He returned empty-handed, truly not knowing how to explain.
"I've already given you the embroidered ball, and besides, I'm a woman. If I go back with you, I can't marry your young lady. You can just take the embroidered ball back yourselves."
Feng Jin was speechless. What stubborn, inflexible fools. Why would they want a woman to go back with them? Did they expect her to marry someone?
Having made herself clear, Feng Jin turned to leave, only to have her path blocked again.
"What exactly do you want?" Feng Jin's voice was tinged with anger, her slightly furrowed brow indicating she was holding back.
She had said all that needed to be said. If they still didn't understand, she wouldn't be polite.
"Miss, please come with us. Only when our master sees you will we be able to give an account."
"Alright, we'll go with you."
At the last moment, Old Master Ling stepped forward and said.
With Old Master Ling's permission, Feng Jin had nothing more to say and followed them back.
...
"Master, the person who caught the young lady's embroidered ball has been brought back."
The servant reported to the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat.
The man heard the voice, put down his teacup, raised his eyes, and looked forward. He saw an aged elder and a young woman before him.
His hand trembled slightly, almost knocking over the teacup on the table.
"You are the one who caught my daughter's embroidered ball."
Li Kun looked at Old Master Ling, who was standing before him, and kept appraising him. He was at least seventy or eighty years old. How could he have thrown it to someone like this?
Just as he was contemplating how to renege, the fortune teller's words flashed in his mind: whoever caught the embroidered ball, regardless of age, wealth, or status, must marry him to ensure the Li family's peace and prosperity.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Kun decided to prioritize the family's great enterprise and agreed to accept.
But the next words almost made him explode.
"This embroidered ball was not picked up by this old man; it was picked up by my granddaughter-in-law."
Old Master Ling directly denied it and then pushed Feng Jin, who was following behind him, forward.
Li Kun glanced at Feng Jin behind him and was stunned on the spot, his mouth hanging open.
After a long while, he recovered, but his heart was in turmoil. His legs trembled slightly as he stood up, walked to Feng Jin, and scrutinized her, "Did you really pick up this embroidered ball?"
When throwing the embroidered ball, he had imagined ten thousand possibilities, but he had never expected it to land in the hands of a woman.
This... what was to be done? He couldn't possibly marry his daughter to a woman.
"I did pick it up. I've given you the embroidered ball, so I'll be going now."
Having been forced to come, the embroidered ball returned, and the people delivered, Feng Jin didn't want to linger any longer. She said and turned to leave.
"Wait, hold on!"
Li Kun shouted, stopping them from leaving. The embroidered ball had been thrown, and everything was fated.
Since she had picked up the embroidered ball, he couldn't let them leave so easily.
"Quickly go and invite the Master," Li Kun said to a servant nearby.
In the current situation, only by inviting the Master could they resolve the dilemma.
Feng Jin's brows furrowed slightly, and she looked at Li Kun with displeasure, "What do you mean by this? What are you planning by keeping us here!"
Feng Jin felt that something was amiss and looked at Li Kun warily. What did this man intend to do?
And what Master... why did she feel that she shouldn't have picked up the embroidered ball just now? It was clearly a hot potato.
"Miss, you may not know, but this time my daughter threw the embroidered ball to find a marriage partner, and secondly, because my Li family has been experiencing misfortune recently. To break it, we must have my daughter throw the embroidered ball to find a husband to break this disaster."
"But I never imagined that the embroidered ball would, by mistake, be picked up by you, Miss. For the safety of my Li family, please wait here for a moment. We'll conclude after the Master arrives."
Upon hearing this, Feng Jin was completely petrified and stood there in a daze. What was all this?
Such an absurd thing could happen to her, it was truly unbelievable.
If she could have foreseen this situation, she would never have joined in the fun, nor would she have picked up that embroidered ball.
From his words, it seemed that only by marrying the person who picked up the embroidered ball could he resolve his Li family's crisis.
Did he expect her, a woman, to marry his daughter? She really didn't have that kind of preference.
Feng Jin felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her mind was still in a daze.
She kept thinking about how to handle this. Otherwise, she could just run out. She had vaguely understood when she came in that the Li family was just a merchant family.
No matter how rich they were, could they compare to the power of the Ling family? With Ling Mo Han backing her, she wasn't afraid.
But now they were all on the other side. As the saying goes, even a strong dragon can't overpower a local snake. There had to be at least a hundred guards in this mansion, inside and out. With just her and Old Master Ling, how could they resist?
Her original plan was not to use any of them. Feng Jin suddenly felt deflated.
"Master, you've finally arrived."
Li Kun saw a man dressed as a Taoist priest appear at the entrance and quickly went to greet him with a fawning expression.
The person Li Kun called Master was slightly plump, and his yellow Taoist robe gave him an air of wealth, all thanks to his ample flesh.
"This humble Taoist heard that the young lady's embroidered ball was picked up by a woman?"
"Yes, Master. This has been worrying me terribly. I was afraid my daughter's embroidered ball would be picked up by some unworthy person, so I had already ordered the guards to clear the area and surround it. Who would have thought that after the embroidered ball was thrown, it would be snatched by someone, and then it was knocked out and directly hit this young lady. By the time the guards found the embroidered ball, it was already in the young lady's hands."
"I really didn't know what to do, so I sent someone to invite you, Master. Please think of a way to save my Li family, my wife, and children!"
Li Kun walked beside the Master, his face full of sincerity and panic, earnestly begging the Master for help.
"Master Li, please calm yourself. Everything in heaven and earth is predestined. Where there is hardship, there is a way to resolve it. Since the young lady's embroidered ball was picked up by this young lady, it is fate, and it is the path of the Grand Pure Lord. Let this humble Taoist find a way to resolve it for you."
"Good, thank you, Master. Master, you have saved my family, and your kindness is as great as rebuilding the heavens."
Li Kun was instantly overwhelmed with gratitude, almost falling to his knees and bowing in thanks.
"Saving a life is a great deed for a monk, and it will also help this humble Taoist in his cultivation and accumulation of merit."