Jin An: “The people who came to save you.”
Miss Song unconsciously hid further into the bed: “You’re a man?”
They were still wearing dancer’s veils, she couldn’t see their faces, but she could still tell by their voices.
Lin Ting pushed Jin An aside, knelt on the bed:
“Miss Song, don’t be afraid, we were sent by your brother to save you.”
Jin An: “…”
“My brother?”
Miss Song burst into tears, even though her face was haggard, she cried like pear blossoms, pitiful,
“Is my brother okay?”
Lin Ting skillfully talked to Miss Song, comforting her, while trying to undo the shackles, to see if she could open them:
“He’s fine, just worried about you. How about you, are you injured?”
Miss Song sobbed:
“No, just my hands and feet are chafed by the shackles.”
At first, Prince Liang wanted to force himself on her, but seeing her struggle so fiercely, and not being able to use ordinary aphrodisiacs, otherwise she might turn from a living person into a corpse, it was delayed, he planned to find a way to move her tonight.
Lin Ting took out a hairpin, trying to pick the lock of the shackles:
“It’s good that you’re not injured, wait a moment, we’ll be able to take you away soon.”
Jin An: “You don’t have the key, you can’t open the shackles, you can only use a sword to chop them open.”
“Use a sword to chop them open?”
Holding a sword and chopping at someone’s wrists and ankles, Lin Ting couldn’t do that, she made room for him:
“Then I can’t, you’ll have to do it.”
As soon as Jin An stepped forward, Miss Song uncontrollably moved back, he couldn’t fix the shackles:
“Can you stop moving, swords have no eyes, what if I chop your hands or feet?”
Scolded by him, her eyes filled with tears, she choked:
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Jin An had the thought of knocking her out, but her body was too delicate, like a precious porcelain, if she was knocked out, there was a risk she wouldn’t wake up.
Lin Ting knocked him on the head:
“Why are you being so fierce, you scared her.”
She leaned over, kneeling on the bed, covering Miss Song’s eyes with her palm:
“Now it’s me touching you, don’t be afraid.”
Jin An and Lin Ting cooperated tacitly, casually took two swords, aimed at the shackles on Miss Song’s hands and feet and chopped down, “clang”,the shackles broke, her hands and feet were free.
Miss Song was so scared she hugged Lin Ting tightly.
Lin Ting led her out, Jin An cautiously walked in front to clear the way.
Thanks to Prince Liang and Duan Ling being occupied with a discussion, they were temporarily delayed, otherwise returning to the bedroom they might have discovered them.
After returning to the room where the dancers were staying, they took advantage of the dancers not yet returning from their meal, and placed Miss Song in the box they had brought.
The operation went smoothly, at the beginning of the Hai hour, they safely left Prince Liang’s mansion.
Returning to the study, they handed the person over to the client and received the money.
After the client left, Lin Ting took her three hundred taels and returned to the Lin family.
After a day of running around, luckily without mishap, she bathed, then took out the banknotes to count.
Piecing together, she had three thousand taels.
But even if she had enough, she still needed to continue earning money, in the future she would take her mother and Tao Zhu away from the Lin family, and would need to buy a house and so on.
Money is never enough, of course the more the better.
Tao Zhu stood by watching Lin Ting count the banknotes she had saved for a long time, her mouth agape:
“Seventh Miss, this is too much. The cloth shop earns at most a hundred taels a year, where did the three thousand taels come from?”
Lin Ting was satisfied, putting away the stack of banknotes:
“I’ll tell you when I have the chance.”
“You’re really amazing.”
Tao Zhu had never seen so many banknotes,
“By the way, Seventh Miss, Madam sent someone to say that in two days she will
take you to the temple to burn incense and fulfill a vow, she told you to remember to get up early.”
“Fulfill a vow? What vow?”
Tao Zhu hesitated:
“Madam previously went to the temple to pray for your marriage, thinking that this time’s matchmaking was successful, she
wants to go to the temple to fulfill the vow.”
Lin Ting: “I’m not going.”
Successful my ass, who said it was successful.
As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, her mother still doesn’t understand this principle.
Tao Zhu: “Madam said, if you don’t go, you’re not allowed to go out for the next month.”
Two days later, early in the morning, Lin Ting was forced to climb the mountain with Madam Li, the Moyin Temple was on Yushan outside the city.
The carriage couldn’t go up, they had to walk.
Thousands of steps, winding and undulating, as she walked among them, looking up, the Moyin Temple was covered in mist, the red walls and black
tiles looming, like a celestial palace in the clouds between heaven and earth.
The bell tolled, carrying an aura of peace, shaking off the mist, resounding throughout the mountain.
Lin Ting’s figure in the mountain was as small as an ant, she climbed for a while then rested, not knowing how long it took to climb to the Moyin Temple.
Before entering the temple, Madam Li, also covered in sweat, found a pavilion to sit and rest, instructing the maid to put powder on Lin Ting, as the sweat had already washed away the rouge and powder on her face.
Lin Ting was speechless:
“Mother, isn’t it inappropriate to put on powder in front of Buddha?”
She wanted to come without makeup, but Madam Li insisted she wear makeup.
Now, the sweat had smeared it all, and she still wanted her to touch up her makeup.
Madam Li: “What do you know, in front of Buddha you should be neatly dressed and appropriately made up, to show respect for Buddha, being sloppy like this is disrespectful to Buddha.”
Half a quarter later, Lin Ting finally understood what Madam Li’s real intention was.
Her intention was that of scoundrel Duan Ling.
It turned out that today’s trip to Moyin Temple on Yushan was privately arranged by Madam Li and Duan Ling’s mother, Feng Ye.
They wanted to come to worship Buddha and burn incense, and incidentally bring them along, to take this opportunity to cultivate feelings.
They felt that the last matchmaking was quite satisfactory, unanimously thinking there was potential, hence today’s trip to Moyin Temple on Yushan.
Lin Ting saw Duan Ling as soon as she entered.
The temple was simple and quiet, surrounded by the scent of incense and candles, with occasional chanting, the Buddha statue was compassionate,
Duan Ling stood tall under the sacred Buddha statue, wearing a brocade robe with a sash, his hair tied with a crimson silk ribbon, like a streak of blood.
His mother, Feng Ye, was dressed even more plainly than when they met at Nanshan Pavilion.
Lin Ting tugged at Tao Zhu’s sleeve, whispering:
“Tao Zhu, why didn’t you tell me last night that Madam Feng and Duan Ling would also come.”
Tao Zhu was stunned, quickly replied:
“Seventh Miss, I didn’t know Madam Feng and Lord Duan would also come to Moyin Temple, Madam didn’t mention it.”
Lin Ting figured it out.
It seems her mother and Madam Feng were determined to match them, how to dispel their absurd and unrealistic idea?
They wouldn’t secretly exchange their birth dates and directly set a marriage agreement without informing them, would they?
After all, in ancient times, it was the parents’ orders and the matchmaker’s words.
The more Lin Ting thought about it, the more shocked she was.
Madam Feng saw Lin Ting and went up to greet her:
“Madam Li, Le Yun, you’ve come.”
Lin Ting: “Madam Feng.”
Duan Ling, who was looking at the Buddha statue, turned his head upon hearing the voice, his gaze met hers from afar, a fleeting glance, his expression seemed thoughtful.
She had nothing to say, only gave him an awkward smile, also indicating her innocence.
Lin Ting swore, in the future, if Madam Li said she would take her somewhere, she must think twice before agreeing.
She could see Duan Ling in other ways, but she absolutely must not see him as a matchmaking candidate.
Madam Li and Madam Feng took them to worship Buddha and chant scriptures, Lin Ting was initially troubled by how to solve this, but later she earnestly worshipped Buddha.
Since she had come, not to ask Buddha to bless her with wealth would be a waste.
Therefore, she bowed very diligently, her posture was particularly standard, a deep reverence.
There weren’t many kneeling cushions in front of the Buddha statue, Madam Feng and Madam Li finished worshipping first, then it was their turn, at this moment Madam Feng, standing not far behind Lin Ting, watched her sincerely kneeling and worshipping with kind eyes, quite touched.
Madam Feng’s eyes were full of affection, praising:
“It’s rare to see a young child worship Buddha so devoutly, Le Yun is indeed different from ordinary people.”
Madam Li heard her praise her daughter, couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
Duan Ling glanced at Lin Ting kneeling beside him, in his ears lingered her voice calling out like a spirit:
“Please Buddha bless me to get rich, remember, it’s to get rich, not to seek marriage. The marriage my mother sought for me, you can just let it go as a fart.”
“Important things are said three times, please Buddha bless me to get rich, please Buddha bless me to get rich, please Buddha bless me to get rich.”
Duan Ling: “…”
“Miss Lin Qi, your wish is indeed quite simple and unadorned.”
Lin Ting was so absorbed in worshipping, she almost forgot that Duan Ling was beside her.
When he spoke, she remembered, moved the kneeling cushion aside with her hands:
“Did I disturb you? Then I’ll speak more softly.”
The two kneeling cushions were originally close together, now separated by a clear boundary.
Duan Ling glanced at it, his gaze returned to the Buddha statue, calmly said:
“You didn’t disturb me, feel free.”
They tacitly didn’t mention the fact that she had disguised herself as a dancer and snuck into Prince Liang’s mansion to save someone two days ago.
The abbot of the temple, knowing Madam Feng had come, personally came out to chant scriptures and explain to her, Lin Ting and Duan Ling, being juniors, knelt behind to listen.
At noon, when the abbot finished chanting the scriptures, they shared a vegetarian meal together.
The dining hall was simple, and this time there was no gauze screen separating them.
Lin Ting sat across from Duan Ling, with their mothers also present.
Lin Ting focused on her meal, but looking at the bland vegetables and fruits, she found her appetite lacking.
She craved pig’s trotters, roasted chicken, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised lion’s head meatballs.
Lin Ting was a meat lover, and vegetarian food didn’t suit her.
But she couldn’t resist her hunger, so she forced herself to eat half a bowl of rice to avoid being too weak to descend the mountain.
After lunch, Feng Ye wanted to consult the abbot further about the “Shurangama Sutra.”
Although Madam Li couldn’t understand the scriptures or texts, she wanted to build a good relationship with her future in-law.
She also expressed her desire to learn more and followed along.
Before leaving, she reminded Lin Ting to talk more with Duan Ling.
Lin Ting turned and went to the pavilion to rest with her eyes closed.
She couldn’t get close to Duan Ling on a day filled with matchmaking vibes, as it could easily cause misunderstandings.
Not long after sitting in the pavilion with her eyes closed, she felt thirsty and asked Tao Zhu to fetch some water.
While waiting for Tao Zhu to return with the water, Lin Ting dozed off again.
Hearing footsteps, she didn’t open her eyes, knowing it was Tao Zhu returning.
It was only when the person stood before her that she, as always, extended her arms to hug the waist, gently cooing.
“Feed me…”
Before she could finish, Lin Ting frowned.
Why did it feel different?
Tao Zhu’s waist was slender and soft, but this person’s waist, though slender, was a bit firm.
She felt along the waist and abdomen, and there were abdominal muscles?
Since when did Tao Zhu have abs?
Soon, she caught the scent of agarwood that belonged to Duan Ling.
Lin Ting would rather believe that Tao Zhu had grown abs than accept that she had hugged the wrong person-and it was Duan Ling.
Lin Ting immediately sprang back, opening her eyes to indeed see Duan Ling.
Duan Ling’s belt was slightly askew from her touch, and his fingers, hanging by his side, curled up inexplicably, the tips of his fingers pinching each other, revealing a sickly pale hue.