Chapter 108

As Lan Yingde and Changsheng entered the house, they found Yueming sitting on the porch, staring blankly at a table full of food. Ye Hu and Ai Ye were beside her, wiping their tears and wanting to persuade her but not daring to. His heart sank, and he hurried over to Yueming and asked anxiously, "Yueming, what happened?"

Yueming looked blankly at the source of the voice. It took her a long time to recognize that the person in front of her was her father. She murmured, "Dad..." Before she finished speaking, tears began to flow. She sobbed and said, "My marriage to Yunkai can't be completed. Please help me cancel the engagement tomorrow!"

Changsheng, who was standing behind Lan Yingde, was stunned at first when he heard this, then he became furious and turned around to leave.

"Come back." Lan Yingde shouted, "Isn't your house a mess?"

Changsheng gnashed his teeth and said, "Han is treacherous. I must go and ask for an explanation for Yueming."

Yueming choked up and called softly, "Brother, there's no need to go. It's useless."

Lan Yingde watched his daughter's heartbreak, filled with resentment. Even though he wanted to tear Yunkai into pieces, he offered Yueming some advice: "If you really can't bear to let Yunkai go, there's a way. I can help Yunkai secure his position as chieftain."

Yueming cried and shook her head, "What else can we do? Either you risk your dignity and ask the Tengchong garrison to help him clear the obstacles, or I sacrifice my dignity and become his concubine. Aren't those the only two options? Forget it, it's just a marriage. Why risk someone's life? You won't die if you don't get married."

Lan Yingde was about to persuade him again, but Yueming waved his hand and said, "Don't try to persuade me. You didn't want me to marry into the Tusi Mansion in the first place, but I just kept ignoring you. No matter how willful I am, I have to know my limits. Hiring troops from Tengchong would be too costly. If things go wrong, the entire Yunxiang will be littered with corpses and devastated. He wouldn't want to see Yunxiang end up like this. I can't disregard the Lan family's reputation and let people say you didn't say a word when your own daughter went from wife to concubine for money. He has so many people to take care of, don't I have anyone to protect? Since he said the marriage is off, then it's off."

Lan Yingde's eyes welled with tears. This was the flaw in his daughter: she pretended to be confused when she should have been clear-headed, and then she was also incredibly clear-headed when she should have been. She had known the truth clearly when Han Yunkai had seduced her, but she still fell headfirst. If she had been sober then, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

What she said made sense, but as a father, he did nothing when his daughter suffered such a great injustice. He was too incompetent.

With a gloomy face and gnashing teeth, he said to Yueming, "This marriage is not going to happen! Don't worry, if you've been wronged, Dad will seek justice for you. I won't let any of those with the last name Han have it easy."

Yueming was heartbroken, but she still pleaded for Yunkai: "Dad, let's just let it go. I know he has no other choice! He loves me so much, if there was any other way, he wouldn't have mentioned this to me. He has been so good to me over the years, protecting me and loving me. Just for the sake of our love, let's just agree to his wish."

When she came to Yunxiang at the age of 13, the past events were still vivid in her mind. She usually complained that Yunkai bullied her, but she also remembered the kindness he showed her.

It was he who soothed her, her initial panic as a newcomer to the throne, and who shielded her from the oncoming challenges and provocations. During her naive years, he played the role of a father and a brother, teaching her knowledge and guiding her to establish her authority. When she was still only halfway acquainted with the affairs of love, he became a worried lover, using every possible means to safeguard their future, fending off all who coveted her and forcing Li Shengmeng to enter her in the family tree. He, with the intention of forging a fait accompli, led her to experience the beauty of love.

Once he made up his mind, he would coax her into agreeing, whether by coaxing or threatening her. But this time he did nothing, and she knew he was desperate.

Did she hate him for his sudden regret? Of course she did. But she hated the dogma that had framed him even more, and she wanted to tear it apart.

There is nothing wrong with them loving each other, and there is nothing wrong with his choice. What is wrong is that the place where they love is inappropriate, and what is wrong is that those old dogmas do not talk about feelings but only about etiquette.

She didn't like Yunxiang in the first place, and she stayed for Yunkai. Since the two of them didn't have a good ending, there was no point in her staying here.

The next day, Lan Yingde had Yang Laoliu and Changsheng transport the betrothal gifts from the Tusi Mansion back to Yueming. Seeing this, Yin Tai knew that the problem that had troubled her for so many days had finally been resolved. Although she felt relieved, she remembered Yueming's usual respect and filial piety towards her and said to Lan Yingde with some sadness, "Why do you have to be so kind, in-laws? Our Han family owes Yueming such a debt of gratitude. Consider these things as compensation for her!"

Lan Yingde's face was so dark that water could drip out. He took out the betrothal gift book from his pocket and placed it on the table. He said coldly: "These are the betrothal gifts given by your family. Madam, please count them carefully. My daughter is uneducated and uncouth. She is not worthy of your family's second young master. This marriage is cancelled from today. From now on, men and women marrying each other have nothing to do with each other."

The title represented a boundary, and calling her "Madam" meant that Lan Yingde was drawing a clear line between herself and the Tusi Mansion. Yun Kai wanted to say something, but nothing came out, and he slowly knelt at Lan Yingde's feet.

Yin Tai said sadly, "We have no other choice! The master and the eldest brother are gone, and I can't watch Yun Xiang fall into the hands of others. I can only ask for your understanding."

Lan Yingde didn't even glance at Yun Kai, who was kneeling beside him, and sneered, "How can you still be understanding when I've already broken off the engagement?"

Yin Tai was reluctant to part with such a large tree. Holding onto a glimmer of hope, he cautiously said to Lan Yingde, "I know my in-laws are angry with us, and we are wrong about this. But then again, this is actually a question of status. Yueming grew up under my care. If she is willing to endure a little, I will treat her well."

"Shut up." Lan Yingde stood up and shouted angrily, "For the sake of our deceased master, I pity you, a family of orphans and widows, and cannot bear to speak ill of you. But Madam, you have repeatedly challenged the limits of my tolerance. Just how good is your Tusi Mansion? So good that I would send my own daughter to be a concubine?"

He looked coldly at Yun Kai, who knelt on the floor without saying a word. "I didn't agree to this marriage from the beginning. It was only after you came to my house countless times to persuade Yue Ming and insisted that I reluctantly agreed. Now you come to my house without saying anything and say the marriage is not going to happen. If it doesn't happen, then it won't happen. My daughter, Lan, will never have trouble finding a husband. If I don't marry you, there will be other talented families who will propose to me. I won't force my family to marry me. But if you continue to push your luck and harbor unwarranted desires, don't blame me for being rude."

Yunkai banged his head heavily on the floor. "Please calm down. I know I've let Yueming down. I can't face her again, and I dare not have any other thoughts. I'm also ashamed of your teachings. I lived my life under the wings of my father and brother, self-righteous. When disaster struck, I didn't take responsibility and even dragged Yueming down. I have no other wishes, only for Yueming's smooth and safe future."

Seeing her son so humble, Yin Tai couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she turned her head away and wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

Lan Yingde was not moved at all by Yun Kai's action. He took a deep breath and said resolutely: "Just live your life well! From now on, Yueming has nothing to do with you, and everything about her has nothing to do with you." After that, he turned away.

Yin Tai helped Yun Kai up, his heart full of heartache turning into tears: "My son, I'm sorry for wronging you!"

Yun Kai stood up, brushed off the creases on his knees and said with a smile: "How can this be considered an injustice? My father-in-law is very polite to me. If my daughter's engagement was broken off by someone for no reason, I would grind that bastard to dust." After saying this, he remembered that he could no longer call Lan Yingde father-in-law, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Seeing his son's distraught look, Yin Tai couldn't bear it but couldn't think of any solution.

Seeing his mother's anxiety, Yun Kai comforted her, "Now that Yue Ming and I have settled our marriage, let's continue discussing my succession! lest we get into more trouble and have those people do something to embarrass us again."