Chapter 32: Mysterious Betrothal Gift

Chen Siling calmly put all the Qi Cultivation Fluid back into her room. Only then did a look of lingering fear appear on her composed face.

“It’s a good thing Jiang Fan left early, otherwise it would have been troublesome.” She patted her chest, her heart pounding. “I can’t confirm if these two are friends or foes to Jiang Fan, but I absolutely cannot let them find him.”

Nibbling on her finger, she forced herself to calm down and said, “They definitely haven’t left yet. They’re probably monitoring me in secret. If I contact Jiang Fan now, they’ll surely discover him. In that case, I won’t be able to attend Jiang Fan’s betrothal ceremony tomorrow.”

“Sigh!”

The next day.

Daybreak.

The Xu family members were up early, for today was the day of Jiang Fan’s betrothal ceremony. It was rumored that the Zhu family might also attend. When the two parties openly competed, whoever offered less in the betrothal gifts would be shamed. The Xu family members were very curious to see how many betrothal gifts Jiang Fan would present and whether he could ultimately keep Xu Youran.

“Hurry up and finish your work, we should also go take a look and see who our new son-in-law will be.”

“No need to ask, of course it’ll be Young Master Zhu. He’s a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect, and the Zhu family is one of the top wealthy families.”

“Not necessarily. I heard yesterday that Jiang Fan only spent 100,000 silver taels to get several bottles of Essence of Herbs, each worth hundreds of thousands. Jiang Fan’s betrothal gifts surely won’t be meager.”

“Exactly! I’m even a bit envious of the eldest young lady. Although she isn’t favored by the master, her marriage will be grander than any other young lady’s.”

“Do you think the second young lady regrets it? After all, Jiang Fan was originally supposed to marry her.”

At this moment, Xu Yining emerged from the training grounds, overhearing the maids gossiping. Her face instantly turned cold, and she reprimanded, “Are you all done with your work?” The maids scattered, but her mood remained unsettled for a long time.

Gripping her sword hilt tightly, Xu Yining gritted her teeth. “I regret it? What a joke! No matter how good or valuable Jiang Fan’s betrothal gifts are, I don’t care for them! I don’t care at all!”

Sulking, she passed by Wang Yingfeng’s room and heard the continued bickering from inside.

“Xu Zhengyan, it’s all your fault! Why are you so useless? Why can’t you earn more silver? The Youth-Restoring Pill is right in front of me, but I’m too poor to buy it! I heard Zhang Yuxiu bought one and became twenty years younger after taking it. She looks like his sister when she’s with her son! Why am I so unfortunate? I’ve been held back by your Xu family.”

Xu Yining sighed slightly. “Are they still making a fuss after a whole night?” Since returning from the auction house, Wang Yingfeng had been relentlessly nagging. After learning about Zhang Yuxiu’s transformation, she had thrown even more tantrums, making life unbearable for Xu Zhengyan.

“Father is truly having a difficult time. When I marry a man of high status and my destined partner, I’ll make sure he finds a Youth-Restoring Pill to compensate Mother.”

Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers exploding simultaneously rang out. Xu Yining smiled slightly. “Has the Zhu family’s betrothal gift procession arrived?”

Although she was well aware that Zhu Jianshen had once nearly assaulted her elder sister, marrying him would be like a lamb entering a tiger’s den. However, she even less wanted her sister to marry Jiang Fan. Because if her sister married Jiang Fan and didn’t live well, then so be it. But if she lived very happily, wouldn’t that mean Xu Yining had been blind and foolish to give up on Jiang Fan in the first place?

“I hope Young Master Zhu wins,” Xu Yining muttered to herself.

In Jiang Fan’s room, Xu Youran had arrived early, and she lay in Jiang Fan’s arms, silently weeping.

“Xiao Fan, can we truly be together?” Although she had initially felt some resentment about marrying in place of her sister, after spending some time together, she realized that she had fallen in love with this childhood friend who had pretended to be mute for many years. She didn’t want to marry anyone else but Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan gently patted her back and said, “Foolish girl, how many of the promises I’ve made to you have I not kept? I told you I would marry you, and I will definitely marry you. No one can stop me.”

That was easy to say, but what about reality? Xu Youran’s brows remained furrowed. After the last hurried attempt, the Zhu family’s preparations this time would surely be more thorough. Moreover, Jiang Fan had completely offended Wang Yingfeng in the past few days, so she would naturally lean more towards the Zhu family.

“Xiao Fan, why don’t you give a portion of the Essence of Herbs to Aunt Wang to appease her? Otherwise, I’m very worried she’ll make things extremely difficult for you.”

Jiang Fan shook his head. “Haven’t you heard the story of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf? Wolves are never satisfied. If you give it all your meat, it will still want to eat the flesh from your own body. Wang Yingfeng is the same. Will she be satisfied if I give her the Essence of Herbs? No, she’ll want the 510,000 silver taels I have, she’ll want you and me to obey her every command, and she’ll want you to marry into the Zhu family to gain more benefits.”

Hearing this, Xu Youran knew he was right. But if he didn't do something, when Wang Yingfeng went berserk later, even Xu Zhengyan wouldn't be able to stop her!

“Don’t worry. Wang Yingfeng will be satisfied with the betrothal gifts I’ve prepared. Even if I were to slap her a few times in front of everyone, she would still grit her teeth and say she’s very satisfied.”

Xu Youran looked surprised. What kind of betrothal gifts could be so exaggerated? Seeing that Jiang Fan wasn’t joking, she became even more curious.

As the sound of gongs and drums approached, Xu Youran’s delicate body trembled. She hugged Jiang Fan even tighter, as if she were about to lose him. Jiang Fan said with a half-smile, “Don’t worry. After the betrothal gifts are presented, you can hug me as much as you like.”

Xu Youran was both shy and annoyed. “At a time like this, you’re still making such jokes?”

After snuggling in his arms for a while, Xu Youran finally took a deep breath and, with a heavy heart, followed Jiang Fan to the Xu family’s main hall. At this moment, Xu Zhengyan, Wang Yingfeng, the Xu family members, and Lu Zheng were all present in the hall. Except for Xu Zhengyan, who genuinely hoped Jiang Fan would win, everyone else was either gloating or had no expectations.

Lu Zheng, seizing the opportunity, spoke in a mocking tone in front of the entire family: “Jiang Fan, don’t feel pressured. You won’t win anyway.”

Jiang Fan initially didn’t want to bother with him. But Lu Zheng rambled on, sneering, “The woman I can’t have, you won’t get her in the end either, will you? If you ask me, you should just admit defeat honestly. That way, you can at least save some face. Otherwise, later, the Zhu family’s betrothal gifts will make you utterly ashamed!”

“Shut up!” A disgusted reprimand came. It was the usually gentle Xu Youran, angrily scolding Lu Zheng. “You’re a failure yourself, don’t assume Xiao Fan is the same! Xiao Fan is a hundred times stronger than you!”

The thing men feared most was comparison, especially in front of a woman they admired. Lu Zheng said, mortified, “How is Jiang Fan stronger than me...?” He couldn't finish his sentence. Not long ago, in front of Vice Pavilion Master Chen, Jiang Fan had easily crushed him like a dog. So, Lu Zheng changed his tune and said, “What did he give you that makes you defend him so much?”

Xu Youran reached her limit. She stood up and slapped Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng was furious. “Fine, fine! A woman dares to strike me? Then don’t blame me for being impolite!” If Xu Yining had made a move, he would have simply stood there and taken the beating, as she was a ninth-level Qi Cultivator. But Xu Youran was only a second-level Qi Cultivator; how dare she attack him? Good. Wang Yingfeng had disliked Xu Youran for a long time, so he would vent Wang Yingfeng's anger for her! With an angry laugh, he met her with a punch.

*Slap!*

But the moment they clashed, Lu Zheng was shocked to discover that his spiritual power was inferior to Xu Youran’s. Her palm pushed his hand away and then slapped his face, knocking him directly to the ground. The Xu family members who had just been mockingly laughing with Lu Zheng stared at Xu Youran in shock, as if they had seen a ghost. Xu Youran, however, withdrew her palm expressionlessly and gazed at Lu Zheng with disgust. “Now do you know what Xiao Fan gave me?”