No, the person in front of me is Jiang Ning, the eldest granddaughter of the Jiang family?
Five years ago, she was rejected in marriage and committed suicide by crashing into a wall. Her death made the villagers more convinced that he was a disaster, that anyone who encountered him would be doomed. They even wanted to chase him away.
The person in front of him, with her forehead wrapped in white cloth, had crashed into the wall and survived?
So, she was still alive and standing here?
Lu Huaian’s cold eyes flashed with a hint of confusion!
The strong smell of medicine filled his nose, and his right leg was fixed and unable to move. He recalled that on the fifth day of the third month when he was nineteen, he was hit by a carriage at the academy gate.
No, it should be said that someone had used that incident. Everyone thought it was just an accident caused by a frightened carriage.
Only he knew the true person who had harmed him.
Thinking of this, Lu Huaian suppressed his thoughts and, with a calm expression, said淡淡：“You should leave. This matter has nothing to do with you, and I won’t hold it against you.”
Jiang Ning saw that he was lying on the bed with his eyes closed and had a look of not wanting to say more. So, she decided not to be a bother.
Soon, Master Chen came to check on Lu Huaian’s condition. He was somewhat surprised that his condition seemed to have improved so quickly, as his judgment indicated he would have taken several days to wake up.
Seeing that Lu Huaian was not in serious danger, Master Chen urged them to leave soon and not disturb the patient’s rest.
At this moment, Liu Chunsheng finally let out a sigh of relief, casually greeted everyone, and left without giving Jiang Ning a chance to call him back.
Looking at the hurriedly departing Liu Chunsheng, Jiang Ning became thoughtful. The Liu family ran a prosperous rice and grain shop in the county, and their family was well-off.
Even though they already had two sons, Liu Yunniang, as their only daughter, should not have been married off so hastily to a hunter like Jiang Dahan.
Yet, in reality, the Liu family only sent her to the Jiang family with a meager dowry.
No matter how much Jiang Laotai scolded her, the Liu family insisted that she endure it, claiming that as a daughter-in-law, she should serve her parents-in-law well.
The Liu family had never truly considered their daughter’s happiness. In the end, they even stripped her of the right to visit her family.
This also explained why the original owner knew so little about the Liu family.
Jiang Ning shook her head, still confused, and was just thinking about how to return to the village when Zhuang Fuqi appeared with his wife and a matchmaker, Zhuang Xipo. Behind them was also an unwilling Jiang Laotai.
Were they really here to pressure her into marriage?
Jiang Ning was shocked.
As soon as they entered the room, Zhuang Fuqi placed a basket of eggs on the table beside Lu Huaian’s bed and smiled, saying, “Scholar Lu, are you alright? We are here on behalf of the villagers to see you.”
Lu Huaian frowned slightly. Why had the village head come as well?
Zhuang Xipo teased, “Oh, look at this scholar. Even injured, he’s still so handsome! If I had a granddaughter, I’d be fighting to marry her to him!”
She hadn’t expected that, after walking around the village, she thought Zhuang Yunqing was good-looking. But it seemed like Scholar Lu might actually be even better.
“Village head, what’s going on?” Lu Huaian’s intuition told him this wasn’t going to be good.
“Ah, Scholar Lu, we really don’t have a choice…”
Zhuang Fuqi then explained the situation to him in detail.
The more Lu Huaian listened, the more his frown deepened. His face, already ashen, turned even paler. In his past life, he had been forced into marriage, and now, in this life, just after being reborn, he was going to be forced into marriage again???
He suddenly felt murderous, wanting to kill everyone.
The murderous intent in his cold eyes was palpable, and a deep, cold aura emanated from him, causing everyone in the room to feel suffocated by the intense chill.
The room fell silent…
After a long pause, Lu Huaian regained his composure.
He coldly turned his gaze to Jiang Ning, who was standing awkwardly in the corner, her eyes lowered in an attempt to avoid his gaze.
In his previous life, he had some resentment toward her. Though he knew her actions had been manipulated, it didn’t erase the trouble she had brought him.
Thinking of how his leg had been broken because of her and how he had nearly been driven out of the village, he felt no goodwill toward her.
Marriage…
He suddenly smirked. He was curious to see how she would handle the anger of the man behind this.
When Lu Huaian’s expression finally softened, Zhuang Fuqi also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized how terrifying Lu Huaian looked when he was angry. If he hadn’t known the man couldn’t move, he might have run away himself.
Zhuang Fuqi coughed lightly, then regained his authority and got down to business, wanting to deal with this troublesome matter quickly.
He directly asked Lu Huaian, “Scholar Lu, I want to ask you—did you hold Jiang Ning in your arms today in the county?”
Lu Huaian replied straightforwardly, “Yes.”
However, in his heart, he thought, If I could go back to that moment, I would have just avoided her. Let her die for all I care.
“Since that’s the case, will you take responsibility for her?” Zhuang Fuqi asked with an air of expectation.
At this moment, Lu Huaian didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Jiang Ning, as if seeking her opinion.
Humph, don’t blame him for not giving her a choice!
In fact, he was certain that Jiang Ning wouldn’t agree, given that everyone knew she was obsessed with Zhuang Yunqing.
She had even done many crazy things for him. And yet, she hadn’t directly opposed this? There must be something else going on.
Zhuang Fuqi, seeing the situation, turned to Jiang Ning and asked, “Ning girl, what do you think?”
In fact, Zhuang Fuqi knew very well that asking the girl about such matters was futile—her reputation was too important to her.
As expected, Jiang Ning responded, “I’ll defer to Scholar Lu.”
She decisively passed the ball back to Lu Huaian.
In truth, whether she married or not didn’t matter to her. The other party clearly didn’t want it and had a murderous look in his eyes. Why should she add to her own trouble?
She knew her opinion didn’t matter that much. After all, with the village head and the matchmaker here, it was clear they were going to make it happen no matter what.
Of course, if Lu Huaian firmly disagreed, even the village head couldn’t force him.
Lu Huaian narrowed his eyes. The entire village knew about Jiang Ning’s feelings for Zhuang Yunqing. It was common knowledge, even among their classmates at the academy.
Yet, she hadn’t directly rejected the idea? This was strange.
He sneered inwardly. He was curious to see what trick she was playing.
Zhuang Fuqi, sensing that everything was going according to plan, then asked Lu Huaian again, “So, will you take responsibility for her?”
Lu Huaian nodded without hesitation. “I will.”
Everyone in the room was stunned. They hadn’t expected the once-irritated Scholar Lu to agree so quickly.
They thought it would take a lot of persuasion before he reluctantly agreed.
After all, Jiang Ning looked malnourished, and no one thought she was a suitable match for him.
As for Lu Huaian’s cooperation, Zhuang Fuqi temporarily forgot about his earlier discomfort and was now satisfied. “In that case, since you have no elders in your family, I will take charge and have you both sign the marriage contract today. How does that sound?”
As for whether they held a wedding or not, it was up to them since neither side had any family.
“Alright,” Lu Huaian replied simply.