21 Escape from marriage
◎The man asked her to call him "Brother Zhao"◎
This is her daughter who is about to get married. How can Mrs. Wei withstand her torture?
Thinking her daughter hadn't been out for a long time and that a trip to the flower market wouldn't take more than an hour, Madam Wei agreed. She told her to go quickly and come back quickly, and asked Qiu Luo to accompany her, along with three other guards.
Wei Ziyan had deliberately changed into plain, unassuming clothing and omitted any expensive headwear. The flower market was bustling with people, and she disembarked from the carriage, blending seamlessly into the crowd. The question was, how could she escape the few stalkers following her?
Usually when she came to the flower market she would go shopping at every store and place her orders very quickly, but today she just looked at every store without buying anything and was shopping carelessly.
"Why don't you buy it, Miss?" Qiu Luo couldn't help but wonder.
Wei Ziyan said nonsensically, "I'm only buying a few pots, so of course I have to carefully choose the ones I like best."
"Miss, do you want to choose the one that Master Yan likes?" Qiu Luo smiled secretly.
That day, Yan Qi was in the room, not only did he not say anything after pissing her off, but he also shamelessly took the orchid behind her, saying it was a return gift from her. It was the pink and white Phalaenopsis orchid she had snatched from Wei Tingshuang, and it was also her favorite pot. Wei Ziyan felt upset when she thought about it.
However, she suddenly had an idea to escape.
"Then choose the ones he likes." Wei Ziyan went to the orchid shop and casually ordered eight varieties that looked very expensive.
The proprietress already recognized Miss Wei and said with a smile that she would deliver it to the Wei residence as soon as possible.
"No need, I'll take it right away." After saying that, Wei Ziyan turned around and instructed Qiu Luo and the others.
She had calculated it carefully: six large basins and two small ones. The guards could carry the large ones, while Qiuluo would carry the small ones. She would have to carry one basin at a time, requiring two trips back and forth.
"You guys move these pots onto the carriage first. I'm going to ask the landlady some advice on how to care for them. Be careful not to bump into the flowers or leaves."
Wei Ziyan spoke naturally. The day after tomorrow was the wedding, so it was no surprise that she was so particular about orchids. Qiu Luo, unsuspecting, each carried a flower pot and headed towards the carriage with Jia Wei.
Seeing them walk away, Wei Ziyan smiled and asked the proprietress, "Oh, I remembered I need to buy another set of flowers. Please keep an eye on them. When they come back, tell them to wait for me here for a while."
"Okay, no problem." The proprietress agreed readily.
Wei Ziyan smiled again, thanked the proprietress, and quickly merged into the crowd in the opposite direction where Qiu Luo and the others had left.
She walked very fast, her heart beating fast and fast, pounding in her chest. Success or failure depended on this one move. She couldn't escape now. If she became a grudge match with Yan Qizheng, her life would be over.
After quickly crossing the Flower Market Street and turning into another alley, Wei Ziyan lifted her skirt and began to jog towards an arch bridge across the river ahead.
When he was almost at the bridge, he caught a glimpse of Liu Yuer waiting there and waved to her hurriedly.
Liu Yu'er stood in the middle of the bridge, craning her neck to look out for a long time. When she saw Wei Ziyan running over, she hurried down the bridge to meet her.
"Sister Liu..." Wei Ziyan panted.
"Let's go." Liu Yu'er grabbed her wrist and took her into the carriage parked on the side of the road.
The groom urged the horses forward, and Wei Ziyan felt relieved. She grabbed Liu Yu'er's hand gratefully and said, "Thank you, Sister Liu!"
During the days she was locked up at home, she racked her brains and finally came up with the idea of escaping the marriage.
Without a bride, the marriage naturally couldn't happen. As long as they could avoid these two days and let the wedding go, the Yan family would definitely not think about this marriage anymore.
The only person around her who could help her escape the marriage was Liu Yu'er. So she hid a letter in the wedding invitation and asked Qiu Luo to deliver it personally, begging Liu Yu'er for help.
As expected, she was her trusted good sister. After seeing the letter, Liu Yuer came to find her.
At first, Liu Yu'er tried to dissuade her from running away, saying that Young Master Yan was a good candidate for a lifelong commitment. She also said that the person she was thinking about hadn't heard from her in three years, and he must have forgotten her a long time ago.
She was not unaware of this possibility.
But that's just a possibility.
What if he still remembered her and came back to look for her, only to find that she was already married...
Wei Ziyan didn't want to be the one who was unfaithful first.
The carriage sped along the river, heading further and further west of the city.
"Have you really thought it through? There's no turning back if you run away from the marriage." Liu Yu'er shook Wei Ziyan's hand back, and both of their palms felt hot.
Wei Ziyan nodded affirmatively.
"Ah..." Liu Yu'er couldn't help but sigh, "How good is that person to make you do this for him?"
"He saved me twice." Wei Ziyan's memory drifted back to when she was eight years old.
At the time, she had just joined a stable to learn how to ride. Suddenly, the horse spooked and bolted, carrying her. Terrified, she screamed. Just as she was about to swerve, someone on horseback approached her and used a whip to gradually slow the horse down.
She was so frightened that her entire body went limp. When the man helped her off the horse, she threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. He wiped her tears and asked her where she came from. She introduced herself, but he didn't. He said that this stable was not accessible to someone of his status and that it had to remain secret.
The stables were once used by the royal family, but were later given to court officials. Only the families of officials serving in the imperial court were allowed to ride horses there. Of course, rules were rules, but some families did bring people in secretly, so she didn't find it strange.
The man asked her to call him "Brother Zhao".
He was thirteen years old that year, but he was an excellent rider. The horses all became extremely obedient in his hands, and she admired them greatly. Occasionally, when they met at the stables, she would beg him to teach her how to train horses.
This was a secret between them, she didn't tell anyone and didn't care about his humble background.
However, before she had taught him a few times, Brother Zhao said he would be away for a while. She was young at the time, and she said without hesitation that she would wait for Brother Zhao here. He smiled and pinched her cheek.
It was five years later when they met again at the horse farm. She was thirteen and he was eighteen.
As luck would have it, her horse went crazy again at that time, and when the whipping techniques he taught her were ineffective, he appeared and saved her again.
He had grown into an adult, and she almost didn't recognize him. When he took her hand and helped her down from the horse, she blushed and lowered her head, not daring to look at him.
He laughed and said, "I haven't seen you for a few years. You've become more beautiful, but you don't know how to call me?"
That was their first and only meeting after a long separation. He had only come back to see his mother and was leaving soon to serve in the military camp. He might not be back for three to five years.
Before leaving, he asked her, "Will you still wait for Brother Zhao?"
Although she didn't say it directly, she understood what he meant and nodded, saying, "I'll wait for you to come back." He laughed out loud: "Silly girl, you don't even know who I am, and you dare to make such a promise?"
"How could I not know?" She was annoyed, "Unless you are not Brother Zhao!"
He smiled at her again, and before leaving, he touched her head affectionately and said, "I'll go to the Wei Mansion to find you when I come back."
…
After hearing the brief story, Liu Yu'er couldn't help but shake her head and sigh. She had heard similar stories before, where teenage girls, when their feelings first blossomed, would throw everything at someone who treated them well.
"If your brother Zhao really cared about you, why didn't he give you any news for three years? Isn't he afraid that you won't be able to wait and get married?"
"Besides, he's on duty in the military camp, so there's no guarantee that something won't go wrong. Have you ever considered that he might never come back?"
Wei Ziyan's mouth drooped and she didn't say anything. It seemed that she was stubborn to the end.
Liu Yu'er sighed again: "Since you are so persistent, why don't you just tell your parents clearly and cancel the marriage with the Yan family?"
"Mom and Dad won't agree!" Wei Ziyan was absolutely certain. "If even you think I shouldn't do this, how could Mom and Dad let me wait endlessly?"
"Especially my father. Although he loves me, he values the reputation of the Wei family very much. He is most concerned about the matching of social status, so he arranged for me to marry into the Yan family early on. If he knew that I wanted to marry someone but didn't even know who it was, how could he agree to cancel the engagement? My father is now eager for me to marry into the Yan family as soon as possible."
"So what are your plans? They must be terribly worried about you disappearing for no apparent reason."
"I know..." Wei Ziyan felt guilty. "After the wedding day, I will go back and apologize to them one by one."
She never thought of leaving and never coming back. She couldn't bear to leave her parents and was afraid that they would be sad.
"What about Young Master Yan?" Liu Yu'er asked, "Don't you like him at all?"
Two hours later, the Wei Mansion was in chaos.
"Keep looking! Bring everyone with you to look for her! We must find the young lady before dark!" Wei Jizhi was extremely anxious and sent all the guards in the mansion out to look for his missing daughter.
Qiu Luo and the three guards returned, not having seen the young lady. They had already searched the flower market twice, but when they couldn't find her, they hurried back to the mansion to report. Madam Wei immediately dispatched more men for a second round of searches.
After searching for a long time, they found nothing. As it was getting dark, Master Wei, who had just returned home, heard the news and ordered a third round of search.
Mrs. Wei never thought that her daughter had run away on her own. After searching for her for two rounds without finding her, she immediately thought that her daughter had been kidnapped by bad guys.
"Master, report to the police!"
"inappropriate."
After hearing his wife's description of his daughter's departure, Wei Jizhi began to suspect she had done it on purpose. He feared that if he hastily reported the matter to the authorities, it would cause another uproar.
"Then... should we tell the Yan family? What if we can't find it..." Mrs. Wei was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
The wedding is the day after tomorrow. What if we can’t find the person?
Hearing the word "wedding", Master Wei's heart trembled, and he flew into a rage: "Call Qiu Luo!"
A moment later, Qiu Luo hurried to the hall and saw the master's angry face, so she knelt down quickly. Master Wei asked her to explain in detail how the young lady got lost, and she told him everything.
Afterwards, she actually suspected that the young lady had deliberately sent her and Jiawei away, but she couldn't understand why the young lady did that. Then she saw the master slamming the table hard.
"Bastard! Bastard!" Wei Jizhi was so angry that his whole body was shaking.
"Master..." Mrs. Wei was confused.
"Don't you understand now? Your daughter ran away on her own!"
The next day, the Wei government continued searching the city for someone, but Wei Ji knew that unless they alerted the authorities, it would be impossible to find a person who had deliberately hidden himself.
Now that things have come to this, the only thing I can do is to go to the Yan family in person to apologize and cancel tomorrow's wedding in time.
There was also the engagement with the Yan family. She was afraid that they would no longer want her daughter, so she simply proposed to cancel it.
But if this happens, my daughter's reputation will be ruined. Who will be willing to marry her in the future?
【Author’s words】
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