Chapter 30 I Only Believe in Human Will Overcoming Nature
Once noon had passed, all the restaurants in the north of the city were packed with talented men and beautiful women.
Especially the Fengchun Tower where Li Huaigu was located, which had three floors, with each floor having more people than the last.
There were scholars toasting and drinking, beautiful women shyly chatting, and also some famous scholars and great Confucianists from the Shu region.
Among them, Liu Si, whom Xiao Wuge mentioned, was of high status. He was the chief official of Shuzhou Prefecture, the prefect of the prefecture.
Taking advantage of this connection, Chen Yi and Xiao Wuge followed them to the main table.
With Chen Yi's deliberate efforts to befriend Li Huaigu, he quickly became quite familiar with him.
The two chatted and laughed across Xiao Wuge, discussing their experiences in the imperial examinations, as well as their observations in Shuzhou, Jiangnan Prefecture, and Kyoto Prefecture. They were evenly matched in their conversations.
When things got interesting, Li Huaigu even switched places with Xiao Wuge.
Although his knowledge and experience were naturally extraordinary, they were far inferior to Chen Yi's.
Often, just a few simple words were enough for Li Huaigu to feel admiration, and he realized that the rumors in Jiangnan Prefecture that Chen Yi was "loyal and filial, and exceptionally talented" were not unfounded.
For example, when faced with the essay question of this imperial examination, "Why does a boat capsize on water?", Chen Yi simply replied, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," thus directly addressing the question.
Li Huaigu felt inferior to him. At that time, he thought of approaching the problem from the perspective of going with the flow and emphasizing naturalness and non-action.
Compared to Chen Yi's statement, the difference is obvious.
Even Liu Si, the prefect of Shuzhou, who was listening to their conversation, was somewhat alarmed.
He initially didn't think much of Chen Yi, after all, Chen Yi was just a son-in-law of the Xiao family, and even if he wrote a birthday poem, it wouldn't change anything.
But upon hearing this, Liu Si found himself in the same boat as Sun Fu, the former Provincial Governor of Shu Prefecture—it was a pity that this young man had married into the Xiao family.
At this moment, Li Huaigu said with a slight sigh, "Brother Qingzhou, it's truly a pity that you didn't participate in the imperial examination this time. Your elder brother Yunfan..."
Before he could finish speaking, Liu Si coughed and said, "Fang Gui, enough of this small talk, let's call it a day."
Chen Yi raised an eyebrow and smiled, "The Prefect is right. Today is Brother Huai Gu's joyous day. He should go back and celebrate with his family as soon as possible."
These powerful figures who have entered the imperial court are quite adept at avoiding suspicion.
It was obvious that Liu Si did not want to offend the Chen family, even though Shuzhou was thousands of miles away from Jiangnan Prefecture, he did not want to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.
However, from this point, Chen Yi knew that there must be another reason why his "elder brother" Chen Yunfan became the top scholar in the imperial examination.
Li Huaigu hesitated before replying, "Huaigu will follow the teacher's instructions."
Liu Si nodded in satisfaction and looked at Xiao Wuge, saying, "Give my regards to your grandfather. I'll teach you more when your uncle comes to visit later."
After saying this, he whispered a few words to Li Huaigu, then got up and left.
The surrounding guests naturally paid their respects until he left the private room, at which point the atmosphere became a little more lively.
Xiao Wuge looked around, feeling bored, and said, "Brother-in-law, let's go back too."
Chen Yi paused, and was about to get up when Li Huaigu grabbed him.
“Brother Qingzhou, we have had a very pleasant conversation today. Why don’t you come home with me and be my witness?”
"oh?"
Li Huaigu caught a glimpse of Xiao Wuge out of the corner of his eye, and knew that with this young marquis present, his chances of success were even greater.
He immediately said sincerely, "There is something I have always wanted to do but have never dared to, so I would like to take advantage of today's celebration to fulfill my wish."
Chen Yi understood his thoughts and went along with him.
Xiao Wuge, Xiao Die, and several armored soldiers were somewhat confused, but seeing him smiling happily, they didn't say anything.
Not long after.
The group followed Li Huaigu back to his home—Luoyi Lane, a suburb in the north of the city.
Chen Yi glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the old courtyard walls and fresh trees before settling on the figure in the distance.
She was a petite woman with two braids, a thin cloth headscarf wrapped around her head, and dressed in simple clothes. Her appearance was only considered pretty.
When she saw them arrive, the woman blushed slightly, and her hands unconsciously clasped together.
Li Huaigu stepped forward with a bright smile, took her hand, and introduced her to Chen Yi and the others:
“Yunxiang is my betrothed, Li Huaigu’s wife.”
Chen Yi glanced at him but didn't expose him. He then led Xiao Wuge, Xiao Die, and the others to greet Yun Xiang.
Yunxiang blushed at Li Huaigu's words, her neck turning bright red, but she only responded shyly and did not refute him.
She let him pull her along.
Before the others could speak again, a voice came from the side:
"Fang Gui, when did your mother ever arrange a marriage for you?"
"Forehead."
Everyone was taken aback, and then they saw a woman walking out of the courtyard not far away. She was dressed well and was looking at them with a furrowed brow.
Li Huaigu turned to look at the person who had come in, his face showing embarrassment, "Mother, I..."
Yunxiang's face was pale, and she didn't dare to lift her head.
Chen Yi, on the other hand, remained calm; he had long known that "breaking up a loving couple" was necessary.
They never expected that Li Huaigu was so deeply in love that he didn't even have the chance to introduce them as witnesses.
Only Xiao Die, Xiao Wuge, and the others watched from the sidelines, completely unaware of what was going on.
At this moment, Li Huaigu finally remembered Xiao Wuge and the others, and said, "Mother, who are they...?"
"Shut up!"
Before he could finish speaking, Li's mother glared at him, then looked at Yunxiang, who was shrinking back, and said indifferently:
“Yunniang, today is Fang Gui’s big day. I didn’t want to say much, but you’re getting more and more outrageous.”
Li Huaigu grabbed her and pleaded, "Mother..."
Li's mother ignored him and continued looking at Yunxiang: "Auntie, you might as well put it more bluntly."
"Now that Fang Gui has achieved the third-highest rank in the imperial examination, even if he doesn't marry a girl from a similar social class, she should at least be well-educated and reasonable. But you are illiterate, so I can't possibly let Fang Gui marry you."
By the time she finished speaking, Yunxiang's face was filled with sorrow.
His heartbroken appearance was so touching that even Xiao Die and the others couldn't bear to look at him, let alone Li Huaigu, who was deeply in love with him.
Despite the stinging in her eyes, Yunxiang still bowed respectfully and said with a slight sob in her voice:
"Yunxiang wouldn't dare, and hopes... Aunt Li won't be angry."
After saying that, she walked past the group, wiping her eyes as she ran away quickly.
"Yunxiang!"
Seeing this, Li Huaigu disregarded everything else, broke free from his mother's hand, and chased after Yunxiang.
Li's mother was taken aback, "Fang Gui!"
But the two had already run far away.
Only then did Li's mother see Chen Yi and the others, and her anger subsided somewhat as she forced a smile:
"You are... Fang Gui's friends?"
Xiao Wuge, Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others all frowned as they looked at her, but did not speak.
Chen Yi shook his head and looked at Li's mother seriously, saying, "Please forgive us, but we're afraid it will be difficult for us to be friends with your son."
"..."
Before Li's mother could reply, Chen Yi bowed slightly and led Xiao Wuge and the others to chase after Li Huaigu.
Watching their retreating figures, Li's mother opened her mouth.
"Who cares about you?"
A moment later, Chen Yi and the others found Li Huaigu and Yun Xiang outside Luoyi Alley.
Compared to their previous affection and attachment, a huge chasm now seemed to have formed between them.
Yunxiang lowered her head, a piece of jade wrapped around her slightly rough hands, and said softly:
“Li Lang, the hunter next door wants to marry me. He sent a matchmaker to my door a few days ago. The dowry is enough to buy two sheep.”
"You, you should listen to your aunt and find a suitable family to marry into..."
Before she could finish speaking, she shoved the jade into Li Huaigu's hand and ran away without looking back.
Li Huaigu watched her retreating figure, choosing not to chase after her, his fingertips touching the indented marks on the jade.
After a long while.
Li Huaigu looked at Chen Yi and the others, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh."
Chen Yi frowned. "Brother Huaigu, what are you planning to do?"
Li Huaigu gave a bitter smile and asked with a somber expression, "Brother Qingzhou, it is widely rumored in Jiangnan Prefecture that you are 'loyal and filial,' then... can you also be 'loyal and devoted'?"
Before Chen Yi could answer, Li Huaigu shook his head and walked past him, muttering to himself:
"I wish to be with you forever, until the end of time, until the mountains crumble and the earth collapses..."
Chen Yi's gaze followed his receding figure, and then everything went blurry:
[Witness the parting of Li Huaigu, the third-ranked scholar, and his childhood sweetheart, forever separated by the ends of the earth. Reward: Medical classic "Treatise on Febrile Diseases", +20 Luck.]
[Comment: He arrives, his voice is heard, and he makes a scene, but he accomplishes nothing; he is a cold-hearted person.]
Chen Yi glanced at the comments on the screen and remained silent.
It was at this moment.
A suppressed sob came from beside him, and Chen Yi turned around to look.
Xiaodie noticed his gaze, wiped her tears with her sleeve, but no matter how she wiped, she couldn't wipe them away.
"They, they are... But they are clearly... Aunt, Uncle, can we help them?"
Xiao Wuge looked at Chen Yi: "Brother-in-law, although I don't understand, I can tell that the two of them should be... should be... husband and wife."
Wang Lixing and the others also had mixed feelings. Ge Laosan, who was more temperamental, had red eyes and was cursing:
"That damned God is a terrible thing."
a long time.
Chen Yi looked up at the afternoon sky and let out a long breath.
"Why believe in God? I only believe that human will can conquer nature!"
Xiaodie looked up, her eyes brimming with tears: "Young Master...?"
Chen Yi reached out and wiped away the tears on her face, smiling as he said, "This time, we need your help."
"I?"
"We need to find out first whether the hunter really gave a bride price, right?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
