Chapter 348 – A Young Girl’s Desires
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Seeing Qin Xingxuan’s reaction, Muyi grinned and said, “There are some matters that are too late once you miss your chance; you don’t think that boy will approach you on his own initiative do you?”
Muyi’s words that hit the mark caused Qin Xingxuan to not even be able to lift her head in shame. Although the traditions of Sky Fortune Kingdom were on the conservative side, the truth was that there were always many girls that would boldly court those they liked. Back during the grand banquet at Sky Fortune City, Lin Ming had been encircled by mobs of cawing girls. Some of them were pushed by their parents, and some went of their own volition. This situation was common, and elders that saw this would just smile and laugh; it was a perfectly normal situation.
However, Qin Xingxuan had always subconsciously felt that the matters between a man and woman couldn’t be forced, nature had to take its course. If one purposefully pushed things, there might not always be a happy ending. She didn’t know whether or not Lin Ming liked her in that manner. If he didn’t, then it would be an awkward situation for both of them.
Muyi saw through Qin Xingxuan’s thoughts. He said, “Of course, if the tide comes to you, then that’s a great thing. But sometimes, if you don’t take action and the tide ebbs, it might go and be taken by someone else. Do you remember who Lin Ming came back with today?”
As soon as Zhou Xinyu, the girl that came back with Lin Ming was mentioned, Qin Xingxuan’s words stuck in her throat, speechless…
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The beast tide had passed, and Green Mulberry City was safe and sound. Especially in the last few days; because of the help from the masters of the Seven Profound Martial House, there were nearly no losses among the soldiers.
1000 miles away, even Sky Fortune City was safe. Although they were weaker than Green Mulberry City in terms of masters, the Zhou Mountains that bordered the north of Sky Fortune City were much friendlier and more pleasant than the Green Mulberry Mountains which extended all the way to the great swamps of the Southern Wilderness. The highest level vicious beast in the Zhou Mountains were fourth-level vicious beasts. Naturally, they were no match for the masters of the Royal Family, much less, Sky Fortune City originally had 40,000 elite garrison soldiers stationed there. Along with the help from the military nearby, they had an army that was 100,000 strong. With such a massive army encircling Sky Fortune City, there wasn’t a single vicious beast that was able to touch the city walls.
However. Besides Sky Fortune City and Green Mulberry City, the other cities that were swept in the beast tide were not so lucky…
These days, Lin Ming lived with Qin Ziya, Qin Xingxuan, and some others at the residence of Green Mulberry City’s Lin Family.
Seven Profound Valleys’ direct disciple, Seven Profound Martial House Martial House Master, State Marshal Qin’s most beloved granddaughter, these titles caused all the country nobles in Green Mulberry City who heard them to feel trepidation and awe.
For a time, the Lin Family became a restricted zone within the entire Green Mulberry City. Although there were countless visitors that hoped to see Lin Ming or maybe Qin Ziya, they were limited because of their status. They weren’t even able to enter past the Lin Family gates. At most, they would be able to meet Lin Wanshan.
Lin Ming had gone into seclusion within his room and begun to refine the impurities within his true essence. He had taken too many pills lately and his cultivation had increased too quickly. If he didn’t take the time to refine his true essence, it would inevitably affect his foundation.
Besides Lin Ming, Qin Ziya had also gone into seclusion, making the final preparations to attack the Xiantian realm bottleneck.
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Two days later, during a sunny morning, there were many people waiting at the Lin Family courtyard. These included Lin Ming, Qin Xingxuan, as well as the important figures of the Lin Family.
A Heavenly Wind Eagle fluttered down into the courtyard, and after the cover was removed, a little fat youth plopped down, helping a middle-aged couple step down from the Heavenly Wind Eagle.
This young fat youth was 16 or 17 years old. As soon as he jumped off of the back of the eagle, the fat layers of his body jiggled. He held the arm of a woman with coiled hair, who wore a simple blue silk dress. Although she was nearing 40 years old, she was still beautiful. It was only that her face showed that she had lived a life of work and hardship. Especially when one looked at her hands, they could see that her palms were covered in calluses, and the backs of her hands were rough and red. This was the result of being wet too often in the winter.
Women of this age naturally didn’t need help from others. But the little fat youth was still extremely attentive and helpful, supporting her arm as she came down.
The man beside the middle-aged man seemed extremely ordinary. He had a slim, medium build, and he wore a light blue robe. He had a very kind, honest, and pleasant smile.
The fat youth called out from the distance, “Brother Lin!”
Lin Ming stood there. He could see the three people approaching. They were his father, his mother, and also his friend that he had grown up together with and had shared everything. When he was having a difficult time in Sky Fortune City, scraping to get by, it was this brother that cared for him so much – Lin Xiaodong.
Lin Ming didn’t know how many times he had imagined this reunion in his mind. When he had taken nearly his entire family’s savings and raised his iron-clad determination to leave home, he had been gone for almost an entire year.
During this time he had withstood unimaginable pressure, and also suffered unimaginable pain. There was surprise, there was glory, there was grief, there was anger, sorrow, slaughter galore, and his own life had hung by a thin thread several times.
He had worked wholeheartedly to fight for his success when he returned, but he also knew that he wouldn’t necessarily be able to bring glory back home. Maybe he might have fallen down in the world, and even come back disabled. Not only would he not be able to bring honor to his ancestors, but he would draw the mocking taunts and jeers of his neighbors.
However, what Lin Ming knew without a shadow of a doubt, was that regardless of how he came home – whether it was with riches or rags – his parents would never, ever abandon him, even if he lost everything.
This was the purest and truest love in this world. A love that had no cost, nor was it required to be returned.
Lin Ming wasn’t excited, nor did he cry.
He silently kneeled on the floor, deeply kowtowing to his parents.
“Father, Mother, your child has returned…”
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Several days passed peacefully at the Lin Family. Lin Wanshan had always wanted to mention to Lin Ming about the matter of visiting the ancestors. According to the rules of the Lin Family, only true Lin Family juniors could burn incense at the ancestral temple, and only true Lin Family juniors could be written in the family tree. Currently, Lin Ming was only a branch member.
Lin Wanshan wanted to raise this matter with Lin Ming several times, but never found the time to say it. Especially after the event with Qin Ziya, Lin Wanshan began to gradually realize just how terrifying Lin Ming’s future would be.
Even though Lin Wanshan had never met more than a handful of Houtian masters, he had actually learnt that above the legendary Xiantian realm, there was an even higher realm. And in the future, Lin Ming would be a powerhouse who stepped into this realm. Let alone Sky Fortune Kingdom, or even the entire Seven Profound territory, this character would be an existence that could control all the nearby areas around the Seven Profound territory.
An existence of this level already surpassed Lin Wanshan’s scope of understanding. Within the scope of a million miles, population was usually measured in billions, or tens of billions. Lin Wanshan was aware that if his Lin Family was thrown into this land, it would be nothing more than a grain of sand in a desert.
He hesitated to speak of this matter, then decided to wait for Lin Ming and his parents to pass some days in peace before bringing it up.
Lin Ming’s parents lived a very comfortable life these days. Every morning, the couple would go out and meet the always-smiling face of Qin Xingxuan. To this old married couple, she was an extremely pleasant and likeable girl. Her smile was always just right, and she didn’t seem to care about status. She was sweet, delightful, and elegant yet restrained.
Qin Xingxuan was often followed by a young maid who carried a box of food, delivering breakfast to the old couple. These were all famous tastes of the capital. There were delicious cakes and many types of desserts. The old husband and wife had worked in a restaurant for half their lives, and as soon as they bit in, they could tell that it was the work of a famous chef.
In the afternoon, Qin Xingxuan would accompany Lin Mu for a chat. Qin Xingxuan’s manner of speaking was graceful, and she also had very rich understanding of all the different clothes of different areas; she would often bring Lin Mu to laughter.
Sometimes Qin Xingxuan would send out her maid to bring back several different sets of clothing patterns, and cut them out with Lin Mu. These patterns were all styles that came from famous masters of the capital.
Sometimes Qin Xingxuan would play chess with Lin Fu. Qin Xingxuan was quite good at chess, this caused Old Lin to be full of praise. For such a young girl to have such high skill in chess, he could only compliment Qin Xingxuan for being such an intelligent young lady.
In particular, Qin Xingxuan understood tea ceremonies. Old Lin loved to drink tea. When he had run a restaurant, he was still considered well-off among the ordinary families. Because of this, Old Lin had drank many different types of tea and had a decent understanding. However, he hadn’t yet drank these famous teas from the capital.
Qin Xingxuan had brought a great number of famous teas. Although these teas that cost a few thousand taels weren’t considered much to Old Lin now, he still didn’t have an understanding of their intricacies. To him, it was simply like a cow chewing on peonies. At this time, Qin Xingxuan would kindly smile, and steep the teas for Old Lin. She would make each kind of tea, then they would smell the tea, drink the tea, enjoy the tea, and she would explain the background and philosophies of the tea. All of this put Old Lin in high spirits.
The old married couple were not foolish. They could well imagine why Qin Xingxuan was approaching them so frequently. Lin Ming was already 16 years old. According to the customs of Sky Fortune Kingdom, that was the ripe age for engagement.
Madame Lin’s eyes were bright as she looked at Qin Xingxuan. Qin Xingxuan was beautiful and also smart, well versed in books and principles. She had already been thinking about her.
From Qin Xingxuan’s manner of speaking, her appearance and also her experience, she probably came from a noble birth. As Madame Lin asked whose daughter she was, she was surprised to high heavens to find out that she was Marshal Qin Xiao’s most beloved granddaughter! Within the Marshal Quarters, she was the brightest pearl of all. It was said that she was a proud woman that even the Crown Prince was not worthy to match!
To the common folk of Sky Fortune Kingdom, they actually didn’t have much of an idea about what the Seven Profound Valleys was. No matter how much others said how awesome or amazing or mighty they were, they would still be confused. But Qin Xiao was different!
Country Marshal Qin Xiao was a figure who had single-handedly turned the tides of war 80 years ago. He had single-handedly supported Sky Fortune Kingdom on his shoulders during the chaos and famine caused by war. His character was unparalleled, and his position was such that even the Crown Prince had to be respectful to him.
The Qin Family was ranked among the best within the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom. Besides the royal Yang Family, even the Allied Trade Association’s Zhang Family couldn’t compare with the Qin Family. Although the Zhang Family was richer and stronger, they simply could not compare to the Qin Family in terms of status and reputation. Sky Fortune Kingdom’s agricultural, manufacturing and merchant professions were all seen by the common folk as humble and inferior professions. Only a family that had a great deal of exploits and heritage could truly be a first rate family.
“Do you think the lady from the Qin Family has taken a liking to our Little Ming?” At night, Lin Mu was speaking to Lin Fu with an expression of disbelief. She had thought that Qin Xingxuan might be the daughter of some random aristocratic family. These days, there were many dignitaries and other high-ranked individuals who offered their daughters up, even making it clear that they would just be concubines.
Lin Mu didn’t think that Qin Xingxuan would actually be the most outstanding granddaughter of Marshal Qin. She knew her son had a high status, but even that legendary Marshal Quarters was approaching them with hints of marriage; it was quite difficult for her to accept.
If a matchmaker from the Marshal Quarters came to propose marriage, then Lin Mu could accept this impossible reality.
But, Qin Xingxuan had personally come. Lin Mu knew when a young girl was acting with and without restraint. For a young girl to appear in public with an old couple, wasn’t this forcing their hand?