Chapter 170: Family Reunion

Chapter 170: Family Joy

“Are you truly willing to marry Qingshuang?” Mrs. Lin arrived just in time to hear these words.

Xie Zheng stood up and nodded firmly. “Yes! If I can marry Lin Qingshuang, I’ll cherish and protect her—I’d never let her face even the smallest hardship.”

“Good!”

Mrs. Lin’s face lit up. Regardless of whether Xie Zheng could keep his promise, his sincerity was clear.

Moreover, she felt an inexplicable fondness for him. Xie Zheng, coming from nothing to his current status through military achievements, was nothing like Qin Erlang, a spoiled noble who leaned on his family’s name.

What further impressed Mrs. Lin was that Xie Zheng’s parents had passed away, leaving only his younger sister, A Yuan, in his family.

Since Lin Qingshuang got along well with A Yuan, there’d be no clashes between sisters-in-law later.

Furthermore, A Yuan was the Marquess’s wife, a woman of high standing, and Wei Xun had just been promoted to Chief of the Court of Judicial Review, with a limitless future ahead.

Marrying into such a family would also benefit the Lin household.

After just a moment’s thought, Mrs. Lin made her decision.

“Good! Then I’ll give Qingshuang to you!”

Lin Qingshuang remained unaware that her mother had already promised her to Xie Zheng. After her sister-in-law left, she sulked alone in her room.

“Jerk Xie Zheng! Mean Xie Zheng! You’re nothing but a bully!”

“How have I bullied you?”

The window suddenly swung open from the outside, revealing Xie Zheng’s face.

“Xie... Xie Zheng, what are you doing here? Don’t you know this is a lady’s chamber? Aren’t you afraid my parents and brothers will punish you?”

Lin Qingshuang put on a tough front, but inside, she was terrified.

Xie Zheng sighed softly and slipped in through the window.

“What if I said they let me come?”

“Impossible!”

Her tough act faltered. Her parents would have to be mad to allow an outsider into her room.

Unless...

“It’s just what you’re thinking. Mrs. Lin has already promised you to me.”

After spending more than six months with her, Xie Zheng understood her thoughts better than anyone.

“That’s impossible!” Lin Qingshuang wouldn’t believe it.

Xie Zheng slowly approached her, his face full of hurt.

“Qingshuang, do you really hate me that much?”

“You lied to me first.”

Lin Qingshuang looked away. Her feelings for Xie Zheng were a tangled mess.

Here’s the refined translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

The hasty betrothal to Qin Erlang was originally meant to help her forget Xie Zheng through marriage, yet on her wedding day, Xie Zheng publicly disrupted the ceremony.

Now, he had somehow convinced her mother to agree to their marriage.

Lin Qingshuang felt everything that had happened today was like a dream.

"I promised Aunt Lin I’d treat you well from now on and never let you suffer. I never meant to deceive you, or to make fun of you."

Xie Zheng was awkward with words. When the one he loved misunderstood him, he couldn’t even sweet-talk her properly.

"Shuang'er, you can’t imagine how happy I was when you said you liked Xie Zheng."

"I joined the military at nine. No one ever told me they liked me, and I never imagined someone would admire me for my battle skills or buy my adventure tales. Shuang'er, I was truly overjoyed."

His words came out awkwardly, but that very clumsiness made his sincerity all the more evident.

Lin Qingshuang’s ears flushed. "If you’d just spoken up earlier..."

She wouldn’t have misunderstood him for so long.

Xie Zheng lowered his gaze. "I was too hung up on my pride."

And almost lost the woman he loved over it.

"Hmph! Your stupid pride almost cost you everything!"

Though her tone remained haughty, the tenderness in her eyes was unmistakable—she had forgiven him. Xie Zheng excitedly grabbed her hand. "Shuang'er, does this mean you’re willing to marry me?"

Lin Qingshuang's hand was trapped, leaving her no choice but to let him keep holding it.

"My mother has already given her approval—how could I possibly refuse?"

"You can't refuse. You were meant to be my wife!"

Xie Zheng beamed like a fool, with none of his usual ice-cold killer's demeanor left.

Lin Qingshuang suddenly grew curious. "If I had married Qin Fangyu today, what would you have done then?"

Qin Erlang had played his part so well, posing as an innocent young man. She'd actually felt guilty toward him—though she didn’t truly like him, she had agreed to marry him just to forget Xie Zheng.

How was that any different from the deceit she despised most?

Fortunately, Qin Erlang turned out to be a sanctimonious bastard, so she wouldn’t have to suffer the guilt of marrying him.

Still, Xie Zheng’s appearance had been suspiciously well-timed, exposing Qin Erlang right on their way to the wedding.

Xie Zheng didn’t avoid her gaze. His schemes had always been out in the open, never hidden.

"If you had married him, I would have taken you back!"

The man’s eyes burned with an unstoppable intensity, and a single word flashed through Lin Qingshuang’s mind.

Warlord!

Xie Zheng was never what his outward appearance suggested. His methods were far more ruthless and direct—going straight for the kill.

Neither she nor Qin Fangyu stood a chance against him.

"If I don't go with you, you wouldn’t actually try to kidnap me, would you?"

Lin Qingshuang gave him a mock-scolding look, making Xie Zheng's heart melt. "If you won’t come with me, I'll just cling to you. Wherever you go, I'll follow—until the day you say yes."

"How shameless!"

Lin Qingshuang scolded him softly, but her heart was bubbling with warmth.

All she had ever wanted was a sense of security. As long as Xie Zheng gave her his whole heart, she wouldn’t push him away.

And so, their marriage was settled. Originally, when the Lin family backed out of their daughter’s wedding on the very day of the ceremony, the capital was abuzz with gossip.

Especially those from families with many sons—who could guarantee their younger generations wouldn’t take on a concubine? If everyone acted like Lin Qingshuang, backing out of marriages on a whim, what kind of chaos would ensue in the capital?

"Just wait and see. With a family like that, no matter how high-status the family or how beautiful the young lady, no one would dare marry her."

"Anyway, I wouldn’t want a woman like that."

"If none of you want her, then neither will I!"

A group of men crowed among themselves, as if the Lin family would hand their daughter over just because they fancied her.

Even without a mirror, they should at least take a leak and check their reflection.

But when some men are brimming with confidence, even a princess seems unworthy of them.

"Tell me, after breaking off the engagement with the Qin family, who could Lin’s daughter possibly marry now?"

"After this mess, no noble family in the capital would want her. Maybe some old widower would take her."

"True. In that case, Qin’s second son actually lucked out. A spoiled, willful young lady is no match for a gentle, understanding concubine."

Everyone was waiting to see Lin Qingshuang become a laughingstock—even the Qin family held a grudge.

Madam Qin was still waiting for Lin Qingshuang to come begging on her knees in regret. After all, aside from her son, which other young master would be willing to marry her?

When she came pleading, Madam Qin swore to teach her a lesson—and even promote Lin’er to full wife status.

But this time, they were all proven wrong.

Word that Xie Zheng was courting the Lin girl spread swiftly through the capital. Mrs. Lin, eager to bolster her daughter’s reputation, even sent servants to teahouses and taverns to spin yarns about the Qin family’s trickery and Xie Zheng’s righteous deeds—ensuring every gossipmonger in town got an earful.

"Hmph! Lin Fang still deludes herself into thinking I’d beg her? Pah! As if she’s some hot commodity—my daughter has suitors lining up!"

Now, Mrs. Lin regarded Xie Zheng with the fondness of a mother-in-law eyeing her future son-in-law—the longer she looked, the fonder she grew, and the more relieved she felt that her daughter hadn’t married into the Qin family.