For the past two days, Xiao Ying had felt like she was suffering in a pot of oil.
It had hurt before, but hearing him say it now, her heart still hurt.
If there had been no guests in the conference room, she might have hit him.
She wasn’t a plaything that had no temper at all.
At the very most, they would part ways and she would leave the palace!
Looking at Xiao Ying’s pale face, Long Ming did not explain anything. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the meeting room.
Seeing Xiao Ying enter, the middle-aged couple sized her up carefully.
There was a warm smile in their eyes.
Seeing their friendly attitude, Xiao Ying could only squeeze out a smile and nod at them. However, she secretly pulled her hand away from Long Ming’s.
Long Ming did not stop Xiao Ying anymore. Instead, he said to the middle-aged couple, “Uncle Long, Auntie Long, this is the Miss Xiao Ying I mentioned to you.” Then, he looked at Xiao Ying. “This is the Duke, and the person beside him is the Duke’s wife.”
The Duke and his wife?
Xiao Ying greeted them and looked at Long Ming in confusion. She lowered her voice and asked, “What are you trying to do?”
Long Ming reached out his long arm and wrapped it around Xiao Ying’s slender shoulders. He said in a low and magnetic voice, “The Duke’s surname is Long. The Duke and his wife want to acknowledge you as their daughter. In the future, you’ll be the daughter of the Duke, and the person I’m going to announce as the Princess Consort.”
The expression on Xiao Ying’s face froze at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Her eyes widened as she stared at Long Ming in disbelief.
It took her a while to react. What had he meant when he said that he would not marry a woman with a complicated background like her? He wanted to change her status into one that was compatible with him and marry her with the surname Long.
So, his hurtful words were not because he really did not want to marry her?
Instead, he wanted her to change her identity so she could marry him?
Xiao Ying blinked, biting her lip hard with her teeth. It was only when she felt the pain that she realized it was not a dream.
Mrs Long looked at Xiao Ying with gentle eyes and went forward to hold her hand. “Miss Xiao Ying, are you willing to be our daughter?”
Xiao Ying’s thoughts were still in a mess. She looked at the kind and amiable Duchess and could tell that the Duchess really wanted to acknowledge her as their daughter. She could not help but feel touched.
Since she was young, she had never felt the care and love of her parents. She had thought that she would never be able to feel such kinship in her life.
But now…
“I-It’s too sudden. Can you give me some time?”
The Duke’s wife nodded. “We came too suddenly. The King showed us your photo and we felt like old friends at first sight. We couldn’t wait to come back to meet you.”
“Thank you.”
The Duke’s wife was very gentle and she patted Xiao Ying’s hand. “Good girl.”
Xiao Ying bowed to them and walked out of the guest room. She walked toward the back garden and Long Ming followed her.
Xiao Ying noticed that Long Ming had come and she sat on the swing, staring at her toes in a daze.
Long Ming stood in front of Xiao Ying, his well-defined fingers pinching her chin as he lifted her pretty face. “The Duke and his wife have been living in seclusion abroad since a few years ago. They had a daughter, but she was born weak and sickly. The Duke and his wife did not show her off to the world. When their daughter was four years old, they brought her to the mountains in search of a famous doctor. Unexpectedly, they met with a flood and a landslide. Their daughter had an accident, but they did not announce this news to the public.”
“I went abroad two days ago for this. The Duke and his wife liked your photo the moment they saw it. I didn’t say much before they agreed to acknowledge you as their daughter.”
Xiao Ying looked at Long Ming’s dark eyes and emotions surged in her heart. She lowered her long eyelashes and said with a slightly hoarse voice, “When we came back from the island, you received a call from the Chief Secretary. What happened?”
Why had he said those words and then gone abroad to find the Duke and his wife?
Long Ming bent down slightly, his well-defined handsome face moving closer to her. His cold and charming masculine scent filled her nose and Xiao Ying’s heart fluttered as she stared at his deep eyes that seemed to be able to drown her.
She leaned back, wanting to put some distance between them, but he held the back of her head, his scarlet lips pressed close to her ear, his voice deep and mellow like a cello. “You only need to know that the person I want to marry has always been you.”
…
In the past two days, Xiao Ying had finally experienced what it felt like to be on a roller coaster.
She did not dislike Long Ming’s arrangement for the Duke and his wife to accept her as their daughter. Instead, she felt warm.
When she returned to the conference room again, there was even a trace of nervousness in the Duke’s wife’s eyes. She was afraid that Xiao Ying would reject her.
When she heard that Xiao Ying had agreed to be their daughter, the Duke’s wife hugged Xiao Ying happily, her eyes filled with tears. “Good girl, good girl.”
Ever since their daughter had passed on, the Duke and his wife had wanted to adopt a daughter. However, after searching for a long time, they could not find anyone whom they liked.
But when they saw Xiao Ying’s photo, they fell for her immediately.
“Ying’er, your father and I are planning to return here to live. Next week, we will announce to the public that our family has returned. At that time, we will let the royal family and the other noble families know of your identity.”
…
Xiao Ying accompanied the couple to the Duke’s palace.
Although he had not returned for many years, the Duke’s palace was still luxurious, noble, and grand because of the butler and servants taking care of it.
The couple brought Xiao Ying around the palace.
Xiao Ying accompanied the couple for the entire day until Long Ming sent someone to pick her up in the evening.
The Duke’s wife could not bear to let Xiao Ying go. It was only her first day here, but she already wanted to give all the good things to Xiao Ying. She was even more reluctant to let Xiao Ying go. Xiao Ying comforted her, “Madam, I will come and stay here in a week’s time.”
“Ying’er, can you call me ‘Mom’?”
Xiao Ying had never called anyone ‘Mom’ in her life. She was not used to it and it felt a little unnatural, but looking at the Duke’s wife’s expectant gaze, Xiao Ying called out softly, “Mom.”
The Duke’s wife hugged Xiao Ying, her eyes filled with tears. “Yes.”
…
Coming out of the Duke’s Palace, Xiao Ying felt like she was in a dream.
The driver who came to pick her up was Long Ming’s personal chauffeur. Seeing Xiao Ying’s dazed expression, he asked with concern, “Miss Ying, are you alright?”
Xiao Ying shook her head. “I’m fine. I just feel that everything is a little surreal.”
“I heard from the bodyguard who went abroad with the King today that when the King went to look for the Duke and his wife, they refused to see the King at first because they didn’t want to be disturbed from their peaceful life. The King stood at their door for the entire night…”
