Chapter 53: No Way Out (2/2)

Li Jingqiu pondered, “So, is your marriage to Second Master Duan settled then?”

Lin Ting still did not respond, put down the gold hairpin, and listlessly lay her head on the table, tilting it to one side, still thinking about Duan Ling’s intentions in agreeing to the marriage.

Seeing that Lin Ting was ignoring her, Li Jingqiu pinched her cheek, seemingly angry but not quite and said,

“Now you know to be shy? Why didn’t you know to be shy when you proposed to Second Master Duan tonight? Fortunately, he hadn’t transferred his affections and publicly rejected you. Otherwise, what would you have done?”

It was precisely because Duan Ling did not publicly reject her that disrupted her plan, leaving her at a loss. 

Lin Ting helplessly said, “Mother, I want to be alone for a while. Can you wait until tomorrow to ask me anything else?”

Li Jingqiu had originally intended to press on with her questions, but seeing Lin Ting’s distracted state, she let it go.

However, Li Jingqiu really couldn’t wait until tomorrow. 

She wanted to know everything that had happened tonight right away. 

So she left Lin Ting alone in the room and went to ask Tao Zhu, who was guarding outside.

The conversation outside faintly carried into the inner room. 

Lin Ting was at her wits’ end, feeling like she was going mad. 

How had things escalated to this point?

What should she do? 

What could she do?

Lin Ting had never intended to marry Duan Ling. 

In fact, she had never planned to get married in this world. 

She just wanted to make a lot of money and then leave the Lin residence with Li Jingqiu and Tao Zhu to live elsewhere.

No, she had to calm down.

As she had said, now that things had come to this pass, she needed to figure out what Duan Ling was thinking. 

Had he misunderstood her intentions and decided to go along with it, agreeing to the marriage? 

After all, a marriage could be settled, and it could also be called off. 

Or…… did he truly want to marry her?

Marry.

The thought of Duan Ling genuinely wanting to marry her made Lin Ting’s heart skip a beat. 

She didn’t know if it was from fear or something else. 

She wanted to sweep the jewelry off the table to calm herself, but she was worried about breaking it, so she restrained herself and instead carefully placed each piece back into the jewelry box.

No matter how agitated she was, she couldn’t vent her emotions on the jewelry. 

If she broke it, she would have to spend money to buy new ones, and she wouldn’t be able to sell them anymore.

Lin Ting closed the jewelry box and decided to find Duan Ling tomorrow to get some clarity.

As the night gradually faded and the morning cooking smoke began to rise, Lin Ting, who had not slept all night, left Tao Zhu behind and went out alone, planning to go to the Northern Commandery to find Duan Ling. 

The reason she didn’t go to the Duan residence was that it would be easy to be discovered by Madam Feng and Duan Xinning. 

If they found out, they might ask questions.

Since she was going out alone, of course, there was no carriage following her. 

She walked there.

The main street was bustling with people, and the surrounding shops had opened early to do business. 

Merchants and customers were coming and going, creating a noisy and chaotic atmosphere, like a pot of boiling water, constantly making sounds.

Lin Ting, having left home on an empty stomach, felt her stomach rumbling halfway there, and she was a bit hungry. 

She decided to stop by the morning market to buy something to eat. 

Duan Ling was busy, and she might not be able to see him immediately at the Northern Commandery, so she needed to fill her stomach first.

The alleys of the morning market were filled with the aroma of various foods, making her mouth water.

She went to the steamed bun shop to buy some buns.

The buns had sold out, and Lin Ting had to wait for the next batch. 

While waiting, someone patted her shoulder from behind. 

She turned around and saw Jin Anazi: 

“Jin Anazi?”

Jin Anazi’s face was still covered with his usual ugly mask. 

In his left hand, he held an iron sword, and in his right, he carried a package of buns wrapped in paper. 

Sometimes he would wake up early, go to the morning market to gather news from the martial world, look for potential clients for the bookshop, and pick up breakfast along the way.

Lin Ting was aware of Jin Anazi’s habits but hadn’t expected to run into him so coincidentally. 

Had he heard about what happened yesterday? 

Given his personality, if he knew, he would definitely mock her mercilessly.

Jin Anazi glanced at her and asked, 

“Are you heading to the bookshop today?” 

Lin Ting only went to the bookshop or dealt with some “underhanded” matters alone, without her maid Tao Zhu by her side.

Seeing Jin Anazi’s demeanor, Lin Ting confirmed that he hadn’t heard about yesterday’s events: 

“No, I have other matters to attend to. Once the bookshop has business, just send up a Kongming lantern to let me know.”

He didn’t inquire about what she had to do. 

In front of the bun shop, several tables were set up, all occupied by diners who were chatting idly. 

Their conversation drifted into Lin Ting and Jin Anazi’s ears saying: 

“Hurry up and eat, don’t dawdle.”

A man, with his legs crossed, leisurely nibbled on a bun and retorted, 

“Why rush? Are you in a hurry to be reincarnated?”

The person urging them to eat faster said, 

“Reincarnated, my foot! How about making some money?”

“Making money? Where?”

“At the entrance of the Duan residence. Didn’t you hear? The Duan family has some good news. Madam Feng is going to scatter money for three days in front of their gate. Anyone can pick it up.”

Lin Ting’s eyelids twitched upon hearing this. 

Madam Feng was taking this marriage proposal very seriously, scattering money for three whole days. 

She hadn’t forgotten that Jin Anazi was still there and wanted him to leave quickly before he heard more: “You…”

Jin Anazi, however, stood his ground and interrupted, 

“There’s money to be picked up, and you’re not going?”

She used to go with her face covered to pick up the celebratory money, even insisting he join her, saying that more people meant more strength and they could collect more money.

Lin Ting took the buns which were handed to her by the shopkeeper and pulled Jin Anazi  away: 

“I said I have things to do today, I can’t go money-picking.” 

The later Jin Anazi found out, the better. 

She didn’t want to be ridiculed by him.

Jin Anazi was confused: “If you have things to do, just go. Why drag me along?”

Before they could leave the bun shop, the gossip continued: 

“Scattering money for three days, the Duan family is really generous. By the way, what’s the good news at the Duan residence?”

“The second young master of the Duan family and the seventh miss of the Lin family got engaged in public last night.”

Jin Anazi’s steps halted.

Lin Ting hastily released Jin Anazi, attempting to slip away, but he pulled her back: 

“Seventh Miss Lin? How many Seventh Miss Lins are there in the Lin family?”

The people sitting in front of the bun shop overheard this and genuinely thought he was clueless about how many seventh misses there were in the Lin family. 

One of them interjected, “Of course, there’s only one Seventh Miss Lin in the Lin family.”

Jin Anazi gave Lin Ting a cold, indifferent look, his eyes seeming to say, 

“You’re something else.”

Lin Ting: “…..”

Unaware that Seventh Miss Lin was right in front of them, they continued: 

“The Lin family? How could the Duan family be interested in the Lin family? The social status doesn’t seem to match.”

“If they like each other, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“You have no idea how bold Seventh Miss Lin is. At the banquet, she openly proposed to the second young master of the Duan family in front of everyone, saying, ‘I want to marry you.’”

“I’ve lived more than half my life and have never seen a woman ‘propose’ to a man before.”

“What? So it was Seventh Miss Lin who initiated this marriage proposal? I thought the second young master of the Duan family and Seventh Miss Lin had already been engaged and just made it public on his birthday.”

More and more people gathered around the bun shop to gossip: 

“How do you know this?”

“My brother-in-law knows the sixth young master of the Li family. He went to the Duan residence yesterday to celebrate the second young master’s birthday and saw it with his own eyes. It can’t be fake.”

Someone sighed, “To be honest, I really admire Seventh Miss Lin. If I had her courage when I was younger, I would have gotten married long ago.”

Jin Anazi walked several steps away from the bun shop, and Lin Ting followed.

He scrutinized her, his tone full of implications: 

“You didn’t just go to give Duan Ling a birthday gift yesterday, you also got engaged to him?”

“It’s a long story,” Lin Ting said, unable to find the right words to explain. 

Honestly, she was still confused.

Jin Anazi: “Then make it short. You just need to answer yes or no.”

Lin Ting held her forehead: “Yes.”

“Duan Ling is not a good person. You’re on your own,” Jin Anazi said, completely convinced that Lin Ting was completely charmed by Duan Ling’s appearance. 

He left with that remark, carrying the buns.

Lin Ting didn’t chase after him. 

She continued eating her buns and headed towards the Northern Commandery. 

She would see Duan Ling first.

Before long, Lin Ting arrived at the Northern Commandery. 

It was as cold and icy as ever, as if she would freeze to death if she took another step forward, but she still moved forward: “Two officers, I’d like to see General Duan.”

The Imperial guard looked Lin Ting up and down but didn’t block her with their embroidery knife rather asked ,

“Are you Seventh Miss Lin?”

Lin Ting didn’t really want to admit to this identity now, but she knew she had to in order to get into the Northern Commandery.

She replied: “Yes.”

The two Imperial guards politely stepped aside, revealing the stone steps behind them: 

“General Duan said that if Seventh Miss Lin comes to see him, let her in directly. Go ahead.”

Did Duan Ling know she would come to find him?

Lin Ting climbed the steps and quickly entered the Northern Commandery. 

After taking a few steps, she ran back to the entrance and asked the Imperial guards: 

“Did General Duan say where I should wait for him?” 

She used to meet him in his hall. 

What if the place had changed?

The Imperial guard replied: “Wherever you used to meet General Duan is where you’ll meet him today.”

“Okay, thank you.” Lin Ting headed straight for Duan Ling’s hall. 

On the way, she encountered some Imperial guard commanders who had attended Duan Ling’s birthday banquet yesterday. 

They recognized her and greeted her with a respectful salute:

“Seventh Miss Lin!”

She really wanted to tell these Imperial guards that their voices were too loud, but she was too embarrassed to say it. 

After all, she had also loudly declared “I want to marry you” to Duan Ling yesterday. 

So Lin Ting just nodded and ran away.

They watched her retreating figure and commented: 

“Seventh Miss Lin seems a bit shy today. She’s different from yesterday.”

Lin Ting could feel their gazes and ran even faster, practically rushing into the hall. 

As soon as she looked up, Duan Ling’s seemingly slender figure caught her eye. 

His crimson flying fish robe made his lips and teeth appear even more striking.

She stopped and said: “General Duan.”

Duan Ling put down the dossier, picked up the teapot with his well-defined hand, poured a cup of tea, stood up, and walked towards Lin Ting, handing her the cup: 

“You’re here.”

Lin Ting glanced at the light green tea water with ripples in the cup and eventually took it, drinking it all in one go: 

“Did you know I would come?” 

She had eaten several buns and was very thirsty now.

He smiled and said: “I guessed.”

She subtly tightened her grip on the teacup, looking at his face that seemed like white jade: 

“Then you should also be able to guess why I came today.”

“Marriage,” Duan Ling touched her hand, Lin Ting’s eyelashes fluttered, but she saw that he was just taking the empty teacup from her hand. 

As he pulled away, his fingertips lightly brushed the palm of her hand.

Lin Ting gathered her scattered thoughts: 

“Can I ask you a question first?”

Duan Ling leisurely poured another cup of tea but didn’t hand it to Lin Ting again. 

Instead, he placed it on the table within her reach: 

“Go ahead and ask.”

Lin Ting looked at him for a moment: 

“Why did you agree to me yesterday?”

Duan Ling raised his eyes.