Fan Xilou replied, "He is of noble status, while you are merely the daughter of a merchant; I'm afraid you cannot become his principal wife."

"Judging from his temperament, he seems gentle, but in reality he is extremely domineering. I'm afraid he won't let go easily."

Lin Xiuyan turned her head and glanced at Fan Xilou. He usually blushed easily, but he had a very strong ability to observe.

She asked him, "So what do you think I should do?"

Fan Xilou's face flushed slightly: "I have not yet been betrothed. If you do not wish to marry him as a concubine, I am willing to marry you as my wife."

Lin Xiuyan: "..."

Lin Xiuyan: "!!!!!"

She wanted to curry favor with a powerful figure who said he wanted to marry her, and she had mixed feelings about it!

She coughed lightly and said, "Do you like me and want to marry me? Or is it because I once saved you, and you're marrying me to repay that debt?"

Fan Xilou blushed even more, but said, "Miss Lin is intelligent, quick-witted, and has a free and easy personality. I'm afraid there is no man in the world who wouldn't like you."

Lin Xiuyan: "..."

She'd lived two lives, and this was the first time she'd been praised like this.

She said earnestly, "Young Master Fan, I'm really not as good as you say."

"To be honest, I've always considered you a friend, and there's never been any romantic feeling between us."

"If I marry you just to escape Ye Junfei, it would be very unfair to you."

Fan Xilou blushed and looked at her: "I don't mind."

Lin Xiuyan's almond-shaped eyes showed a hint of determination: "But I mind."

"To be honest, Zhou Chenyang's matter has had a great impact on me."

"Although I know that not all men in the world are like him, I find it difficult to be attracted to men again." (www.cascoo.net)

"All I want in my life is to stay with my parents and protect the Lin family's assets. I don't want to get married."

When Fan Xilou met her clear eyes, he felt a little embarrassed.

The reason he mustered up the courage to tell her these things today was twofold: firstly, he had sensed Ye Junfei's feelings for her, and secondly, his leg injury was healing and he was about to leave.

If he doesn't speak up today, they may never see each other again, and he may never have another chance to say it.

Although he said he knew beforehand that she was likely to reject him, he still felt a little sad when she actually did.

However, he quickly suppressed these emotions.

He said softly, "If I tell you this now, it's somewhat like taking advantage of someone in distress, which is not the behavior of a gentleman."

"If one day someone forces you to become a concubine and you are powerless to stop it, you can always push me out to take your place. I keep my word."

His words made Lin Xiuyan a little embarrassed. She smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but I think that day will never come."

Seeing his face flushed crimson, she knew he must have mustered the courage to say those things to her today.

She didn't know what had happened to him in his past life that caused such a drastic change in him.

None of this has happened yet, and she secretly hopes that the events of her past life will not happen, and that he will always remain the blushing Fan Xilou he is now.

She said sincerely, "Young Master Fan, I hope we can be good friends for life, and that you will marry a beautiful woman soon."

Fan Xilou blushed and said, "Okay."

Lin Xiuyan smiled at him, her smile clear and bright. He blushed and smiled back, somewhat shy but very open and honest.

During a break from forging iron, Xu Qianting glanced at them and shouted, "Old Fan, what are you whispering to Yanyan? Your face is so red!"

Ye Junfei's gaze also fell on Lin Xiuyan and Fan Xilou, deep and cold.

Fearing that she would cause trouble for Fan Xilou, Lin Xiuyan said, "Xu Qianting, if you don't take your blacksmithing seriously, you'll lose!"

Xu Qianting muttered something in a low voice, then picked up the hammer again and started banging it around.

Ye Junfei glanced at Fan Xilou with his eagle-like eyes, suppressed his emotions, and went back to his work.

Wu Dao strolled over and said, "What are you all doing? It's quite a commotion!"

He was truly stunned when he saw Ye Junfei forging iron!

He really wanted to gather all the secret guards over and watch their aloof and unattainable prince forge iron.

This is absolutely huge news!

When Ye Junfei saw him coming over, he glanced at him and immediately suppressed the thoughts that had just surfaced in his mind.

He even went so far as to fawn over him, saying, "Young Master Ye, do you need my help?"

Ye Junfei glanced at him and said very gently, "No need, Your Highness, please go and rest over there!"

Wu Dao felt uneasy under his gaze and dared not approach him again. He decisively ran to Lin Xiuyan and Fan Xilou and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Ye Junfei felt that this guy had started to give up after arriving at the Lin residence.

With that expression, no one would believe he was the heir of a royal family. No one knows how he managed to fool Zhou Chenyang in the city lord's mansion.

Lin Xiuyan, of course, wouldn't tell him the truth, so she said, "Young Master Ye and Young Master Xu are having a competition. The young master has arrived just in time to be their referee."

Wu Dao was truly stunned when he heard this. Given his young master's personality, the fact that he would actually compete with someone was like the sun rising in the west!

Lin Xiuyan dared not stay with Fan Xilou any longer, so she went to instruct the kitchen to make them some snacks.

Wu Dao dared not watch Ye Junfei forging iron any longer, and followed behind Lin Xiuyan like a tail, saying, "Miss Lin, I'll go with you."

Lin Xiuyan: "..."

This is really enough!

He was the heir of the Prince of Pingnan, so she couldn't kick him out and could only let him follow her.

Lin Yunzhi and Qu Shuangyue peeked out from the side to watch this scene. Lin Yunzhi said with some concern, "This young master seems to have some ill intentions!"

Qu Shuangyue's eyes also showed some displeasure: "I've heard that the heir of the Prince of Pingnan is no good."

"If he dares to make a move on Yan'er, I'll chop him up!"

Lin Yunzhi was somewhat worried: "We just got rid of Zhou Chenyang, and now the Prince of Pingnan's heir has arrived."

"I don't want Yan'er to marry into a powerful family at all. I just want her to live a peaceful and happy life and marry someone she loves."

Qu Shuangyue looked at Xu Qianting, then at Ye Junfei: "I think both Xiao Ye and Xiao Xu are good."

"Why don't we take advantage of the fact that the Prince of Pingnan's son has just shown a little interest in Yan'er, and choose one of them to marry Yan'er off?"

Lin Yunzhi agreed with her opinion and analyzed, "Although Xu Qianting is well-known, Yan'er probably wouldn't be interested in him, otherwise the two of them would have been together long ago."

"Furthermore, both Commander Xu and Madam Xu are quite cunning. If Yan'er marries into the Xu family, she might suffer mistreatment."

"Xiao Ye's origins are unknown, but he exudes an air of nobility. Although he has no ill intentions towards our family, it's hard to guarantee that he won't cause us other trouble."

“If he doesn’t have any other problems, marrying into our family would be a good option.”