That sentence was, naturally, a lie.
If there truly wasn't a single person capable of capturing her, she would have left long ago. Why would she still be here playing the family affection card? If the old man got ruthless right now, captured her, and locked her inside the Tianji Tower, then simply took the tower straight to Nanyu to hold the wedding, she wouldn't have the slightest power to resist.
Feng Zhen turned his head back and glanced at Feng Jiuge. In the end, the severity faded from his face, and he let out a slow sigh.
"You little girl... tell your grandfather honestly. You said you have a man—how much of that can be believed?"
Feng Jiuge was startled. She hadn't expected Feng Zhen to take a casually fabricated sentence of hers seriously. She hesitated a moment before answering, "About seventy percent."
Feng Zhen's eyes narrowed. "Explain."
"I've taken a fancy to a man; it's just that I haven't found him yet."
That poor injured man—she would temporarily borrow his existence for the moment.
"Truly like him?"
"Yes."
"To what extent?"
"To the point of destroying the Ling Family for him."
Even if it weren't for him, she currently had an urge to destroy the Ling Family.
Third Young Master of the Ling Family? Ling Yi? Marriage contract?
She had never heard of anyone who dared to forcefully marry her, Feng Jiuge, against her will!
Her heart was practically boiling with rage!
Unexpectedly, Feng Zhen suddenly slapped his thigh, stood up abruptly, and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Good. Tomorrow I'll go tell Ling the Second to take his betrothal gifts and go home."
Huh?
Feng Jiuge's brows lifted, and then a hazy mist shrouded her eyes as moved emotion spread through her. "Old man..."
"The Ling Family can't be destroyed right now; the internal affairs of Mingyue can't fall into chaos yet."
Hearing the old man's skyward murmur, Feng Jiuge was instantly speechless.
Feng Zhen seemed to have learned a trick from Feng Yun, feeling that one blow wasn't enough and that another was needed. "Jiuge, I'm giving you three days. Within three days, bring that man before me. I want to see if he is worthy of my Feng Family's people."
Fine. She had just made do with mentioning that man just now; where was she supposed to find such a person to make up the numbers at this point?
If she casually dragged over any Tom, Dick, or Harry, the old man would definitely kick him out the main entrance with one foot, sending him rolling down those hundreds or thousands of stone steps until he was a bloody pulp by the foot of the mountain.
When she exited the main hall, Feng Jiuge looked up toward the back mountain. On the protruding viewing platform of Fairy Maiden Peak, several grown men seemed to be drinking merrily and were performing... a striptease.
They were old men already decades into their lives; she had no interest.
She turned around and went back to her room to sleep.
In the end, at noon the next day, the hungover Ling Rang was called in by the old man to talk for a while in a daze. Before afternoon even arrived, he really packed his things and rode a seventh-rank spirit peng back to Nanyu.
Feng Jin watched that grand, mighty procession and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
It seemed she was quite valuable—just the betrothal gifts alone were so plentiful.
Little did she know, most of what the spirit peng carried back were territorial concessions and indemnities from the Feng Family. Breaking off a marriage—if the scope was small, it was a matter between husband and wife; if the scope was large, it became a conflict between two families.
Not to mention the old man ceding territory and paying indemnities—previously, he had been quite opposed to Second Miss Feng Chenge of the Feng Family marrying the Seventh Lord of the Ling Family. That was practically a whole generation apart! Now he could only consent, and even had to throw in a dowry.
Feng Yun glared at Feng Zhen, full of resentment. "Old man, just keep spoiling her. Sooner or later she's going to flip the heavens! Do you think it was easy for me to arrange a marriage agreement for her with such foresight? With that yaksha-like appearance of hers, who would be willing to marry her!"