"Hasn't the young master arrived yet?" Bai Luo leaned against the side gate, peering into the alleyway.

Today is the day that the young master of the Lu family promised to come to Najib. Bailuo was afraid that things might change, so she arrived at the side gate early to wait.

She waited from early morning until late morning, and twice sent the old woman guarding the gate to secretly scout the main street, but she still didn't see anyone from the Lu family. As the sun rose higher and higher, almost reaching noon, Bai Luo stamped her foot in frustration, preparing to turn back, when she suddenly heard the old woman guarding the gate exclaim, "They're here! They're here!"

Bai Luo peeked out and saw a group of people riding horses past the alley entrance. Judging from the direction, they could only be heading towards the Shen family's house; there was no mistake.

Since the Shen family's incident, their home has become deserted, and everyone else would rather avoid it. At this time, the only person who would come to the Shen family is the young master Lu Minghe.

"I'll go tell the girl!" Bai Luo rubbed her sore eyes and ran excitedly towards Qingwu Courtyard.

The Shen family has suffered a series of misfortunes in the past month, but now there is finally some good news!

"Miss! Miss!" Bai Luo ran through the hanging flower gate and into the main house, panting, "Young Master has arrived!"

Danzhu was overjoyed upon hearing this: "You saw clearly? You really came?"

"There's no mistake." Bai Luo said, panting, "Someone from the front yard should be coming to report soon."

Just then, they heard someone talking outside. Judging from the voice, it should be Granny Gu, who serves Fang, the stepmother: "Second Miss, are you ready? People from the Lu family are here. Second Miss, why don't you go and take a look?"

Danzhu and Bailuo both showed joy. Bailuo said, "I knew that the young master was a man of his word. He treated our young lady so well. It took a lot of effort to get the master to agree to the marriage. He said he would not break off the engagement, and he definitely will."

In the past two weeks, the Shen family has suffered a series of misfortunes. First, three cities in Qinzhou fell in succession, and then Shen Xiuyi, the eldest son of the Shen family, disappeared before the battle. He was accused of colluding with the Western Xia and betraying the country, which angered the emperor. Then the Shen family was raided, and letters between the Shen family and the Western Xia were found in the study of the lord, Shen Mingjiang, who was then imprisoned.

The Shen family is in dire straits, its grand edifice on the verge of collapse.

Shen Youying was unwilling to burden the Lu family and took the initiative to write a letter proposing to cancel the marriage. However, Lu Minghe secretly came to her and said that no matter what others said, he would never break off the engagement.

The Lu family and the Shen family are closely related. He will not sit idly by and watch the Duke of Shen suffer injustice. Even if it means dying in court, he will ask the Emperor to investigate the injustice done to the Shen family.

Today was supposed to be the day the Lu family came to receive the auspicious omen, but no one from the Lu family arrived for a long time, and Shen Youying thought something had gone wrong.

Hearing that the person had finally arrived, Shen Youying breathed a slight sigh of relief. She smiled, opened the box on the dressing table, and took out a gilded and kingfisher hairpin with a peacock design, placing it in her hair.

This was a coming-of-age gift from her cousin, Lu Minghe, the year she turned 18.

She and her cousin grew up together; they were childhood sweethearts.

That day he said, "After you come of age, Zhao Zhao will be a young lady."

"If I pass the imperial examination this autumn, my family should arrange a marriage for me." He solemnly placed the gilded and kingfisher-feather peacock hairpin in her palm, his smile as gentle as jade: "The moon shines brightly in the clouds, this sentiment is entrusted to the bright moon. Can the bright moon understand my feelings?"

Shen Youying understood and accepted it.

Later, he indeed passed the imperial examination and came to the Shen family to propose marriage.

Father was initially not very satisfied with this marriage because the Lu family was large and had complicated relationships, but she liked it herself, and Lu Minghe repeatedly assured her that he would protect her and promised to be with her for life, so Father finally relented.

Shen Youying looked at herself in the mirror. The tassels of her gilded and kingfisher-feather peacock hairpin swayed gently beside her face. Her makeup was exquisite, with bright eyes and red lips.

"Let's go." Shen Youying slowly got up and led Bailuo and Danzhu to the front hall.

In the front hall, the Lu family members were already waiting, but the atmosphere was far from festive; in fact, it was rather cold.

As soon as Shen Youying stepped into the hall, her gaze swept over the Lu family members who had come, and not seeing Lu Minghe, her heart tightened. Looking at her stepmother Fang's face, her ominous premonition grew even stronger.

She lowered her eyes, stepped forward, and curtsied to Madam Fang, saying, "Mother."

Fang glanced at her, her expression not very good. She didn't have time for pleasantries and instead looked directly at the old woman sent by the Lu family, saying unhappily, "Now that the second young lady is here, repeat what you just said in front of her!"

The old woman was dressed in coarse hemp clothing and did not look very presentable. Her words were even more unpleasant. Upon hearing this, she stood up and said, "Our mistress consulted a fortune teller, who said that the girl's birth chart clashes with the old lady of the family and is very unlucky. Therefore, we should consider this marriage as something that the Lu family never mentioned."

She handed over the birth chart again, revealing hands that were rough like orange peel, making her look like a rough old woman.

“Here, the mistress told me to return the second young lady’s marriage certificate. She said that now that the Shen family is in trouble, she knows that the young lady is counting on this marriage to turn her life around. But our young master has studied hard for many years and he really cannot get involved in this case of treason. I hope the second young lady will not ruin our young master’s future for her own selfish reasons.”

As Shen Youying looked at the returned marriage certificate, a heavy weight lifted from her heart.

She looked up at the old woman: "Where is Lu Minghe? Why didn't he come to annul the engagement in person?"

The old woman, with her hands clasped in her pockets, said, "Our young master is soft-hearted; how could the mistress dare to send him? If the second young lady has any self-respect left, she should stop pestering us."

Shen Youying had never been so humiliated before, and her face burned with shame.

But she knew that now that her father was in prison, her every word and action was related to the reputation of the Shen family. The marriage could be called off, but she could not be looked down upon and be known as a Shen family girl who was clingy and persistent.

She took the betrothal letter and handed it to Danzhu, then took Lu Minghe's betrothal letter, straightened her back, and said slowly and deliberately, "If you want to annul the engagement, then so be it, but there is one thing that needs to be made clear."

"Soon after, I wrote to my cousin, expressing my intention to annul the engagement, not wanting to involve the Lu family. It was my cousin who insisted on not annuling the engagement, not me who was clinging to the Lu family as a lifeline. Today's annulment is due to the Lu family and Lu Minghe's betrayal of their promise."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!