177. Marriage alliance

The old prime minister snorted and said impatiently, "It's not entirely my fault that things didn't go as planned. There's no use talking about it now. The most important thing is to stabilize the situation."

Duke Anguo paced anxiously, "Stay calm? How can we stay calm? Xie Wenling is pressing me relentlessly, clearly intending to kill me!"

He paused, his voice laced with threat: "This was your idea, you have to save me, or I'll turn against you and drag you into it too!"

There was a moment of silence in the room.

The old prime minister seemed to be weighing the pros and cons, and after a long while he spoke: "Turning against you will not benefit either of us, so why fight to the death?"

Duke Anguo sneered: "It's better to fight to the death than to die without a fight, right? Now I see it clearly, you only wanted to use me from the beginning!"

"How could that be? You're overthinking it. I genuinely want to cooperate with you; otherwise, why would I reveal Xie Wenling's most valuable secrets to you?"

"A trump card? I bet that's just wishful thinking. You really want to cooperate with me? I think you're just making me take all the risks while you try to absolve yourself of all responsibility!"

“That’s not right. Someone always has to take the risk,” the old prime minister said quickly, seeing that the Duke of Anguo was about to get angry again. “If Your Majesty is really uneasy, I can also give you a guarantee.”

"What guarantee? Tell me quickly!"

“A marriage alliance,” the old prime minister said slowly. “I have a grandson who is thirteen years old this year, just the right age for an engagement. Don’t you have a precious daughter? Why don’t we arrange a marriage between our two families and first set up a betrothal? Let your daughter live in my residence first, so that His Majesty can see that our two families are on good terms. Then I can plead on your behalf, and Xie Wenling will naturally restrain himself.”

"No! Absolutely not!" Duke Anguo refused without hesitation, his voice trembling with emotion. "My Fufu is only five years old, the apple of my and Yu Niang's eye. How can we send him to your mansion as a hostage? You must find another condition!"

"Change the terms? Your Excellency, this is not the time for bargaining. A marriage alliance is the best option. If it really comes down to a fight to the death, are you sure you can afford to take revenge on both Xie Wenling and me?"

Duke Anguo fell silent, as if he were making a difficult decision.

Lin Lingrong hid outside the door, her hands and feet were ice cold.

Is Duke Anguo really going to send Lin Fuman to a marriage alliance?

But Lin Fu is only five years old!

She couldn't say she liked Lin Fuman that much, but she didn't want to see this happen.

After all, she could more or less understand that being sent to the Prime Minister's residence under the guise of a marriage alliance was actually a way to hold someone hostage.

The situation is definitely not good.

If the Duke of Anguo and the old prime minister fall out...

She dared not think any further.

However, what Duke Anguo said next felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe, chilling her to the bone—

“I can’t send my youngest daughter, but my eldest daughter, Lin Lingrong, is seven years old this year, which is more suitable. I will send her to live in your mansion and arrange a marriage between our children.”

Lin Lingrong's tears welled up instantly.

She knew that the Duke of Anguo did not like her, but she never expected him to arrange things for her in this way.

She bit her lip, trying hard not to cry out loud.

"Lin Lingrong?" The old prime minister's voice was disdainful. "That unfavored girl? What use is she?"

“She is the legitimate daughter, while Fufu is the illegitimate daughter. She is a better match for your grandson.” Only at this moment did the Duke of Anguo begin to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children.

"Now that she's been sent here, do you really care whether she lives or dies?" the old prime minister said bluntly. "You'd be more than happy to send her away, wouldn't you?"

Duke Anguo seemed surprised by the old prime minister's blunt and harsh words. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Well... how about we keep her as a hostage? As long as we can stabilize the situation, I'll bring her back once things have calmed down. If that doesn't work, I... I can secretly send her birth mother over as well, so they can keep each other company in your residence. Is that alright?"

Lin Lingrong hid outside the door, unable to hold back her tears any longer.

She covered her mouth to keep herself from making a sound, but her body trembled uncontrollably.

Her father actually wanted to send her and her mother to the Prime Minister's mansion as hostages, and even marry her off to a complete stranger...

This was the first time she had ever felt such intense despair about her future.

She dared not think any further and turned to run, but as soon as she took a step, she realized something and suddenly stopped.

Although the corridor was carpeted, it wasn't very thick, and running around would inevitably make noise. If the people inside found out, the consequences would be unimaginable.

So she held her breath and backed away little by little.

However, she hadn't gone far when she turned her head and saw the little dumpling examining the backs of the ornaments one by one along the corridor, her little face full of seriousness.

When I saw her, my eyes lit up instantly, and I was about to call out to her.

Lin Lingrong's heart tightened, and she rushed over, covering the little girl's mouth with her hand and shaking her head vigorously at her.

The little dumpling was startled by her sudden action, blinked, and obediently nodded, indicating that she would not make a sound.

Lin Lingrong then let go of her hand, grabbed her wrist, and ran back along the edge of the corridor with very light steps.

When they returned to the private room, the second brother was waiting outside. Seeing the two of them come back, he came up and asked, "Big Sister Lin, where did you hide? You're amazing, it took you so long to find us!"

Lin Lingrong had no time to answer. She grabbed her maid and said in a trembling voice, "Quick, prepare the carriage. We're going home now!"

She had to see her mother immediately and tell her about her father and the old prime minister's conspiracy; every second she was late could be dangerous!

Seeing her pale face and flustered expression, the maid dared not ask any more questions and quickly replied, "Yes, Miss, I'll go right away!"

"Big sister, what's wrong?" The little girl asked worriedly, seeing her hurried appearance. "Did something happen? Your eyes are red, did you cry?"

Lin Lingrong paused, turned back to look at the little dumpling, her eyes welling up with tears again, but she shook her head vigorously: "I'm fine, County Princess, you should go back to find the Lady of Beiding Marquis, I want to go home."

After saying that, she turned to leave.

The little dumpling wasn't about to let her go. She quickly caught up with her and grabbed her sleeve: "Big sister, something's clearly wrong! Big sister, tell Yue'er, did someone bully you? Yue'er and second brother will help you!"

Even her oblivious second brother noticed that something was wrong with her and rushed over, waving his fist: "Yeah, you've been bullied? Who was it? Tell me, I'll beat him up!"

"I'm really fine, don't follow me, go back quickly!" Lin Lingrong hurriedly ran out, afraid of bumping into the Duke of Anguo who was leaving after their secret meeting.

But the tears just wouldn't stop.

Seeing her tears, the little dumpling became even more worried and followed her downstairs without a care: "If Yue'er doesn't go back, and big sister doesn't tell Yue'er what happened, Yue'er will stay with big sister forever!"

The second brother also hurriedly chased after her: "Big Sister Lin, what's wrong with you? Let's talk this out, don't be like this!"

Lin Lingrong looked at the little dumpling following closely behind her, feeling anxious and confused, yet she couldn't bear to be too harsh on her.

When they arrived at the restaurant, the carriage was already prepared. She stepped into the carriage, and the little dumpling quickly clung to it, trying to climb on as well.

"Princess!" Lin Lingrong cried anxiously, "Please come downstairs, I'm really alright!"

"The moon won't go down!"

Lin Lingrong looked at the little dumpling, then at the servant beside her who also looked worried, and knew that she could no longer hide her abnormality.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and said to her second brother, "Young Master Jin, please go back and tell Madam Hou not to worry. Otherwise, she will be frightened if both of you disappear."

The second brother was actually a bit conflicted, feeling that Lin Lingrong's matter must be very important.

But then I thought, it's also important not to worry or frighten my mother.

So he nodded and went back to the restaurant.

Lin Lingrong then put the little dumpling back into the carriage and said to the driver, "Don't go back to the manor yet, let's find a quiet place to stop."

The coachman responded, cracked his whip, and the carriage slowly drove away from the restaurant.

Inside the carriage, Lin Lingrong could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. Holding the little girl's hand, she recounted in a trembling voice everything she had just heard: "Princess, my father... he wants to send my mother and me to the Prime Minister's mansion as hostages, and he also wants me to marry the old Prime Minister's grandson... He doesn't care about our lives at all, and he even said he would send my mother there too..."

She spoke haltingly, and with each sentence she uttered, her tears fell even more fiercely.