Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 85

Before nightfall, Ming Ying carried a basket of cherry tomatoes and sat beside the newly set up barbecue grill.

She and Du Yunxin had gathered plenty of fruits and vegetables, half for grilling and the other half for Du Yunxin to cook.

The aroma of stir-fried dishes soon wafted from the nearby wooden cabin.

The barbecue grill was set up in the common area. Ming Ying sat beside Fu Anyu, nibbling on cherry tomatoes, ignoring the various gazes around her as she watched Fu Anyu with focused curiosity. She observed her placing skewers on the grill, occasionally adding seasoning and flipping them with practiced ease.

Chen Yanxian was in charge of skewering the ingredients. Even the sharp metal skewers seemed to dance in her hands, as she arranged the meat and vegetables neatly and evenly, quickly filling the tabletop.

Although she had retracted her fox ears, Ming Ying’s hearing remained unaffected. Soon, she caught faint whispers:

“Why isn’t President Fu sitting with her fiancé?”

“Don’t even mention it. Today, President Fu has been staying with that sister of hers almost the whole time.”

“This afternoon, I even saw President Fu’s sister suffer from heatstroke while fishing. President Fu personally carried her back to the guesthouse.”

“Speaking of which, in all my years working here, I’ve never heard of President Fu having a sister, let alone one so beautiful.”

“Maybe this ‘sister’ is a young lady from some wealthy family. In any case, her status and wealth far surpass that man who guards the Taoist temple.”

“Shh, let’s not dig into such secrets.”

Hearing these words, Ming Ying’s previously good mood instantly clouded over.

Back in the royal city, she had occasionally overheard maids or guards gossiping about her parents or other officials in her clan. She never expected that in the human world, there would be just as many chatterboxes.

No, in human terms, she should refer to them as “employees” or “subordinates.” Moreover, these people were only bound to Fu Anyu’s company by contract terms and couldn’t be considered servants.

Since they weren’t servants, she couldn’t punish them.

Ming Ying could only glare at them from afar. Just as she was fuming, a meat skewer was suddenly offered to her, its aroma tantalizing.

“Not happy?” Fu Anyu asked.

Ming Ying hummed in agreement, took the skewer, and continued staring at the gossipers as she ate. “My good mood was completely ruined by a few buzzing flies.”

Fu Anyu followed her gaze, scanned the area, and listened carefully for a moment. Seeing the guilty parties scatter, she lowered her voice and asked Ming Ying, “Are you opposed to marriage?”

The word “marriage” sent a jolt through Ming Ying. She stared at Fu Anyu in shock, about to say “I’m not opposed,” but the words twisted on her tongue: “That depends on who I’m marrying.”

Fu Anyu narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Within three days, I will publicly announce our relationship,” she said. “If all goes smoothly, we can hold the wedding by the middle of this month.”

Ming Ying had only been startled before, her rationality still intact. Now, she was utterly dumbfounded, staring blankly at Fu Anyu.

“If you’re willing to socialize and build connections, then after marrying me, there will be quite a bit for you to learn,” Fu Anyu continued.

Ming Ying finally snapped back to reality and cautiously asked, “But we’ve only just started learning how to date. Wouldn’t it be?”

“We can marry first and fall in love later,” Fu Anyu cut in. “Of course, if you feel it’s not the right time yet, we can postpone it. It’s up to you.”

Ming Ying wasn’t sure if this counted as the ice-queen CEO’s unconventional confession. She thought if she were truly from this world, she might have agreed without hesitation.

But she wasn’t. There was still so much she needed to learn, and she feared that after marriage, she would only become a burden to Fu Anyu.

“I… I’d like to ask Third Sister’s opinion first.” Ming Ying stammered. “After all, she’s my family, my elder. If I agreed to marriage without consulting her.”

“Alright.” Before she could finish fabricating her excuse, Fu Anyu nodded. “It’s fine. Whatever you say.”

She could sense the little fox’s hesitation, but regardless of the reason, she was willing to wait.

After the topic concluded, Ming Ying felt completely numb as she continued eating the barbecue.

What had she just done?

Had she indirectly rejected Fu Anyu’s proposal??!

Her first instinct had been fear, fear of becoming a burden to Fu Anyu, of being mocked behind her back alongside Hu Xiuliu by those gossipy people.

Yet Hu Xiuliu was at least a legitimate demon hunter who had inherited a long-standing Taoist temple. According to the black cat, he also earned a considerable monthly income from his writing.

Compared to Hu Xiuliu, she was nothing but a useless creature with nothing to offer beyond her spiritual power and cute appearance, completely incapable of anything.

The moment this thought surfaced, Ming Ying snapped back to reality.

How could she belittle herself like this! Hu Xiuliu had been going all out to create opportunities for them, and here she was, already backing down!

She had hands, feet, and a brain. If there was something she didn’t know, she could simply learn it. Once she mastered it, wouldn’t it be natural to stand side by side with her lover as equals?

Ming Ying regained her spirits and began looking forward to seeing her fully recovered Third Sister soon.

If not for Dr. He’s repeated warnings not to disturb the patient’s rest, she would have asked him to set up a video call right then, to see Third Sister, confess her impending marriage to Fu Anyu, and then tell Fu Anyu that Third Sister had approved, so they could start picking a wedding date.

The mountain villa soon sank into night, surrounded by darkness, with only the barbecue fire and the lights from the buildings illuminating the surroundings.

Since the former owner of the villa was arriving that evening, Ming Ying and the others canceled their plans to soak in the hot springs or swim and instead gathered in the fishing platform’s lounge to wait.

Around 7:30 PM, the lounge door suddenly opened. Two young women in matching outfits, who appeared to be bodyguards, entered, escorting a hunched, white-haired elderly woman who slowly made her way in, leaning on a cane.

Sensing the dense, flowing spiritual power around the elderly woman, Ming Ying froze. Seeing the others stand up, she hurriedly followed suit but hid behind Fu Anyu.

“Senior, why have you come?” Hu Xiuliu asked in astonishment.

“My late sister and her dear friend’s resting place was discovered by your group. Of course, I had to come personally to handle it,” the elderly woman explained slowly, her tone carrying a hint of resentment, as if blaming them for meddling.

She sat down on the hard sofa opposite Ming Ying’s group, handed her cane to the bodyguard on her right, and sighed.

The bodyguard took the cane and casually tapped it on the ground. Spiritual power surged from the cane, forming a barrier around everyone, isolating them from the outside world.

“Senior Rong, are you saying that the jiao we discovered was your sister’s dear friend?” Fu Anyu asked.

“Correct.” The old woman nodded slowly. “But as you can see, the artifact’s isolating effect is fading. When it completely fails, Senior Jiao will awaken.”

She took a slow breath and continued, “I am old, so I sent a junior exorcist from our clan to take over the estate. It was under my instruction that she withheld information from you today.”

After hearing her brief explanation, Ming Ying couldn’t help but ask, “If that jiao isn’t an evil spirit, why was it chained at the bottom of the water?”

The old woman glanced at Ming Ying but offered no explanation, instead launching into a story.

She said that when she was young, one day her sister returned from washing her sword, leading a stranger, a woman with white hair and a plain face, dressed in ancient green robes.

It turned out that while her sister was washing her sword by the shore, a jiao suddenly emerged from the water, transforming into a woman in green who scolded her for disturbing the waters and destroying her underwater dwelling, demanding compensation.

Her sister laughed and said she wasn’t Nezha, and her sword was just an ordinary artifact, how could it possibly stir the waters or destroy an underwater home? Besides, it wasn’t her first time washing her sword there.

Upon hearing this, the woman in green flushed, stammering that her dwelling had indeed vanished. She had searched the entire riverbed but couldn’t find it. Moreover, this body of water seemed different from where she had lived.

“At that point, my sister asked her, ‘Since you insist that I destroyed your home, what compensation would satisfy you?'” the old woman continued. “The woman in green hesitated for a long time but then said to forget it, she’d just accept her bad luck. She turned to return to the water, but my sister stopped her.”

Ming Ying and the others listened quietly, no one interrupting the old woman.

“Seeing her confusion and believing it wasn’t an act, my sister invited her to the estate to explain in detail,” the old woman said. “Through their conversation, my sister learned that the jiao had woken up to find her home gone and her surroundings changed. After searching for several days, she felt an intimidating sword aura emanating from the water’s surface. In her anger, she mistakenly blamed my sister and came to confront her.”

“So, that jiao was actually a time traveler?” Du Yunxin couldn’t help but ask.

The old woman nodded. “Yes. However, back then, the concept of ‘time travel’ didn’t exist. Plus, it was a time of conflict between humans and spirits. The area from the foot of the mountain to the estate gates was covered by a barrier, no spirit could just appear in the estate’s waters out of nowhere.”

“My sister assumed the jiao had been hibernating at the bottom of the water for a very long time, so long that all traces of her home had vanished. Seeing that the jiao was kind-hearted, she let her stay at the estate.”

“Jiao govern rivers and lakes. Though they lack the power to command wind and rain, they can summon fish and control floods. She stayed for three years, and everyone in the estate treated her like a deity. They got along harmoniously.”

Hearing this, Ming Ying wanted even more to ask why the jiao had been chained.

A benevolent spirit should be nothing but beneficial to humans.

Just as she was itching to ask, Du Yunxin voiced the question she cared about most: “Did something bad happen later?”

“Later, evil spirits broke through the barrier at the foot of the mountain and attacked the estate,” the old woman said, clenching her fists slightly. “My sister was severely injured by them. As I carried her back to the estate, I heard a dragon’s roar from the pond where the jiao resided. Then, a flash flood erupted, washing all the invading evil spirits back down the mountain.”

“It was only later that I learned that the flood dragon, enraged by my sister’s near-fatal injuries, had triggered the mountain flood in an attempt to keep the malevolent demons at bay.”

“Though the flood spared everyone in the manor, it submerged the houses and farmland.” The old man lowered his gaze and wiped his eyes. “The flood dragon believed he had brought disaster upon everyone and begged my sister to kill him as an apology to the clan.”

“Of course, my sister refused, after all, the lives of everyone in the manor had been saved by the flood dragon’s actions. But she was already on the brink of death and feared that the flood dragon would take his own life after she passed. So, she asked me to retrieve a sealed artifact left by our late father. She cast herself into the artifact, transforming into chains, and sank to the bottom of the water with the flood dragon.”

“And that artifact, having absorbed everything from my sister, unfurled a barrier to repel demons, firmly protecting the entire manor.”

“I heard from the elders that ‘Linlan Manor’ was named by you?” Chen Yanxue suddenly asked.

The old man smiled faintly, a nostalgic look in his eyes. “Indeed, I named this manor with a new name, taking one character each from my sister’s and the flood dragon’s names.”