Just as they reached their front door, the neighboring house’s door suddenly opened, revealing a gossipy face. The old lady came out with an invitation card, speaking through her toothless, somewhat whistling mouth: “A Ke, you’re back! This is an invitation from Madam Shen of Jin Man Lou. Since no one was home at your house, I kept it for you.”

“Thank you, Granny Li.” Shi Fa Ke reached out to take it.

But the old lady didn’t let go, winking at her. “Is Madam Shen asking you to arrange a match? For their young lady? Which family are they interested in?”

This old lady was as gossipy as ever.

“…Granny Li, these matters concern a young lady’s reputation. It’s not appropriate to discuss them casually,” Shi Fa Ke said somewhat helplessly.

The old lady released her grip with some disappointment, but then her eyes suddenly lit up again as she grabbed Shi Fa Ke’s hand. “A Ke, that young master came looking for you several more times after that, but why didn’t you let him in each time? That young master is so handsome, how could you bear to turn him away? Speaking of which, is that young master the Scholar Lu who redeemed the courtesan…”

Shi Fa Ke didn’t listen to what the old lady was gossiping about afterward. She only caught the first part—Lu Chi had come looking for her several more times afterward, and each time he wasn’t allowed in?

When had this happened? How did she not know?

Shi Fa Ke immediately looked at her two sisters-in-law, only to find one looking at the ground and the other at the sky—no one would meet her eyes…

Well, now she knew.

Shi Fa Ke finally managed to say goodbye to the gossipy Granny Li and walked through the front door.

He Ke Tian and Jiao Jiao looked at each other—well, now that things were exposed, what should they do?

“I was doing this for A Ke’s good. Even if Mother finds out, she’ll definitely understand me…” He Ke Tian cleared her throat and said righteously.

“Yes, Scholar Lu’s reputation is ruined now, and he’s infatuated with brothel prostitutes. He’s truly not a good match,” Jiao Jiao said. Although she knew this sister-in-law had personal motives, this time their positions aligned.

Shi Fa Ke couldn’t care less about her two sisters-in-law who had inexplicably formed an alliance. She went straight to her room and pulled out Zhu Yan Yan’s letter, reading it back and forth several times, then unconsciously glanced at the wooden box on her dressing table. Inside were a heavy gold ruyi, a brilliantly glowing jeweled ruyi hairpin, and a five-hundred-tael silver note.

These were the meeting gifts from Uncle Lu, Aunt Lu, and Elder Brother Lu. Setting aside Elder Brother Lu’s practical silver note, the gold ruyi and jeweled ruyi hairpin… she should have realized earlier.

No, at the time Third Brother had hit the nail on the head: “Which matchmaker have you ever seen receive meeting gifts? Those are called matchmaking gratitude gifts. As a matchmaker, what about you is worth such an expensive price? These meeting gifts—could it be they’ve taken a fancy to you as a daughter-in-law for their family?”

But at the time, she would rather guess that Elder Brother Lu had taken a fancy to her… she never guessed it was that Second Brother Lu.

Thinking about it, Shi Fa Ke found it somewhat amusing, and also felt a bit sorry for that Second Brother Lu.

At the time, he must have been very angry.

Shi Fa Ke couldn’t sit still. She suddenly wanted very much to see Lu Chi, so she directly tucked Zhu Yan Yan’s letter into her bosom and walked out, only to encounter her two sisters-in-law who had just entered.

“A Ke, didn’t you say you were tired? Where are you going?” He Ke Tian asked.

“I have some business to attend to.”

“You’re not going to look for Scholar Lu, are you?” He Ke Tian looked suspicious and tried to persuade her earnestly: “His reputation is ruined. No young lady would be willing to marry him. Give up the idea of arranging matches for him.”

No, she absolutely couldn’t let A Ke have any more contact with Scholar Lu.

“Yes, I won’t arrange matches for him anymore,” Shi Fa Ke said expressionlessly.

“Really?” He Ke Tian looked skeptically at her sister-in-law.

She knew Shi Fa Ke’s personality very well—would she really give up so easily?

“Yes, really.”

After Shi Fa Ke finished speaking, she left without looking back.

Behind her, He Ke Tian frowned and muttered, “Why do I feel something’s not quite right… what exactly is the problem?”

Shi Fa Ke went directly to Willow Leaf Lane.

At this moment, Lu Chi was at home. Because his reputation was ruined, the academy had already dismissed him.

Right now, Lu Chi was sitting dejectedly in the courtyard, staring into space. Before leaving Fei Qiong Stockade, he had made bold declarations that this time he would definitely marry A Ke back home. Who knew that just helping Ming Chang Qiao redeem someone… that woman had caused him a heap of trouble!

That woman had actually gone to the Shi family to arrange a match! How could she do such a thing! It was truly repaying kindness with malice!

Not only had he been dismissed by the academy, but worse still, he couldn’t even enter the Shi family’s front gate! The Shi family guarded against him like guarding against a thief. He was seriously considering the possibility of climbing over the wall at night… but with his current completely ruined reputation, marrying A Ke was out of the question. If he went to propose marriage, he would definitely be beaten out by the Shi family father and sons with big sticks. Now waiting for him, there was probably only the path of bride kidnapping.

Just thinking about it was so despairing…

Just as Lu Chi’s thoughts began racing down the path of bride kidnapping and he was figuring out one hundred and eight methods of bride kidnapping, someone knocked at the door outside.

Lu Chi couldn’t even be bothered to move.

The only person who would come knocking at his door now was his annoying student Zhu Ke Ji… Old Master Zhu firmly believed he had great talent and refused to abandon him even in this critical moment, insisting on playing the role of providing help in times of need, which left him quite helpless.

He was just a piece of trash now—don’t bother with him!

Life without being able to marry A Ke was so despairing…

The person outside knocked for a long time, seeming to realize there was no response, and gave up.

Lu Chi continued sitting motionless in a daze.

“Lu Chi!” Suddenly, an angry voice rang out.

A Ke’s voice?

Lu Chi blinked sluggishly, looking at the young lady who had climbed to the top of the wall… could it be that he missed A Ke so much that he was having hallucinations?

“You scoundrel! Why won’t you open the door!” Shi Fa Ke shouted angrily.

This scoundrel was clearly home but wouldn’t open the door, causing her to be stuck on the wall in a difficult position! She was caught between advancing and retreating, unable to get down!

Lu Chi immediately stood up. A Ke?

Was it really A Ke?!

Just as Lu Chi was still standing in place repeatedly confirming that the young lady sitting on the wall wasn’t his hallucination, the young lady was already angrily trying to rush over and beat him up… except she couldn’t get down, and then her foot slipped…

“Ahhhhhhh!” Shi Fa Ke screamed as she fell.

Lu Chi panicked and quickly rushed forward, catching her in an incredible posture and speed, holding her in his arms.

The fragrant, soft body in his arms told him that the A Ke before him was the real A Ke, not a hallucination.

Lu Chi’s heart immediately settled down, and he almost wanted to hold her like this and never let go.

“Lu. Chi.” The young lady in his arms called out his name word by word.

Gritting her teeth as if she wanted to bite off a piece of his flesh.

But Lu Chi thought that if she was willing to bite, he would be very willing too.

“I heard you’re a scholar with no strength to truss a chicken?” Shi Fa Ke stared at him coldly, grinding her teeth.

Lu Chi stiffened slightly.

Oh no…

That move just now… seemed to have exposed something?

Shi Fa Ke remembered how she had found people to test his martial skills that day, and he had looked pathetic being surrounded and beaten, even coughing up blood! She had cried her heart out, and this scoundrel had been pretending all along!

What nonsense about having no strength to truss a chicken! The way he just caught her, probably even her eldest brother couldn’t have managed it! If he had no strength to truss a chicken, how big would that chicken have to be! This liar full of falsehoods!

Shi Fa Ke angrily tried to push him away, but one push didn’t budge him.

Another push, and he still didn’t move an inch.

What happened to having no strength to truss a chicken! Liar!

“A Ke…” Lu Chi called her name weakly.

“Let go.” Shi Fa Ke ground her teeth.

“I don’t dare let go…” Lu Chi said weakly, though his grip wasn’t weak at all.

“Why not!” Shi Fa Ke glared at him, absolutely furious.

“I’m afraid if I let go, you’ll run away…” Lu Chi said pitifully.

Shi Fa Ke “puffed” with laughter, amused by his pitiful appearance. Since she was amused, she couldn’t maintain her stern expression. Shi Fa Ke glared at him sideways. “Let me go!”

“I don’t dare…”

“You should know when to stop taking advantage, you lecher.” Shi Fa Ke rolled her eyes.

Ah, he’d been discovered…

Lu Chi reluctantly released his hold, his expression showing complete reluctance to let go.

Shi Fa Ke snorted coldly, put on a stern face again, and walked to sit in the courtyard.

Lu Chi followed her like a little wife.

“Speak.” Shi Fa Ke lifted her chin.

Lu Chi blinked, not understanding her meaning for a moment. What… did she want him to say?

“Confess! Item by item, incident by incident—how much have you lied to me!” Seeing that he still wasn’t being honest, Shi Fa Ke immediately raised her eyebrows.

Lu Chi quickly straightened his attitude and hurried to confess: “I actually know a little bit of martial arts… um, more than a little bit. Actually, my martial arts are pretty good, hehe.”

Hehe your head!

“What else?” Shi Fa Ke raised an eyebrow.

“What… what else?”

“What about Yun Ge?” Shi Fa Ke snorted lightly. “She came to my house to ask me to arrange a match, saying you want to marry her.”

“That’s not true at all! She’s talking nonsense!” Lu Chi hurriedly cleared himself. “I was just asked by a friend to redeem her. She’s already been taken away by my friend! Truly repaying kindness with malice—it makes me furious!”

Shi Fa Ke looked at him silently.

Lu Chi was quiet for a moment before saying: “Yun Ge was originally an official’s daughter. My friend was a death-sworn warrior raised by her father, and his original mission was to protect his young lady well. However, after the young lady came of age, her father betrothed her to a notorious lecher. Before the young lady married over, that man’s household already had countless concubines and chamber maids, and he had even fathered two legitimate sons.”

Shi Fa Ke listened with fascination and couldn’t help asking: “…If he was such a person, how could her father bear to marry her to him?”

If it were her father, such a family daring to come propose marriage would definitely have been beaten out with a big stick early on, ensuring they’d never dare come again.

Lu Chi smiled, reaching up to touch her head. “Silly A Ke, because you’re a blessed and fortunate young lady.” At this point, his eyes became somewhat sad. “But in this world, not all young ladies are as lucky as A Ke, with such a good father. Anyway, later Yun Ge still married into that household. Soon after, that household was convicted of corruption, implicating all the female relatives who were sent to the Imperial Music Bureau.”

Shi Fa Ke felt her heart suddenly gripped. “Her parents… didn’t they go to save her…”

Lu Chi just looked at her.

Shi Fa Ke immediately understood, and tears rolled down her face.

How could there be such terrible people!

Lu Chi felt both amused and heartbroken. He reached out to embrace the crying young lady in his arms, gently patting her back as he told the end of the story: “My friend later fought his way to freedom, but his young lady had already been lost who knows where. Later he finally found this place… but his identity wasn’t convenient for redeeming someone publicly, so he asked me to help… Alright, don’t cry anymore. They’ll be fine from now on.”

That jianghu wanderer called Ming Chang Qiao had taken away a woman called Zhong Yan. That Yun Ge who had caused such an uproar in Tongluo Town had also disappeared.

There would be no more Yun Ge from now on.

“You… you let go, you le… lecher…” Shi Fa Ke said while crying and hiccupping.

Lu Chi twitched his mouth and released his hold.

“A Ke, now that you know the whole story, you won’t be angry with me anymore, right?” Lu Chi looked at her anxiously.

Shi Fa Ke paused for a moment and reluctantly nodded.

Lu Chi was overjoyed, then asked somewhat puzzledly: “By the way, A Ke, did you come looking for me today because of some urgent matter?”

Otherwise… why was she so urgent that she climbed the wall?

Shi Fa Ke looked up at him, then suddenly said slowly: “Today I received another invitation from Madam Shen, asking me to arrange a match between you and Shen Tong Yun.”

Lu Chi’s expression stiffened as he silently cursed that still-unsettled Yu Qi Niang and that Shen Qing who couldn’t control his wife!

“A Ke, I…”

Seeing the gloomy expression on his face, Shi Fa Ke suddenly felt a bit sorry for him and stopped her plan to tease him. She cleared her throat and said: “However, I won’t arrange matches for you anymore.”

“What?” Lu Chi was stunned.

“From now on, I won’t arrange matches for you anymore,” Shi Fa Ke said decisively.

Hearing this, Lu Chi panicked, thinking Shi Fa Ke was still angry and would completely wash her hands of him from now on. He hurriedly said: “But didn’t you say that your lifelong happiness was in your hands?”

Shi Fa Ke couldn’t help but want to roll her eyes again. This person seemed quite clever, but that clever brain of his never worked at crucial moments.

“Yes, I said that your lifelong happiness was in my hands,” Shi Fa Ke said seriously. “I thought about it carefully—your marriage has been so difficult that it really damages my reputation as a great matchmaker. To prevent you from becoming a failure in my matchmaking career, why don’t…”

“Why don’t what?” Lu Chi was extremely nervous, not knowing what strange idea she might come up with.

“Why don’t you just marry me?” Shi Fa Ke cleared her throat and said very seriously.

Happiness came too suddenly, completely catching him off guard.

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