I want to be innocent, but they don't allow me

"what is this?"

Li Mu looked at the tree root in his hand and raised his eyes to look at Li Ling'er.

Li Linger did not answer. She came in front of Li Mu in a flash, raised her hand and punched Li Mu in the face.

Li Mu was stunned. He looked at the fist so close to him and felt angry. "Don't hit someone in the face. This girl is really going too far."

At this time, the maid's urgent cry came from outside the door:

"Miss Third, Miss Third, something bad has happened. The eldest young master of the Lin family has come to our house again. From what he said, he is here to propose marriage."

Hearing this, Li Linger hurriedly stopped what she was doing, turned around to look outside the door, but felt a warmth on her hand.

He turned around and glared at Li Mu, pulled back the fist that Li Mu was holding, and wanted to curse, but didn't open his mouth.

Li Mu had long been accustomed to the arrogance of the girl in front of him. He withdrew his hand that was blocking the fist, straightened his body slightly, and pretended that nothing had happened.

At this time, the maid outside the main hall shouted again:

"Miss Third, Young Master Lin has arrived at the main hall. The steward asked me to ask you for instructions."

Hearing the maid's words, a trace of disgust flashed across Li Ling'er's eyes, but she then hid it well and walked out the door with an indifferent expression.

Li Ling'er didn't stop, and just said lightly as she passed the maid: "Let's go."

The old woman behind the maid suddenly spoke, her tone full of trepidation.

"Miss Third, since the Second Young Master has returned home, can you please ask him to take care of this matter?"

Li Linger looked at the old woman with some doubts. After a moment of silence, she said coldly, "Second brother is injured now. Why bother him with such a small matter?"

The old woman looked at the two men strangely. She had seen the fight between them just now.

Although it was only a moment, Li Mu's reaction and the calm movement of catching Li Ling'er's fist did not show that he was hurt at all.

You know, even if Li Linger held back, she was already at the second level, and not everyone could take even a random punch.

The old woman hesitated for a moment, then she boldly advised: "If it was before, you wouldn't have to bother the Second Young Master, but today, the eldest son of the Lin family came here under the guise of proposing marriage. The Third Young Master is a girl after all, and it's not appropriate for her to discuss her marriage in person."

Hearing this, Li Ling'er was obviously a little surprised. She turned around and looked at the old woman, blurting out: "He doesn't want Xiao Zhao, but me?"

Hearing this, Li Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, but did not react at all. He watched the development of the situation calmly.

Li Linger frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded to the old woman and said, "You go and entertain the guests first, my second brother and I will be there soon."

Afterwards, Li Linger took advantage of the fact that the two had not yet walked far away, turned to Li Mu inside the door, bowed slightly, and said loudly in a pretentious manner:

"Ling'er doesn't want to get married yet, please ask my second brother to make the decision for me and go back to the eldest son of the Lin family."

Although Li Mu was a little annoyed, seeing Li Ling'er's behavior, he felt that this might be an opportunity, so he pretended to be fine and looked at Li Ling'er blankly.

After the two maids left, Li Linger went into the room to see. Seeing Li Mu, who looked like he had nothing to do with her, she gritted her teeth and said, "What do you mean? The mansion has never treated you badly. Even Xiao Zhao has, too."

Halfway through her speech, Li Ling'er's face flushed, but she didn't continue.

He slapped his hand on the table in front of Li Mu and stared at him fiercely, meaning, "You decide. If you don't show up, don't blame me for taking action."

Li Mu shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "It's up to you, I don't care anyway," and said, "This is different from what you said before. I remember who said that I just need to eat and wait for death in Prince Yan's mansion, and I don't need to worry about other things."

Hearing this, Li Linger was immediately furious. She also risked her life. She first pointed at Li Mu's waist, then tremblingly pointed at her lips, and said angrily:

"You, you, you, me, me, me."

Then, as if he was already very angry with Li Mu, he raised his hand and touched his empty waist.

"Okay, okay, since you are unwilling to make amends, I will castrate you now. Don't worry, I will still support you in the future."

Hearing this, Li Mu felt a chill in his lower body, remembering the assassin in the bamboo hat who was kicked before he died. He quickly raised his hand and stretched out three fingers, saying seriously:

"I can help you, but there are conditions."

After hearing what Li Mu said and looking at the three fingers Li Mu stretched out, Li Ling'er gradually regained her composure and slowly adjusted the wrinkled hem of her skirt.

Then he slowly sat down beside Li Mu and said in a cold tone: "I can hear your conditions first."

Li Mu did not hesitate and retracted two of the three fingers on his hand: "First, we are cooperating and information needs to be shared. If you don't reveal anything, it will be difficult for me to help you."

Although Li Mu spoke politely, Li Ling'er also heard another meaning in his words.

Li Mu did not completely trust Li Ling'er, at least he did not trust her ability and did not believe that she could protect Li Mu.

Li Mu said this, indicating that he wanted to get involved.

"I sent someone to investigate your background."

Li Ling'er gave Li Mu a complicated look, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

"how?"

Li Mu asked nonchalantly.

"Blank! My people didn't find any information about you. This is very abnormal."

Li Linger had no expression on her face. She just looked at Li Mu calmly, trying to see something from Li Mu's face.

"Isn't this more in line with your requirements?"

Li Mu looked indifferent, spread his hands and said, thinking to himself, of course you can't find anything.

Li Linger nodded silently, and said to Li Mu with a little guilt:

"My second brother's death that day was a huge shock to me. I originally thought that my second brother's coming down the mountain would be the palace's lifeline, but I didn't expect that when I went there, my second brother was gone."

Li Ling'er pursed her lips and her voice became much softer:

"So, I took you as my second brother's last wish and brought you back to the palace without thinking too much, but..."

At this time, Li Mu interrupted Li Ling'er's story:

"There shouldn't be any other way out of the trouble you're in. In fact, you can try to trust me. It won't get worse, right?"

Li Mu remained calm on the surface, but he was secretly complaining in his heart.

"This girl probably didn't tell the truth, or not all of it. I still feel that she definitely had the thought of attacking the Taoist priest that day."

Li Linger smiled bitterly and nodded slightly, agreeing with Li Mu's statement: "Tell me the second condition."

Li Mu saw Li Ling'er agreed and smiled. He thought for a moment and waved his hand, saying, "The conditions behind this are not important."

Originally, Li Mu had not thought of the three conditions in order to give Li Ling'er some room for bargaining. Unexpectedly, Li Ling'er agreed so readily, which made him seem a little mean-spirited.

Li Ling'er shook her head: "Tell me, I want to hear your conditions."

Seeing Li Ling'er's insistence, Li Mu thought for a moment, stretched out his second finger, and said a condition that was not a condition: "I want to practice martial arts."

"Can"

Li Ling'er agreed without any hesitation.

In fact, she herself knew very well that no matter what request Li Mu made, it was reasonable.

After all, it was she who forced Li Mu back to the Prince of Yan's Mansion. Her conditions, which seemed like a choice but were actually forced, were also because she was at a loss at the time and felt so powerless.

Although Li Mu had offended her, it was not entirely Li Mu's fault. Not only that, Li Mu also saved her life.

Li Mu never owed anything to the Prince of Yan's Mansion. Instead, it was Li Ling'er who owed Li Mu a life.

Thinking of this, Li Linger looked at Li Mu with a soft and complicated expression, and her voice became more magnetic than icy: "Go on, there is one more."

Seeing Li Ling'er's straightforwardness, Li Mu did not hesitate and immediately extended his third finger. His face became serious, and after taking a deep breath, he spoke:

"If it's possible, I don't want to pretend to be your second brother forever."

Li Mu didn't like the feeling of being under house arrest by Li Ling'er, especially when he learned that martial arts could be practiced in this world.

For Li Mu, who was in his twenties, the feeling of traveling around the world with a sword in a green robe was far more attractive than the fine clothes and delicious food in Prince Yan's mansion.

Li Mu stared at Li Ling'er's eyes, feeling uneasy.

But Li Mu's words, coupled with the eye contact between the two, made Li Ling'er suddenly feel her face getting hot, her breathing gradually became heavy, and the other sounds in her ears gradually disappeared.

Only the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing remained.

"What do you mean, if he doesn't want to be my second brother, then who does he want to be to me?"

Seeing that Li Ling'er was distracted, Li Mu raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes, and asked, "If you don't want to..."

"I didn't say I didn't want to!"

Before he could finish his words, Li Linger's sudden shout interrupted Li Mu.

Li Mu was slightly stunned, then smiled, stretched out his hand in front of Li Linger, and said with a smile: "Happy cooperation!"

Li Ling'er was still a little dazed, secretly annoyed at why she suddenly said such words, then she saw Li Mu directly reached out and grabbed her hand, gently holding her palm with his fingers, and then shook it up and down.

Li Linger pulled her hand back as if she had been electrocuted, and looked at Li Mu with some annoyance. The words of blame came to her lips, but she couldn't say them.

After a long silence, under Li Mu's strange gaze, her cheeks gradually turned red, and she stammered, "Well, well, I need to think about it again."

The coldness in her voice was completely gone, and it was soft and had a hint of babyishness. After she finished speaking, she turned around and ran out of the house.

Li Mu was slightly stunned, not knowing whether he should chase after him, and hurriedly shouted outside the house: "No, the Lin family doesn't care anymore?"

Li Ling'er's voice came from outside the house: "Wait here."

The voice is sweet and very pleasant to hear.

About a cup of tea later, a maid came over and led Li Mu to the corridor leading to the main hall.

Li Mu saw from a distance that Li Ling'er was wearing a bright red palace dress. Her high ponytail was tied up and a finely crafted golden hairpin was inserted horizontally. With her delicate and beautiful appearance, she looked very moving.

Li Mu looked puzzled as he looked Li Ling'er up and down, and found that this girl was even better than Xiao Zhao after a little dressing up.

Although Li Ling'er is not bad on weekdays, she has an oval face, which is somewhat inconsistent with her previous heroic appearance.

On the contrary, this sweetness now shows her stunning beauty to the fullest.

Walking closer, Li Mu smiled and joked: "Ling'er's outfit today..."

"How about it?"

Li Ling'er stared at Li Mu with her big eyes blinking and asked in a crisp voice.

"I'm afraid if the eldest son of the Lin family sees this, it won't be so easy to get rid of him."

Hearing Li Mu's words, Li Ling'er's lips curled up slightly, and she walked towards the front hall with her head held high, saying angrily:

"Humph, this princess is also someone he can covet."

The maid who was leading the way opened her mouth into a European shape when she saw Li Ling'er like this, and she didn't come back to her senses for a long time.

Afterwards, the two of them followed the corridor toward the main hall of the palace.

On the way, Li Linger explained to Li Mu some disputes between the Lin family and the Prince of Yan's Mansion.