“Nonsense!” Liu Yigu fumed, his beard bristling with anger. “What kind of scholar father-in-law? I, Liu Yigu, don’t care for that! My daughter could marry into the imperial family if she wanted! If it weren’t for how much you liked him before, I wouldn’t even look twice at a petty scholar like Xie Tinglan.”
Liu Yigu was truly a doting father—how could a village girl like her marry a prince?
“Your father is worried about you. For the past two years, you’ve been pining for that scholar Xie, even threatening to die for him. Why have you suddenly decided not to marry him?”
“That day, when he humiliated me in front of so many people and cut ties with me, I completely lost hope in him.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.”
Liu Yigu carefully observed his daughter’s expression. Seeing that she truly meant it, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as though the knot that had been tangled in his heart for two years had finally loosened.
“Good, good! It’s wonderful that you’ve come to your senses!”
“But we shouldn’t rush to break off the engagement. We can’t make it seem like we’re the ones who wronged Xie Tinglan. We need to choose the right moment. Ideally, we can not only smoothly end the engagement but also make Xie Tinglan grateful to us.”
Liu Yigu snorted disdainfully. “I don’t need that kid’s gratitude.”
“But there’s no need to make an enemy either. Xie Tinglan is talented—passing the provincial exams is only a matter of time. He’s sure to be on the list in next year’s Autumn Examinations. With his looks, talent, and cunning, he’ll likely find a higher branch to climb soon. At that point, the engagement will become a burden. If we quietly break it off then, he’ll surely remember our kindness.”
In the original story, even after she had married Xie Tinglan, noblewomen from influential families kept trying to marry him as an Equal Wife—daughters of prefects, county princesses, princesses, daughters of generals, imperial consorts, even widowed empress dowagers…
Xie Tinglan’s appeal to women was simply too strong.
“You’re right!”
Liu Yigu looked at his daughter approvingly, growing happier the more he looked at her, his smile making Liu Zhiheng uneasy.
“Father, why are you looking at me like that?”
Liu Yigu replied, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you speak so clearly and logically…”
Indeed, after transmigrating, Liu Zhiheng had absorbed the memories of the past two years. During that time, she had been utterly deranged, speaking incoherently and acting like a madwoman, causing endless trouble and breaking her father and brother’s hearts day after day.
“Don’t worry, Father. Being foolish once in a lifetime is enough. I won’t repeat the same mistakes,” Liu Zhiheng said softly, hugging Liu Yigu’s arm. “Father, your daughter is back…”
Immediately after, Liu Zhiheng asked her father to speak with the village chief and the county magistrate about postponing the wedding, saying he couldn’t bear to see his daughter married off like this and wanted to wait until he returned to hold the ceremony.
As for Xie Tinglan, Liu Zhiheng planned to speak with him herself tomorrow after seeing her father off.
Xie Tinglan was a man of near-demonic intelligence and a deep-seated grudge. In the book, even a random passerby who casually called him a “kept man” was later hunted down, tortured, and had his tongue cut out. She really didn’t want to offend him.
Although Liu Zhiheng didn’t understand why her father, a mere hunter, would look down on a scholar, he simply despised Xie Tinglan and couldn’t say a single good word about him.To ensure that Xie Tinglan wouldn’t dig up their family for revenge in the future, Liu Zhiheng planned to properly appease this Son of Fortune. By helping him at key plot points, given his nature of repaying kindness and avenging grievances, the Liu family should be able to balance their merits and faults.
Early the next morning, a blizzard swept across all of Pingzhou.
Liu Yigu didn’t dare delay, fearing that if he didn’t leave soon, he wouldn’t be able to depart at all. He immediately left Peach Blossom Village to handle matters for the county magistrate.
Liu Zhiheng had spent the previous night packing her father’s luggage. Handing him the bundle, she whispered, “I’ve tucked some silver in the inner lining. Father, only take it out and use it when you reach a safe place.”
Apart from leaving money for her younger brother’s studies, Liu Zhiheng had given her father almost all the silver in the house.
She had made up her mind: during this time, she would cover her living expenses by hunting and trading. It didn’t matter if her own life was a bit tight—she couldn’t let her father suffer.
Her daughter’s renewed care after two years warmed Liu Yigu’s heart. With that, he hoisted the half-person-high bundle his daughter had prepared and finally set off on his journey.
Liu Zhiheng held her brother’s hand, waving goodbye to their father with tears in her eyes. Part of her was reluctant to see him go, but another part felt a flicker of excitement.
In two years, she would be a rich second generation.
Wow, she had never been a rich second generation before—she wondered what it would feel like…
After seeing her father off, Liu Zhiheng sent her younger brother, Liu Zhisheng, on an ox cart to Pingzhou County Town.
Thanks to the Liu family’s connections with the county magistrate, her brother had been studying at Ping’an Academy in Pingzhou, with only two days off each month. Recently, because of her, he had missed several days of study at home.
Liu Zhiheng knew that in the future, her father would become immensely wealthy. But to protect the family’s assets, they would need influence in the official circles. Now that she no longer planned to rely on Xie Tinglan, she could only pin her hopes on her genius younger brother in the future.
So Liu Zhiheng didn’t dare delay for even half a day. Fearing that heavy snow might block the roads and hinder her brother’s progress at the academy, she swiftly sent Liu Zhisheng on his way.
After seeing her brother off, Liu Zhiheng tidied up and headed to Xie Tinglan’s house, intending to have a good talk with him.
“Is Young Master Xie at home?” Liu Zhiheng called out at the entrance of the Xie residence.
Soon, the door opened from the inside.
Liu Zhiheng looked up at the future Top Scholar, the Son of Fortune who would wield immense power for decades.
Although she had mentally prepared herself, Liu Zhiheng still froze for a moment.
Truly worthy of being the male lead. Despite being a scholar, Xie Tinglan showed no trace of frailty. His appearance was heroic—with deep-set features, a tall stature, broad shoulders, and a slender waist. He exuded a sharp, aggressive aura. Even the disdainful look he gave her as he sized her up carried an undeniable masculine sense of invasion.
Xie Tinglan’s face was flushed from illness and fever. When he saw Liu Zhiheng, a flicker of contempt flashed in his eyes, but he still bowed politely to her.
In a voice hoarse from fever, he called out, “Miss Liu.”
Hearing his voice, Liu Zhiheng couldn’t help but think that even this man’s voice was seductive. But immediately afterward, she suddenly felt her body go weak. Then, without warning, a tingling sensation surged through her like an electric shock, leaving only one thought in her mind: she wanted to do that pleasurable thing with the man before her.
“Young Master Xie… today, I…”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Liu Zhiheng abruptly covered her lips with her hand.Her tone was so sickeningly sweet and coquettish!
Is this what they call the innate seductive bone, the Brewing Sauce Constitution that rivals Pan Jinlian?
Thud!
Before Liu Zhiheng could even process how this Brewing Sauce Constitution might affect her, she saw Xie Tinglan collapse straight to the ground, having actually fainted.