YA Ch32: Calling Off the Engagement

The three of them ran to the Cheng household just as the errand boy arrived with a delivery, insisting it had to be given to Miss Cheng today.

Upon hearing that it was sent from the Hua family, the gatekeeper dared not delay and promptly reported it inside. Hua Wenyuan stood on the rooftop, watching as the item was passed along and eventually delivered to the main courtyard of Miss Cheng’s quarters.

Miss Cheng’s mother had passed away early, leaving her with a greedy stepmother. The stepmother examined the item, saw it was just a silk flower, found it uninteresting, and told a maid to send it to Miss Cheng’s courtyard.

Hua Wenyuan leapt from the wall and swiftly located Miss Cheng’s private quarters.

Miss Cheng received the silk flower, dismissed the maid, and sat in her small courtyard, staring at the flower with a sorrowful expression.

“Miss Cheng has received my gift, why then do you still look so troubled?” A bright and pleasant youthful voice came from the wall. Miss Cheng looked up and saw a young man in red, dressed in martial attire, sitting on the wall, with one hand on his bent knee, smiling and asking her why she was so unhappy.

Miss Cheng was initially stunned upon seeing him. The person on the wall was unbelievably handsome, someone she had never seen before. And to think this was Hua Wenyuan! She was momentarily speechless.

Who would have thought that Hua Wenyuan would be such a handsome and elegant young man, contrary to the rumors of him being a rough and burly military general.

Behind the dashing General Hua, Lu Yu watched the bookish man curled up like a quail at the base of the wall and scoffed, “Does Miss Cheng have poor taste? This guy isn’t even one percent as handsome as my boy.”

Ming Yan looked at the scholar, who was just slightly better than a background character, and said, “He wasn’t drawn by me.” This scholar was supposed to be Miss Cheng’s beloved, theoretically handsome and refined enough to make a noble lady elope with him. Apparently, the artist who drew him held a personal grudge.

Lu Yu studied him for a bit and whispered, “Yan-ge, give me a rope to tie him up. I can’t lift him, and we don’t want him ruining the show for Hua Wenyuan.”

Ming Yan, resigned, drew a rope.

Lu Yu quickly tied up the scholar, leaving a long end of the rope, and threatened the scholar who dared not resist, “Stay put.”

When Hua Wenyuan said, “Since you don’t like this gift, I have another one for you,” a rope was handed to him.

Hua Wenyuan grabbed the rope, glanced back at his second uncle, who was giving him a thumbs-up, and twitched his mouth before swinging his arm like casting a fishing line, tossing the scholar into the courtyard.

“Zhang Lang!” Miss Cheng exclaimed, rushing to help her tied-up lover, and looked fearfully at Hua Wenyuan.

Hua Wenyuan looked calmly at the couple, “Miss Cheng, do you have anything else to say? If not, I will call Mr. Cheng over to finalize the withdrawal of our engagement.”

Miss Cheng trembled for a moment before collapsing to her knees, tears streaming down her face, “Please forgive me, Young Marquis. I truly had no choice. Zhang Lang and I love each other, but he has failed the imperial exams repeatedly, and my family looks down on him, unwilling to accept his proposal. My mother died early, leaving me with a harsh stepmother who, driven by greed, arranged this marriage with the Hua family…”

Lu Yu, who was peering over the wall to watch the drama, quietly explained to Ming Yan, “The Hua family used to have a hereditary marquis title. The previous emperor, driven mad by eunuchs, confiscated their imperial decree. The new emperor promised to restore their title, but hasn’t returned the decree yet.”

Miss Cheng’s address was a way of flattering Hua Wenyuan by elevating his status.

Hua Wenyuan was silent for a moment before tossing down a bundle, “You two should leave.”

Miss Cheng was stunned, unable to believe what she had heard. After a while, she tremblingly picked up the silk-wrapped bundle. Opening it, she almost cried out in surprise. Inside was the most valuable part of her dowry, which she was entitled to as a daughter of the Cheng family.

The couple was stunned for a while, then looked at each other with tears streaming down their faces. They knelt and kowtowed to Hua Wenyuan, “Thank you, Young Marquis. Thank you, General Hua.”

With the money in hand, the two dared not delay and fled immediately with Hua Wenyuan’s help.

Watching them leave, Hua Wenyuan sighed, “I originally wanted to play the villain.”

Lu Yu patted his shoulder in consolation, “Follow your heart. A hero can also be a good person.”

Hua Wenyuan turned to look at him, his eyes deep, “Second Uncle, who exactly are you?”

Having just been reborn and in a hurry to call off the engagement, he hadn’t yet figured out his plans for the future. Given the circumstances of his previous death, he loathed the eunuch faction’s turmoil, the scholars’ infighting, the incompetent emperor, and the invaders’ plundering. He thought he never wanted to be a blindly loyal gatekeeping general again and had a vague idea of his future, but his second uncle had pointed it out directly.

“Secrets cannot be revealed,” Lu Yu smiled mysteriously, but seeing Hua Wenyuan’s persistent gaze, he awkwardly said, “Well, maybe they can be revealed. I’ll tell you later. Let’s go sort out the front yard first.”

In the original story, Hua Wenyuan left after letting the couple go, waiting for the Cheng family to discover the bride’s disappearance and causing a fuss before finally calling off the engagement after much trouble. But Lu Yu thought the author, Lu Dayu, was too conservative and not satisfying enough. In such a justified matter, why not cause a scene in the front yard? Since Hua Wenyuan was going to rebel, antagonizing the scholar-official group wouldn’t affect his future plans.

Soon, the maid who came to try the bridal gown on Miss Cheng found her missing and raised an alarm.

Lu Yu pointed at the fallen red bridal veil and remarked to Ming Yan, “If this were a BL novel, a pitiful illegitimate son would be stuffed into the bridal sedan to marry in her place, then engage in a tortured romance with Hua Wenyuan, following him to the battlefield, using his wit to earn money and gather scholars, eventually becoming a legendary empress. Too bad this is a no-cp story.”

Ming Yan glanced at him sideways.

The three of them swaggered in through the main gate.

Hua Wenyuan asked Lu Yu, “Second Uncle, what are you going to do?”

Lu Yu waved his hand grandly, “You don’t need to worry, Second Uncle will get justice for you.”

Hua Wenyuan hesitated, feeling that causing a scene wasn’t quite appropriate. After all, his second uncle was officially dead. If his father found out, he’d chase them to break three legs.

Lu Yu laughed heartily, “No worries, I can make a sacrifice for the audience’s enjoyment.”

Hua Wenyuan: “???”

Once inside the Cheng residence, they pushed aside the servants who came to question them. Lu Yu, with one leg crossed over the other, sat in the main seat of the hall. “I am Hua Wenyuan’s uncle, a wandering hero of the Jianghu. I happened to pass by and heard your servants shouting about the missing bride, so I brought my nephew here to find out what was going on.”

The head of the Cheng family was sweating profusely. He had hoped to find the girl quickly before word got out, or at worst, use a daughter from another branch to cover up the marriage. As long as the Hua family didn’t find out, once she was married, they couldn’t do anything about it. But he hadn’t anticipated the sudden appearance of a wandering hero uncle. What was this person doing wandering near their home?

“Uncle, this is a misunderstanding,” the head of the Cheng family tried to stay calm, “the servants must have been mistaken.”

“Hah,” Lu Yu sneered, smashing the cup in his hand. “Let me be honest with you, I knew your girl had a lover and didn’t want my nephew to be made a fool of, so I brought him here to get an explanation. I didn’t expect to walk into this farce!”

The Cheng family collectively turned pale, the head of the family stood frozen.

Lu Yu thought to himself that this supporting character’s development was too weak. He pulled out a black seven-stringed zither and casually played a few notes.

The Cheng family “came back to life.” A servant whispered something into the head of the family’s ear, causing his face to turn deathly pale and full of shame and anger. “We truly did not know that such a disgraceful affair was taking place.”

After a chaotic scene of shouting and scrambling, the head of the Cheng family, with a mournful face, took the initiative to call off the engagement.

Originally, the Cheng family had planned to claim that the seventh daughter had died suddenly, allowing Hua Wenyuan to marry a memorial tablet. This way, they could save face and give Hua Wenyuan a good reputation.

In the original story, there was such a scene, but Hua Wenyuan refused. Since he was planning to rebel, what use did he have for a good reputation? Originally, there would have been a lot of back-and-forth, but thanks to Lu Yu’s interference, there was no room for argument. The engagement was called off immediately, with all the blame falling on the Cheng family.

Not only did the Cheng family return the betrothal gifts, but they also compensated Hua Wenyuan with a chest of jewelry that had been meant for the dowry.

Hua Wenyuan stood in the corridor of the Hua residence, watching as servants carried the chests of betrothal gifts back inside. He looked up at the full moon in the sky, “When the world is at peace, I too will have a wife who truly loves me.”

Lu Yu smiled without saying a word, then whispered to Hua Wenyuan’s back, “Sorry, my boy, you didn’t get anything out of this.”

Hua Wenyuan turned to look at him, “Uncle, what did you say?”

Lu Yu waved his hand dismissively, indicating that it was nothing. He told Hua Wenyuan to go deal with his father and not worry about the two of them. Old Master Hua was furious about the sudden withdrawal of the engagement by the Cheng family, and Hua Wenyuan needed to keep an eye on him to prevent any rash decisions.

Once Hua Wenyuan was gone, Lu Yu hugged Ming Yan from behind, resting his chin on Ming Yan’s shoulder with a sigh, “Poor Hua, always so lonely. Even after gaining the world, he remained alone. It’s too tragic.”

As he spoke, he rubbed his face against Ming Yan’s shoulder, grateful that he had a wife.

Ming Yan rolled his eyes, “It’s Hua Wenyuan who’s pitiful, not you.”

Lu Yu pouted, “I’m pitiful too.”

As the moon climbed higher, the Hua residence was still brightly lit. Hua Wenyuan walked slowly along the corridor leading to the main courtyard, gradually merging into the noisy night.

Thus, the first three chapters ended, marking the conclusion of the first day’s live broadcast.

At the moment the screen went dark, the audience heard Lu Yu’s scream, “Ow, you hit me! I’m telling the teacher!”