Chapter 6 Kneel
The late spring sun shone through the red gauze window, casting golden fragments on the hem of Aunt Zhang's skirt embroidered with lotus flowers.
Xie Wu Yu was embroidering a handkerchief with a silver needle when she suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor.
"Auntie!" Ling Ma rushed over the threshold, panting heavily, "The eldest young master has broken off the engagement!"
A silver needle pierced her fingertip, and a drop of blood stained the snow-white satin red. Aunt Zhang suddenly stood up and asked, "Who are you talking about? Xie Wuqi?"
"Yes! Absolutely true!" Madam Ling slapped her thigh. "The eldest young master said in front of General Luo and Madam Luo that he wanted to marry that dependent Miss Liu! Madam Luo was so angry that she threw the engagement jade pendant!"
Aunt Zhang pinched the nail polish into her palm.
The day before yesterday, she had dreamed that Xie Wuqi had married Luo Zhaohan, and that her own Wuchen would never have a chance to rise to prominence. At this moment, blood seeped from the cracks between her fingernails, and she felt as happy as if the Bodhisattva had appeared.
"Change clothes." She stroked the golden hairpins at her temples, "Let's go to the front yard to watch the show."
Xie Wuyu grabbed her sleeve: "Auntie..."
"Be good." Aunt Zhang rubbed her daughter's head, "Just finish embroidering this lotus, and I'll make you a ruby hairpin later." When she turned around, a cold light flashed in her eyes - Xie Wuqi broke his own arm, and if she didn't take the opportunity to step on him, she would be sorry for the Buddha's mercy.
Under the vermilion porch, Aunt Zhang walked quickly, holding onto Nanny Ling's hand. Passing by the ancestral hall, she caught a glimpse of the Xie family motto, "Loyalty and Bravery Passed Down from Generation to Generation," and scoffed.
Loyal and brave? In this mansion, who didn’t climb up by stepping on blood?
…
Dusk enveloped the vermilion lacquered gate of the Wuwei General's Mansion, and the bronze bells of the stone lions jingled in the evening breeze.
Xie Wuqi leaped from the carriage, his dark brocade robe sweeping the fallen leaves on the bluestone slabs. He turned and reached out, and a slender white jade hand slowly emerged from behind the curtain.
Liu Yueli held his wrist as she stepped out of the car, the white veil hanging from her veil fluttering in the wind. Through the hazy veil, she gazed at the plaque on the door lintel that read "Loyalty and Bravery Passed Down from Generation to Generation," and a familiar bitterness rose in her throat.
Three years ago in early spring, she was standing here like this, watching Luo Zhaohan being welcomed into the house with great fanfare, while she herself could not even leave through the corner gate.
"Yueli?" Xie Wuqi pinched her cold fingertips.
Liu Yueli snapped back to her senses and dug the pearl-studded armor into her palm. This time it's different, she thought to herself.
Luo Zhaohan is probably throwing jade bracelets in her boudoir at this moment, and she is about to become the future mistress of the Xie Mansion.
"Wuqi..." She looked up through the white veil, "What should I do if General Xie refuses to accept me?"
"Father cares most about the future of our family." Xie Wuqi held her hand tightly. "Since I know that the Luo family will fall, I will never let the Xie family be buried with it."
On the day of his rebirth, he vowed never to be buried with the Luo family again. Although Liu Yueli had no family background, she was the key to his turning the tide - in her previous life, this woman was able to marry the Fourth Prince after the Luo family's downfall, which shows her scheming and resourcefulness.
Liu Yueli lowered her eyes to hide her brilliance.
The thin calluses on Xie Wuqi's palms rubbed the back of her hands.
"Just bear with it for a while." Xie Wuqi lifted the veil of her hat and was surprised to find that the corners of her eyes were red. "When I inherit the title, everything will be my decision!"
"I'm not afraid." Liu Yueli leaned into his arms, the lotus sachet brushing against her dark collar. She heard Xie Wuqi's heartbeat quicken, and a faint smile curled up at the corner of her lips.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the direction of the ancestral hall. She pushed Xie Wuqi away suddenly, and the white veil slipped down halfway just right.
"Young Master is in such good spirits," Aunt Zhang said, fanning herself as she stepped out of the house. "We haven't even paid the betrothal gifts yet, and they're already cuddling at the gate." She deliberately raised her voice, "Miss Liu has spent ten years learning the rules of the Luo family, and this is how she's learned it?"
"Aunt, please be careful with your words!" Xie Wuqi protected the person behind him, holding Liu Yueli's hand and walking straight to the main hall.
Aunt Zhang sneered in her heart.
At that moment, Chunxi was walking out, holding the mahogany box. The three of them exchanged glances, and the draft in the corridor suddenly became chilly.
"It's you!" Liu Yueli pinched her fingertips into her palm.
"Chunxi." Xie Wuqi took a half step to block his beloved, his brows knitted into knots, "Did Luo Zhaohan ask you to come and complain?"
Chunxi rolled her eyes and turned to leave, but Xie Wuqi grabbed her arm and said, "Speak clearly! Didn't your master pretend to be magnanimous and cancel the engagement? One foot accepted my jade pendant, and the next foot sent her maid to gossip in front of my parents?"
Liu Yueli's body shook, tears streaming down her face.
"Yueli, don't cry!" Xie Wuqi was so anxious that he pulled off the jade button from his waist and stuffed it into her handkerchief. "I'll let this bitch call Luo Zhaohan to confront him face to face!" As he said that, he raised his hand to slap Chunxi.
Chunxi stiffened her neck and threw the wooden box into his arms: "Open your eyes and look! My daughter even returned the engagement token, who would care about your Xie family's broken jade pendant!"
The lid of the box was shaken open, and the mutton-fat jade plate clattered onto the blue bricks.
Just as the argument was raging, the muffled thud of boots could be heard from behind the screen. General Xie rushed out with a sullen face, his dragon robe belt awry. "Evil creature! Kneel down before me!"
Xie Wuqi stared at his father's forehead in a daze.
In his previous life, on the battlefield of Mobei, his father had been pierced through the forehead by a Hu spear and died before his eyes. Now that his father was standing before him, his nose suddenly felt sore.
"General." Chunxi took the opportunity to bow, "I am here to return the token of gratitude on the orders of my young lady. Goodbye." She turned around and walked away quickly, and the hem of her skirt deliberately stepped on Xie Wuqi's robe when it swept across the threshold.
"Stop!" Xie Wuqi raised his foot to chase after him, but was pulled back by his father by the collar.
Mrs. Xie chased out, holding up her skirt, to smooth things over: "Miss Chunxi, take care—husband, calm down. The children are young and energetic..."
"Young?" General Xie kicked over the huanghuali armchair. "At nineteen, you're already bringing a wild woman home—you're going to piss off your parents!" His eyes swept over Liu Yueli. "Which brothel did she come from?"
Liu Yueli's face was pale, and the knuckles of her fingers gripping the jade button turned blue.
Madam Xie hurriedly pulled her behind her: "This is the orphan of Lieutenant General Liu, who is very well-educated and well-mannered."
"How could a well-educated and sensible person seduce a married man?" General Xie grabbed a teacup and threw it at his son. "When the Luo family girl was twelve years old and followed her father to the battlefield, you were still wetting your bed! Now that you've grown strong, you dare to humiliate the daughter of General Fuyuan's mansion?"
Xie Wuqi stiffened his neck and refused to dodge, his face splashed with hot tea. "Father, you can beat me or kill me as you wish, but Yue Li is innocent!"
"Innocent?" General Xie laughed angrily, "Do you think the Luo family is vegetarian?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Yueli staggered and held onto the pillar.
Mrs. Xie was so anxious that she pinched her son's arm. "Hurry up and admit your mistake to your father! I'll go to the storeroom and pick out ten boxes of betrothal gifts. We'll go to the Luo Mansion tomorrow to apologize..."
Xie Wuqi held Liu Yueli's hand tightly, knelt down slowly, and spoke with a sincere look:
"Father, Mother, I took the initiative today and broke off my engagement with the Luo family. I feel deeply guilty about this. But there is a hidden story behind this action, and I need to find a quiet place so I can slowly tell you."
"Besides, Yueli and I are in love with each other. She is gentle and virtuous. She is my confidant and the one I am willing to spend my life with."
"Since the engagement with the Luo family has been cancelled, I beg you, parents, to allow me to marry Yue Li and become a perfect match."
When Liu Yueli saw General Xie’s angry face, she was filled with panic and anxiety.
However, at this moment, she witnessed Xie Wuqi sticking to his promise. She was moved and her emotions surged like a tide. She couldn't help but kneel down with Xie Wuqi.
When Mrs. Xie heard this, she became extremely anxious and her face suddenly changed.
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