A Clash of Gods - Chapter 65
Chapter 65 Pay for It
Yuan Rong’s expression changed first, and he looked at Yang Ning in shock.
He didn’t expect that Su Zhen would suddenly say that the engagement would be called off, and he had never thought that Yang Ning came to cancel it. And what frightened him more were Yang Ning’s last words.
Yang Ning and Su Zhen were two of the four marquises in Chu Country. The two families were on good terms in the past. The two old marquises were even friends until death.
No matter in the officialdom or society, generally, people would only express their resentment in an indirect way and seldom spoke ruthlessly.
Su Zhen was arrogant and criticized Yang Ning, which made Yuan Rong think he was not like a gentleman, but Yang Ning’s last words were harsher.
Su Zhen mentioned the other party’s name and insulted Yang Ning, while Yang Ning’s words were not as straightforward as Su Zhen’s, but under the situation, what he said was extremely incisive.
Yuan Rong felt the cold sweat on his back and lowered his head, with no courage to cut in. He thought he must find a chance to escape from here.
Su Zhen was in a daze and then astonishment was shown on his face. Later, it was replaced with rage. He was not broad-minded. Realizing what Yang Ning meant, he asked coldly, “What did you say?”
Yang Ning had heard the uproar behind the screens, which was obviously the response to his words.
He appeared calm and pointed at the tea. “Marquis, you can send this cup of tea to our mansion and see if my two dogs would drink it. In fact, since last time, I always wonder what kind of famous tea your family would drink. Now I can see that some people are like frogs at the bottom of a well, only able to see the narrow area around them and think all the things belonging to them are wonderful. It’s great. Next time, if you come to my mansion, we will entertain you with this kind of tea, which is to your taste.” He then furrowed his brows. “But it’s not easy to find such tea that even a dog won’t drink.”
“Bang!”
Su Zhen abruptly pounded the table with his palm and shouted angrily, “Qi Ning, how dare you? How can you behave so recklessly in my mansion?”
“Recklessly?” Yang Ning pretended to be ignorant. “Marquis, I was just telling the truth. Why did I behave recklessly?”
At last, Yuan Rong couldn’t help but wink at Yang Ning. The latter noticed that and put the tea cup in Yuan Rong’s hand. “Have a taste now. I don’t believe that the family of the Minister of Rites would drink such tea, too.”
Yuan Rong liked to pretend graceful and was familiar with different tea. As soon as he just took a look and saw the color of the tea in the cup, he knew that was low-grade tea. Then he was suddenly enlightened and guessed that the two families had a big problem. He was depressed.
Su Zhen was in a rage but felt quite awkward.
He intended to cancel the engagement and resorted to every conceivable means. He just believed the more he irritated the family of the Marquis of Honor, the more chances to call it off they would have. So when he told the servant to serve tea, he specially chose the worst tea to humiliate Yang Ning. Unexpectedly, Yang Ning made an issue of it, and Su Zhen was in an awkward situation.
“Right. The purpose of my arrival is not to drink tea.” Yang Ning changed the subject. “Marquis, I came here to cancel the engagement. Hope you can agree and won’t pester us.” He raised his hand and pointed at Yuan Rong. “Yuan Rong is the young master from the family of the Minister of Rites. I asked him to come in order to make him a witness and show our family’s determination to call off the engagement.”
Yuan Rong had sweat on his forehead and opened his mouth, but he didn’t make a voice.
Su Zhen almost spat blood. He was naturally determined to call off the engagement, but Yang Ning actually came to cancel it.
Whoever proposed to cancel the engagement would influence his own fame.
If the Marquis of Martial Arts brought up the cancelation of the engagement, others would think that he failed to keep faith, but it would frustrate the family of the Marquis of Honor more.
But this time, Yang Ning asked Yuan Rong to come with him and called off the engagement in the mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts in front of an outsider. If the news spread, people would say that the family of the Marquis of Honor disparaged the family of the Marquis of Martial Arts. It would greatly damage the reputation of the later. And among the four marquises, the Marquis of Martial Arts was inferior to the other three marquises. After Yang Ning cancelled the engagement, it would increase the distance between the Marquis of Martial Arts and the other three.
Su Zhen clenched his fists and didn’t know how to handle it as Yang Ning caught him off-guard.
Yang Ning continued unhurriedly, “Marquis, you are right. Since the two old marquises passed away, the engagement doesn’t exist. My family was established depending on the military contributions. In the past, because the two old marquises were friends, they arranged the marriage. The ancestors didn’t know what would happen to their descendants. If my grandpa knows in the grave, he wouldn’t agree to this marriage anymore.”
The corners of Su Zhen’s eyes twitched, and he sneered. “Oh?”
“As far as I know, your daughter Zixuan is bossy and willful, and she even has an ugly face.” Yang Ning knew that he didn’t need to be polite to Su Zhen. Since Su Zhen had humiliated him, he didn’t have to respect this older man. “Logically, I came of age long ago, but why didn’t I marry Zixuan? In the final analysis, we don’t want her to be the wife of the heir in my family.”
Yuan Rong didn’t dare to speak, but hearing Yang Ning’s words, he replied conveniently, “I see.” As soon as he started, he realized and was anxious to slap himself in the face.
Su Zhen heard Yuan Rong and was more embarrassed, questioning, “Qi Ning, don’t talk nonsense. Zixuan is gentle and kind. Who said that she is bossy and willful? And she is beautiful. Who said she…”
“Marquis, don’t you know?” Seeing that Su Zhen was in his trap, Yang Ning laughed. “You can ask on the street, and many people say that. Anyway, we will definitely cancel the engagement. Even if you don’t agree, it’s meaningless. The decision made by the family of the Marquis of Honor can’t be changed.” Afterward, he stood up at once and didn’t make an obeisance. “Young Master Yuan has witnessed it, so it’s over.”
“Wait!” Su Zhen asked in a hurry, “Is this the old lady’s decision?”
“Ah?” Yang Ning laughed. “As for such a serious matter, all of us made the decision and it’s not somebody’s idea. In fact, this engagement suppressed our family like a stone, and in the past few years, as soon as we thought of this trouble, we would be annoyed. Now that we have cancelled it, we are relieved. You go your way and I’ll go mine.”
As soon as he finished his words, he heard a loud voice. “Qi, you… Who the hell are you? Can you call off the engagement as you like?” While speaking, somebody rushed out from behind the screen. Yang Ning looked at the person and saw a lady at the same age as him. She was really beautiful and had a slender figure, with good-looking facial features, but her eyes were ferocious.
She rushed out all of a sudden, and two people followed her immediately. One of them wore jewelry and gorgeous clothes, more than thirty years old and grabbed the lady’s arm, calling, “Zixuan…”
Yang Ning thought it turned out to be Su Zixuan, and she was a beauty, but as he stared at her, he believed that it must be true that she was bossy and willful.
Yuan Rong saw Su Zixuan dash out and his eyes lit up. He saluted her in a hurry and greeted, “Miss Su, I am Yuan…”
“Get out of the way!” Su Zixun furrowed her beautiful brows. Before Yuan Rong finished, she waved her hand and shook off the woman’s grip. Then she raised her hand and pointed at Yang Ning. “Why did you say that I am ugly? You are the heir of the Marquis of Honor, and everybody knows that you are an idiot.”
“Right, I am an idiot, so I came to call off the engagement.” Yang Ning was calm. “You don’t like me, and I’m not interested in you. It will be helpful to both of us to call it off.”
Su Zixuan shouted furiously, “You are not allowed to call it off. If we have to cancel the engagement, it should be proposed by our family. I don’t want to marry you, but you can’t abandon me.”
Yang Ning burst into laughter. “It appears that the rumor is correct. You are a bossy and willful lady and have bad manners. I am talking with your father. Do you qualify to comment? Do you think you can decide your marriage?”
Apparently, Su Zhen thought Su Zixuan was impolite to rush to the main hall. If only Yang Ning were here, Su Zhen could turn a blind eye, but Yuan Rong, the young master from the family of the Minister of Rites was present. The news about what happened today would spread that a lady from a marquis’ family broke into the main hall, and it would certainly be a laughingstock.
“Get out of here.” Su Zhen couldn’t restrain his anger and yelled at Su Zixuan, “Who told you to run out?” Then he glared at the woman. “Why can’t you even stop her?”
The woman must be the wife of the Marquis of Martial Arts. She rolled her eyes at Su Zhen but still grasped Su Zixuan’s arm, expressing hurriedly, “Zixuan, let’s go. We can’t be here…”
“Father, you tell him. We want to call off the engagement. I don’t want to marry him.” Su Zixuan was exasperated. “He can’t call it off first.”
Yang Ning smiled. “I am really sorry, Miss Su. I have made it clear just now. Our family plan to cancel it and don’t want such a woman like you to… Well actually, a woman from the Su Family can’t enter our mansion. Can you hear it clearly now?”
Su Zixuan showed hatred in her eyes, but Yang Ning smiled carefreely. He didn’t say more and turned to leave.
Yuan Rong knew that in that case, it was better to leave here as soon as possible. He saluted the Marquis of Martial Arts in a hurry and said, “I will visit you next time.” He left with Yang Ning.
“Qi Ning, remember what you have done today.” Su Zixuan’s resentful voice came from behind. “You humiliated me. I will make you pay for it at a much higher price someday.”
Yang Ning stopped in his tracks and responded indifferently without looking back, “All of you, remember the rule of the family of the Marquis of Honor. We will pay the debt. No matter if we owe others or others owe us, we will balance the account and won’t miss anything.” He sneered and walked away slowly under Su Zhen’s fierce eyes.