God's Gift

However, a rare major event happened in the General's Mansion. The city lord brought a large group of people and carried dozens of betrothal gifts to the General's Mansion, making the mansion, which was usually quiet, lively.

It was rare for Fang Ling to be dressed so elegantly today. He was wearing a neat sky-blue gown with pine and cypress patterns woven in golden silk thread between the silk and satin. He had a white jade hairpin in his hair, and looked like a nobleman.

But his movements seemed a little nervous. He followed behind City Lord Fang, opening and closing his hands repeatedly.

His forehead was covered with cold sweat, and the servant kept wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, saying comfortingly as he wiped the sweat:

"Don't be nervous, sir."

Fang Ling waved his hands, kept looking into the hall, and replied stumblingly, "No, not nervous."

A servant from the general's mansion came out and said respectfully to the city lord, "City lord, please come in."

City Lord Fang nodded and followed the servant into the hall. As soon as he entered, he saw Ning Yue sitting on the main seat. It was a rare occasion that he was wearing neat clothes, and it seemed that he was waiting for City Lord Fang and the other person.

When City Lord Fang walked into the hall, his men came in carrying countless gold, silver, jewelry, and silks and satins. They placed them on the ground one by one, and soon the entire hall was filled.

Ning Yue sat on the armchair, sipping tea leisurely. After the servants put down everything, he slowly raised his eyes, glanced at the betrothal gifts on the ground calmly, and said to the city lord indifferently:

"Thank you for your concern, City Lord."

"As you should." City Lord Fang sat down, straightened his robe, looked at Fang Ling who kept looking around beside him, and said to Ning Yue:

"I am here today for my son's marriage to Ning Jin."

Ning Yue didn't respond and continued to drink his tea.

"Before your father passed away, he arranged a marriage between my son and Ning Jin. I have kept this in mind for so many years. Now that Ning Jin has reached marriageable age, Fang Ling..."

City Lord Fang looked at Fang Ling, who was sweating profusely from nervousness, with a hint of disdain in his eyes. He then looked at Ning Yue and said, "Fang Ling is also urging me to propose marriage."

"I thought it was time to fulfill the engagement, so I brought my son here to ask Ning Jin for marriage."

After City Lord Fang finished speaking, he looked at Fang Ling beside him and motioned for him to speak.

Fang Ling looked at Ning Yue, whom she had only seen a few times, sitting on the main seat. She was so nervous that she didn't know what to say. She said stupidly:

"General, please agree to this..."

Ning Yue put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Fang Ling for a long time, which made Fang Ling's heart beat several times faster. Then he slowly said:

"Then let's choose a date."

"W-what..." Fang Ling's mind went blank and she didn't react to Ning Yue's words.

City Lord Fang laughed immediately, patted Fang Ling on the head, and said, "Since the general agrees, I will go back and prepare for the relevant matters."

Ning Yue nodded, and City Lord Fang did not stay any longer and hurried back, leaving behind only Fang Ling, who had not yet reacted, and Ning Yue, who stood up and walked in front of the betrothal gifts, looking at them non-stop.

Ning Yue took out a translucent and gorgeous gemstone vase from the betrothal gift and said, "This vase is nice..."

Fang Ling quickly explained, "This is a glass bottle that a merchant in the city brought back from doing business in the Western Regions. There is only one in Gusu City."

Ning Yue held the glass bottle and looked at it for a while, then said, "Sure, I'm in need of a urinal."

"Ah?" Fang Ling asked subconsciously, and Ning Yue looked over. Fang Ling paused, looked at the bottle in Ning Yue's hand hesitantly, and muttered softly:

"Then the mouth of this bottle may be too small."

Ning Yue's expression froze, he glanced at Fang Ling, then put the bottle into the box as if nothing had happened, glanced at the gold reflecting in the sun, and said:

"This is a lot of betrothal gifts."

Fang Ling immediately explained, "It was arranged according to the highest standards for weddings in the city, and I also added my savings from the past few years."

Ning Yue looked at Fang Ling again and snorted, "Not bad."

Ning Yue retracted his gaze, looked around the hall slowly for a while, then sat back on the armchair and said to Fang Ling:

"You really like my Ajin."

"Of course!" This time Fang Ling answered without any hesitation, "Ajin is the best... the best woman in the world. I like her and want to marry her."

"Ajin is indeed a well-behaved child." Ning Yue's voice became weaker, his eyes were distant, as if he was recalling something.

"She suffered a lot in the past, but I can't give her anything, and I can't make it up to her."

"How could Ajin suffer?" Fang Ling immediately became nervous when she heard this question.

Ning Yue stroked the teacup with his fingers, raised his eyes to look at Fang Ling, with a bit of scrutiny in his eyes, and said in an ambiguous tone:

"Ajin is not actually my biological sister."

Fang Ling was obviously stunned when he heard this, and asked in astonishment: "How could it be?"

"She is a little girl I picked up from the street." Ning Yue retracted his gaze, picked up the celadon teacup, brushed aside the tea leaves floating on the hot tea, and slowly took a sip.

"When she was young, she was wandering in the market, and she was so hungry that her face was pale and her body was thin. I picked her up and concealed the fact from the outside world, so no one knew about it."

"Then you were born, and the fortune teller said that she was destined to be with you, so I made a marriage agreement for you two."

After hearing this, Fang Ling clenched his fingers unconsciously, then lowered his head and walked around the hall, wondering what he was thinking.

After a while, Fang Ling walked up to Ning Yue, bowed to him, and said:

"Thank you, General."

Ning Yue raised his eyebrows when he heard this and asked, "Why are you thanking me for something?"

Fang Ling bowed again and said very seriously: "Thank you, General, for your kindness in adopting A Jin so that she will not suffer from hunger and cold."

"Thank you, General, for arranging our marriage. I am lucky enough to marry Ajin."

"Although I don't have great abilities, I will do my best to make sure that Ah Jin is surrounded by jewels and jade, and lives a life of luxury and peace of mind. I will never let Ah Jin suffer the pain she endured in her childhood."

Ning Yue stared at Fang Ling for a long time before lowering his eyes, taking a sip of hot tea and slowly saying, "That's good."

Fang Ling then stood up straight. Seeing that his tea was almost finished, she took the initiative to refill it for him. Then she remembered the story Ah Jin told her yesterday and said,

"The general is worthy of being the junior of General Ningdu. He is as kind-hearted as General Ningdu."

Ning Yue paused while drinking tea, raised his eyes to look at Ning Yue, raised a smile on his face, and asked, "What does this mean?"

Fang Ling put down the teapot and sat down on the chair next to Ning Yue. Then he said, "Ajin told me yesterday that General Ning Du also picked up a little girl on the street."

"He adopted the little girl as his sister and raised her alone. Later, when Ning Du was made a general, he made the girl a lady in a general's mansion with fine clothes and delicious food."

"People say that General Ningdu was a thief when he was young, but in fact, it was for his sister. This makes me admire him even more."

Speaking of Ning Du, Fang Ling held the handle of the chair and said excitedly: "General Ning Du is indeed a hero known far and wide. Such a life and mind are rare among ordinary people."

"Who said Ning Du is a hero?" Ning Yue looked at the admiration in Fang Ling's eyes, and said with a bit of sarcasm in his eyes:

"Ajin lied to you. Ning Du is not a hero."