Lin Qianqian had always known that the Lin family had taken her into the household in order for her to replace Lin Baozhu and marry the “idiot,” Si Xuan.
In the past, she had no intention of getting involved with Si Xuan. She only planned to finish what needed to be done, then leave like a bird set free—travel far from the capital and go to the poetic, picturesque Jiangnan.
But this “idiot” was surprisingly thoughtful. Whenever he got something good, he would eagerly bring it to her.
Once he regained his sanity and returned to being the cold, invincible Great General, she wondered what he would think upon remembering the foolish things he had done.
Zhao Xiaoliu had already been instructed by the Xingguo Duke. After greeting Lin Qianqian, he stepped back and, along with the other three attendants, stood at a distance.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: back when the master was normal, he kept women at arm’s length. Who would have thought that now he would cling so tightly to Miss Lin? Hopefully, once he recovers, he won’t forget this young lady.
Lin Qianqian had no way of dealing with Si Xuan, so she treated him like a child.
“I have serious matters to attend to today. Can you go home first?”
“No.”
A few days ago, he would only tug at her sleeve without saying a word. Now he could actually speak.
Sigh—she couldn’t chase him away, so she let him follow.
Since his intentions were sincere, she would reward him with another “candy pill.”
With his attendants present, she couldn’t pinch his handsome chin and force-feed him like before, so she had to negotiate instead.
“Come on, open your mouth.”
He obediently opened his mouth like a child.
Lin Qianqian placed a “candy pill” inside and warned him, “Be good. Don’t tug my sleeve anymore, or I’ll send you away.”
Si Xuan seemed a little more obedient than before and let go of her hand.
But he didn’t sit idle. Instead, he peeled a lychee, and before Lin Qianqian noticed, he suddenly popped it into her mouth.
“Sweet.”
After that came a second, a third…
The scene stunned Zhao Xiaoliu from a distance.
Zhao Xiaoliu: Even though my master is foolish right now, why does it feel like he’s better at courting women than someone who isn’t?
The lychees were sweet and fresh, and Lin Qianqian ate them quite happily.
She looked up at the sun—almost noon. They had wasted quite some time and needed to hurry.
She immediately arranged for Si Xuan to get into her carriage, still driven by A-Da, and set off in a hurry.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the government office responsible for property transfer procedures—the Purchase Affairs Office.
There were quite a few people outside. Several commoners were being blocked by soldiers, their faces full of anxiety.
The guards at the gate wore shining silver armor and held long spears, looking imposing.
One soldier quietly explained to the crowd, “There are rules for handling official matters. If you want it done quickly, you need to give gifts.”
Only then did Lin Qianqian understand why A-Da hadn’t been able to complete the paperwork—it turned out no gifts had been given.
But bribing officials wasn’t a small matter.
If it took three or four thousand taels of silver to get things done, that would be nearly half the cost of buying the Jiang residence.
She refused to waste money like that.
Lin Qianqian pointed at Si Xuan and asked the soldier, “Can he go in?”
The soldier recognized Si Xuan and was startled.
This was no ordinary person. Rumor had it that just a few days ago, he had beaten the grandson of Prime Minister Wang half to death—and even the Prime Minister could do nothing about it.
If even the Prime Minister was helpless, what could ordinary soldiers do?
Offending him meant disaster.
“Of course, the Marquis can go in.”
So Lin Qianqian waved at all the commoners outside and led them into the office as well.
They had paid taxes when buying and selling property; the government refusing to handle their paperwork was unreasonable.
Since they were already here, she might as well help them.
The guards at the gate tried to stop them, but when they saw Si Xuan’s displeased expression, they didn’t dare intervene.
Inside the spacious office sat more than a dozen officials, each with a thick stack of documents on their desks.
Yet none of them were working. Instead, they were chatting and drinking tea leisurely.
They were discussing the hottest topic in the capital—the beating of Prime Minister Wang’s grandson.
“Have you heard? The Prime Minister’s grandson was beaten so badly he couldn’t get up. It sounds awful—who knows if he’ll even be able to continue the family line.”
“I know. It was done by the foolish Champion Marquis. And the Empress Dowager issued an edict forbidding any investigation. Haha, I can only imagine how broken the Prime Minister must feel…”
“Exactly. Everyone in the capital is now afraid of that foolish Champion Marquis. If he hits you, you just take it—you can’t fight back. Even the Prime Minister doesn’t dare retaliate. Who else would dare?”
“So we’d better stay far away from him. If we get beaten by a fool, it’ll be for nothing.”
And as they were talking…
They saw the “foolish” Si Xuan himself.
All the officials were terrified.
Heavens—truly, one should not speak ill of others behind their backs.
One official even knocked over his inkstone in shock.
They were still thinking of how to appease him when Lin Qianqian slapped the property deed for the Jiang residence onto the table.
“The money for this house has already been paid in full, but you’ve refused to complete the procedures. Tell me—what exactly do you want before you’ll do your job?”
Seeing Lin Qianqian angry, Si Xuan also became angry and repeated, “Do your job.”
The official who had just picked up his inkstone dropped it again in fright, and it shattered into two pieces.
What a pity for the inkstone—at least it wasn’t his neck.
“P-please, Marquis, don’t be angry! We’ll process it right away—right away!”
Seven or eight officials immediately sprang into action—some signing, some stamping seals.
What had been stalled for days was completed in less than half an hour.
Even the commoners who came with them successfully completed their paperwork.
Everyone gathered around Lin Qianqian in gratitude.
Lin Qianqian pointed at Si Xuan. “If you want to thank someone, thank him. He’s the reason this was so smooth.”
Today’s work had gone unusually smoothly.
Feeling pleased, Lin Qianqian fed Si Xuan two more “candy pills” as they left.
“Thanks to you today, everything went so smoothly. This is your reward.”
She then called Zhao Xiaoliu and the others over.
“Zhao Xiaoliu, I still have other matters. It’s inconvenient to bring outsiders. Take your master back.”
“Yes, Miss Lin.”
Zhao Xiaoliu escorted Si Xuan back to the Xingguo Duke’s residence.
When the Duke heard that his foolish son had gone to see Miss Lin again, he was delighted—clearly, the boy truly liked her.
Since there was already a marriage arrangement with the Lin family, perhaps they should marry them sooner. Maybe that would help his son recover faster.
Zhao Xiaoliu reported, “Duke, you don’t know—our master is actually quite smart now. He even knows how to peel lychees for Miss Lin.”
The Duke was even more pleased upon hearing this.
Right now, Si Xuan was like a child—every small improvement touched the Duke’s heart deeply.
The Xingguo Duke was not only wealthy but also generous—he truly gave gifts at the drop of a hat.
He immediately sent four boxes of gifts to the Lin residence.
At the Lin residence, Old Madam Lin was also a lover of wealth.
Upon hearing that the Xingguo Duke’s residence had sent gifts—valuable ones at that—she hurried to Madam Wang’s courtyard.
After carefully examining and touching everything in the four boxes, she finally spoke.
“Since the Xingguo Duke’s residence intends to arrange the marriage early, let’s exchange the betrothal documents first.”
Lin Baozhu objected immediately. “Mother, I don’t want to marry a fool! My cousins have already mocked me for this many times. And that fool hits people—he nearly beat my cousin to death. If I marry him, he might beat me to death too!”
Her cousin was Wang Qing of the Prime Minister’s household.
Madam Wang said, “No one said you would marry him. We will write Lin Qianqian’s name on the betrothal papers. Why do you think I brought her into the household? Of course, it’s so she can take your place and suffer in your stead. That fool likes to hit people—but he’ll be hitting her, not you.”