Yu Ange couldn’t help but touch her chest, where the pain of being shot to death by Cen Jiashu with an arrow seemed to linger.
Yu Ange licked her back teeth, her tone icy: “Thank you for your concern, Tanhua Cen. I am perfectly fine.”
On the other side of the screen, Cen Jiashu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, though he couldn’t tell where it came from.
Yu Ange said coldly: “Tanhua Cen, you came alone without submitting a baitie. Is there something important?”
Cen Jiashu had prepared many drafts in his mind, but now, facing Yu Ange across the screen, he didn’t know how to begin.
After all, before meeting Song Jin’er, he had always thought Yu Ange would be his wife, the one to spend his life with.
Letting go now was harder than he had imagined.
But thinking of Song Jin’er, Cen Jiashu lowered his eyes and clenched his fists: “Sister Yu, I came to break off the engagement. To be honest, I have fallen in love with a woman—Song Jin’er, the third daughter of Libu Shilang. I promised her that we would be together, just the two of us, for the rest of our lives. So… I can only let you down, Sister Yu.”
Hearing the name Song Jin’er, Yu Ange felt her mind flooded with the sounds of clashing weapons and the wails of the people, making it impossible for her to suppress her murderous intent.
Unfortunately, Cen Jiashu had just become the Tanhua. If he were to die suddenly in the general’s mansion, it would only bring trouble to the household. Struggling to restrain the impulse to kill him with a sword, Yu Ange gritted her teeth and said: “What a fine ‘together, just the two of us, for the rest of our lives’!”
Who wouldn’t want to be with just one person for a lifetime?
But why must Song Jin’er’s desire for “together, just the two of us, for the rest of our lives” be realized at the cost of a blood-soaked nation and widespread suffering?
Cen Jiashu thought she was reluctant to let go of the engagement and quickly added: “Our marriage was arranged by our parents. We haven’t seen each other for years and have grown distant. If we insist on marrying, I fear we would become an unhappy couple.”
A cold smile curled at the corner of Yu Ange’s lips: “Let me remind you, Tanhua Cen, back when the Cen family was involved in the Feitaizi incident and nearly faced execution, it was my father, remembering the noble character of the late Cen patriarch, who petitioned on behalf of your family, sparing them from disaster.”
“Afterward, your father came to our door many times to request this marriage. Today, you came alone to break off the engagement without informing my father or brother in advance—fine. But have you informed the late Cen patriarch or your father?”
Cen Jiashu clenched his teeth, bowed, and lowered his posture as much as possible: “It is precisely because the elders in my family disagree that I resorted to this. I have always believed that Sister Yu is broad-minded and would not bear to tear apart two people in love. That is why I came to see you privately. I hope Sister Yu will grant us this.”
Before Yu Ange could respond to this, Yanbo, standing beside her, was already seething with anger and could no longer hold back. She blurted out: “What a shameless and despicable scoundrel! You’ve shifted your affections, and yet you have the audacity to ask my young lady to grant your wish!”
But Yu Ange interrupted Yanbo: “It’s not impossible for me to agree to break off the engagement.”
Yanbo stomped her foot anxiously: “Young lady! Absolutely not! If you agree to break off the engagement without involving your parents, people will laugh at you!”
A hint of mockery flashed in Yu Ange’s eyes. Yes, even Yanbo understood this logic. Yet in her previous life, she had wanted to fulfill the so-called “together, just the two of us, for the rest of our lives” and easily agreed to Cen Jiashu’s request. This later became Cen Jiashu’s excuse to return to the capital and slander her for lacking virtue.
Yu Ange said: “If you want me to break off the engagement, there are conditions.”
Cen Jiashu looked up in surprise. “What condition?”
Yu Ange’s voice was filled with resentment and hatred. “I want Tanhua Cen to kowtow three times and bow nine times all the way back from Wangchuncheng. With each bow, you must loudly proclaim that you, Cen Jiashu, are an ungrateful wretch.”
Cen Jiashu was both ashamed and angry. “It was inconsiderate of me to come alone to break off the engagement, but why must Sister Yu be so aggressive? What about our childhood affection…”
Yu Ange’s eyes were icy. She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her voice dripping with coldness. “How dare you mention our childhood affection?”
It was precisely by exploiting that childhood affection that Cen Jiashu had deceived her father into divulging military intelligence, which he then offered to Liangguo. This led to the deaths of seventy thousand Shenweijun soldiers on the battlefield, turning Wangchuncheng into a living hell.
Yu Ange swallowed the coppery sweetness rising in her throat. “Tanhua Cen may not understand propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame, but the Cen family surely has someone who does. I will immediately send a letter to Jingdu, asking the elders of my clan to question Patriarch Cen on how he raised such a shameless and brazen individual!”
Cen Jiashu hadn’t expected Yu Ange to be so unyielding. He panicked instantly; if his grandfather found out, things would become troublesome. “Sister Yu! You mustn’t!”
With the hatred from her past life fueling her, Yu Ange had endured to her limit. Seeing him still trying to argue, she shouted sharply, “Throw him out!”
Yanbo, having learned the purpose of Cen Jiashu’s visit, was already seething with anger. She immediately summoned the manor’s attendants to throw Cen Jiashu out.
Cen Jiashu was no match for the general’s manor attendants. Even as several men seized him, he shouted, “I’ll leave on my own!”
But since Yu Ange had ordered him thrown out, her subordinates would not spare him an ounce of dignity. Soon, passersby outside the general’s manor saw the Tanhua being tossed out like a dog.
After throwing him out, Yanbo even splashed a basin of water at the entrance to wash the ground, loudly proclaiming, “If Tanhua wants to break off the engagement because his affections have shifted, he should have invited elders from both sides to discuss it properly. Instead, he took advantage of the General and Young Master being away to bully my young mistress, a vulnerable woman.”
The Shenwei Dajiangjun had guarded the border for many years and long enjoyed the people’s support. Upon hearing that this Tanhua had taken advantage of the Shenwei Dajiangjun’s absence from the city to bully his daughter, the common people immediately began pointing fingers and gossiping about Cen Jiashu.
“They say it’s often scholars who are heartless. It seems true indeed.”
“What a fine Tanhua! So fickle and ungrateful. How is he fit to serve as an official?”
“…”
Faced with the indignant crowd, Cen Jiashu wanted to defend himself but found no words. He could only swallow his anger and humiliation, hastily leaving with his own men.
After returning inside, Yanbo saw Yu Ange polishing a sword. Her heart ached with indignation for her young mistress.
A woman like her young mistress, accomplished in both literary and martial arts and possessing peerless beauty, would not be undeserving even of a celestial being.
Yanbo immediately cursed, “What kind of trash is Cen Jiashu! He looks decent on the outside, but inside he’s nothing but a rotten, filthy scoundrel! When the General and Young Master return, they’ll surely not let him off…”
After cursing for a long while, Yanbo finally remembered the main issue. “But Young Mistress, are you going to break off the engagement or not?”
Yu Ange looked at the blade. The gleaming steel reflected a pair of eyes filled with ruthless, bloodthirsty ferocity.
“Naturally, it will be broken off!”
“But how this engagement is broken off will be up to me.”
Cen Jiashu, Song Jin’er, I, Yu Ange, have returned as a vengeful ghost to settle accounts with you.