Ming Yi also presented the Cen family’s token of promise with both hands.
At that moment, a careless voice suddenly rang out.
“Mother, why was I not informed of such an important matter?”
Madam Cen abruptly stood up. “You troublemaker!”
“Marriages are arranged by parents and matchmakers—what right do you have to interfere?”
Cen Shaoyuan paid no mind. He stared at the slender young woman in green standing in the flower hall and raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Are you the Zhou family’s younger sister?”
“You wish to break off the engagement with me?”
He paused, his voice clear and youthful.
“I do not agree to this!”
Madam Cen immediately grew anxious. Furious, she struck her son. “Since ancient times, children’s marriages have been arranged by parents and matchmakers, you little devil!”
“The marriage contract between you and the Zhou family is here, and the engagement token has already been returned to the Zhou girl. This engagement is naturally void—your disagreement is useless.”
Cen Shaoyuan snatched the marriage contract from a servant’s hands.
“Now that the contract is in my hands and has not yet been torn up, this engagement remains valid.”
“Rip!”
At that moment, everyone saw Zhou Mingyi tear up the marriage contract.
Marriage is a union between two families, so both the marriage contract and the token of promise come in two copies.
With the copy in Ming Yi’s hands now torn and the token of promise already retrieved, the engagement was no longer valid.
“Young Master Cen, Ming Yi is not worthy of you. Ming Yi takes her leave.”
“Wait!”
Cen Shaoyuan was stunned and hurriedly chased after her.
Madam Cen was too slow to stop him and could only watch helplessly as her son ran out.
“What a calamity! This wretched boy!”
“I finally waited for that Zhou girl to come and break off the engagement herself, and now he acts like this… He’s trying to drive me to my grave!”
Madam Cen then had a thought and said to her trusted maidservant, “Do you think that Zhou girl deliberately stirred up discord between my son and me?”
The trusted maidservant’s heart skipped a beat.
“Madam, how could you think that?”
“The Second Young Master… has always been free-spirited and unruly, disliking restraint. This is just his rebellious nature…”
“You tried to match him with his cousin—he might have seen through it. Coincidentally, the Zhou girl came to break off the engagement, so he’s using her as an excuse to defy you!”
Madam Cen was taken aback.
The trusted maidservant continued, “Don’t you remember? The Second Young Master has been like this since he was young.”
“If we prepared salted duck for him, he’d insist on eating marinated goose…”
Madam Cen’s expression softened slightly.
“You’re right. That brat just loves to oppose me and drive me mad!”
She clutched her chest.
Suddenly, she remembered her sister-in-law and niece. “That brat—I told him to accompany his aunt and cousin, and he dared to slip away?”
Just then, a servant came to report that the young cousin had climbed a tree and couldn’t get down.
Madam Cen’s face turned pale. “What?”
“How could Xiuyun…”
“Quick, take people to check on her!”
Before long, Zhao Xiuyun covered her face and sobbed uncontrollably in Madam Cen’s arms. Her makeup was smeared from crying, a clear sign of genuine distress.
Madam Jin’s expression was also quite unpleasant.
Madam Cen comforted her niece while continuously scolding her son.
“That brat, that little devil! How could he do such a thing? Does he still think he’s a child, teasing his cousin like this?”
“If anything happens to Xiuyun, I’ll skin him alive!”
Madam Jin’s expression improved slightly.
However, she also knew that her sister-in-law was merely being polite, with her words subtly hinting at making excuses for that scoundrel.
Earlier, she and her daughter had been in the back garden with that scoundrel when he suddenly mentioned a peony blooming splendidly in the rear courtyard and invited the two of them to admire it.
Madam Jin naturally harbored the intention of creating an opportunity for the two young ones, so she deliberately claimed she was tired from walking and wanted to rest for a while.
She watched helplessly as her daughter followed that scoundrel away.
Not long after, she saw the scoundrel walking off alone.
Madam Jin found it strange and went over to look, only to find her usually gentle and demure daughter standing on a tree, clinging tightly to a branch, her face pale with fright.
Madam Jin’s vision went dark at that moment, nearly fainting on the spot.
When she asked her daughter, the girl only sobbed tearfully. It was later from her daughter’s personal maid that she learned the scoundrel had coaxed her daughter up the tree, claiming there was a bird’s nest up there…
Did he still think he was a child of a few years?
Truly mischievous and unruly!
Madam Jin’s tone was blunt, and she spoke with clear displeasure, “Sister, if A-Yuan truly does not like my Xiuyun, in my opinion, let’s treat what we discussed earlier as a joke.”
Madam Cen’s expression stiffened.
“A-Yao, don’t be angry. It’s my fault.”
“Rest assured, I will make that scoundrel give you and your daughter an explanation!”
Madam Jin snorted coldly.
Madam Cen comforted her niece in her arms, finally coaxing her into a smile.
To ease the tension, Madam Cen’s personal maid said with a smile, “The young miss is just like when she was little—whenever she feels wronged, she comes looking for our madam. It shows she has a special bond with her.”
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was our madam’s own daughter!”
Madam Cen had no daughters of her own and had always regarded her niece, Zhao Xiuyun, as her own child.
Since ancient times, nephews resemble their uncles, and nieces resemble their aunts.
Zhao Xiuyun’s appearance indeed bore some resemblance to Madam Cen in her youth.
The more she looked, the more delighted she felt.
Earlier, Madam Jin had been aware of her sister-in-law’s feelings and pretended to be jealous.
“I nearly lost my life giving birth to her, only for her to end up favoring you, sister.”
But now, Madam Jin was in a foul mood and remained tight-lipped, her expression stern.
…
Ming Yi hadn’t expected Cen Shaoyuan to chase after her.
But this troublemaker had always acted without rhyme or reason. Even if he hadn’t come after her, she would have found a way to see him before entering the palace.
In her past life, he had been utterly captivated by her beauty.
Yet men were particularly pragmatic creatures. When it came to weighing a beloved woman against their own prospects, they had their own scales in their hearts.
But what Ming Yi wanted was not Cen Shaoyuan’s remorse.
He was merely a dog she had her eye on.
A mad dog.
“Hey!”
Cen Shaoyuan, tall and sturdy, caught up with the petite Ming Yi in just a few strides.
Ming Yi was walking hurriedly when he grabbed her wrist.
In her panic, the corner of her veiled hat was abruptly lifted.
Cen Shaoyuan had originally thought that a woman wearing a veiled hat must be someone putting on airs, but he never expected the face beneath the hat to be breathtakingly beautiful, one that could topple cities and kingdoms.
For a moment, he was utterly stunned.
Zhou Mingyi seized the opportunity to break free from his grip and ran off.
She curled the corner of her lips.
The fish had taken the bait.
…
Madam Cen had originally sent servants to “fetch” her son, but after waiting and waiting, she heard from the servants that the second young master had already returned to his own courtyard.
Madam Jin’s face darkened even more. She stood up, took her daughter’s hand, and curtseyed. “The Cen family’s status is too high for us mother and daughter to aspire to. We shall take our leave here and now!”
Madam Cen immediately rose and grabbed her sister-in-law’s hand.
“Ah Yao, don’t be angry!”
With a stern expression, she ordered her personal maidservant to personally summon that scoundrel, specifically instructing, “Even if you have to tie him up, bring him here!”
The personal maidservant accepted the order. Madam Cen patted her niece’s back to comfort her, saying, “Don’t worry, your aunt will definitely stand up for you!”
Zhao Xiuyun cried as if pear blossoms were drenched in rain, raising her delicate, jade-white face. “Aunt, maybe we should just forget it? Second Cousin doesn’t seem to like me very much…”
Madam Cen said, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You and your second cousin grew up together since childhood. How could he not like you?”
“That brat is just being foolish!”