Zhao Jin’s eyes were filled with disbelief. Wasn’t Shang Xian already dead?
In the first year after he was exiled to Liaodong for military service, Shang Xian had tried to catch a few more fish through a hole in the ice. The ice cracked, he fell in, and never came back up.
“Young Master, it’s me—don’t you recognize me?” Oh no, he must have hit his head too hard. Shang Xian cried even harder.
Shang Xian, who had not yet suffered the hardships of Liaodong, still had the childish softness of youth in his features. He stood right there, alive and real. Zhao Jin fiercely pinched the tender flesh on his own thigh. It hurt. A huge wave of joy washed over him.
“Young Master?” Shang Xian saw his master’s face twist between crying and laughing, looking almost ferocious. The boy’s sobs suddenly stopped.
“What year, month, and day is it today? Where are we?” Zhao Jin asked urgently, one question after another.
“The eighth day of the seventh month in the twenty-eighth year of Zhao Wu. This is Gan Jian Valley. If your horse hadn’t suddenly gone mad, you would have won, Young Master—don’t you remember? Please don’t scare me like this.”
Zhao Jin remembered now. Once, he had joined Prince Zhou and Prince Lu in a hawk-hunting contest and outshone everyone. He was about to beat Prince Lu when his horse suddenly went wild and threw him to the ground.
He was extremely proud and couldn’t bear to lose face. His page boy Shang Xian knew his temper and didn’t dare report back to the residence. Zhao Jin only returned the next day, acting as if nothing had happened.
With his youthful arrogance and wild nature, he was determined to find out who had plotted against him in secret and get revenge.
But the day after he returned home, everyone looked at him strangely—especially his illegitimate brothers (half-brothers from concubines), who had always been overshadowed by him. Their eyes were full of sympathy and pity, which drove him mad.
Thanks to his mother’s big scene, the news that his fiancée—the Second Miss of the Marquis of Jing’an household—could never bear children in this lifetime had spread like wildfire.
Proud and haughty as he was, he saw this as the greatest humiliation. He refused to face those mocking, gloating looks and locked himself in his courtyard, seeing no one, until the scandal became known throughout the city and the consequences could no longer be contained.
It nearly severed his marriage tie with Xie Lanqi completely.
Zhao Jin’s expression suddenly changed drastically. He sprang to his feet. “To Youfu Temple! Get the horse—quick!”
Today was the day his mother would cause a huge scene at Youfu Temple, publicly humiliating and angering the wife of the Marquis of Jing’an until she fainted.
He whipped his horse frantically, wishing he could sprout wings and fly there to stop it.
……
“You planned this on purpose?”
By now, Lady Liang could see clearly that Lady Luo had come prepared to accuse and condemn them.
Lady Luo gave a cold, mocking snort and looked at her with contempt. “You won’t shed tears until you see the coffin—still daring to deny it? Weren’t you the one who wanted people to judge the matter? Fine, today we’ll lay everything out in the open and see who’s right: your Jing’an Marquis household or our An Yuan Marquis household.”
“Break off the engagement—I’m willing to break it off.” Xie Lanqi hugged her pale-faced mother and cried, “Marchioness of An Yuan, I agree to cancel the marriage. Please stop making things hard for my mother.”
“You foolish girl! Who told your body to be so useless and land us in this mess?” Lady Liang had always been strong-willed. Now her face had been publicly torn off and trampled by Lady Luo. Shame, anger, and grief overwhelmed her. She slapped Xie Lanqi again and again.
“You’re the useless one! Without the medicine, she would have died. With the medicine… Lady Luo, you’re a mother too. Tell me—what else could we do? Just watch her die?” Lady Liang broke down sobbing.
Lady Luo’s face turned from pale to red and back again.
“Madam, don’t soften now. They’re just pretending to be pitiful, using retreat as an advance, trying to turn the tables on us.” Ping Mama saw the situation turning bad and whispered urgently into Lady Luo’s ear, fanning the flames. “If the Heir marries Second Miss Xie, he’ll never have a legitimate son. In the future, the title will go to an illegitimate son!”
Lady Luo’s tiny spark of pity vanished in an instant. She had suffered a bitter fate—married to a romantic man who fathered a string of illegitimate sons. If her own son could not produce a legitimate heir, the title would pass to one of those illegitimate sons, and their ambitions would grow even wilder.
“Lady Liang, stop your crying and acting pitiful. No one wants her to die. But you tried to deceive us and marry her to my son anyway—that I absolutely cannot tolerate.” Lady Luo’s anger flared. “Ping Mama, go invite the temple’s great master and the noble ladies who are offering incense here to judge this matter.”
“Yes.” Ping Mama scurried off quickly.
“Come back!” Lady Liang cried out desperately. “Lady Luo, please call her back. If this gets out, Qi girl’s reputation will be ruined. Our marquis household will lose all face, and your marquis household will lose dignity too. We’ll just become a laughingstock for outsiders.”
Lady Luo’s eyelids twitched, but Ping Mama had already disappeared.
Zhao Jin rushed to Youfu Temple in a frenzy. With his long legs and height, his page boy Shang Xian couldn’t keep up even while running.
Finally reaching the quiet rooms reserved for noble guests at the back of the temple, he ran straight into Ping Mama. She was bent at the waist, leading three or four middle-aged noble ladies behind her.
“Young Master?” Ping Mama asked in surprise. Why was he here?
“What are you doing?” Zhao Jin’s eyes were cold and menacing. In his previous life, right before the An Yuan Marquis household fell into ruin and chaos, this very Ping Mama had pestered his mother until she got the entire family’s indenture contracts, then returned to the countryside, bought land and houses, and lived comfortably.
“Oh, poor Young Master.” Tears fell from Ping Mama’s old eyes. “The Jing’an Marquis household deceived Madam and deceived you, Young Master. This old servant is bringing these noble ladies to bear witness.”
“Insolent slave! How dare you spread wild lies.” Zhao Jin delivered a fierce kick to her chest. Ping Mama rolled several times across the ground, screaming in pain and unable to get up.
“My apologies to the ladies for my poor discipline over the servants.”
Zhao Jin gave a full bow to the group, first offering his regrets. Then he turned to Shang Xian, who had finally caught up, panting heavily, and ordered: “Take these ladies to the Heavenly Kings Hall to offer incense and calm their nerves.”
He apologized again to the ladies, whose expressions varied from shock to displeasure: “My household servant caused a disturbance and frightened all of you. Another day, this nephew will personally visit each of your homes to make amends.”
Zhao Jin spoke politely, but his attitude was firm. He blocked their path, and even though one or two of them were unwilling, they had no choice but to stop.
After all, everyone had heard of the Marquis of An Yuan’s heir—arrogant, domineering, and reckless. If they truly angered this young devil, he could humiliate them on the spot. None of them could afford to lose that kind of face.
…..
“Lady Luo, I really am willing to break off the engagement.” Xie Lanqi pulled out a pair of scissors, grabbed her loosened hair, and cut downward. “Lanqi swears by cutting her hair and becoming a nun…”
Xie Lanqi pressed her lips together. Her ink-black hair fell long and loose, making her snow-white face look even more striking.
With a sharp “snip,” strands of dark hair fell to the floor.
Zhao Jin arrived just in time to see this scene. His virtuous wife still looked like a young girl—lively, fresh, and full of life—standing right there. Endless relief and wild joy surged up in him. As he stared, he became completely dazed.
“Jin’er? Why are you here?” Lady Luo was the first to notice him.
The tall, broad-shouldered man stood in the doorway, almost completely blocking the sunlight coming in. His long shadow stretched into the room, his presence overwhelmingly strong.
Xie Lanqi paused mid-cut. She gave him a faint, cold glance—cold brows, cold eyes.
Zhao Jin stared fixedly at her. She was still alive. She still existed in this world. In his heart, he silently thanked every god and Buddha in the heavens. His eyes gradually reddened.
Lady Luo followed her son’s gaze and assumed he was delighted that this childish engagement could finally be canceled. “The Jing’an Marquis household has agreed to break it off. Don’t worry.”
Lady Liang forced herself to breathe and stood up trembling. “Qi girl, let’s go.”
“This son will not agree to break it off.” Zhao Jin suddenly knelt before Lady Luo. “This marriage—I will not cancel it. Except for Second Miss Xie, this son will marry no one else.”
Lady Luo stared in shock, as if she had seen a ghost.
Zhao Jin crawled on his knees to Lady Liang, pressed his forehead to the ground, and gave a solid, resounding kowtow.
“Mother-in-law, my mother was misled by slander and caused you humiliation.” Zhao Jin pleaded sincerely, “This son-in-law is willing to accept any punishment from you. I only beg your great mercy to allow Second Miss to marry me. For the rest of my life, I will treat her well.”
Lady Liang looked no less stunned than Lady Luo—like she had seen a ghost. “Has he been possessed?”
“Qi… Second Miss, give me the scissors. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Zhao Jin tried hard to control his overwhelming emotions, afraid of frightening her.
Xie Lanqi shot him a furious glare. She had planned this for so long, and the engagement was finally about to fall apart—why was this man suddenly going crazy?
Marrying was absolutely impossible.
“Jin’er, have you lost your mind? She can’t bear children—you can’t marry her.” Lady Luo finally snapped out of it and shouted anxiously.
Xie Lanqi seized the moment and cried, “Young Master, for the sake of preserving good relations between our two families, please cancel this engagement.”
Zhao Jin’s eyes filled with pain. She was always like this—putting others first, enduring hardship and swallowing every grievance herself. His fingertips trembled. He desperately wanted to wipe away her tears.
“Mother, please stop talking.” Zhao Jin’s voice carried a hint of anger. “This marriage was arranged by Grandfather and the old Marquis before they passed. It is the last wish of the elders—no one can cancel it.”
Lady Luo never expected him to bring up the old Marquis. Her throat tightened. Everything she did was for him, yet he didn’t appreciate it. Feeling wronged, she burst into tears too.
Xie Lanqi was practically furious enough to hate this man to death.
Didn’t he already have someone in his heart?
Why wouldn’t he just cooperate and break off the engagement so he could marry his true love? Why force her into the An Yuan Marquis household for a life of inner-court scheming and fighting?
She wanted to go home clean and pure. Fighting for favor, fighting over men—let all of that go to hell.
“Because of this marriage, my mother has been humiliated—unfilial. Hiding the fact that I cannot bear children—unrighteous. Lanqi is unfilial and unrighteous. I have failed my parents, failed Lady Luo, and most of all, failed the sincere love left by Grandfather.”
Xie Lanqi kowtowed to Lady Liang, tears mixing with her smile. “If the engagement is not broken, Lanqi has no face to live in this world.”
Before her words finished, she rushed toward the pillar.
“Qi girl!” Lady Liang’s soul nearly flew out of her body.
Zhao Jin’s eyes nearly split with rage. In the nick of time, he threw himself forward and took most of the force.
Xie Lanqi still hit the pillar. Her skin was delicate and tender—the red swelling was very obvious.
“Break off the engagement.”
It really hurt. Xie Lanqi glared at Zhao Jin with hatred and anger. But her eyes were brimming with tears from the pain, making her look pitiful instead of intimidating.
Zhao Jin felt both annoyed and heartbroken. “Stop always thinking about other people. Think about yourself for once. You…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say the word “die.” His throat choked.
“Men and women should not touch so freely. Young Master, please show some respect.” Lady Liang ran over, pushed Zhao Jin aside, and held Xie Lanqi in her arms. She had just been terrified out of her wits—she never imagined her daughter, who usually seemed indifferent to everything, could be so fierce.
“Break off the engagement. Qi girl, we’re not marrying into that family.”
Lady Liang’s eyes were red and swollen. Given the current status of both households, this marriage was them climbing upward. That’s why, even knowing Qi girl would suffer if she married in, they had tried so hard to keep the engagement.
But now that the An Yuan household knew she couldn’t bear children, what good could come from marrying in?
Especially after Qi girl had almost died just now—this was her own flesh and blood. With this child’s temperament, once she entered the An Yuan Marquis household, she would be eaten alive.
Lady Liang didn’t believe a single word of Zhao Jin’s promises.
She would rather keep her daughter as an old maid for life than see a parent bury their child.
“Mother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Xie Lanqi clung to Lady Liang and cried until she became a tear-soaked mess.
“Mother-in-law…”
“Young Master, please conduct yourself with dignity. From now on, there will be no further connection between our two families.”
“Mother-in-law, this marriage will not be broken off.”