A smile flashed in Shi Yuan's deep eyes. He stepped forward and stood before Old Master Shi, his attitude extremely devout and his tone extremely respectful.

“Grandpa, Uncle Wei, my eldest brother must have run away from the engagement. The people who came today are all important figures, including Uncle Tang. If the engagement banquet can't go on, neither of our families wants to bear the consequences. The best course of action is for me to take my brother's place and get engaged to Miss Wei, so that the engagement can continue!”

These words were overheard by Wei Ziyao, who quickly went to Old Master Shi, her expression anxious.

"Grandpa Shi, I disagree. My fiancé must be Shi Zhan!"

Grandpa Shi was still pondering Shi Yuan's suggestion when Wei Ziyao's aggressive attitude suddenly made him very upset.

Although he is old, his heart is not.

Shi Zhan never loved Wei Ziyao; this marriage was merely for the sake of the two families' alliance. Now, if they want the marriage to continue, they can only follow Shi Yuan's suggestion.

After all, he knew that Shi Yuan liked Wei Ziyao, but if that happened, the Wei family's wealth might not be able to help Shi Zhan in the future.

Shi Yuan seemed to have seen through Old Master Shi's thoughts, and so he said,

"Grandpa, I'd like to speak with you alone for a few minutes!"

Old Master Shi frowned and looked at him, then nodded slightly.

After the two walked to the side, Shi Yuan then took Old Master Shi's arm and said solicitously,

“Grandpa, you should know that I really like Ziyao. If it weren’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to make such a suggestion. I know what you’re thinking and worrying about. I’m also a child of the Shi family. I will definitely do my best to help my older brother with the financial support he needs in the future.”

Grandpa Shi's eyes lit up as he looked at Shi Yuan meaningfully, thinking to himself, "Shi Yuan is such a sensible child. If that's really the case, then it's not necessarily a bad thing."

If they disagree, a rift will develop between the two families, making it difficult to maintain a harmonious relationship.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, Old Master Shi nodded solemnly to Shi Yuan.

“Yuan’er, you are truly a good grandson of your grandfather. Very good. Go and call your Uncle Wei over. I will talk to him about this matter.”

"Yes, Grandpa!"

After Shi Yuan turned around, the smile on his face became very strange. He walked up to Wei Dingyun, also appearing very obedient.

"Uncle Wei, Grandpa wants you to come over!"

Wei Dingyun seemed to have figured something out. When he looked at Shi Yuan, there seemed to be a hint of compromise in his eyes.

Wei Ziyao frowned, her beautiful eyes narrowed, and said to Shi Yuan in a rather unfriendly manner,

"Shi Yuan, stop dreaming! I will never get engaged to you!"

“Ziyao, I think you are very clear in your heart that there can be no mistakes at today’s engagement banquet. This is no longer just your personal engagement banquet, but a marriage alliance between our entire Shi family and your entire Wei family. You and I can only follow the arrangements.”

Shi Yuan's calm and composed attitude left Wei Ziyao speechless. She did understand, but she was really unwilling to accept it unless she could take responsibility for the consequences herself. However, she knew in her heart that she simply could not bear it!

Before long, it seemed that Grandpa Shi and Wei Dingyun had reached an agreement, and both of them looked relaxed.

When Wei Ziyao saw it, her heart sank instantly.

I heard my father's voice.

"Ziyao, the engagement banquet will be held as scheduled today. Shiyuan, you also need to get ready. In a little while, the two of you will come out together to announce your engagement to our Ziyao."

"Yes, Uncle Wei!"

Shi Yuan politely changed his address, which made Wei Dingyun feel much better instantly, and the more he looked at Shi Yuan, the more pleasing he became.

"Alright, go ahead!"

Although Shi Zhan was the grandson that Old Master Shi valued the most, to be honest, he still preferred Shi Yuan a little more.

In Wei Dingyun's mind, as long as he could form a marriage alliance with the Shi family and leverage their political power, things would be much easier to handle. As for whether the person was Shi Zhan or Shi Yuan, he didn't really care.

Wei Ziyao couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to try again, so she boldly pleaded with her father.

"Dad, can you wait a little longer for Shizhan? I'll go find him, I'll definitely bring him back!"

"How dare you! You are the heir of the Wei family, so you should act like one. How can you be so ignorant of your responsibilities? Do you want to follow in your brother's footsteps?"

Wei Dingyun sternly reprimanded Wei Ziyao, and this shout made Wei Ziyao tremble all over. She was the heir of the Wei family, and her father's meaning was very clear: if she did not obey him, he would break off relations with her on the spot.

She knew her father very well; he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing!

She quickly analyzed the situation. It was just an engagement; she could find an opportunity to call it off later. She decided to get through this hurdle first.

She immediately softened, her tone becoming very respectful, no longer as impetuous as before.

"Dad, I was confused just now. I know you made this decision for my own good, and I will follow your arrangements."

Shi Yuan watched her with a smile the whole time. When she said that, it was within his expectations. He knew that Wei Ziyao was absolutely unwilling to give up her status as the heir of the Wei family.

Seeing that Wei Ziyao had compromised, Old Master Shi gave her face and said to Wei Dingyun,

"Dingyun, you've talked to me about the Haikou trade matter several times before. I think you're meticulous and conscientious, so I trust you with this task."

Wei Dingyun was shocked upon hearing this, and even Wei Ziyao was excited. If they could obtain the trading rights for those trade routes in Haikou, then the Wei family's plans would be made a natural progression.

At that moment, Wei Ziyao disregarded what had just happened and immediately thanked Grandpa Shi with great joy.

Wei Dingyun also expressed his gratitude.

Old Master Shi was somewhat satisfied and said to Shi Yuan,

"Yuan'er, take Ziyao away and make some preparations. Time is almost up."

Wei Ziyao obligingly took Shi Yuan's arm and left.

As the two walked towards the private room upstairs, Xiao Yiqing saw them. Looking at their backs, she was filled with doubt.

"What are these two up to now!"

Soon, once all the guests had arrived, the host announced the male and female protagonists of the day with great enthusiasm and solemnity.

The audience erupted in applause. As Shi Yuan led Wei Ziyao to the front of the stage, a small number of people were surprised, wondering why it wasn't Shi Zhan.

This included Song Shaojie, who stared in disbelief at the two on the stage, not seeing Shi Zhan, and muttered to himself...

What's going on?

Where is he/she?

Shi Zhan was on his way to the northern suburbs. He checked the time and figured the engagement banquet should have been canceled by now!

Just then, I received a message from Song Shaojie on my phone.

[Zhanzhan, what are you doing? Where are you? How did Shi Yuan become the one you're engaged to?]

After seeing this news, Shi Zhan seemed to understand something. It seemed that Wu Youyou's kidnapping was related to his younger brother.