Chapter 24: Calling Off the Engagement

Chapter 24: Calling Off the Engagement

Anticipating a good show today, Shen Yichen rose early and strolled around the Minister of Personnel's mansion.

Ignoring the murderous glares from the father and son, Shen Yichen was in excellent spirits.

Sure enough, before long, someone arrived from the Marquis of Yong'an's estate.

It was the head of the Yong'an Marquis household himself.

Wang Shuci greeted him with great delight, but in his carelessness, that damned little bastard also slipped out in front of everyone.

Owing to his recently ruined reputation, Wang Shuci forced a fond smile toward Shen Yichen and even made a pretense of explaining things to the Lady Marquis of Yong'an, which only lifted Shen Yichen's spirits with amusement.

The most amusing part was that the Lady Marquis of Yong'an remained stone-faced throughout, making Wang Shuci's obsequious fawning seem even more absurd.

Wang Shuci was displeased, but considering that the two families had just recently become betrothed, even if it meant ensuring his dear Lan'er wouldn't be bullied by that old hag after marrying into the marquis household, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear it.

Yet the more he yielded and humbled himself, the more that old hag overstepped her bounds.

Truly shameless and not worth the courtesy.

Once they were seated in the main hall, the Lady Marquis of Yong'an got straight to the point.

"Since things have reached this point, Lady Shen needn't put on such a hypocritical act. We are both loving parents, so surely you can understand my feelings."

The Lady Marquis of Yong'an had always been forthright and outspoken. She said this to preserve both families' dignity—if Wang Shuci had any sense of shame, he would have proactively proposed breaking off the engagement.

But to her utter disbelief, Wang Shuci was completely shameless, still feigning ignorance and trying to gloss over the matter. Did he think she was a fool?

Little did she know that Wang Shuci was genuinely confused.

Already annoyed by her cold demeanor, and now having his face slapped so inexplicably, Wang Shuci's face finally turned grim.

"What does the Lady mean by that? Since our families are engaged, we'll soon be one family. If you have something to say, just say it outright. Don't be so passive-aggressive and repulsive."

Not only was she being passive-aggressive, but she also acted all high and mighty.

Did she forget that his husband was the venerable Minister of Personnel? He had the Wang family backing him—what was a mere Marquis of Yong'an compared to that?

Wang Shuci assumed that the bastard's recent misdeeds had reached this woman's ears, and she had come to hold him accountable.

But what did that bastard's disgraceful actions have to do with his dear Lan'er? Anyone would lose their mind living with such a madman!

With that thought, he shot another venomous glare at Shen Yichen.

His eyes practically wanted to eat the boy alive.

Yet Shen Yichen, far from being angry, merely curled his lips into a smirk at him. The barely hidden glee in his eyes almost made Wang Shuci lose his cool. A sudden feeling of dread washed over him.

What had that little wretch done now?

Just as he was thinking this, the Lady Marquis of Yong'an let out a ruthless, cold laugh:

"Lady Shen really has some nerve! You still dream of marrying your Third Young Master into the Yong'an Marquis's household after all this? Do you really think my son would marry just anyone?"

The Lady Marquis of Yong'an showed no respect whatsoever, and Wang Shuci's temper flared instantly.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with my Lan'er? How is he not worthy of your useless son?"

His Lan'er was priceless—more than worthy of marrying into royalty or nobility. If not for the friendship between the Marquis of Yong'an and Shen Yunhe, he wouldn't have even looked twice at such a match!

The moment the words left his mouth, both sides erupted, their fury reaching a boiling point.

"Wang Shuci, who are you calling a good-for-nothing?"

The Lady Marquis of Yong'an sprang to her feet, pointing a finger at Wang Shuci's nose.

"Have some decency! If I were you, I'd break off the engagement myself. Yet you cling to it shamelessly—what, can't your son find a husband?"

"Zhang Miaomiao, who are you calling husbandless? Say that again if you dare!"

The two immediately squared off, ready to fight. Both were prominent noble sons of the capital who had butted heads in their youth, and now they faced off, neither willing to back down.

"I'm talking about your son with the strange disease—Shen Qinglan!"

"Strange disease?"

What strange disease?

Wang Shuci's mind went blank from rage. Before he could even make sense of what was happening, the Lady Marquis of Yong'an launched into a tirade.

"Wang Shuci, this is outright marriage fraud! Shameless as ever! I came in person out of respect for the Minister's family, but you truly don't know when to stop! You dare try to deceive us by marrying your bald son into the Yong'an Marquis's household—this is absolutely unconscionable! Aren't you afraid of getting struck by lightning?"

Wang Shuci was stunned into silence by the onslaught, his head spinning with rage.

But at least he now understood what was going on. Some damned soul had gone to the Lady Marquis of Yong'an and spread rumors that his Lan'er had gone bald and caught a strange illness.

But his Lan'er didn't have a strange illness—he'd just had his hair chopped off by that bastard Shen Yichen.

It would grow back, damn it!

Yet the situation before him left no chance to explain. More importantly, the other party had come to break off the engagement without even checking the facts, insulting his Lan'er so recklessly without knowing right from wrong. That was an insult Wang Shuci absolutely refused to stomach.

And so, war broke out.

Wang Shuci suddenly lunged forward like a madman and slapped the Lady Marquis of Yong'an right across the face.

"How dare you slander my Lan'er! Your son is the one with a strange illness—your son has a venereal disease too!"

The Lady Marquis of Yong'an was stunned by the blow. Shen Yichen and Chuliu, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, both widened their eyes in disbelief.

Especially Shen Yichen—his bright, sparkling eyes were practically overflowing with barely contained excitement.

As if saying, "Fight, fight, fight!"

And things went exactly as Shen Yichen had hoped.

Two of the capital's most prominent noble ladies ended up brawling with absolutely no dignity at all.

Their personal attendants and maids rushed forward to help their respective masters, but soon they too joined the fight, resulting in total chaos.

Shen Yichen watched from the side, clapping his hands in glee, laughing so hard he was bent over, his stomach hurting.

Chuliu wanted to laugh too, but he didn't dare to. So he could only desperately stifle his laughter while patting his young master's back to help him catch his breath.

The scene was utter pandemonium.

Shen Yichen: Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Chuliu: Disgraceful, utterly disgraceful!

"What the hell are you doing?! Stop right now!"

Finally, a sharp shout silenced the room.

Shen Yichen turned and saw Shen Yunhe striding in, his face black as thunder.

Several guards rushed in to break up the brawl.

To his surprise, Shen Yichen saw Wei Xiao walk in alongside Minister Shen—and Wei Xiao even shot him a wink.

But before he could ask, a furious Shen Yunhe was already tearing into Wang Shuci.

"Look at you, a total mess—what makes you any better than a common street thug? You're the lord of the Minister's household, and you're brawling with a guest? It's absolutely shameful."

By now, both men were a wreck—hair wild, clothes torn, gasping for air.

"This is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace!"

Shen Yunhe was grinding his teeth.

At this moment, he truly wished he could divorce this impossible man.

All he ever did was pull shady, underhanded stunts—not a brain cell in his head.

How did I ever end up married to such a brainless, embarrassing fool?

Wang Shuci felt humiliated and utterly cold inside from the scolding. Their Lan'er had been so casually insulted and slandered, and Shen Yunhe, as the father, didn't defend his own child—instead, he scolded his husband in front of everyone.

He felt like he'd swallowed ice in midsummer—cold to the bone.

In an instant, the fierce man deflated like a popped balloon, on the verge of tears.

The Lady Marquis of Yong'an, however, wasn't scared of Shen Yunhe—he wasn't her husband, so why should she be afraid?

"Minister Shen, you're a real piece of work. My husband treated you like a real brother, and this is how you repay him—with lies and games?"

Shen Yunhe was baffled, staring at her like she'd lost her mind.

If she weren't his best friend's wife, he'd have cursed her out too.

"This engagement is over, whether you like it or not!" She hurled the marriage contract and betrothal gifts to the ground. "Your household's young master is too much for my family to handle."

Shen Yunhe's blood boiled—this man was actually here to call off the engagement?

He didn't even ask why—he just wanted this mess over with, so he told Wang Shuci to hurry up and find the other family's tokens and contract.

Wang Shuci, still furious, moved fast.

In a flash, he threw the tokens back at her and ripped the marriage contract to shreds right in her face.

She let out another round of sneers before storming off with a cold face.

And just like that, the engagement between the two families was completely over.

Their relationship dropped to below freezing.

Wang Shuci collapsed to the ground, cursing Shen Yunhe's heartlessness, then the Marquis for being a monster, and finally weeping over his poor Lan'er's fate.

Just then, a shaky voice came from the doorway.

"Father, Papa... this isn't true, is it?"

The couple looked up to see Shen Qinglan leaning on the doorframe, barely standing. His eyes were red, clearly in denial about being dumped—and the worst part was, the Young Marquis was the one he truly loved.

Now everything was destroyed.

"I'll kill Shen Yichen! Papa, I'll chop that bastard up and feed him to the dogs! I'll kill him!"

To make it worse, he still had a cloth tied around his head, making him look ridiculous, almost comical.

"Lan'er..."

Before anyone could stop him, Shen Qinglan bolted out like a madman—only then did they see he was holding a pair of scissors.

Wang Shuci let out a gut-wrenching scream.

"You little bastard, I'll kill him—ahhh!"

Screw the imperial betrothal, screw a good reputation—he didn't want any of it. He just wanted to tear the culprit apart with his own hands.

But by then, Shen Yichen was long gone.

He'd slipped out of the Minister's residence right after the drama ended and Shen Yunhe showed up.

Right now, he had a candied hawthorn skewer in one hand and sugar-roasted chestnuts in the other.

Living his best life.

"Ah, so good! So damn good!"

"Wei Xiao, I'm buying you tea."

Shen Yichen was in a great mood, so he was especially generous to Wei Xiao, who'd helped him sneak out of the residence.

Earlier that day, Wei Xiao had been waiting outside the Minister's residence bright and early, following his master's orders.

Sure enough, he saw the Yong'an Marquis's people go in, and he silently praised his master's foresight.

About half an incense stick later, he walked into the residence and was led to Minister Shen's study.

But just as he was demanding answers and the Minister had that constipated look on his face, a servant came rushing in, saying something had happened in the main hall.

Wei Xiao immediately caught on to his master's plan, so when Minister Shen tried to use business as an excuse to kick him out, Wei Xiao refused to leave and shamelessly followed him.

His master had said: if the Minister didn't give a proper explanation, he should stay put and not leave.

Holy crap—who would've thought the Minister's household would put on such a show?

In all the chaos, he caught his future master's eye, and the three of them quickly slipped out.

"How about the best teahouse in the city, the Tingyu Pavilion?"

Wei Xiao didn't hesitate and agreed right away:

"Sounds great. Thanks a lot, Young Master Shen."

"Don't mention it—it's your master's money, after all."

Wei Xiao was dumbfounded, while Chuliu covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

And so, the three of them arrived at the entrance of Tingyu Pavilion, where they spotted Cheng Yi standing upstairs, looking down.

Their eyes met, and Shen Yichen's heart couldn't help but stir.

He quickly looked away, only to notice that many young women and men nearby were also staring in that direction, all of them barely hiding how stunned they were.

He thought to himself: He really had found himself a husband who drew eyes wherever he went.

Yet he couldn't suppress the joy in his heart, for the very man who could draw such gazes just by standing there was about to become his husband.

Meanwhile, Cheng Yi, who'd briefly blanked, quickly withdrew from the window as he came to his senses.

Just then, Lin Beixiao hurried in, looking totally confused.

"Ah... Second Young Master, why did Young Master Xie leave? I noticed he didn't look right—did the two of you have some misunderstanding?"

Lin Beixiao looked really worried.

Like someone genuinely concerned about a friend.

But Cheng Yi gave him a cold look, his face stern and icy, not even giving him the time of day.

"Lin Beixiao, I treated you as a friend, yet you've harmed me like this. You really let me down."

Lin Beixiao almost choked on his own words.

So he's turning it around on me? And where's this even coming from?

"Do you know who he is?"

Lin Beixiao shook his head in confusion.

His status was low; Cheng Yi was already the highest he could ever hope to reach, let alone some engaged young master from a rich family—he'd never even get near someone like that.

All he knew was that the delicate, gorgeous young man had the surname Xie, but he didn't know his full name, nor his identity.

Cheng Yi smirked, his face dark and grim, anger burning in his eyes.

"His surname is Xie! Don't you know who in this city has the surname Xie?"

Lin Beixiao froze, then it hit him, his eyes getting wider and wider.

The imperial family had the surname Xie, so was Young Master Xie...

"He... he's from the palace?"

Cheng Yi didn't deny it.

Lin Beixiao's mouth fell open.

He knew that his own status was low; he'd grown up around all kinds of lowlifes, not even fit to be a servant or guard in an ordinary wealthy household, let alone meet someone as important as a prince.

No wonder Young Master Xie had such poise and class—he was a prince, after all.

His heart suddenly started pounding.

His hands, hanging at his sides, clenched tightly, and a wild greed flickered in his eyes.

If he could win the prince over, then imperial prestige, power at court, wealth, and glory, and a status admired by all—wouldn't all of that be his for the taking?

Wouldn't that be a thousand times easier than kissing up to some young master who looked down on him?

The more Lin Beixiao thought, the more worked up he got, totally missing the mockery in Cheng Yi's dark eyes.

He put on a panicked look. "Forgive me, I... I didn't know Young Master Xie was..."

If he'd known he was a prince, he never would've gone to all that trouble to create an opportunity for them to meet.

He would've done everything in his power to shut down any chance between them and take his spot instead.

Cheng Yi sneered:

"Exactly! Because you didn't know, you almost ruined me!"

"Do you realize that Young Master Xie's status is so noble that if anyone found out he left the palace alone to meet me in secret, what would happen to the Marquis Zhongyong's household? And what would the Emperor think of me? What would he think of the Cheng family?"

"I..."

"The Emperor already arranged a marriage for me. My husband is going to be Young Master Shen, and no one else. Understood?"

Lin Beixiao nodded repeatedly.

But he saw that Cheng Yi's anger had yet to subside, and disappointment was evident in his eyes.

"I won't hold today against you, but we're done as friends."

With that, Cheng Yi flicked his sleeves and walked off, leaving Lin Beixiao with a grim expression, drowning in embarrassment and humiliation—though a new hope stirred restlessly in his heart.

He stared venomously at Cheng Yi's retreating figure.

Once he climbed the ranks and became the imperial consort, wielding the might of the royal family, why would he ever worry about not having the chance to deal with those arrogant wastrels who looked down on him?

When that day came, he would repay Cheng Yi a hundredfold for the humiliation and disgrace he had suffered.

Little did he know that Cheng Yi had seen all of this clearly and was already scheming.

He was certain that once Lin Beixiao learned of Xie Yulin's identity as a prince, he would do everything in his power to cling to him, even knowing that Xie Yulin was a prince who enjoyed little favor.

Cheng Yi hurried down the stairs, only to run straight into Shen Yichen and his two companions, who were about to head up.

The moment their eyes met, Shen Yichen's foot slipped, and he stumbled backward.

Shen Yichen was startled, inwardly crying out that heaven was out to get him.

Behind him wasn't just the staircase, but also a waiter carrying a tray of tea.

It was over—he was going to make a fool of himself in front of this man again.

Why was it that every time he encountered Cheng Yi, he ended up in such a sorry state?

==========Author's Note:==========

Cheng Yi: What am I feeling guilty about?

Another long chapter today!

From now on, unless something unexpected comes up, I'll be updating every day at nine in the morning.

Love you all (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤～