Song Lichuan frowned. “Swapping marriages?”
Tang Linglong felt a sense of revenge against Song Lichuan, and she was particularly pleased with herself.
“Yes, swapping marriages. Are you dissatisfied? Unwilling to swap?”
She looked at Song Lichuan, waiting for him to say he was unwilling to swap. That way, everyone in the village would know that she, Tang Linglong, was more appealing to men than Tang Yiren.
She was definitely going to marry Wen Shuyu, so she could become the future prime minister’s wife. However, if Song Lichuan admired her, it would be an even bigger slap in Tang Yiren’s face.
Song Lichuan had been raised by his grandfather, who had arranged this marriage for him. He didn’t want to be unfilial, so he had silently accepted it.
Back then, the eldest and second branches of the Tang family had chosen their own marriage partners. For years, everyone had known his fiancée was Tang Linglong. Now, switching to Tang Yiren—wasn’t that just a joke?
He had only been guarding his prey in the mountains for two days. What on earth had happened?
“Lichuan, here’s what happened. Yesterday, Tang Linglong fell into the pond while passing by. When Wen Shuyu rescued her, they had physical contact, and many people saw it. It really doesn’t look good,” Aunt Wang explained the whole story to Song Lichuan. “The Wen family has already agreed. Now it’s just up to you.”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Song Lichuan’s eyes.
If they truly cared about his opinion, they wouldn’t have taken matters into their own hands and settled this so casually. In the end, his thoughts didn’t matter at all.
After his grandfather passed away a few years ago, he had been living alone in the village, keeping to himself. People had grown accustomed to treating him as invisible, and no one cared about his feelings.
“Did Miss Tang Yiren agree?” Song Lichuan’s mind flashed to the young woman who had risked going up the mountain alone to save her father.
Though he kept to himself, he wasn’t blind or deaf. He had seen how well Tang Yiren had treated Wen Shuyu over the years. Would she agree to swap marriages?
“My sister agreed,” Tang Linglong said. “Now it’s up to you whether you agree or not.”
Song Lichuan looked toward the opposite direction, from which Tang Yiren’s joyful sobbing could be heard. “Doctor, is my father really alive?”
“With such a filial daughter like you, your father will surely live to ninety-nine. Don’t worry, girl. Did you sprain your ankle? Come, let me set it for you.”
Listening to the voices inside, Song Lichuan felt inexplicably relieved, as if a weight that had been pressing on his heart had been lifted, and he relaxed considerably.
Tang Linglong pushed Song Lichuan and said impatiently, “I’m asking you a question. Are you mute?”
“Men and women should not touch each other,” Song Lichuan said, brushing off the spot where Tang Linglong had touched him. “Miss Tang Linglong, I hope you won’t be so hands-on.”
“You just carried Tang Yiren back on your back, with her whole body pressed against you, and now you’re talking about propriety when I touch you?” Tang Linglong said sarcastically.
Tang Yiren came out from inside.
Her gait had returned to normal, clearly after the doctor had treated her.
“I went up the mountain earlier to look for ginseng and encountered a fierce tiger. If Brother Song hadn’t appeared and saved me, I would have become the tiger’s meal. While escaping, I sprained my ankle and couldn’t walk at all. Brother Song was kind enough to carry me down the mountain, and I’m deeply grateful. Tang Linglong, there’s nothing improper between us. Don’t tarnish Brother Song’s reputation.”
Upon hearing Tang Yiren’s words, the villagers’ gazes toward Song Lichuan shifted.
“Lichuan, you killed a tiger?”
“Lichuan truly possesses Innate Divine Strength—extraordinary indeed!”
Tang Linglong pursed her lips, her eyes lingering on Song Lichuan’s cold, ice-like expression, a sour feeling welling up inside her.
In her previous life, she had been his fiancée for several years and later his wife for a year, yet he had never so much as touched the hem of her garment. Now, barely after the marriage exchange, he was already so intimate with Tang Yiren. It was impossible not to feel a twinge of discomfort. However, the moment she remembered that Song Lichuan was merely a false man, incapable of fulfilling marital duties, that discomfort vanished.
“Yes, yes, your relationship is perfectly proper—it’s me who’s being petty. But since you’re now engaged, what is there to explain?” Once Tang Linglong had sorted out her thoughts, she began playing matchmaker for the two, unwilling to let them draw such a clear line between themselves.
She was determined to have Tang Yiren marry into the Song family, to let her taste the bitterness Tang Linglong had endured in her past life. In this life, it would be Tang Yiren living as a widow, tormented by the old shrew who was soon to return. If Tang Yiren didn’t fulfill the marriage contract, how could Tang Linglong enjoy this spectacle or trample Tang Yiren underfoot?
Tang Yiren had agreed to the marriage exchange to escape the engagement with the Wen family and to leverage it for benefits, not with the intention of marrying into the Song family. She hadn’t even considered marriage at all.
Before, she hadn’t seen any issue with her plan, but now, facing Song Lichuan—a man who had just done her a great favor—she found herself too embarrassed to bring it up.
“You agreed to the marriage exchange?” Song Lichuan asked Tang Yiren.
Tang Yiren glanced toward the courtyard, where many people were still eavesdropping on their conversation.
“I did agree. If you think it’s not suitable…” you can refuse.
After what had just happened, Tang Yiren felt deeply grateful to Song Lichuan and had also come to realize that he was a man of cold exterior but warm heart.
He appeared aloof, yet he was remarkably considerate. For instance, when descending the mountain, he had first asked if she wanted to be set down, showing concern for her reputation.
In her previous life, he had gone hunting in the mountains a year later and never returned. His mother had gathered villagers to search for him, only finding his short blade and torn clothing. It was said the mountain was covered in blood and scattered flesh, with signs of large beasts nearby—clearly, he had been devoured by wild animals.
He had helped her, so she needed to find a time to warn him, preferably closer to that fateful period, advising him not to go into the mountains then. Perhaps he could avoid that tragedy.
“Alright.”
Song Lichuan’s low voice interrupted Tang Yiren’s reverie.
Tang Yiren looked at him in surprise. “You’re willing to exchange marriages too?”
Song Lichuan gave a faint hum and said calmly, “I have matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave.”
Tang Linglong glared at Song Lichuan’s retreating figure as if she could bore a hole through his back with her stare.
“Linglong, you’ve known Lichuan for years, but I’ve never seen him speak so much to you. In my opinion, this time you falling into the water might have been for the best.”
“I think so too. That lad never used to say much before, but today he seems a bit more human. Could this be what Buddhists call ‘true fate’?”
Tang Yiren had come out specifically to thank Song Lichuan. Now that he had left, concerned about her father’s condition, she turned and went back into the house.
Hearing the villagers’ remarks, Tang Linglong grew angrier the more she thought about it.
“He’s just a crude man, does he really think he’s something? Sure, he can hunt and earn money, but…” he’s just a fake man.
Mrs. Zhang walked over, pulling Tang Linglong back into the room, and whispered, “Daughter, didn’t you say your uncle would die? How accurate is your prophecy, really?”