Borderlands of Li Kingdom, Qi Town.
“I say, Su Hunter, you really are blessed with good fortune!”
Her face caked in rouge, the matchmaker shouted at the top of her lungs while unceremoniously plonking herself down on the only intact wooden chair in the dilapidated little courtyard.
The thin, worn-out chair groaned under the weight, letting out a sharp, tooth-aching creak.
Pinching her bright red handkerchief, she continued, “This Qin Gongzi is the nephew of the County Magistrate. He just arrived from the capital a few days ago. He’s a man of striking talent and handsome features—you won’t find such a fine catch within ten miles, no, even a hundred!”
“Yes, yes…” Su Geng rubbed his hands together, looking at his eldest daughter, Su Ruolang, with hesitation. “Lang’er… how about you just marry him?”
Su Ruolang remained silent, her gaze fixed on the tall, slender figure standing at the doorway.
The youth wore a green robe with cloud patterns, crafted with fine workmanship. His frame beneath the silk was somewhat thin, carrying the refined air of a scholar.
However, a layer of thin calluses lined the webs of his thumbs—marks that could never have been worn down by sitting at a desk reading, writing poetry, or painting.
She raised her eyes further to look at his face.
The eaves cast a shallow shadow that accentuated his well-defined features. His thin lips and lean face were as cold as early winter frost, yet he was cursed with a pair of slightly upturned, amorous eyes.
“Oh,” her stepmother, Chen Shi, spoke up sourly. “With such a grand gesture from his side, could she possibly suffer any grievances by marrying him? Who knows how many lifetimes of virtue she must have accumulated to marry this… this…”
Chen Shi suddenly choked on her words.
Her heart was filled only with the glittering gold and silver from the betrothal gifts; she hadn’t bothered to ask the name of this youth who had suddenly come to propose marriage.
“Qin Moqing,” a deep voice came from beneath the eaves.
His tone was cold and clear, like the snow on Tianshan in May—no flowers, only frost.
He seemed to be answering Chen Shi, but his phoenix eyes were fixed solely on Su Ruolang.
“Qin Moqing…” Su Ruolang repeated.
When she had saved that old lady three days ago, she had only heard the woman calling him “Aqing” incessantly. Only today did she learn his full name.
As their eyes met, Su Ruolang was the first to speak. “How is your grandmother’s health?”
“There are no further complications. Thank you for your concern,” Qin Moqing said, his words as precious as gold.
Grandmother?
To the side, Chen Shi immediately pricked up her ears.
Su Ruolang gave Chen Shi a cool glance. “Qin Gongzi, may we have a word in private?”
Since she was his soon-to-be wife, Qin Moqing did not refuse.
One after the other, the two entered the main room.
Watching them from behind, the matchmaker grinned like a blooming cockscomb flower. “Truly a match made in heaven, a talented man and a beautiful woman! Look at that—they haven’t even wed yet, and they already have secrets to share…”
Hearing this, Chen Shi’s back molars itched with resentment.
Her own biological daughter was beautiful and clever, with suitors practically breaking down the door, yet her thunder was being stolen by a fool like Su Ruolang!
Who could have thought this girl, who had been dim-witted for over a decade, would suddenly have her mind clear up and stumble upon such luck?
To have the nephew of the County Magistrate personally come to seek her hand was a massive stroke of dumb luck!
Inside the main room.
Su Ruolang propped her hand on the table and poured a cup of tea for Qin Moqing. “You actually came to propose?”
Qin Moqing’s expression was aloof. “I am no child; I do not go back on my word.”
Though his face remained expressionless, the aura of cold detachment surrounding him was enough to show he had no passion for this marriage.
For a moment, Su Ruolang felt a bit like a profligate noble forcing a commoner girl into marriage.
“You don’t regret it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Regret was out of the question; Qin Moqing never intended to break his promise. He was merely suspicious.
The Su Ruolang before him was dressed in a plain skirt, her features delicate, yet her presence lacked even a hint of the submissiveness typical of ordinary women. Instead, she possessed a certain candidness.
Three days ago, his grandmother had suffered a sudden heart attack and was saved by this woman. However, his grandmother’s senility had also flared up, and she had clung to Su Ruolang, mistaking her for A’Jun, who had been missing for ten years, and insisting she marry her grandson.
To his surprise, this woman had demanded a hundred taels of silver to agree to the match.
He had never seen a woman like her.
The noble ladies of the capital mostly had minds as intricate as needles, yet her motives were entirely unconcealed.
Was it really just for a few light slips of banknotes?
After a moment of silence, Qin Moqing suppressed the doubts in his heart and spoke in a low voice, “Things have come to this; there is no need for further talk. Seven days from now, I… I will come to fetch you for the wedding.”
Su Ruolang gave a nonchalant hum. “And when shall we divorce?”
Her tone remained flat, as if they were discussing the most mundane of matters.
“A term of one month,” Qin Moqing said succinctly.
Su Ruolang nodded.
Good, that would prevent any complications from a long engagement.
Su Ruolang had her own reasons for agreeing to this marriage.
It was because this Su family… was not as simple as it appeared.
She had only woken up in this body a few days ago.
One moment, she was in the middle of a massive explosion, with the desperate screams of her teammates still ringing in her ears.
The next, she had arrived in this place she had never seen or heard of. She had transformed from Su Ruonan, an SSS-rank member of an elite squad and leader of the medical team, into Su Ruolang, a weak young woman.
Upon checking her own pulse, she discovered this body was riddled with holes, so to speak.
Not only was she so thin she was skin and bones, but her body was covered in bruises from Chen Shi’s beatings, and she had been afflicted with a strange poison.
The poison was so deep it likely had been carried from the womb.
This poison affected the mind, which explained why the original owner had been dim-witted since childhood.
It was a miracle someone like her had survived this long. If the poison wasn’t neutralized, she wouldn’t live another half a month…
But before the poison could take her, the original owner had been strangled to death by an unknown person while gathering firewood in the mountains.
The killer was truly desperate to see her dead, unable to wait even a mere two weeks!
Worse still, after Su Ruolang transmigrated, she searched through her memories but couldn’t determine who had struck the lethal blow.
The enemy was in the dark while she was in the light; her life was far from comfortable.
This was a perfect opportunity to remove herself from the situation and gain a hundred taels of silver for free—why wouldn’t she take it?
She would leave this den of trouble first; it wouldn’t be too late to investigate the cause of the original owner’s death later…
Her thoughts returned to the present.
She looked at her nominal future husband. Seeing that his green robe could not hide his noble air, she felt a trace of suspicion.
Could a man who clearly looked like he was raised in luxury really just be the nephew of a borderland official?
But whether he was or wasn’t didn’t matter to her.
In a month at most, they would have nothing to do with each other.
Having settled the date for the divorce, Su Ruolang and Qin Moqing walked out of the room.
The matchmaker outside immediately handed over the marriage contract. “Miss Su, Qin Gongzi has already signed. All that’s left is you…”
The bright red marriage contract was a foot long and half a foot wide. The small regular script was written neatly, and it already bore the official seal of the government.
Su Ruolang took the brush eagerly offered by the matchmaker, wrote her name, and pressed her thumbprint onto the red ink.
The matchmaker was instantly overjoyed. “A great joy! Truly a great joy! I wish you both mutual respect, a harmonious life, and may you grow old together in eternal union!”
Su Ruolang: “…”
Growing old together wasn’t necessary. She would just focus on surviving until her hair turned white.