Chapter 238: Chapter 234: The Little Ancestor Has Grown

Li Mu, after finishing his words, turned his head and saw the young girl’s face looking dazed. He asked, “Haven’t had enough rest yet? Do you want to go back and sleep a bit more?”

This time, at their reunion, the young girl had clearly lost a lot of weight, her chin even became sharp.

She used to be so pampered at the Duke Yan Mansion, and looking at her current state, Li Mu couldn’t help but want to take her back immediately.

Tang Xiaobai shook her head and said slowly, “Why do they all listen to you?”

Li Mu thought for a moment and said, “I listen to you.”

Tang Xiaobai’s face turned red.

In the past, when the little ancestor was small, such words sounded obedient.

But now she had grown up so much, he had to speak to her with his head down, bending over, and saying such words, it just felt… a little bit…

“I am indeed a bit tired, I’ll go back and sleep a bit more!” Tang Xiaobai said as she was about to leave.

“Wait,” Li Mu called to her, and said, “Find me when you wake up, I’ll take you somewhere.”

“Where?” Tang Xiaobai turned back to ask.

He said very calmly, “Hot spring.”

Tang Xiaobai’s eyes instantly lit up——

…

Who needs sleep when there’s a hot spring?

Tang Xiaobai immediately went back to gather the girls to pack up their clothes and set off.

On a long journey, taking a bath and changing clothes were very difficult things, being able to heat some water to wipe the body was already the limit.

A hot spring, that’s simply a heavenly enjoyment!

This hot spring was discovered by Li Mu yesterday when passing by, a horse ride of an hour can reach it.

The hot spring is open-air, and they didn’t bring any cloth screens, so they could only use the tent cloth to block it a bit.

Yingying stood guard by the shore, and a little further away, Li Mu and Gu Hui stayed to keep watch, to prevent any accidents.

Gu Hui was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old lad, and the redness on his face from watching over the girls bathing never went away.

To divert his attention, he tried to make small talk with Li Mu.

“I heard you had achievements in suppressing bandits in Hedong and then went to Zhenzhou to quell unrest; the brothers at the academy are all proud of you;”

“Mr. Lin and Mr. Zhang often mention you, praising you as intelligent and eager to learn, diligently working without rest;”

“When you first came to Diligence Academy, who could have imagined that today you would have such fortune;”

“…”

After chatting for a long time, he didn’t get a single response.

Gu Hui couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward, planning to end it with one last sentence: “Thanks to your timely arrival this time, saving Second Cousin Tang, otherwise—”

“What does it have to do with you that I saved her?” Li Mu finally responded.

His tone was cold, and he didn’t even look at Gu Hui.

Such obvious hostility, Gu Hui found it hard to even pretend not to notice, and he couldn’t maintain his composure, flicked his sleeve, and said coldly, “She is my cousin, how could it be unrelated?”

Li Mu glanced at him, said coldly, “She is mine.”

Gu Hui was stunned for a moment, then immediately burst out: “What did you say? How dare you, how dare you say that! You——

“Stay away from her, if I catch you touching her again, I may not give face to the Gu Family.”

Gu Hui’s face flushed red: “When did I ever… How dare you! You, you dare——”

“Dare what?” A confused voice from Tang Xiaobai came from behind.

Gu Hui quickly turned around, looking at Tang Xiaobai, finger pointing at Li Mu: “Xiao Bai, he, he——”

He found himself unable to utter such impudent words, and his chest ached from holding it in.

“Ah Xiao?” Tang Xiaobai looked at the furious Gu Hui and then at the little ancestor who had lowered her head, asking, “How did you provoke Cousin Hui?”

Li Mu quickly glanced at her, then lowered his gaze again, speaking quietly: “I am not good with words, if I offended, it was unintentional, please forgive me, Gu Fifth Son.”

Gu Hui was stunned, his chest hurt even more.

Wasn’t he just so arrogant, so dismissive? How could he change his face the moment Second Cousin Tang arrived?

This hypocritical, deceitful villain!

Tang Xiaobai covered her mouth and coughed lightly twice, kindly speaking to Gu Hui: “Cousin Hui, Ah Xiao has never been good with words, don’t take it to heart, later I’ll—” She wanted to say she’d talk to Ah Xiao later, but then thought about how the little ancestor was no longer the same as before and it might not be appropriate for her to say anything, feeling a sudden discomfort in her heart, she changed her words, “We’re done bathing, you two can go.”

Gu Hui left dejectedly.

Li Mu, having already bathed yesterday, didn’t go again. Seeing Tang Xiaobai walk past him heading to her mount, he hurried to catch up and asked, “Later, how will you handle it?”

“Handle what?” Tang Xiaobai replied, her tone somewhat indifferent.

“I didn’t mean to upset Gu Fifth Son,” Li Mu said.

He just wanted to warn Gu Hui a bit, whether Gu Hui got upset was not his concern.

“Then why is he upset?” Tang Xiaobai looked back at him.

Didn’t she know the temperament of the little ancestor she had raised?

Li Mu’s gaze darkened, speaking softly: “He said I wasn’t worthy of Second Miss.”

Tang Xiaobai was taken aback, then blushed immediately: “Nonsense! Cousin Hui would never say such a thing!”

Gu Hui had an extremely modest and honest personality, she had never seen him speak harshly to anyone.

“What kind of words are those?” Li Mu looked at her.

Tang Xiaobai turned her head away, not wanting to talk to him.

Li Mu grabbed her reins, saying, “Don’t go, my current mount can’t catch up.”

Tang Xiaobai thought of his stolen mount and remained silent.

“Does Second Miss also think he’s right?” Li Mu looked up at her.

“He wouldn’t say such things!” Tang Xiaobai refused to be trapped.

“Why not? Isn’t he the one who’s discussed marriage with you?”

“No!” Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but glare at him, “Where did you hear such rumors?”

“Not at all?” Li Mu looked at her coolly, “Then, with whom has Second Miss discussed marriage?”

Tang Xiaobai’s eyes wandered: “No one! No marriage discussions at all!”

He suddenly laughed, his lips curved softly, his eyes full of gentle light, shimmering.

“That’s good,” he murmured, his voice slightly hoarse, “I heard that Second Miss wanted to discuss marriage but never thought of me, I thought Second Miss also felt I wasn’t worthy…”

Tang Xiaobai shivered upon hearing this, feeling a bit uneasy, but thinking she couldn’t be intimidated.

So she put on a stern face and said, “Don’t you have any idea how I’ve treated you all these years? I don’t want to hear such words anymore!”

He smiled again, nodded obediently: “I won’t say it again.”

“And you’re not allowed to bully Cousin Hui anymore!”

Li Mu’s smile faded: “You feel sorry for him?”

Tang Xiaobai raised her hand to her forehead: “I just consider him like a brother—an elder brother!”

Li Mu’s expression softened: “Then I’ll consider him like an elder brother too.”

Tang Xiaobai vaguely felt something was off, but before she could think about it, he was already leading the horse forward.

“The rain has stopped, should we set off in the afternoon?” He walked at a leisurely pace, asking leisurely.

Tang Xiaobai listened to his voice, and her heart was already half-surrendered: “What do you think?”

“If you want to leave, I’ll accompany you, if you want to stay, I’ll stay with you,” Li Mu said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I am not like Wenren Jia with aspirations and ambitions.”

Tang Xiaobai raised her hand to cover her eyes, couldn’t help but laugh.

A year had passed, and it seemed the little ancestor had grown in certain skills.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep