Zhou Ziyang's face turned extremely ugly.

Who wants her as the legal wife?

They clearly agreed that she would be a concubine, so why is she suddenly doing this?

He even said he wanted to publicize it so that everyone would know. How is he supposed to get married?

Seeing his grim expression, Jin Hua frowned and said, "Zi Yang, this is my only chance. Don't you want me to be your legal wife?"

“No, of course not,” Zhou Ziyang said urgently. “It’s just… eloping isn’t something to be proud of. How could my sister-in-law come up with such a terrible idea! If she elopes, she’ll become a concubine; that’s ruining Jin Hua’s reputation!”

Ye Caiping scoffed: "If I can't run away, I'll just become a concubine anyway. I might as well take a risk and fight for a future."

Zhou Ziyang retorted angrily, "How can that be the same! Even a concubine needs a reputation! If this doesn't work out, and my mother still doesn't agree in the end... then, wouldn't Jinhua lose her reputation for nothing?"

Jin Hua was taken aback. If that's the case, eloping really is too risky...

Ye Caiping said, "It's fine if you don't elope, but you have to spread the word that your true love is Jinhua, so that the whole of Yue'an County knows."

Jin Hua's eyes lit up. Yes, that's the way to do it! It's even better than eloping!

Zhou Ziyang felt like he had shot himself in the foot; it would have been better to elope!

"What's this? Then I..."

Ye Caiping sneered: "Then what about you? Are you afraid your fiancée will find out?"

Zhou Ziyang gritted his teeth: "I... even if I don't love Miss Song, I still have to respect her, right? If this gets out, won't she become the laughingstock of the entire Yue'an County? Jin Hua, are you such a vicious person?"

Jin Hua bit her lip; of course she wasn't...

“Of course not,” Ye Caiping said. “But spreading the word now is the greatest respect we can show Miss Song. Let her know you have true love before the marriage. If she is still willing to marry you, then if you favor your concubine over your wife in the future, she deserves it.”

"If she breaks off the engagement, she'll avoid a tragedy. Otherwise, you've committed marriage fraud! She'll happily marry into a family, only to find out she's a scumbag who favors his concubine over his wife!"

"She didn't kill your whole family, so why should she be deceived by you? Why should her life be ruined by you? Jin Hua, don't you agree?"

Jin Hua was stunned. She had always thought of Miss Song as the villain who had snatched Zhou Ziyang away, but after hearing her aunt say this, Miss Song seemed quite innocent.

Jin Hua felt a deep sense of agreement with Ye Caiping's words:

“My aunt is right. Miss Song… she shouldn’t have to endure all this. Ziyang, let’s go and be honest with Miss Song right now! While there’s still time to salvage the situation, we should give her a choice, instead of letting her get married in a muddle and end up with a bad ending.”

Zhou Ziyang almost fainted: "Wait... why are you saying things like this... Miss Song... she, she already knew, and she said she didn't mind!"

After saying that, Zhou Ziyang breathed a sigh of relief at his own cleverness.

Jin Hua's face turned ashen; how could Miss Song not mind...?

Zhou Ziyang held Jin Hua's hand and looked at her sincerely: "We agreed on this a long time ago, why did we have to make such a fuss..."

Jin Hua met his gentle gaze, and her heart softened, but she felt mostly wronged and resentful...

Ye Caiping said, "Oh, didn't you just say that you've never even met her? How does she know about Jin Hua?"

Zhou Ziyang suppressed his anger: "I... I had a servant pass on the message to her. She said she didn't mind. It's common for men to have multiple wives and concubines."

Ye Caiping laughed: "She said she doesn't mind, but don't you mind either? You say you love Jinhua, but you won't even give her the position of your principal wife."

"I...didn't I already say that I'm engaged, and my mother is on a hunger strike to oppose it?"

"Well, I've brought you a solution now, haven't I? Elope! Elope! First, it will force your mother to compromise, and second, it will force Miss Song to break off the engagement! Jinhua threatened to kill herself for you, and you're not even willing to elope for her?"

"You're no good at this, no good at that. Your love is all talk and no action?"

Zhou Ziyang's vision went black; how did he end up back in circles again?

“I, I… of course I’m willing. But you came too suddenly, I have to take care of what I’m doing… Yes! You came too suddenly, I need to prepare. Jinhua, Aunt, you… go back first, I’ll come find you again in a couple of days.”

When Jin Hua saw that he didn't agree immediately, the light in her eyes dimmed, revealing deep disappointment and sadness.

In that instant, she felt that their hearts had never been so far apart.

She seemed to have no idea what he was thinking...

I always felt that he couldn't bear to part with Miss Song, and he didn't want to elope with her...

Jin Hua's eyes were red and swollen. She wanted to ask him why, but she didn't dare to ask, afraid that if she asked too much, she wouldn't get the answer she wanted...

Jin Hua looked at Ye Caiping helplessly.

Ye Caiping nodded: "Alright, then you can handle it slowly! Jinhua, let's go back. If he won't go, we will."

Zhou Ziyang's heart skipped a beat: "Where...are you going?"

Ye Caiping scoffed: "Don't worry, now that I think about it, I also think eloping is too risky. If things don't go well, Jin Hua's reputation could really be ruined."

Zhou Ziyang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly forced a smile: "Then... I'll have the servant escort you back to the village."

“Okay!” Ye Caiping nodded. “But let’s not go back to the village yet. Take us to the county town! Although you and Miss Song have exchanged letters, who knows if it was just polite talk?”

"These kinds of things can only be discussed openly when the parties involved sit down and talk it out."

“Jinhua and I will go talk to Miss Song right now! Afterwards, we must spread the word that Jinhua is your true love and that you were forced to marry Miss Song, so that the whole of Yue’an County will know.”

"Oh, right, I also need to find a few storytellers to go to various restaurants every day and spread your and Jin Hua's touching love story!"

"Let me make this clear beforehand: you'll have to pay for the storytelling. After all, we've already put in the effort, so you, who's just reaping the benefits, should at least contribute something, right?"

Right? Right? Right?!

Zhou Ziyang's vision went black, and he almost fainted. What the hell?! Is this a question of who paid for it?

Seeing Ye Caiping pull Jinhua and turn to leave, Zhou Ziyang hurriedly stopped them: "Wait... No. If we go to the county town now... it will be dark, and we won't be able to find anyone. Let's go back to the village first."

Ye Caiping nodded: "That's fine. It's the same if we don't go today, we can go tomorrow. After all, Miss Song isn't going anywhere! And those storytellers are always hungry for food!"

Zhou Ziyang: "..."

Just as Ye Caiping and her companion were about to leave, the door was pushed open with a bang: "Wait."

It turned out to be the Xie family who arrived.

Ye Caiping turned to look at her, but Jin Hua's face was pale. How much had Aunt Xie heard? Did she already know about their elopement plan? How would she view her...?

But didn't Aunt Xie fall ill from a hunger strike? How could she recover so quickly in just one or two days?

"Stop making a scene!" Madam Xie glared at Zhou Ziyang. "Ziyang is not engaged to Miss Song. Don't ruin her reputation."

Then, he turned to Ye Caiping and said, "Jinhua's aunt, I've always been very satisfied with Jinhua. Tomorrow morning, we'll go to your mansion to exchange our marriage certificates and marry Jinhua into the family as your principal wife with a grand wedding procession."