No Repeats

Getting permission to marry

While it has been a long and painful five years for Lin Xi to wait, once Father Feng had admitted and recognised his feelings, this man's straightforward nature meant that he is also very impatient to formalise the relationship. True to his words, the very next day matchmakers were sent to the Lin residence, where Lin Xi's fake parents received enough betrothal gifts to fill the entire main hall. The people carrying the gifts lined up in pairs from one end of the street to the other.

The spectacular display of wealth and sincerity would have touched even her real parent's hearts despite the massive age difference and the position of second wife. Even though she would be Father Feng's official wife, she is still technically the second wife, even though his first wife had died a long time ago. It was obvious for all bystanders that this nuptial is not benefiting the bride, after all, Father Feng already has two grown sons who will inherit all the family fortune.

Even if the second wife managed to conceive, and if it is a boy, then all the family fortunes would be long gone and divided to the elder brothers by the time he could fight for it. Malicious and jealous people sneered to each other and predict a sad end for the second wife. Really, once Father Feng dies, then the widow and child would soon be evicted out from the house by the two older sons.

All of that did not matter of course, for Lin Xi, as an independent woman with rank and brains, she is marrying for love. She has interacted long enough with the family to know and love them as her own. Likewise, when the Feng brothers heard their father's announcements, they celebrated it as if it was their own. To them, Lin Xi is their sister and friend.

Unlike their self-conscious father who was coloured by his low self-esteem, the brothers could clearly see Lin Xi's partiality to their father from the beginning. They knew it was only a matter of time before she would be forced to make a move. Truth be told, they had almost given up waiting over the years and in their hearts, they greatly admired her patience. These brothers had enough emotional intelligence to know that these matters of the heart must not be rushed and the people in it must make their own moves and decisions.

When the gifts came through the door, the fake Lin parents were truly overjoyed but hesitant. They are members of the secret service unit assigned on this mission and have watched the girls grow up. It is not an exaggeration to say, that they genuinely wished Lin Xi happiness but they were more concerned about breaking the service's rules and the penalties that would come with it.

The night before the match maker arrived, Lin parents have clearly articulated their position to Lin Xi and Lin An. This matter must be reported to the Captain and only he could make the call. Until they receive a response from the Captain, they can only withhold their decision. Lin Xi agreed reluctantly, she had already sent a letter to the Captain to explain the situation, there was nothing she could do at this point.

If the Captain insists that she could not marry Father Feng, she will resign and if he punishes them, then she has no choice but fight to the death for her chance at freedom and love. Lin An had also made the same determination and pleaded to the Captain in a separate letter to allow Lin Xi to be married. Lin Xi is making a very important precedent for her, so it is even more of an imperative that this marriage moves ahead successfully.

In addition to the girl's pleads, the parents had also separately made their own representations to the Captain to plead this case. How it would be received is outside their control, but they knew that Captain Lu Tai is a reasonable and clever man. Is it not better to grant a simple wish than to lose a valuable agent and waste all these years of training?

The pace of which Father Feng had been able to procure all these treasures and gifts has given Lin Xi whiplash, and she had expected that they would have a bit more time to convince Captain Lu Tai. But at the same time, she did not want to dampen his enthusiasm and Lin Xi accepted it all in her heart with a beaming smile and genuine joy.

The Lin parents had spent a sleepless night, trying to think of ways to stall their response and not discourage Father Feng, after all, they all knew how long and arduous this process has been for their fake daughter.

When the letters arrived in quick succession, inundating Lu Tai's bird box, he read them with mixed feelings and a heavy heart. It has not been long since he had been severely punished by Yu Li for letting Shu Mei out and worst, letting Shu Mei harm herself for Bai Ye's sake.

Even though the punishment was less than what he expected, twenty canes and a loss of one year's income is a devastating blow for the captain who is saving up to get married one day. Yu Li has been in frustrated with uncharacteristic angry outbursts lately, making everyone around him tip toe in fear.

Lu Tai has only recovered from the caning and refused to interact with Yu Li unless there is an absolute emergency. He cannot help it; the pain is too fresh and the shame of being publicly canned have humiliated the captain beyond measure. Even though he had not been demoted, Lu Tai knew that he must earn some serious merits to gain this subordinates' respect again.

So, even though Lu Tai completely empathises with Lin Xi's position and on a normal day would have agreed to the marriage, he did not want to make another mistake. Especially since, this involves the Feng family and Shu Mei, which means that it would be of high interest to the General.

But his conscience would not let him reject the request just because he didn't want to incur the General's wrath, after all, it is a sin to tear away love birds. Lu Tai wants his own family one day, his heart is not as cold and ruthless as someone's, so he can understand the pain of being prevented from being with one's true love. In haste, Lu Tai sought attendance with the General to seek his views and plead for leniency to grant Lin Xi's wishes. On his way, Lu Tai prepared all sorts of reasonings and supportive benefits of the nuptial, to not only the mission but the unit and even the country.

"This subordinate greets the General," said Lu Tai as he knelt beside Yu Li.

"Lu Tai, has your injuries healed already? Now I think about it, maybe twenty canes were not sufficient given how quickly you healed," said Yu Li coldly, with only a slight tilt of his lips to show that he is joking.

"No, no, twenty canes were definitely enough, I have learnt my lesson," said Lu Tai as beads of sweat formed on his forehead and neck.

"In that case, why are you here?" asked Yu Li.

"Reporting to the General, Lin Xi and Lin An have been on the mission to help the Feng family for the last five years. They have done a stellar job and will continue to look after them to the best of their abilities. But Lin Xi and Feng Yeran have fallen in love and wishes to marry. I am here to seek your direction on this," said Lu Tai as he looked at Yu Li nervously and inconspicuously at the corner of the room where there sat a small figure, so still that she almost passed as a statue.

Shu Mei have been sitting on the chair facing the window with her back towards Yu Li and either immersed in her books or the scene outside the window all day, completely ignoring the man in the room. Yu Li had tried many times to start a conversation with her but was greeted with silence and eye rolls. This cold war had started since she was carried back from Zhua Zhu.

Her anger and hatred had only deepened when he placed a thin black metal bracelet on her wrist. This black metal was intricately made and beautiful, but it was disgustingly connected to a thin black metal chain that was connected to an anchor in the room. Not only is she chained like a dog, but the black metal is continuously absorbing all her inner powers leaving her with no ability to fight and defend herself.

The worst part of it was that she was not allowed the opportunity to grieve in peace and must suffer the indignity and annoyance at seeing his face and hearing his voice. Every day, he would 'walk her around' like a dog and refused to let her part with him for even a minute. She had exhausted herself and ran out of saliva from cursing him, but the thick-skinned man always managed to ignore her and let the insults go in one ear and out the other.

She realised that the best way to get on his nerves is this cold war, but in her heart, she just wants him to die. Every time her eyes land on him, she imagined stabbing him multiple times, but her imagination is not satisfying, no she wants to stab in him real life!