingdom."

"Wait," Murong Xianyin interrupted. "If you open an alchemy shop in this kingdom, your shop will clash directly with the Lingdan Pavilion, and it will bring new problems for you."

"Doesn’t the Situ Clan have an alchemy shop?"

"You’re not wrong about that." Murong Xianyin replied with a nod. "However, we only sell basic pills and daily-use pills, and we don’t sell specific pills, such as breakthrough pills."

"Aunt Xianyin, you have swallowed my basic pills, right? Do you think the Lingdan Pavilion has such pills?"

Murong Xianyin shook her head. "The Lingdan Pavilion has two sets of basic pills, and I’ve swallowed one of them, but their quality can’t compete with yours."

"Do you bring your basic pills with you, Tang Xiao?"

"I did." Tang Xiao took out three bottles of pills and handed them to Situ Lingshan. "Open one of them and compare the pills inside with those from the Lingdan Pavilion."

Situ Lingshan picked up one of the bottles, poured the pills into her palm, and examined their grades. Although she had heard about them from Murong Xianyin before, she was still shocked after seeing them with her own eyes.

Situ Lingshan took a deep breath and looked at Tang Xiao. "These basic pills are more valuable than those from the Lingdan Pavilion. If you sell them in this kingdom, they won’t be able to accept the fact that there are other pills better than theirs, and they will do whatever it takes to find you."

"I’ve already anticipated such a problem," Tang Xiao chuckled. "I only give these pills to those closest to me, so I will never sell them in this kingdom. I will be selling other pills of similar quality to theirs, and I want Xuanyuan Wenxuan to concoct them for me."

Situ Lingshan nodded in understanding before asking again. "What exactly is your main goal?"

"My goal? I want to prepare a better future for my family." Murong Xianyin and Situ Lingshan exchanged glances for a moment before turning their gaze back to Tang Xiao. "I inherited many items from my master, but the supply is not inexhaustible. I already have several wives now, and they will give birth to many children for me in the future. Since I’m still young, I want to prepare everything early on so they won’t lack anything in the future."

"You’ve planned your family’s future that far ahead, huh?" Situ Lingshan looked at her niece. "You’ve found such a good man, so you need to change your attitude, and you can’t act like in the past anymore."

Situ Lingxi pouted. "I know, Aunt."