Chapter – 08Ā
Ā If You Can’t Do It, Then Just Marry Him!
“…?”
“Master, what are you doing?”
Looking at An Daosheng’s distressed expression, An Lingran slightly raised her delicate brows, her icy, frosty beautiful eyes filled with confusion.
Having just returned to the Original Beginning Saint Pavilion, she did not understand the pain in An Daosheng’s heart.
On the other side, An Daosheng, who had already lost all hope, had long since finished venting the frustration pent up inside him. He was now more or less calmed down, which was why he was sitting by the window in a daze, looking utterly miserable, like a salted fish that had lost its dream.
“Sigh, Lingran.”
An Daosheng patted the cushion beside him, signaling his daughter to sit down and have a proper talk.
After a moment of hesitation, An Lingran eventually sat down cross-legged beside him and followed his gaze to look out at the snowy scenery outside the window.
After taking a sip of tea to moisten his throat, An Daosheng put on a stern face and spoke in a deep voice:
“Lingran, why did you give that *Fine Snow Sword Art* to your junior apprentice brother, He Qiu?”
“You should know that you are crushing and mocking the confidence of a new cultivator!”
“Lingran, you are the Saintess, you are his senior apprentice sister, and you are also one of my most prized disciples…”
“Is this really appropriate behavior on your part?”
An Daosheng turned his head and stared intently into An Lingran’s eyes with a very serious expression.
Suddenly, An Lingran’s entire body trembled, as if recalling the fear she felt when she first met her father as a child. How long had it been since she last saw her father this angry, this indifferent, this cold?
For a moment, all the words of explanation she had wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
This matter was indeed her fault.
Under An Daosheng’s icy gaze, she simply did not dare to talk back. Since childhood, An Lingran had never been good at lying, especially not when being glared at by her master.
“Master…”
Lowering her head, An Lingran bit her lip somewhat unwillingly: “Lingran just… didn’t want to marry carelessly, didn’t want to end up with a lifetime of regret and sorrow, so…”
“So?”
An Daosheng held his forehead and asked helplessly in return.
“So, Lingran wanted to use this method to gently dissuade Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu.”
As she spoke, An Lingran’s delicate body trembled slightly, like a good girl who had made a mistake, not daring to meet the stern gaze of her father.
Although she didn’t understand who this Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu really was, to make An Daosheng, the Great Elder of Snow Chant Peak, so furious, An Lingran felt that she had been very “gentle” and very “polite.”
Yes.
As the Saintess and senior apprentice sister, making things difficult for a new junior apprentice brother was indeed wrong and immoral of her.
But this mistake was not so serious as to warrant such a harsh reprimand from An Daosheng. Besides, An Lingran had acted out of helplessness and good intentions.
So now, An Lingran felt she was also very wronged, but she dared not confide her grievances to the angry An Daosheng.
“…”
Staring at An Lingran’s fearful, lip-biting expression, An Daosheng’s vision blurred slightly, and he suddenly realized he had just lost control of his spiritual energy, frightening his daughter.
But since things had come to this, he wasn’t in the mood to apologize to his daughter now. He simply restrained his anger and continued to gaze out at the snowy scenery of the Snow Chant Mountain Range, sighing leisurely:
“Get up, Lingran. It’s fine as long as you know your mistake and correct it.”
“Yes…”
An Lingran raised her head, biting her silver teeth with great grievance and unwillingness, and replied softly:
“Your disciple already knows her mistake. Tomorrow, I will personally go and apologize to Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu… and then… according to the marriage contract you and his honored master made, I will marry Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu within the stipulated time limit.”
As she spoke, two streams of clear tears flowed down her cheeks from her pale, flawless face, creating a beauty of breathtaking desolation.
An Lingran’s grievance was not that she was particularly unwilling to marry Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu, but that she was unwilling to have the freedom of the rest of her life taken away like this. Even if she were to marry her junior apprentice brother, she wanted to do so of her own volition, not by being “ordered.”
At the same time, she was also aggrieved at being scolded by her father.
She really hadn’t meant to make her father, her master, angry.
She didn’t want to see An Daosheng get angry, hurt, and utterly disappointed in his daughter because of her rebellion.
She just wanted some time to ease into things between a man and a woman. Marrying a junior apprentice brother so abruptly was just too sudden. She hadn’t even had the chance to get to know her junior apprentice brother’s character, temperament, cultivation, or mindset in depth…
But oh well.
At this point, An Lingran had also given up resisting.
After making that promise to her father, she even felt a faint, inexplicable sense of relief. At least the marriage contract was with a scholarly and refined junior apprentice brother who had left a good first impression, not some burly old man, not some shifty-eyed scoundrel…
Perhaps, once she got used to her junior apprentice brother’s temperament, the two of them could slowly get along and spend the rest of their lives together in the future.
Thinking of it this way, An Lingran smiled bitterly and rose, preparing to leave alone.
But at that moment, An Daosheng, who had been silent beside her, cleared his throat and spoke:
“Hey! Sit down, sit down. Did I say you could leave?”
“?
After a moment of brief confusion, An Lingran sat back down in her original place.
“Lingran, about this matter… it’s actually not that serious. There’s no rush.”
“For now, I’ll find a way to keep it under wraps for you. You don’t have to go and apologize so aggrievedly; just pretend nothing happened today.”
“But.”
“There are no buts. It was my fault in the first place for not explaining the inside story of that marriage contract to you beforehand.”
“Inside story? Master… what do you mean?”
An Lingran blinked, gradually sensing a hint of something suspicious.
An Daosheng cleared his throat again, pretending to be nonchalant, and turned his face away so as not to meet his daughter’s eyes:
“This matter involves a powerful figure from beyond our borders. With your current cultivation level, you do not yet have the qualifications to know the inside story… so there are some things I cannot easily tell you.”
He certainly couldn’t tell his daughter that the marriage contract he gave was forged, with the goal of making her marry the child of a Celestial Venerable to repay a favor, thereby connecting the Snow Chant Sect to the Celestial Venerable’s family, allowing the whole family to enjoy blessings and attain immortality together, could he?
If something like that were exposed, where would An Daosheng, as an elder of the sect, put his face in front of his daughter and disciples in the future?
Wouldn’t he come off as a complete, unashamed schemer!
So, in this situation, the best solution was to make a big deal small and a small deal nothing.
Thinking this, An Daosheng repeated his warning, his gaze stern:
“Lingran, you grew up with me in the sect. You should be well aware of the unwritten rules of our cultivation world: the more you know, the easier it is to be targeted, and in the end, you’ll bring disaster upon yourself…”
“I’m not telling you the truth because I want to protect you.”
Suddenly taken aback by An Daosheng’s profound and mysterious demeanor, An Lingran was stunned for a moment, then widened her beautiful eyes and couldn’t help but nod in agreement:
“Yes, your disciple will not be nosy.”
“Good, good. It’s good that you understand, good that you understand.”
An Daosheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his hands behind his back, and continued leisurely: “Lingran, after you go back, don’t make things difficult for your junior apprentice brother anymore… He’s just a mortal scholar who hasn’t provoked you or done anything wrong. And you are his senior apprentice sister. Can’t you be a bit more magnanimous?”
“Look at you, taking out your grievances by bullying your junior apprentice brother. What kind of achievement is that?”
“Yes, your disciple knows her mistake.”
An Lingran bowed her head in shame. In truth, she had been feeling very guilty about it these past few days.
Just that morning, Xianling Yunying had even sung a song mocking her for it, and she had already felt deeply ashamed.
After being reprimanded by An Daosheng today, An Lingran’s heart finally felt clear, and she recognized her own faults.
“And as for this marriage contract matter, from now on, don’t bring it up again, especially not in front of your junior apprentice brother… I’ll find a way to resolve it.”
“Yes.”
“Lingran, try spending some time with your junior apprentice brother during this period… If, in the future, you truly do not like that junior apprentice brother at all, then I will not force you to do anything. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
Pacing back and forth, pondering how to handle the problem, An Daosheng suddenly remembered something important. He slapped his forehead and continued to instruct:
“Oh, right! And that *Fine Snow Sword Art*āfind some time to personally guide your junior apprentice brother on it. Remember, teach him hand in hand, personally! Teach him as much as you can. Don’t let him practice hard for three months, gain no results from the sword arts, become discouraged, and then pack his things and run away…”
“If it really comes to that, even I won’t be able to salvage the situation.”
“Yes, Lingran understands.”
At this point, An Lingran seemed to remember something as well. She clutched her dress with her jade-like hands and took the initiative to suggest:
“Actually, your disciple has already considered that.”
“If after three months, Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu has not made any progress in the sword arts and is despairing of cultivation… then, your disciple will personally accompany and instruct him in cultivation for half a year, as compensation for my earlier offense.”
“May I ask if this would be acceptable?”
Biting her lip nervously, slightly raising her eyebrows, An Lingran’s voice was not very confident.
Accompanying him in cultivation, although it was only instruction and not some kind of dual cultivation between a man and a woman, was still An Lingran’s “first time” since childhood. She couldn’t help but feel a bit unconfident about this “compensation” proposal.
Upon hearing this, An Daosheng immediately understood her intention and chuckled twice:
“Good, very good! With our Lingran’s status and reputation as the ‘Original Beginning Saintess,’ half a year of accompanying cultivation is definitely an invaluable ‘compensation.’ Many disciples, both inner and outer, dream of such an opportunity but can never get it!”
“Excellent, let’s consider it settled then.”
“If, after three months, Junior Apprentice Brother He Qiu truly has a breakdown, Lingran, use that half year of accompanying cultivation to find a way to comfort his wounded heart. You absolutely must! You absolutely must comfort him well for me!”
Having said that, An Daosheng waved his hand grandly: “If you can’t do it, then just marry him as an apology! It’s no big deal!”
Her body trembled, and the base of An Lingran’s neck flushed slightly red. Her jade hands, clutching her dress, broke out in a few beads of sweat.
The young girl bowed one last time and promised earnestly:
“Mm, Lingran understands.”
