Feng Jin's lips twitched uncontrollably as she looked at his earnest face. She was waiting for an answer, and she didn't know how to respond.
After a pause, Feng Jin coughed lightly and said in a slightly circuitous tone, "I think your aura isn't quite right. I personally suggest you don't try it."
Wouldn't a man with a beard be a thirty-something adult, rich in experience? Ling Mo Han was not at all suitable.
"Is that so?" Ling Mo Han's tone rose slightly, and his mood immediately dipped. He looked at himself in the mirror, examining himself from side to side. He thought he looked quite good, so why did Feng Jin say he wasn't suitable?
"Don't think about it anymore. It's really not suitable for you. Maybe in a few more years, it will be about right."
Feng Jin couldn't bear to see Ling Mo Han go down the wrong path and kindly reminded him.
"I think it's quite suitable." Ling Mo Han continued to insist on his own opinion.
Feng Jin glanced at him. This was a case of not hitting the south wall and not turning back. Since that was the case, she would let him have his way.
"If you think it's suitable, you can try it."
"Didn't you just say it wasn't suitable? Why have you changed your mind now?" Ling Mo Han turned to ask Feng Jin.
Feng Jin rolled her eyes helplessly and said impatiently, "Even if I say it's not suitable, you won't listen to me, so I'll just let you have your way."
Since no one would listen when she spoke, she was too lazy to waste her breath and just waited to see when Ling Mo Han would regret it.
"Since you say it's good, then I'll try it."
Ling Mo Han said eagerly, his eyes fixed on his reflection in the mirror. The more he looked, the better he thought he looked.
"Sigh..." Feng Jin sighed helplessly. Why had this person become so narcissistic now?
...
"Lord Ling, it's agreed. You can only stay for half an hour. Don't make things difficult for me, little brother."
"Naturally. I appreciate your trouble, young man."
Ling Erye took out a gold ingot from his embrace and stuffed it into the jailer's hand.
The jailer, who had received a good bribe, smiled and put the gold ingot into his embrace, leading the way.
The prison was dark and gloomy all day long, with a musty stench mixed with the wails of countless prisoners. Ling Muzhu had never been to such a place before and couldn't help but shiver.
"Lord Ling, this is it. Time is short, so keep it brief," the jailer said after unlocking the cell door and then left.
Ling Yan, who was huddled in the corner, saw who it was through the dim light and quickly stumbled to her feet and ran over.
"Father, Father..." Ling Yan cried, kneeling before Ling Erye and hugging his legs, sobbing, "Father, save me. Save me. This place is too terrifying. There are mice and cockroaches running all over me. I really know I was wrong. Save me, Father..."
Ling Erye looked at his unworthy daughter and sighed helplessly. He reached out to help her up.
"It was only because I begged Ling Mo Han that you were allowed to stay in the capital to serve your sentence. You just stay here, and I'll think of a way to get you out early later."
Ling Yan's crime this time was too serious. He had pleaded with Old Master Ling for a long time with no success. It was only when he found Ling Mo Han that he agreed to let Ling Yan stay in the capital.
"What..." Ling Yan collapsed on the ground in despair, unable to believe what she had heard.
Her mother and maternal grandmother had told her that she was a daughter of the Ling family, and no matter what she did, her grandfather and father would protect her. But... but things weren't as she had imagined.
"Child, since it has come to this, your father is powerless. You just stay here, and your father will make arrangements for you to live more comfortably."
At this point, it was all he could do.
"No... no..." Ling Yan shook her head frantically. "Father, save me, save me. I am your daughter... Father, save me."
Ling Erye sighed, his face full of helplessness. "Yan'er, I have failed you..."
Ling Yan's eyes instantly filled with hatred. She violently pushed away the hand Ling Erye used to support her, took a step back, and glared at Ling Erye resentfully. "It's clearly because you are useless! Grandfather ordered you to divorce my mother, and you didn't even dare to utter a word. You were afraid of Grandfather, afraid of Ling Mo Han, and couldn't even save your own daughter. You are truly useless!"
"You... you..." Ling Erye was so angry that blood rushed to his temples, and he immediately felt dizzy. If Ling Muzhu hadn't supported him in time, he would have collapsed on the ground.
"Ling Yan, are you mad? Your father has been running around for you, and after begging my elder brother for a long time, you were allowed to stay in the capital. How can you say such unconscionable words!"
Ling Muzhu angrily rebuked Ling Yan, wondering how she had become like this.
"Shut up. Ling Muzhu, what right do you have to speak to me like this? I am your older sister. I said nothing wrong. Isn't he just useless? He's achieved nothing in his official career and even lost the authority to manage the household. If he had any backbone, my mother wouldn't have been divorced, and I wouldn't be locked up here. It's all because of his uselessness!"
"Marrying him in this life was my mother's biggest mistake. Having a father like him is my biggest misfortune in this life!"
She hadn't believed what her maternal grandmother had said before, but now that she saw it with her own eyes, she knew her grandmother was right. Her father was truly a useless person.
And having such a father in this life was the source of her lifelong misfortune.
"I gave birth to you and raised you for over a decade. I don't ask for repayment of my nurturing grace, but I never expected you to think of me like this!"
Ling Erye never imagined that in Ling Yan's eyes, he was such a useless person.
"Yes, in my heart, you are just such a useless person. I am ashamed to have a father like you!"
Ling Yan's words were like knives that ruthlessly pierced his heart. In an instant, Ling Erye looked several years older, and his back was slightly hunched.
"Ling Yan, shut up. If you dare to say another word..."
"What, do you want to kill me!" Ling Yan sneered contemptuously at Ling Muzhu. "I'm already living a life worse than death locked up in this prison. Ling Muzhu, if you have the ability, then kill me! But don't forget, I am your own sister. If you kill me, you will surely be reviled by everyone. Your imperial examination, your official career, the hope of the entire second branch will be ruined!"
Ling Yan let out a few maniacal laughs. "Ling Muzhu, you are truly useless! Just like your father, you are both useless. With your capabilities, you still want to take the imperial examinations and get appointed? It's impossible!"
"Shut up! Shut up!"