Tao Lengshuang sat on the kang, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the brazier, slowly shaking her head. "It's not about whether I'm at ease or not. To be honest, this matter has little to do with me."
"Given our situations, even without these arranged marriages, we wouldn't have lasted long. You have your ambitions and goals, and I have things I need to do. We are on different paths and cannot conspire together."
"Being in the same bed is enough. We don't need to be the same in other aspects," Mo Lingxi said unhurriedly.
His words made Tao Lengshuang choke on her own saliva. She looked at him, shocked and disbelieving, feeling as though she had misheard.
"You, what did you just say? I think I misheard. Please say it again." She patted her ears, muttering that she had misheard.
Her reaction brought a flicker of amusement to Mo Lingxi's dark eyes. He repeated himself, enunciating each word clearly.
*Slap.*
Tao Lengshuang slapped him, then vaguely said, "It doesn't hurt. So I was dreaming. I knew it, how could Mo Lingxi say something like that."
Mo Lingxi felt both exasperated and amused. He pinched her cheek hard. "Does it hurt? You hit me, so of course it wouldn't hurt you."
The pain finally made Tao Lengshuang accept reality. She looked at him defensively. "I warn you, don't do anything you shouldn't. Otherwise, I'll make you a eunuch for life."
Mo Lingxi glanced at her calmly, then at her again, and then at her again...
"Keep looking, keep looking, keep looking and I'll..." Tao Lengshuang's unfinished words turned into, "Keep looking and I'll take Xiao Feng and leave you far behind," under Mo Lingxi's half-smiling gaze.
Mo Lingxi casually said, "Whether it's the Emperor's decree or women being sent to me, I will handle it..."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Tao Lengshuang interrupted him, sounding impatient. "If you have things to do, go do them. I will take care of Xiao Feng."
Mo Lingxi understood the crux of the issue and knew how to resolve it, so he changed the subject.
Tao Lengshuang sat on the kang with her head bowed, idly tugging at the hem of her clothes, her brows furrowed. She only managed a few words here and there.
Seeing her like this, Mo Lingxi sighed inwardly. It was his fault for not handling these matters properly.
"I'll take you and Xiao Feng out for a stroll. You and the child haven't been out for a long time. It would be good to get out."
Tao Lengshuang thought of how long it had been since Xiao Feng had been out, and how the child longed to go out, so she agreed.
"Xiao Feng, we're going out to play."
Upon hearing that they were going out to play, Xiao Feng cheered and ran to Tao Lengshuang, repeatedly asking in a loud voice how long they would be out.
Looking at his excited, rosy cheeks, Tao Lengshuang felt a pang of guilt. "We'll play a little longer, but it's too cold today, so we can't play for too long."
Xiao Feng was already happy to be able to go out, nodding his little head incessantly as he held his parents' hands and walked out.
Because of the cold weather, Tao Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi didn't plan to take Xiao Feng far, intending only to walk around the village.
Even so, Xiao Feng, who hadn't been out in a long time, looked at the familiar places with sparkling big eyes, finding immense joy in it.
His appearance made both Tao Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi feel a pang of heartache. If not for the situation and circumstances, they wouldn't have wanted Xiao Feng confined to the house.
"Wow~~ Mama, so many houses in the village are empty." Xiao Feng noticed the many empty houses and felt heartbroken.
He remembered their old house, which could barely shield them from wind and rain. Back then, he had longed for a new house.
Later, his mother, being so capable, allowed their family to live in a good house.
Tao Lengshuang had also noticed this and knew the reason why, so she simply hummed in response.
The family of three walked and stopped, encountering a few villagers who all avoided them as if they were snakes or scorpions. Some even cursed them.
But with a stern glance from Mo Lingxi's sharp black eyes, they were so terrified that they scurried away, not daring to do anything.
His protection made Tao Lengshuang purse her lips, feeling a bittersweet ache in her heart. No matter how good this man was to her, it was useless. He didn't belong to her.
As they were walking, the three of them heard a familiar female voice.
"I'm telling you all, Tao Lengshuang is a jinx. You newcomers to the village should stay far away from her from now on, lest you be harmed by her."
"Oh, isn't this Madam Yu?" Tao Lengshuang put her hands on her hips and sneered, speaking sarcastically. "Why aren't you at home enjoying your few good days? What are you shouting about out here in the freezing snow? Are you shouting for your grandchildren to find them spouses?"
Madam Yu was already afraid of Tao Lengshuang, and even more so of the terrifying Mo Lingxi. She retreated step by step. "She, it's her, she's the jinx, you all should stay away from her."
"If I am a jinx, then what are you who gave birth to me?" Tao Lengshuang ignored the disgusted and fearful looks from the crowd and asked Madam Yu with a smile.
"I... I didn't know I would give birth to you, a jinx." Madam Yu's imposing manner weakened.
Tao Lengshuang saw the people around them rapidly moving away from Madam Yu. She crossed her arms and said coolly, "You can spread rumors that I'm a jinx all you want. Anyway, your entire family will be implicated in the end."
"Because outsiders think we are family, and I am your child."
Madam Yu hadn't thought that far ahead, and her face turned pale upon hearing this. "No, it's not like that. Only you are the jinx; it has nothing to do with my family."
Tao Lengshuang tut-tutted. "It has a lot to do with your family. If you don't believe me, ask these people what they think when they know our relationship."
The surrounding people looked at Madam Yu with murderous eyes.
"She is the mother of a jinx, so she must also be a jinx. We cannot let her go."
"If she can give birth to a jinx, it means she has done all sorts of evil things and is not a good person."
"What are you still talking about here? Hurry up and get away. If we get tainted by the jinx's bad luck, we will be killed."
Seeing the people flee in panic, Tao Lengshuang looked at Madam Yu as if she were an idiot. "See?"
"You can spread rumors that I'm a jinx all you want. Let's see who dies first, me or you."
Madam Yu swallowed hard, regretting spreading the rumor that Tao Lengshuang was a jinx with her family. She had thought she could use this incident to deal with Tao Lengshuang, but who knew it would bring disaster upon her own family.
Tao Lengshuang approached her, her eyes sharp as knives. "Who told you to spread the rumor that I am a jinx? Was it that maid, or someone else?"
Madam Yu waved her hands and shook her head, finally managing to blurt out, "I, I don't know anything. Don't ask me, don't ask me."
Before her words had even finished, she had already fled.
Tao Lengshuang was not in a hurry. She and Mo Lingxi, along with their son, leisurely followed Madam Yu. This time, she intended to settle accounts with the Tao family properly.
When the three of them arrived at the Tao family's house, they witnessed a spectacular scene.