Volume 1 Chapter 32: Astonishment

  In an embarrassing silence, Old Lady Ping's orange peel-like old face wrinkled for a while before she finally let out a series of coughs.

  Unfortunately, the ones sitting beside her today were not those intimate wives and daughters. After coughing for a while with no one mediating, Old Lady Ping's face turned stern, and she said stiffly: "A Xue, what are you talking about? Who ruined your reputation? Humph, you're my own granddaughter, would I, your grandmother, harm you?"

  She was yielding, and Lu Xuan wouldn't hold on tightly. At this moment, a smile also bloomed on her icy face. She bowed to Old Lady Ping and politely said, "Thank you, Grandmother, for your understanding."

  Lu Xuan smiled, but that smile was faint and pale, without a hint of the previous fawning. Old Lady Ping's heart felt disgusted. However, since both sides had said their piece, she also had to make some gestures.

  So she turned to Zeng's father and said politely, "General Zeng, let's not mention what happened earlier. Didn't you bring the marriage certificate? Why don't we settle this once and for all while I'm here?"

  She spoke politely, with a slightly stiff tone. Zeng's father was a military general, and he did not expect that Lu Yue, a young girl, would be so difficult to deal with, and yet she had destroyed the will of Ping's wife with just a few words, causing her to lose faith in her actions.

  His face turned blue, Zeng's father glared at him with his copper bell eyes and hummed coldly. He took out the marriage certificate from his pocket and placed it on the table, staring at Lu Yue in a rough tone: "Lu, do you want to cancel the engagement?"

  His voice was rough, but when he spoke, his eyes sparkled with sharpness. Lu Xuan glanced at him and knew that if she said a word of "thought", she would immediately face his difficulties. The more urgent her thoughts of breaking off the engagement were, the more excessive these difficulties would be.

  At this moment, Lu Xuan's eyes drooped, her long eyelashes fluttering, and after a while, she spoke in a hoarse voice: "I..." She bit her lip and said softly: "The marriage contract has been destroyed!" Her tone was hesitant, as if she knew that the marriage contract had been destroyed, knew that her marriage to Zeng Lang was no longer possible, yet still had lingering feelings.

  That's normal.

  He thought his own son was perfect, but Zeng's father sneered and slapped the table with a loud "pa", saying: "Not bad, the marriage contract has been destroyed. Now you, Lu Shi, are kneeling in front of us, and my Zeng family would never dare to marry again." He said this, fearing that Lu Yue still didn't regret enough, Zeng's father lowered his voice and spoke with a heavy tone: "Chang Zhi has been engaged to you for many years, and your uncle has watched you grow up from childhood. I treated you like my own daughter-in-law long ago. Ah, Yue, even if you suffered the greatest injustice, can't you wait for Uncle Zeng to return? With the friendship between Uncle Zeng and your parents, wouldn't he give you justice?"

  At this point, he shook his head and sighed, "Such a simple thing, you're making a big deal out of it, even tearing up the marriage certificate and hitting people... You say, aren't you ruining your own marriage?"

  As he spoke, Lu Xiang's head drooped lower and lower. He let out a soft hum, then flung the marriage certificate at Lu Xiang. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Now I'm giving it to you. From now on, whether you siblings are good or bad has nothing to do with the Zeng family anymore."

  How ridiculous! Did we siblings not receive enough care from you in the past?

  Lu Yu lowered her head to receive the marriage certificate, carefully glanced at it, and then put it in her bosom. She bowed to Mrs. Ping and Mr. Zeng, turned around, took Lu Yun's hand, and walked out together.

  Looking at Lu Yue's sulky appearance, Zeng's father, who was deeply enraged, had his anger reduced by half. He thought to himself: Originally, he still wanted to find an opportunity to teach this reckless sister and brother a lesson. Now that she regrets it, there is no need to take action.

  He knew that the whole city of Hanyang was now paying attention to this marriage, and any move he made would be hard not to be discovered. Originally, when he planned to make a move on these two siblings, he had a few points of "nothing big" being discovered, but now, let her be an old maid for the rest of her life!

  A woman who doesn't want her own son, let's see whose family dares to marry! Hmph, isn't she arrogant? Then let her be arrogant for a lifetime!

  Lü Yu had already gone out, and Zeng's father also stood up. He stared at Ping Lao for a moment, let out a cold hum from his nose, and without saying goodbye, he turned around and left.

  Mrs. Ping was humiliated by a junior, and now she was glared at by Zeng's father, which made her furious. She shouted, "You..." but before she could finish her sentence, she clutched her chest and gasped for breath.

  Just as Zeng's father had taken less than five steps, a series of footsteps came, and then Zhao, the stout steward, rushed over, sweating profusely. After hastily entering, he quickly paid his respects to Old Lady Ping, looked around, and asked in surprise: "Where is Ah Yue?"

  "Get out."

  "What? But Ping Gong said to take her to see her immediately." At this point, Zhao Guan Shi carefully chose his words and said: "Old lady, have you had a falling out with Lu Shi Ayue?"

  Madam Ping glared at him, panting: "How? Can't I even have a falling out with that cheap thing?" Her tone was full of indignation. Originally, as soon as these words were spoken, Zhao should have smiled and apologized to her.

  Mrs. Ke did not expect that Zhao would heave a sigh and say anxiously, "I have come in haste to beg of you, madam, for a large sum of money. Alas, I am too late."

  Upon hearing this, Zeng's father also became interested and turned his head to ask loudly: "So Ping Gong is quite interested in a declining family? Unfortunately, they just left, but the steward can still catch up with them."

  His father's words were not without sarcasm, but Zhao was acting as if he hadn't grasped the meaning behind them. He sighed repeatedly and said: "We should indeed pursue this matter, but could you please tell me, what just happened? Why are you so angry?" It seemed like he wanted to understand the situation first before thinking of a way to placate her.

  Although Mrs. Ping was narrow-minded, she was also clever. Upon hearing this, she frowned, "What exactly happened? Is it necessary to be so cautious just because of a lowly person?"

  "The old lady doesn't know, but I just met the nobleman from Luoyang when I was seeing off Miss Lu's brother. He was extremely polite to Miss Lu and called her 'Yuan Yuan' as soon as he opened his mouth. He also asked with concern whether the jade pendant he gave her was still with her."

  "What?"

  With a loud noise, Old Lady Ping stood up, and Zeng's father, who was just about to take his leave, also widened his ox-like eyes, shocked into speechlessness.

  Zhao Guanshi smiled bitterly and said, "This matter is absolutely true. It was precisely because he saw this scene that the young servant rushed to report it to Ping Gong as soon as he entered the mansion. The old lady should know that the backyard of that noble's residence is empty... Although Lu Shi A Ruo's son is strange, he also looks very good, and it's hard to say whether he has caught the eye of that noble!"