Chapter 131: Misplaced Love
"Bang bang bang!"

"Ningyu, open the door! Even if it's something serious, open the door first, okay? What should I do if you cry yourself to death?"

In the evening, there was a rapid knock on the door in the inner courtyard, followed by Lin Fangda's anxious and helpless shouting and pleading.

An hour ago, Luo Ningyu ran out of the hall with red eyes, and went straight into her boudoir, refusing to come out again. Only cries of grief and anger could be heard from the room, making Lin Fangda extremely anxious.

Lin Fangda had been begging outside the door for a long time, but there was no other response in the room except Luo Ningyu's low sobbing.

All the food brought by the maids was rejected and had already turned cold. Luo Ningyu locked herself in the room, refusing to eat, drink, or speak, which made Lin Fangda, who didn't know the reason, feel helpless. He spoke earnestly outside the door, his mouth dry, wishing he could say all the good things he could in his life.

"Ningyu, I'm Lin Fangda. I beg you, can you please tell me what's going on?" Lin Fangda was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the corridor, begging, "Did someone bully you? Tell me, no matter who it is, I will cut that person into pieces and grind his bones to dust. I, Lin Fangda, swear to heaven that no matter what happened, as long as you tell me, I will solve it for you! Stop crying, can you open the door first?"

Despite Lin Fangda's kind words of comfort, the woman in the room continued to sob. Helpless, Lin Fangda was full of annoyance, and he punched himself on the head several times, cursing: "Lin Fangda, Lin Fangda! You are so fucking useless. You can't think of any solution at the critical moment. Your head is worse than a block of wood. What's the point of keeping it? It's better to chop it off!" After that, he ignored his red and swollen forehead, and lay on the door again, winking and trying hard to see Luo Ningyu's situation through the crack of the door.

"Don't cry, seeing you like this makes me..." Lin Fangda hesitated and muttered to himself in a voice as thin as a mosquito's hair, "I really feel uncomfortable..."

"Big brother?"

Liu Xunyi came in from outside the courtyard and happened to see Lin Fangda behaving strangely. He was confused and asked, "Brother, what are you doing..."

"Xunyi, you're just in time." Lin Fangda's face lit up, and he hurriedly dragged her to the door. At the same time, he shouted into the room, "Ningyu, Xunyi is here. If you don't want to pay attention to me, then tell Xunyi! Open the door first. As long as I see that you are safe and sound, I will leave immediately. You can talk to Xunyi slowly if you have anything to say."

"Brother, you..."

Liu Xunyi was about to refuse, but Lin Fangda interrupted her with a pleading look. He pointed towards the room and said anxiously, "I don't know what happened. Ningyu has been crying since this afternoon and hasn't even had a sip of water."

Liu Xunyi looked at the closed door with suspicion. At this moment, the crying in the room became more and more sad. Liu Xunyi was stunned and said in surprise: "She was fine when she came back, how come she suddenly..."

"Let her cry! It's better to cry out when she's wronged than to keep it in her heart."

Suddenly, Luo Hongxuan's helpless voice sounded from behind the two of them. Lin Fangda turned around quickly and asked hurriedly: "Hongxuan, what happened to Ningyu?"

"You don't know yet?" Luo Hongxuan looked at the bewildered Liu Xunyi and Lin Fangda in astonishment, and explained, "The general's mansion sent someone to propose marriage to my younger sister, and my younger sister is feeling depressed about this matter."

"What?" Before Luo Hongxuan finished speaking, Lin Fangda roared, "Which general's mansion? Propose a marriage? What marriage?"

"How many generals' mansions are there in Luoyang?" Luo Hongxuan said bitterly, "It was the Mongolian prince, Wang Qingshu, whom you offended in the East Sea Teahouse a few days ago. Do you remember him?"

"Wang Qingshu?" Liu Xunyi was stunned by the suddenness of the incident and said hesitantly, "Master, what do you mean... Wang Qingshu wants to marry Miss?"

Luo Hongxuan nodded and said, "That's right, and this matter is supervised by Wang Xutong himself. The valuable betrothal gifts are now placed in the side hall."

"Dowry?" Lin Fangda asked angrily, "Did the mansion master and his wife agree?"

"Not really." Luo Hongxuan shook his head.

"Since you didn't agree, why did you keep their betrothal gifts?" Liu Xunyi asked.

"Because my parents didn't refuse." Luo Hongxuan smiled bitterly, "That's why my little sister cried so sadly."

"Why?" Lin Fangda was angry and anxious, his face flushed, and he cursed, "What kind of bastard is Wang Qingshu? He is despicable and shameless. We all saw him robbing a woman in the Donghai Teahouse. How can he be worthy of Ningyu? Why didn't the Lord and his wife refuse directly? Do they really want to marry Ningyu to that turtle bastard?"

"Ahem..." Luo Hongxuan coughed twice and said seriously, "Lin Fangda, Wang Qingshu is a Mongolian prince after all, you should not speak rudely, be careful of the consequences..."

"I don't care if he's the 'young prince' or the 'old prince'. Anyone who dares to have evil intentions towards Ning Yu is a coward!" Lin Fangda's temper flared up, and he had no scruples at all. He waved his hand and interrupted Luo Hongxuan rudely, waving his hands and shouting, "I think this kid is really bold, he's so daring! He actually set his sights on Ning Yu. I'm going to the general's mansion right now to ask the father and son surnamed Wang about this!"

After saying that, Lin Fangda had already walked out of the courtyard. Liu Xunyi hurriedly grabbed him and comforted him, "Brother, please be patient. This is just Wang Qingshu's wishful thinking. Since the Lord and his wife have not agreed, it naturally cannot count. And don't you know how high Ningyu's status is in the Lord's heart? How could he push his precious daughter into the fire pit with his own hands? The Lord did not refuse directly, he must have his concerns. How can you insist on doing it? What if you make a big mess, won't it cause trouble to the Lord?"

"Xun Yi is right. Lin Fangda's stubborn temper needs to be changed." Luo Hongxuan said in a deep voice, "Now the relationship between the General's Mansion and our Xianwang Mansion is extremely delicate. Both sides are wary of each other and restrain each other. Dad has finally managed to stabilize the situation, so he naturally has to be careful everywhere. At this time, if we are not careful, we will fall into a place of no return."

"It's irreparable, so what?" Lin Fangda retorted unconvincedly, "Does the Xianwang Mansion still fear them? If you piss me off, I'll bring my men to destroy his damn General Mansion!"

"It's easy to say! Once our relationship with the General's Mansion becomes strained, we will suffer sooner or later." Luo Hongxuan said solemnly, "As the saying goes, the people should not fight against the officials. Wang Xutong and Wang Qingshu are not scary, and a mere General's Mansion is insignificant, but don't forget who is behind them? That is the Mongolian Khan and hundreds of thousands of Mongolian troops who kill without blinking an eye! Now Luoyang City is under the rule of the Mongols. We are under their roof and have to bow our heads. If we openly become enemies with them, even if we can break into the General's Mansion today and show off our strength for a while, in a few days, 100,000 Mongolian troops will surely be at the gates of the city. The Mongolian army is brutal and bloodthirsty, and they may massacre the entire city in a rage. By then, it will not only be the Xianwang Mansion that will be in trouble, but also hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in Luoyang City."

"You are right, sir." Liu Xunyi was shocked and nodded repeatedly. "If the Lord of the Palace refuses the marriage proposal, it will be tantamount to slapping the faces of Wang Xutong and his son. After all, they are Mongolian nobles. Hitting their faces is equivalent to slapping the faces of Mongolian nobles. Especially now is a time of chaos. Wang Xutong might do something extraordinary to save face."

"Is there such a saying?" Lin Fangda's emotions slowly calmed down, and he said with a puzzled look, "Isn't marriage... something that should be consensual?" "Matters of love should be consensual, but this matter..." Liu Xunyi thought of a clever idea and suddenly changed the subject, explaining, "It's like the emperor of the Song Dynasty decreed a marriage for an ordinary citizen. Can this citizen refuse?"

"Of course not..." Lin Fang suddenly realized something before he finished his big talk. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "I see. Luoyang City is now the territory of the Mongols, and Wang Xutong and his son are relatives of the Mongols. So their proposal is equivalent to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty granting the marriage."

Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly and said, "Although the prince's power is not as great as the emperor's, but... it's roughly the same."

"What should we do?" Lin Fangda's temper flared up at the slightest, and he shouted impatiently, "It is absolutely impossible to agree to them, but refusing them will offend the Mongolian court and bring disaster to the Xianwang Mansion and even the people of Luoyang. Now we can neither advance nor retreat, what should we do?"

Liu Xunyi asked Luo Hongxuan, "I wonder what the Palace Master means..."

"Dad has been avoiding talking about this. During this period, whenever someone from the General's Mansion came to visit, Dad would refuse to see them." Luo Hongxuan said helplessly, "In just a few days, Wang Xutong has sent people to invite him three or four times, but Dad always found excuses to avoid it. Therefore, Wang Xutong has no way to deal with it in the short term. After all, the Xianwang Mansion is not a trivial matter. No matter how anxious they are, they dare not use force, or even push too hard."

Liu Xunyi nodded and said, "It seems that the mansion master has not come up with a perfect plan yet. For the time being, he can only delay it again and again, neither agreeing nor refusing. As long as the mansion master avoids seeing him, Wang Xutong dare not jump to conclusions. However... you can avoid it for a while, but you can't avoid it forever. This matter must be resolved thoroughly in the end."

Looking at the bitter faces of Liu Xunyi and Luo Hongxuan, Lin Fangda's eyes suddenly turned fierce, and he gritted his teeth and whispered, "If I go and kill that little prince..."

"Absolutely not!" Before Lin Fangda finished speaking, Luo Hongxuan made a prompt decision and hurriedly shouted, "Lin Fangda, I know you are reckless, but you'd better not even think about this idea!"

"As long as it's done cleanly, no one will know..."

"No!" Luo Hongxuan's face darkened, and he said sternly, "Lin Fangda, if you dare to act recklessly and disobey the rules, be careful that I will ask my father to punish you to reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors."

"Hongxuan, you..."

"squeak!"

Just as Liu Xunyi and the other two were arguing with each other, the door suddenly opened, and Luo Ningyu, with messy makeup and red and swollen eyes, slowly appeared in front of them.

In just a few hours, Luo Ningyu felt like she had experienced several years. She looked like a completely different person. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose was sobbing, her cheeks were mixed with tears and sweat, and they were as red as the moon in the sunset. Her hair was messy and her clothes looked a little messy.

“Ning Yu…”

"Little sister..."

Faced with the sudden appearance of Luo Ningyu, Lin Fangda and Luo Hongxuan subconsciously stopped arguing. The three of them stared blankly at the tearful and pitiful Luo Ningyu. The lofty talk and heartfelt words just now had long since ceased at this moment.

From the moment Luo Ningyu opened the door, her eyes were always on Liu Xunyi, and she seemed to ignore Lin Fangda and Luo Hongxuan.

The few of them stood in awkward silence for a long time before Luo Ningyu suddenly asked, "Do you want me to marry Wang Qingshu?"

"Of course not!" Lin Fangda subconsciously interrupted, "Ningyu, don't worry..."

"What about you?" Luo Ningyu ignored Lin Fangda's explanation. She stared at Liu Xunyi with her eyes, biting her red lips with her pearly teeth. She looked pitiful, trying hard to hold back tears. She asked softly, "Do you hope so?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi was slightly stunned. His first reaction at this moment was not Luo Ningyu's extraordinary feelings for him, but the thought that once the Xianwang Mansion and the General Mansion were married, Luo Tianjin would inevitably become a vassal of the Mongolian court. This would be a fatal blow to the Great Song Dynasty court and the East Palace's plan.

"I'm asking you a question!" Luo Ningyu was annoyed when she saw Liu Xunyi's thoughtful look, and she shouted, "Do you still need to think about this question?"

Liu Xunyi's expression straightened up, and he answered firmly: "Ningyu, you must not marry Wang Qingshu!"

Hearing Liu Xunyi's answer, Luo Ningyu, who was full of grievances, finally couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes and let them slide down her cheeks. However, her tears at this moment were mixed with endless relief and joy.

For a moment, the mixed emotions of sadness and joy made Luo Ningyu cry and laugh at the same time. It looked not only weird, but even funny.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, Luo Ningyu closed the door again, but this time there was no more mournful crying coming from the room. Instead, there was Luo Ningyu's warning, which sounded half angry and half happy.

"Liu Xunyi, you must always remember what you just said!"

……

(End of this chapter)