Chapter 93 - His First Gift
Chapter 93 – His First Gift
Qu Xing Xu's smiled wider as soon as he heard her. It seems that the lady beside him thought things thoroughly before coming here.
Actually, Lin Xiaofei already expected the reactions that she will get from the rest of the Lin family upon hearing and witnessing this event in front of them. However, what she didn't expect was the storm that started from last night thus, she assumed that Qu Xing Xu wouldn't dare come to ask for her marriage.
But alas, she was wrong as it seems that Qu Xing Xu didn't waste any time and did as he told her.
She stared at him for a bit longer before retracting her gaze as she resumed her hands to reach for the teacup. She tipped her head back slightly and swallowed the still-warm tea.
As she was drinking, Qu Xing Xu's attention was focused on her movements and when she drank, her pale and slender neck somehow made him take a sip of his tea too.
Their actions were too natural as if they've known each other for so long that the awkwardness between them was gone.
But how can that be possible when aside from the few exchanges that turned into a disaster in the past, this was the first time they met in a while? This was the question that Lin Feng wanted to have an answer.
Unlike Lin Sang who was bitter and twisted to say a few unsightly words, Lin Feng didn't have to use his daughter to get a higher rank in the court as he knew that there was no way that his daughter would catch this man's attention.
Unfortunately, his daughter thought the opposite. As proud as she was, Lin Hua Lou gripped her skirt that was under the table that was in front of her.
After they had taken their seats, the three Lin sisters had all their eyes on the two people seated beside each other. Although there was enough space between Lin Xiaofei and Qu Xing Xu, in their eyes, they looked extremely close to each other and that only increased the bitterness and jealousy that they feel inside their hearts.
"Your Excellency, did I just hear right that you plan to marry my dear fourth cousin?" Lin Hua Lou smiled and asked Innocently.
Qu Xing Xu didn't open his mouth to reply but instead used his head to nod.
Seeing him nod his head and having his attention, Lin Hua Lou was in glee as she suddenly made her face look shocked and an anxious expression flashed on her face as she said, "But what to do? Fourth cousin is about to be married to Prince Jing."
After her words landed, Lin Yueyi and Lin Xiao took the hint and soon followed to speak.
"That is right. I heard that Prince Jing has fallen for our dear sister and already asked the Empress to talk about marriage…" Lin Yueyi touched her chin as if she was thoughtlessly saying these words.
On the other hand, Lin Xiao was bolder than them as she opened her mouth to say, "Can it be that the Duke wishes to go against the Empress just to marry fourth cousin?"
As soon as they were finished with their parts, the three of them waited to see if Qu Xing Xu would suddenly give up. After all, no one in this empire wanted to go against the royalty right?
Sadly, the girls weren't exposed to the world of the adults and didn't know what they were talking about.
Lin Feng sent a few signals by using his eyes to his daughter but Lin Hua Lou was too focused on the man she wanted to covet from her own cousin thus, she didn't see this.
Song Yan Fei was also the same and wanted to stop her two daughters, Lin Yueyi and Lin Xiao, but they were too fast to speak that she wasn't able to stop them from opening their mouths.
"Oh?" Qu Xing Xu arched his brow and threw Lin Xiaofei a glance before he chuckled and said, "I didn't hear any of this. But honestly, I can't blame him seeing that the lady we both wanted is one of a kind."
Not waiting for Lin Hua Lou to spout more gibberish, Qu Xing Xu added on, "As for marriage talks between Prince Jing and your cousin, I doubt that will happen this time."
Lin Hua Lou bit her lips and frowned, "What does your grace mean by that?"
"I have the dowries ready to prevent that from happening. I'm sure the Empress ot the prince won't say anything since they haven't sent a dowry to grandfather." Qu Xing Xu causally said and that made Lin Hua Lou shut her mouth.
Turning his head to look at Lin Xiaomeng who was smiling at him, he said, "Grandfather, please pity this unfilial grandson for coming in this storm. I have brought a few chests as dowries but I hope you will accept this and let me have your granddaughter as my lawful wife."
Lin Xiaofei who didn't speak this whole time frowned. She wondered where were the 'few' chests that he mentioned when there's absolutely more than just a few of them inside the hall. She also couldn't help but applaud his ability to speak passionately that allows him to manipulate her grandfather to accept his words as if it was a decree from Heaven.
Laughing heartily, Lin Xiaomeng slapped his knees. He felt so happy to hear him say those words as he took Qu Xing Xu's words as a promise. For as long as he could take his granddaughter away from the Empress and Prince Jing, Lin Xiaomeng was willing to marry Lin Xiaofei to him.
"Alright. Since beloved grandson already said all these then, I can only entrust Fei'er to you. I hope you won't break your word after letting it escape from your mouth…" Lin Xiaomeng suddenly looked seriously and narrowed his eyes, "Or else, it doesn't matter whether I'm retired or not. I will come after you and make you pay if you ever let my granddaughter face a hard time."
Qu Xing Xu almost laughed out loud if it was not for the glare that the lady beside him was sending in his way. He was sure that she was telling him to take things seriously and he did.
Aside from his biological grandfather, Lin Xiaomeng was a valiant man through and through both inside and outside of his residence. Qu Xing Xu witnessed how Lin Xiaomeng killed his enemies at that time when they collaborated to eradicate the enemies in the border. Hence, he took the old man's words to his heart and made sure to etch it in his mind.
Anyway, even without Lin Xiaomeng saying it to him… Qu Xing Xu planned to not make Lin Xiaofei face any hardships and worries for as long as she stayed by his side.
She will be his wife soon, the only thing that he wanted for her to worry about was how will she take care of their children.
After speaking a little bit more about some other topics about the wedding, Lin Xiaomeng decided to leave as he was feeling unwell because of the weather.
The other Lin family members also left in a hurry. Especially, the three Lin sisters who never expected that Lin Xiaofei ended up being engaged to Qu Xing Xu. Their hatred towards Lin Xiaofei was boiling inside them and they can't wait to see the engagement falling through after Qu Xing Xu realized that the woman he wanted to marry was nothing but a waste and not the perfect woman for him to marry as the Duchess of Xin.
With only the two of them left inside the hall, Lin Xiaofei also planned to leave as she has some other things to do but before she could even stand up, the man beside her moved closer to where she was sitting.
"What is it?" Lin Xiaofei snapped. She couldn't believe that Qu Xing Xu proposed to Lin Xiaomeng for her to live inside the Qu residence even before the wedding and her grandfather actually said yes to it.
Usually, before the wedding, the young lady's family needed to prepare for the wedding but Qu Xing Xu said that it was not needed as he will prepare and pay for everything. He only needed her to move to his residence before the wedding so that she could get accustomed to the lifestyle inside the Qu residence and learn how to govern as the Duchess of Xin.
That's why Lin Xiaofei was angry as she didn't hear this from him yesterday.
Staring at her face, Qu Xing Xu had a gentle look on his eyes, "Give me your hand." Said Qu Xing Xu.
Lin Xiaofei narrowed her eyes and didn't move until she felt his rough and big paw holding it up and when he moved his hand away, she felt a cool feeling inside her palm.
She looked down and saw a hairpin lying on top of her palm.
"Don't throw it away." Qu Xing Xu's eyes met Lin Xiaofei's, "Treat this as my first gift to you before I became your husband."