When Lin Qi returned to the residence, he was still wearing soft armor. Two arrows were embedded in his shoulder, their shafts already cut short, the wounds wrapped in gauze.
Xia Ning wept until she was a tearful mess. Lin Shuyi stood by the bedside with reddened eyes, one arm around Lin Zheng.
Seeing the scene, Lin Jingchu gave a respectful bow before quietly standing beside the siblings.
Lin Qi leaned weakly against the bedframe. His lips were pale, and his face was etched with exhaustion and suffering.
He pointed at Lin Jingchu. “This must be Jing’er?”
“Yes, Marquis,” Lin Jingchu answered after carefully considering the form of address.
“Since you’ve already changed your surname, then like Shu’er and Zheng’er, call me Father. While I still have breath left in me, tomorrow I’ll open the ancestral hall and enter your name into the family registry.”
Lin Qi had a pair of sharp eyes. When he looked at people, there was a blood-soaked aura from years on the battlefield, imposing and intimidating.
Lin Jingchu glanced at Xia Ning, seeking her opinion. Seeing Xia Ning tug the corners of her mouth slightly, she assumed it was agreement and replied:
“Everything will be according to Father’s wishes.”
Lin Qi coughed a few times, and Xia Ning hurried over to soothe his breathing.
“Marquis, please take care of your health.”
Looking at the bloodstains on the handkerchief, Xia Ning could taste the salty tang of blood in her own mouth.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“Ning’er, you raised a good daughter.” Lin Qi suppressed the itch in his throat, his gaze toward Lin Jingchu softening somewhat. “You’re better than your father. You possess a sincere and pure heart.”
Lin Zheng said coolly, “Everyone knows Father lost the battle. The Emperor will definitely hold him accountable, and there’s no telling whether our title can even be preserved. Once your name enters the Lin family registry, if the Lin family falls, you won’t even be able to run away. There’s still time to regret it now.”
A few months earlier, when Lin Jingchu first arrived at the marquis residence, Lin Zheng had just returned from the academy on break. He had specially bought a delicate little sword as a gift for her.
The original Lin Jingchu loved poetry and literature and looked down on swords and martial arts. Spoiled and arrogant by nature, she not only despised Lin Zheng’s gift, but also mocked him as a lowly brute.
Furious, Lin Zheng had immediately moved back to the academy to live there, preferring not to see her.
From then on, he found fault with her in everything.
Lin Shuyi pinched Lin Zheng on the shoulder. He winced in pain.
“Big Sister, why are you pinching me? That fool probably doesn’t even know what entering the family registry means. What ‘pure heart’…”
“Be quiet!” Lin Shuyi scolded.
Lin Jingchu: “……”
She truly hadn’t known the significance of being entered into the family registry.
But as a modern young woman raised on socialist core values, after spending several months in the marquis residence, she had already experienced luxuries she had never seen or enjoyed in all her lives. On top of that, Xia Ning had painstakingly planned for her future. Faced with such kindness, she could not bring herself to abandon them in their moment of crisis.
“My surname is Lin. The marquis residence is my home. I am willing to share honor and disgrace with the household.”
And besides, if she died here, perhaps she might even transmigrate back.
Lin Jingchu’s “I’ve got nothing to lose” attitude struck directly at Lin Qi’s heart, making him loudly exclaim, “Good!”
That shout frightened Xia Ning terribly.
“Marquis, mind your health!”
Ever since Lin Qi’s return, everyone in the household had worn expressions as though mourning the dead—though he was indeed close to death.
As a military general, he had long ago cast aside thoughts of life and death from the first day he stepped onto the battlefield. The only thing he could not stop worrying about was the women and children of his family.
Lin Jingchu’s calm composure reassured him greatly. In the future, she would surely support and watch over Lin Shuyi and Lin Zheng.
“To think that old bastard Lu Yuanshan’s bloodline would possess such courage and integrity.”
“Excellent!”
“Tomorrow I shall open the ancestral hall for Jing’er and inform our ancestors.”
After Lin Qi spoke those words, Lin Jingchu’s previously awkward position within the household instantly changed.
Even the muttered complaints in Lin Zheng’s mouth were forced back down.
That very night, imperial physicians from the palace arrived to examine Lin Qi’s pulse. Yet they were helpless regarding the arrowheads lodged in his shoulder. They could only prescribe medicine to prolong his life for at most another month.
Hearing this, Xia Ning fainted on the spot.
“If he was struck by arrows, then just pull them out!” Lin Zheng said anxiously.
The imperial physician shook his head.
“The one who shot these arrows was exceedingly vicious. They used rusted arrows contaminated with filth. The frontier military doctors dared not act rashly, and now the flesh has already grown around the arrows. At present, the wounds can only be cleaned daily with strong liquor. I will prescribe some medicine and see whether it may help.”