“Bang!” Marquis Kangding slammed the table again, nearly flipping it over!

As the saying goes, one can beat or scold one’s own son to death without feeling any heartache, but one cannot tolerate others saying even a single bad word about him. Moreover, Minister Zhu was so disrespectful—it was like throwing fire directly onto Marquis Kangding!

How could the hot-tempered Marquis endure this? “Zhu Tingzhi, don’t think my Li family must have your Zhu family! I am the Marquis Kangding of Qujiang. There are plenty of people who want to enter my Li family’s gates. I’ve been accommodating everywhere out of consideration for your daughter’s face. I had thought that if you wanted to call off the engagement, so be it—even if not relatives, we could still be friends. But you repeatedly speak offensively, with insults in every sentence, as if you truly think my Li family is a soft persimmon! Let me tell you, every word you spoke today, I heard clearly in my ears.” As he spoke, Marquis Kangding grabbed the teacup beside him and violently smashed it to the ground, shattering it completely. “From today forward, the Li and Zhu families are like this cup—we shall never interact until death!”

Never interact until death! Minister Zhu was startled by the scene before him, but the atmosphere had already been pushed this far. He couldn’t back down now. So he too grabbed a cup beside him and forcefully smashed it down. The fragments of both cups mixed together, just like the current situation between the Li and Zhu families—irreparable!

After Minister Zhu left, Marquis Kangding sat in the hall, looking at the two cups smashed to smithereens on the ground in silence. He originally hadn’t wanted to fall out with Minister Zhu over this matter, hadn’t wanted to gain another enemy at court. But the other party had been so caustic in his words, full of mockery and humiliation. Marquis Kangding was also a man of great pride—he really couldn’t endure it. He would rather have another enemy at court than be a shrinking turtle, letting people insult him at will!

At this moment, Li Shiyan happened to return from Su Ziluo’s residence. Little Luzi, who had been keeping watch at the back gate, quickly opened the door and said, “Heir Apparent, you’re finally back!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Minister Zhu came to the residence and spoke with the master about calling off the engagement. It seems they had a terrible falling out and even smashed cups! Right now the master is sitting in the main hall. No one dares to go ask. You should hurry and take a look.” Little Luzi’s voice trembled slightly.

Hearing this, Li Shiyan was first shocked, then realized that when Zhu Yao came to see him today, she had indeed promised she would call off this marriage engagement. He just hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly!

“So has the engagement actually been called off or not?” He headed toward the front hall while asking Little Luzi.

Little Luzi said, “This servant doesn’t know, but from the looks of it… it should already be called off, otherwise things wouldn’t be like this.”

He certainly hoped it truly was called off!

Li Shiyan hurried to the front hall. As soon as he entered, he saw broken porcelain fragments all over the floor. It had already been quite a while, yet no one had come to clean up. It seemed everyone truly didn’t dare to come!

Little Luzi also silently stood outside without entering. At a time like this, anyone other than Li Shiyan who went in would be courting death.

Li Shiyan used his foot to quietly sweep those fragments to the side, walked before his father, and said, “Father, it’s just a marriage engagement. There’s no need to fly into such a rage. If it’s called off, it’s called off.”

“You don’t understand!” The Marquis looked up at him. “How do I not understand? I know you’re doing this for my good. You think I’m useless, that I only know how to eat, drink, and make merry all day, so you wanted the Zhu family to support me in the future so that when I inherit your marquis title I won’t suffer too much. But Father, I’m not a worthless wretch. I don’t need you to protect me this way.” Li Shiyan spoke with great determination. “Father, rest assured. Even without the Zhu family’s power, your son can still preserve our Li family’s marquis title for generations. Trust me, I can do it without relying on anyone.”

The spirit of manhood was fully embodied in him.

This was the first time the Marquis had seen his son so serious—so serious it felt somewhat unfamiliar.

The Marquis slowly stood up, touched his face, and asked, “Are you really Shiyan?”

Pfft—

I am!

I am!

I really am! Li Shiyan was embarrassed. He had thought his words were particularly manly and particularly moving, but he hadn’t expected a single sentence from his father to immediately knock him back to square one. He weakly exhaled, then extremely reluctantly reached out to forcefully pinch his own face and said, “Father, I’m your son, your biological son. You haven’t mistaken me for someone else.”

But the Marquis showed a half-believing, half-doubting expression, squinting his eyes and saying, “How could you say such words?”

“Can you stop always thinking of me so poorly? I’m your son, your biological son! Besides, when you were young you were number one at court. How bad could I possibly be?” “True, you are my son!” The Marquis was somewhat proud, then became worried again. He clasped his hands behind his back, walked forward a few steps, sighed and said, “But after making such a scene now, who knows what will happen next. Never mind, we’ll take things one step at a time.”

He had come to terms with it! Without this marriage engagement, Li Shiyan felt much more relaxed overall. Just as he was secretly rejoicing, the Marquis suddenly turned around, looked him up and down several times, and said, “Look at you. This time you’ve been jilted by the Zhu family. This matter will probably be known very soon. You’d better think carefully about how you’ll find a wife in the future! You’re already quite old, yet you’re still muddling through each day like this.”

Li Shiyan again showed an impatient expression. “Father, why are you worrying about this!”

“How can I not worry? Now that you’ve had your engagement broken off, once the whole city knows, who will still be willing to marry their daughter to you?” Li Shiyan burst out laughing with a “puchi” sound. He puffed out his chest, raised his head, arched his eyebrows, waved his sleeves slightly, and said proudly, “Your son is one of the top beauties in all of the capital. Which young lady doesn’t like me? With just one word from me, countless young ladies could line up from the East Gate all the way to the West Gate. Are you still afraid I won’t be able to find a wife?”

The Marquis shook his head. “Go ahead and be smug, be as smug as you want!”

He grinned carelessly, laughing without a care in the world like a child. Seeing him this way, he was still that frivolous noble young master. The Marquis was also exhausted from this commotion and had no mood to continue nagging Li Shiyan. He said, “Alright, don’t mention this matter again. What’s past is past. We’ll see how things go from here.” After speaking, he turned and left the hall. When his feet reached the doorway, he stopped again, turned his head back and instructed, “You yourself should also be more careful. Don’t get involved in everything. Otherwise if something else happens, you won’t be as lucky as this time. I can protect you once, twice, three times, but I can’t protect you for a lifetime!”

“I understand, Father!”

“Keep it in your heart!”

“Yes!” Li Shiyan raised his voice.

The Marquis shook his head again before finally leaving…

After Li Shiyan ordered people to thoroughly clean up the broken items in the hall, he returned to his courtyard. His mood fluctuated between good and bad—laughing a few times one moment, sighing twice the next.

Little Luzi brought in water for him to soak his feet. While removing his shoes, he asked, “Heir Apparent, what’s wrong with you? Laughing one moment, worrying the next?”

“You don’t understand!”

“This servant may be stupid, but if the heir apparent explains, won’t this servant understand!”

“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand!” Li Shiyan tossed out this sentence and became worried again.

Little Luzi looked up at him a few times, then placed both his pale feet into the basin and carefully washed them.

Actually, the reason Li Shiyan had such fluctuating emotions was really because on one hand the Zhu family had broken off the engagement, and on the other hand Ji Yunshu had left. These two emotions mixing together made his heart feel very uncomfortable, going up and down. “Young master, your feet are really white, with such smooth tender skin, and you even have a mole here!” Little Luzi pressed his finger lightly a few times on the mole on Li Shiyan’s toe, finding it quite interesting. He chuckled and said, “Every time I wash the heir apparent’s feet, I notice this mole has grown quite a bit larger. How amazing!”

Li Shiyan looked down and indeed saw there was a mole on his toe. His toes wiggled a few times, then he said, “I’ve heard people say this is a fortune mole—whatever I wish for comes to me. But why am I so unlucky then?”

“Where is the heir apparent unlucky? Although you encounter mishaps each time, you always turn danger into safety. Besides, the heir apparent truly does get whatever you wish for. In all of the capital, as long as it’s something you want, there’s nothing you can’t obtain. Isn’t this good enough?”

“What’s good about it! The thing I want most… I don’t have!” Li Shiyan sighed mournfully, his heart painfully bitter. Little Luzi asked, “Then what does the heir apparent want most?”