"Then... alright..."
Ling Wan hesitated for a moment before tying the red ribbon onto the marriage tree, her mind filled with the image of that gentle, jade-like figure.
Kneeling beneath the marriage tree, Ling Wan prayed silently.
"Eldest sister-in-law, is this marriage tree truly that miraculous? Can it really connect destinies?"
He didn't believe in such things initially, but seeing the increasing number of people praying and the thousands upon thousands of red ribbons on the marriage tree, Ling Muzhu couldn't help but feel a sliver of doubt.
"I don't know either, it's just a form of spiritual comfort. But as the saying goes, it's better to believe than not to believe. I think the Sanqing Temple has endured for so long, with so many visitors offering incense every year, there must be a reason for it. What do you think..."
When Feng Jin turned her head to look at Ling Muzhu beside her, the latter had already vanished. They had long since run to the marriage tree to hang red ribbons.
Didn't they not believe in such things just a moment ago? The change was too rapid.
"Chu Qing, aren't you going to pray for a marriage?"
"This servant is still young and it's too early to worry about marriage. This servant won't go to pray. However, if Cai Qing sister were here, she could pray for a marriage and bless her and Master Lu to reach a happy conclusion soon."
"There's only a thin veil of paper left between them, no need to rush their matters."
Feng Jin, with nothing else to do, wandered around. A fortune teller not far ahead caught her attention.
"Madam, would you like a divination? No charge if it's inaccurate, and you can give whatever you wish if it's accurate."
"If it is accurate, wouldn't you be at a loss if I only gave you one coin?"
Finding it rather interesting, Feng Jin sat down at the stall and inquired.
"A thousand pieces of gold are easy to obtain, but a fated person is hard to find. Madam and I are fated, so why bother with mere money?"
"Please do a divination for me, sir."
"Please extend your hand, Madam."
The fortune teller glanced at Feng Jin's palm, his eyes suddenly narrowed. He looked at Feng Jin in surprise, then after a moment, as if relieved, a smile played on his lips.
"Madam, you have faced death and come back to life; you are a blessed person. You will surely have infinite blessings in the future, a bright and brilliant path ahead, and will turn misfortune into good. There's nothing much to divine, but there's one thing Madam must remember: you must treat your parents kindly and fulfill your filial duties in this life."
Feng Jin's eyes lowered slightly. When she raised her eyelids again, her expression towards the fortune teller had changed. She took a gold ingot from her embrace and placed it on the table.
"Sir is a divine soothsayer. This gold ingot is the payment for the divination. Please accept it."
After placing the money, Feng Jin got up and left. Upon returning to the Ling residence, she had been contemplating this matter. This fortune teller must have seen that she had been reborn in someone else's body and told her to treat her parents in this life kindly and fulfill her filial duties.
She had taken over someone else's body, and indeed, she had to show filial piety for her. However, the original owner's mother had already passed away, and the only living parent was Feng Yuanping, that scumbag father.
This meant she had to take care of Feng Yuanping. Just as she was worrying about how to handle this, the tightly shut room door was opened from the outside, and a figure she hadn't seen for two days appeared at the doorway.
Feng Jin paid little attention to Ling Mohan, continuing to ponder the matter in her mind. After a pause, she asked Ling Mohan, "How has Feng Yuanping been lately?"
"Why are you asking about him?" Ling Mohan was slightly surprised. Wasn't Feng Jin full of hatred for Feng Yuanping and usually avoided him? Why was she asking so out of the blue today?
"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered to ask. He is, after all, my biological father. I can't just ignore him, lest I don't even know when he dies."
Taking over someone else's body always meant fulfilling filial duties for them and repaying the parental karma of this life.
Ling Mohan's expression was hesitant, and he remained silent for a long time.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"It's not exactly something happening. A while ago, His Majesty reprimanded Prime Minister Feng, showing an intention to dismiss him from his post. Prime Minister Feng has also not attended court for half a month, and the Feng family's gate has been tightly locked, not receiving any guests. We don't know if something has happened."
These were things he had heard from others. Feng Jin resented the Feng family, so he was disinclined to bother with such matters.
Feng Jin sat on a chair, deep in thought. Suddenly, she seemed to recall something and stood up abruptly, saying, "Something must have happened to the Feng family. I need to go and see."
Saying so, she got up to leave, but Ling Mohan grabbed her wrist. "If something has indeed happened, going back alone would be walking into a trap. I'll accompany you."
"Alright!" Feng Jin nodded in agreement, not refusing Ling Mohan's good intentions. Going back alone would indeed be a trap; having Ling Mohan with her was the most sensible choice.
When the two arrived at the Feng manor, the main gate was tightly shut. After knocking for a while, no one came out.
"Could no one be here... that shouldn't be right..."
Even if they had been reprimanded by Emperor Xuanwen, and the Feng family was not as glorious as before, Feng Yuanping was still the Prime Minister and had not yet been dismissed. How could such a prestigious Prime Minister's manor possibly not even have a gatekeeper boy?
The unusual signs all around further deepened Feng Jin's doubts.
"Why don't we break down the door, or find a dog hole to crawl in?"
"Didn't you have plenty of clever ideas before? Why are you thinking of such foolish methods now!"
With him standing right here, why were there only ideas of smashing doors and crawling through dog holes? Wasn't scaling the wall more appealing?
Ling Mohan didn't explain much to Feng Jin. He directly wrapped his arms around the woman's slender waist, lightly tapped his toes, and in the blink of an eye, they were inside the wall.
"We're already inside?"
She hadn't even reacted to what had just happened, and they were already here. This was too... too magical...
This was the benefit of having martial arts skills. They could scale walls and tread on rooftops, entering places as if no one were present. It was simply marvelous. It seemed she would never reach such heights in this lifetime.
"Let's go check the backyard first."
Feng Jin, relying on her memory of the direction, pulled Ling Mohan towards the backyard and directly to Feng Yuanping's room. She remembered it was in this courtyard, but why was it so dark, with no lamps lit?
"Could no one be here?" Feng Jin peered through the window. Other than darkness, she saw nothing else.
"Let's go in and see first. What can we see from outside?"
Ling Mohan pulled Feng Jin's hand and swaggered through the broken door as if he were entering his own home, his movements fluid.
"Be quieter, don't get discovered, or it will be difficult to escape."
After all, they were figures of some standing. Trespassing into someone's home late at night and being caught red-handed would truly become a laughingstock throughout the capital.