Chapter 72 questions you: Do you really want to welcome Miss Biao into the house? Do you really want to stop...?
The banquet was suspended for half an hour before resuming. Perhaps because of the promise made by Lord Yan, the people at the table no longer had any scruples and returned to their previous behavior.
Peace and prosperity reigned.
As they drank the wine, they began to persuade each other by citing classical texts and doctrines from various perspectives, including patriarchal clan system, etiquette, and family.
There are many programs both on and off the field.
It was truly an exquisite and thoroughly enjoyable gathering of refined scholars.
Just as things were getting lively, Li Yunru pushed open the door and entered.
"Wow, this is really lively!"
Li Yunru glanced at everyone in the hall and said, "I'm just in the right place at the right time, and it's an honor. But such a small matter has caused such a stir, with everyone gathered together to talk about it."
"Liyang".
Yan Ning didn't know why she had come, but she noticed that she hadn't brought any guards or attendants with her, not even her usual attendant Shu Yun.
This is very unusual!
She doesn't usually do that!
He felt unwell and just wanted to pull her away from this filthy place as soon as possible, but now that Li Yunru had come, how could she leave so easily?
She shook off his hand, found a seat, poured herself a glass of wine, and drank it down.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on her, their expressions varied, and no one spoke.
Li Yunru waved her hand and said, "Go on, don't let me spoil your fun. It's good that I can listen and learn something. After all, which of you here isn't a distinguished gentleman from a prominent family, learned and talented? As you know, I'm a rough and uncultured person. Oh, I've had a headache since I was a child. Even my teachers couldn't teach me. I don't have much knowledge. You all are good to me, so you can broaden my horizons."
She made her statement, but everyone looked at each other in bewilderment and dared not speak. They could only turn their gazes to Lord Yan, who was seated at the head of the table.
The Yan Lord's face darkened at being disrupted by a daughter-in-law he disliked. However, she was a junior, and in this situation, he couldn't do anything to her. So he cleared his throat and said to Yan Ning in a cold tone, "Changjun, do you remember what I just told you?"
A blatant threat!
Li Yunru didn't know what the two had talked about before she arrived, but she wasn't stupid; she could tell from the threat in the conversation.
Before Yan Ning could speak, someone interrupted Yan Langzhu's words.
"Your Highness, you're making things difficult for me."
She forced a smile and said, "If this Changjun could control me, why would you have to make such a fuss today? He's such a refined person, speaking and acting in such a flowery way, always talking about those ridiculous rules and etiquette. He's always saying this is improper and that is improper. When he encounters someone like me who doesn't care about etiquette, it's like a scholar meeting a soldier—useless. Sigh, this is also your fault. People say that if a son is not taught, it is the father's fault..."
"How dare you!"
The attendant of the person seated, upon hearing her outrageous words, shouted loudly.
She didn't even take Lord Yan and his family seriously, let alone a mere servant!
She lowered her eyes, her hand caressing the carved jade teacup, and after a moment, she tossed it away!
The sound of shattering jade suddenly arose, and the cup broke into pieces.
Following that sound was her clear and resonant voice.
"What business is it of yours, you bastard who's relying on his master's power to speak!"
The attendant was stopped and immediately blushed, speechless.
The entire hall fell silent again, with only the soft crackling of the candlelight burning on the walls.
They understood.
Li Yunru is deliberately causing trouble!
So everyone turned their gaze to Yan Ning, signaling with their eyes that they should hurry up and deal with the person.
It would be undignified for them to lay a hand on a woman while sitting at the same table; they wouldn't do it in public!
hypocritical!
What a hypocrite!
Li Yunru ignored them and Yan Ning, stood up from her seat, walked around the hall, and said, "None of you will say anything, so it's my turn to speak."
She walked up to a man adorned with pearls and jade, with a face painted with yellow flowers, and wearing a purple robe.
"The head of the Geng family."
Upon hearing her call, the man shuddered involuntarily, as if he were hearing a ghostly messenger reciting names from the Book of Life and Death. Yet, he mustered his courage and raised his head, asking, "You... what do you want to do!"
"Oh dear, that's fierce!"
She put her hand on his shoulder and said reproachfully, "Why are you so fierce? Back in the capital, didn't you write to ask for my hand in marriage, saying that the Yan family didn't appreciate my goodness and were hypocritical and aloof? If I divorced Yan Changjun, you would definitely divorce your high-born wife and bring me into your family in a grand sedan chair, treating me like a precious jewel? So, it seems that you're about to get what you want here today, and I'm happy about it. Why are you so fierce? How can I believe you're telling the truth when you're so fierce?"
"What...what nonsense are you spouting!" The head of the Geng family was deathly pale.
"What nonsense are you spouting? You even said that the shameless Yan family found a delicate young woman of sixteen to have his child. You are a few years younger than him, and you are also very beautiful. You are more suitable to be the elegant lady who is like a pear blossom pressing down on a crabapple tree."
"you……"
Geng looked at the person in the head seat. Yan Langzhu's face was as black as charcoal. He tried to explain, "Brother Yan... she... she was talking nonsense. I... I didn't."
Lord Yan ignored him.
What she said wasn't untrue. After her father passed away, everyone could foresee what would happen next, but it just wasn't said openly. It wasn't him, but the young master of the Geng family did send a letter, saying something similar to what she said.
We're all family, we shouldn't be separated from each other, and we should share the burden at times like this.
After playing a trick on one person, Li Yunru moved on to the next target, stirring up trouble one by one until she had offended almost everyone at the table. Whether it was true or false was unknown, but they were all guilty and dared not say anything, and even if they did, no one would believe them.
See?
In fact, it's that easy to ruin a person's reputation or destroy a group's alliance of interests. When it comes to their own interests, they show their sharp claws and can no longer maintain their composure and pretend nothing happened.
"Changjun!"
This is outrageous!
How could there be such a shameless woman!
She has completely disgraced the Yan family!
Lord Yan stared intently at Yan Ning, warning him, "Don't forget what I told you!"
Yan Ning understood her father's meaning and knew he was capable of doing it.
The man stepped forward, took Li Yunru's hand, and coaxed, "Liyang, be good, stop making a fuss. We'll talk about it when we get back."
Li Yunru looked at the person in front of her. In the dim candlelight, his face looked like that of an immortal, but there were some flaws on his face. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes showed an unconcealable haggardness. On his left cheek, there was also a faint mark of a slap.
These past few days.
Clearly, he's not having a good time here.
Too.
How could things possibly be any better!
Being around so many evil spirits in human skin is never a good thing.
She wanted to touch his face and soothe his wounds, but ultimately she held back.
The man shook off his hand and shouted angrily, "Waiting for what? Waiting for you to go back? Waiting for how you'll go back? Bringing your new high-society wife back so I can serve her tea?"
"no!"
Li Yunru didn't listen to him at all, and cut him off as soon as she opened her mouth.
"What do you mean 'no'? Do you dare say that this place isn't for discussing the marriage with the Cui family today?!"
Yan Ning remained silent.
It's not a marriage proposal, but it's not bad in nature either.
An honest person.
Seeing his honest and simple-minded appearance, speechless with choke, Li Yunru felt a sense of helplessness. These people have been corrupted by the rules of aristocratic families; they can't even tell a lie.
That's so stupid!
oops.
I was originally planning to make a scene at him, but now I think I'll pass.
So many people are bullying him, how pitiful! She decided not to get involved.
I might as well give him one last helping hand before I leave.
She composed herself, sniffed, and tried to hold back the tears welling in her eyes. When her eyes were brimming with tears, she looked at him and asked, choking back sobs, "Yan Changjun, let me ask you, do you really want to bring Miss Biao into your family? Do you really want to divorce your wife and remarry?"
Yan Ning wanted to say that wasn't the case.
With so many people present, and his father's gaze fixed on him like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, he was only making things worse. She had just caused a huge scene and disgraced the Yan family. If he were to defend her now, he would only provoke even more people.
"Do you remember what happened to that dog?"
"If you remain obstinate and insist on going your own way, that will be the fate of Liyang!"
His father was capable of anything when it came to things he believed in.
That's enough!
It's all about saving face. In front of so many people, they're prioritizing protecting the Yan family's reputation.
He agreed first, brushed it off, and then dealt with it after she left. He could then explain things properly to others when he got back.
Although his wife, Liyang, is spoiled by nature, she is also a frank and reasonable woman. If you explain things to her clearly, she won't make a fuss with you.
Thinking this way, the person replied, "Yes."
A clear, gentle, and slightly deep voice reached her ears.
Even though she asked it on purpose.
Although she was prepared that after she left, Yan Ning might one day be unable to withstand the pressure from the family and marry Cui Wan or another woman.
He will be someone else's husband.
Everything he once gave her, he might give to another woman. They would be together, just like Cui Wan said, deeply in love, playing music and painting, like a pair of celestial beings.
They will have many, many children, continuing their lineage and spreading their descendants.
He will slowly forget who she is. In his old age, looking back on the past, he might sigh and say, "I once married a wife. She came from a commoner family and was somewhat spoiled and willful. I had some feelings for her, but that's all in the past..."
Thinking of all this, she couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in her heart. The tears that she had deliberately prepared welled up in her eyes without her having to do anything special.
"How can you marry someone else besides me?" she blurted out.
Everyone at the table was shocked upon hearing this, and instantly felt some sympathy for Yan Ning. No wonder he refused; they all knew he had married an unreasonable and shrewish woman, but such arrogance and capriciousness, and such a demand on her husband, was unprecedented.
Such a jealous person, let alone marrying a wife, would probably make a huge scene over even taking in a maid, disturbing the peace of the household.
In an instant, as men, they suddenly understood Yan Ning.
Yan Ning was unaware of what those people were thinking, and he didn't care. At that moment, all they could see was his wife, who was crying her eyes out, standing in front of him.
He deeply regretted saying those words. He wanted to go up and hug her, to tell her that it wasn't like that, to kiss away all her tears, to tell her that she was the only one for him and that he would never change. But now, standing in this position, saying those words was like an arrow already on a bowstring, with no turning back.
All they could do was urge her to leave quickly.
Li Yunru ignored him, her eyes red as she stared at him, her lips trembling with emotion.
Do you remember what I once told you?
She moved closer to him.
Yan Ning was flustered by her words and froze for a moment. He didn't have time to dodge, and by the time he reacted, Li Yunru was already in front of him. The two of them were only a few inches apart. Her strong fragrance surrounded him, and he could clearly see the tear stains on her face, her wet makeup, and even the trembling of her nostrils. It was so clear that even her heartbeat and breath were intertwined and resonated.
He broke her heart.
"Liyang".
Li Yunru ignored him and kept walking forward, getting closer to him. He subconsciously stepped back, but she pressed on step by step. In the end, he simply stopped retreating and let her be.
Let her hit or scold me as she pleases, as long as she's alright and leaves this place.
The person stood there motionless.
She stopped in front of him, staring at him blankly without saying a word.
The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"If you betray me, I will abandon you and kill you!" she said after a long silence. Then, before anyone could recover from the shock, she swiftly pulled the gold hairpin from her hair and plunged it into his chest.
-----------------------
Author's note: Tomorrow I'll officially fake my death!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
