Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

In that instant, whether it was the young masters who had already vaguely sensed something was amiss, or the nobles who were still immersed in their frolicking, they all stopped their movements and laughter as if under a spell. They stared at the tightly closed door with wide eyes, as if they could see through the heavy door panel what was happening inside.

As time passed, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, everyone's heart filled with curiosity and confusion. Finally, a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps broke the silence. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Feng Baozheng stumbling out of the room, looking panicked.

Feng Bao's face was as red as a ripe apple, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. His chest heaved violently, and he gasped for breath. He ran, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Just now, just now... Miss Lin and I secretly decided to get married! I thought it would be a natural progression, but who would have thought that, by sheer coincidence, we'd be caught by Brother Lin Jingyu!"

At this point, Feng Bao paused briefly, as if to calm his excitement. Then he took a deep breath and continued to ramble on: "Brother Lin Jingyu saw that I was just a poor scholar with no family wealth and no official position to rely on, so he looked down on me. Without saying a word, he directly ordered the group of wolf-like servants beside him to rush towards me. It looked like they were going to beat me up, punching and kicking me. This is simply too much!" At this point, Feng Bao became more and more excited, his chest heaving violently, and he roared in anger: "This is really too much! This is simply too much! It's a complete insult to my character!"

After Feng Bao finally caught his breath, he finally spoke these words in full. At the same time, several servants followed him one after another, and not far away, Lin Jingyu was hurriedly walking towards them.

"Mr. Feng, please stop confusing right and wrong and distorting the truth here! Please hand over the fabric to me as soon as possible." The servant said seriously.

"Hmph, this matter has already touched the bottom line of our Lin family. Our young master is extremely unhappy about this!" Another servant immediately echoed.

At this moment, Feng Bao looked around and found that there were so many people around to witness him. His originally anxious expression gradually turned into a devilish charm. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile.

"Hehehe... Now it's no longer up to your Lin family to have the final say!" Feng Bao responded with a sneer.

"You should know that this fabric was given to me personally by Miss Lin from your family!" As he spoke, he proudly raised the fabric in his hand and showed it to everyone.

"Could it be that just because I'm just a poor scholar, you're going to forcibly separate us, this star-crossed couple who truly love each other? Where is justice?" Feng Bao became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he had really suffered a great injustice.

Just then, hurried footsteps could be heard from outside the crowd. It was Lin Jingyu hurrying in. After he stopped, he bowed deeply to everyone, then said apologetically, "Brothers, I'm deeply ashamed of my inability to take good care of you, which led to such a disgraceful incident today!"

After a brief pause, Lin Jingyu took a deep breath and spoke again: "However, I implore you all to be discerning! What Feng Bao said is simply absurd and unfounded. It is just a huge lie he made up!" At this point, he couldn't help but strengthen his tone, with an indignant look on his face.

"As everyone knows, our Lin family does have two daughters. However, only my eldest sister is currently of marriageable age. Furthermore, I can assure you that my sister has absolutely no private dealings with him. You see, my eldest sister is the granddaughter of the Jia family in the capital! She is always concerned about her ailing mother and aging grandmother, so she has lived in the Jia mansion for many years, caring for them diligently. But Feng Bao, with ulterior motives, sneaked off to the waterside pavilion in the backyard."

"Fortunately, there was a nanny watching over us at the time, otherwise I don't know what unimaginable thing would have happened. If the nanny hadn't stopped him in time, I'm afraid this guy would have broken into the inner house!" Having said this, Lin Jingyu patted his chest with lingering fear.

"Originally, I was delighted to invite you all to this gathering. I thought that the guests present today would all share my ideals. However, I never expected that such a black sheep would sneak in! I am truly disappointed and angry! In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless. Come on! Quickly call a few servants over and kick this ungrateful fellow out of the Lin Mansion!"

At this moment, Lin Jingyu shouted, "Someone come!" In an instant, several burly, strong servants rushed out like arrows. They all had fierce looks on their faces and strode towards Feng Bao with great momentum.

At this moment, everyone present was dumbfounded after hearing what Feng Bao had said earlier, their jaws dropping to the ground. After all, today was everyone's first time visiting the Lin Mansion! Who could have imagined that the eldest daughter of the Lin family would secretly arrange a marriage with Feng Bao?

Looking at the piece of cloth Feng Bao held high in his hand, a closer look revealed that it was indeed the fabric used for women's clothing! However, after hearing Lin Bao's account of the incident, one could not help but feel a deep suspicion about Feng Bao. After all, the truth of the matter was difficult to discern at the moment.

Just as everyone stared at each other, bewildered, a breathless voice suddenly rang out, "Nonsense! You saw me and Madam fetching water at the waterside pavilion, and without a word, you rushed over and tore this piece of fabric from my sleeve!" The speaker was none other than Miss Baozhu, the slower runner. After all this back-and-forth, she was now in a state of disarray, a complete loss of her usual graceful beauty. Her hair was a mess, a tangle of tangles, and even the glittering golden hairpin, once securely pinned to her head, had vanished without a trace.

At this moment, her clothes were tattered and could barely cover her body, and her hair was disheveled. She looked extremely miserable.

Everyone present was a young man from a prominent family. They usually saw beautiful, elegant women dressed appropriately, but they had never seen a girl in such a state of disgrace. They were all dumbfounded, their faces filled with astonishment. Then, as if realizing something, they hurriedly turned away, not daring to look at her again.

Feng Bao, seeing that everyone was avoiding this situation, felt secretly delighted and couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahahahaha! Miss Lin, although my actions today were indeed inappropriate, the matter has come to this point, and the die is cast. Besides, I am sincere to you!"

As he spoke, Feng Bao smiled, looked at the woman in front of him with burning eyes, and continued: "Tomorrow I will send a matchmaker to propose marriage, and our marriage will be settled!" After he finished speaking, he showed a smug smile to Liuyun, and his eyes were full of determination.

By this time, Feng Bao was already imagining a glorious future—he saw himself, clad in a vibrant red wedding gown, proudly riding a tall, majestic white horse, slowly advancing forward. Behind him, a vast, joyful procession followed, each one beaming with joy. Within the long procession, countless boxes and baskets filled with precious dowry stretched for over ten miles. At this thought, Feng Bao's smile grew even brighter, as if he could already truly experience the joy of a life with a beautiful wife by his side, wealth and prosperity at his fingertips.

However, at this moment, a crisp sound was heard: "Puff!"

At this moment, without any warning, a shrill and contemptuous laugh suddenly rang out. This laugh was like a sharp sword, ruthlessly severing the beautiful fantasy that was unfolding in Feng Bao's mind with lightning speed.

Feng Bao felt a sudden shudder in his heart, as if he'd been struck hard by a fist. He instinctively raised his head, eyes wide and piercing, eager to discover who had the audacity to so brazenly interrupt his thoughts. He looked closely and was startled to discover that the source of this chilling laughter was none other than Lin Jingyu, whose expression had been so solemn and restless moments before!

Even more surprising was the dramatic change in the expression of the eldest daughter of the Lin family, who had been standing quietly beside Lin Jingyu. Her previous demeanor of submissive submission, with her brows lowered and her eyes lowered, was gone, replaced by a face as calm and composed as the still waters of a deep pool. She stood there quietly, her face devoid of any emotion, as if the events unfolding around her had nothing to do with her.

Seeing this, Feng Bao couldn't help but feel a little angry. He glared at Lin Jingyu and shouted, "What are you laughing at? Now that things have come to this, don't you dare to call me brother-in-law?" Then, he turned his gaze to the eldest daughter of the Lin family and said arrogantly, "And Miss Lin, our wedding day is just around the corner! From now on, little brother Lin Jingyu, you have to be more respectful to me!"

Hearing this, Baozhu, who had been silent until then, finally couldn't contain her inner anger. She rushed forward and without hesitation, stood in front of her eldest young master. She looked directly at Feng Bao and said fearlessly, "It seems I will disappoint you today, sir. Regarding this matter of marriage, it is not for me to have the final say."

After a pause, Baozhu continued righteously, "Even if you hold that so-called token in your hand, and even if so many gentlemen are present to witness it, you will never get what you want."

Feng Bao's face was filled with disbelief. He stared at Baozhu with a look that bordered on contempt, thinking to himself, "This eldest daughter of the Lin family is just a woman. Trapped in that tiny plot of land in the backyard all day, she must have been brought up to be incredibly stupid. The situation is already so dire, yet she's still so stubborn and stubborn. How foolish!"

When he first heard those words, his face showed an expression as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, his eyes widened, his mouth slightly open, his face full of disbelief. However, as the words continued to reach his ears, his expression gradually changed. First, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and then laughter burst out like a flood.

"Hahahaha! Miss Lin, Miss Lin, I, Feng, had close contact with you just now!" He laughed and pointed at the other party with a smug look on his face.

"Look at the fabric on your body, it's all torn by me! And your delicate body has also been hugged tightly by me!" He became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice unconsciously rose a few degrees, attracting the attention of everyone around him.

"You, even if you don't feel embarrassed, your reputation will be completely ruined in front of so many young men!" Having said this, he paused deliberately, glanced at the onlookers, and then returned his gaze to Miss Lin.

"There are only two paths before you now. Either you become a nun and live with the Buddha for the rest of your life; or you marry me obediently. Hehe, you don't get to choose!" He crossed his arms, raised his head high, and acted like a winner.

"Even if Lord Lin were here today, he would have no choice but to admit this matter! After all, facts speak louder than words!" Feng Bao finished his words in one breath, secretly delighted in his heart, feeling that he had already won this time, so he no longer cared about other people's eyes, walked towards the pavilion carelessly, and then sat down.

As soon as he sat down, he reached for a wine glass on the table and leaned back to pour the wine. His mouth was dry, his throat burning. Recalling the frantic rush he had just made, he felt not only utterly awful and disgraceful, but also practically drained of all his strength. He couldn't help but secretly congratulate himself, thinking that if he hadn't been so lucky to have arrived in time, and had he run a little longer, he would have collapsed from exhaustion, unable to act so arrogantly.