Chapter 5: Provocation

Lu Songli didn’t think there was much to discuss. It was clear now that Zhao Yutan wanted the Xie family to take responsibility. On the other hand, whether the Xie family was genuinely concerned about what happened last night or not was uncertain. However, it seemed that they had some reservations about her, the fiancée who hadn’t yet married into the family. There might have been other reasons mixed in as well, but in any case, the Xie family seemed to have thoughts of breaking off the engagement. Moreover, it was possible that the Xie and Zhao families had already reached some sort of agreement.

Was this part of the original story? Lu Songli pondered as she looked at Xie Zhan. Xie Zhan noticed her gaze and calmly met her eyes.

She speculated that the incident from last night, where the original host and Zhao Yutan both fell into the water at the Prince Gong’s estate and were saved by their respective fiances, probably didn’t happen in the original story. Otherwise, if such a significant upheaval had occurred between the male lead, female lead, and supporting female character regarding their engagements, leading to the verge of a breakup, how could her cousin not have mentioned it? That wasn’t like her cousin’s style.

What Lu Songli didn’t know was that everything had happened for a reason. It all stemmed from a precognitive dream Zhao Yutan had a few days ago. In the dream, the two of them successfully got married—she into the Qin family and Lu Songli into the Xie family. Not long after her marriage, the Qin family was convicted and exiled. During the journey to exile, many of her in-laws died, and she suffered greatly. Meanwhile, the Xie family remained prosperous and unshaken. Even though Lu Songli didn’t bear any children in the dream, the Xie family still allowed her to hold her position as the main wife of the Xie family’s eldest son. Upon waking, Zhao Yutan was filled with anxiety and decided that this time, she would take a different path, refusing to repeat the same mistakes!

However, Zhao Yutan herself didn’t know that she had only dreamed of half of the story. She hadn’t seen the latter half, in which her original husband’s family rewrote the history of the dynasty.

Lu Songli thought to herself, “If this is a change, then things have become interesting.” She was well aware of how powerful the butterfly effect could be, and now everything had become uncontrollable. But she had a strong intuition that Xie Zhan and Zhao Yutan would end up together earlier than expected. After all, she believed that there was always a strange and inexplicable attraction between a scumbag and a shameless woman.

As the conversation reached this point, Madam Xie was not very satisfied. The current progress was far from the result she desired, but she knew she couldn’t push too hard. At least she had gauged the Lu family’s attitude, and as expected, they were strongly opposed to breaking off the engagement.

Madam Xie no longer wanted to stay. She glanced at her son.

Just then, the Lu family’s butler, Chen, hurriedly entered with two middle-aged men.

“What is it?” Lu Desheng asked.

“Master, these gentlemen from the Xie family say there’s an urgent matter and need to speak with Madam Xie and Young Master Xie.”

Madam Xie looked puzzled, casting a glance at the middle-aged man in brown clothing standing beside her butler.

Xie Zhan’s gaze paused slightly when he saw the two men. After a moment of thought, he addressed the Lu family, “Since our family has sent someone, there must be an urgent matter at home. Uncle, Aunt, Ali, my mother and I will take our leave now. We will visit again another time.”

“Go ahead,” Lu Desheng waved his hand.

Although the conversation between the two families had been somewhat unpleasant, Lu Desheng and his wife understood Madam Xie and her son’s urgency to return home without even asking what had happened. They assumed it was a family matter, which was understandable and normal to keep private.

“Wait!” Lu Songli called out, her eyes fixed on the middle-aged man in brown.

Xie Zhan turned back and, seeing her reaction, subtly shifted his position to block her view of the man. “Is there something else, ALi?”

“The man on the left,” Lu Songli said with a faint smile, “he’s not one of your family’s stewards, is he?”

The original host had been close to Zhao Yutan, who often invited her to visit their home, so she was quite familiar with the people in the Zhao family. The moment this middle-aged man in brown appeared, he looked familiar to her. Besides, if the Xie family truly had an urgent matter, they wouldn’t have sent two stewards at the same time.

When Lu Songli called out to the man, Lu Desheng and his wife also realized something was off. They had been puzzled earlier but hadn’t thought too much about it. Of course, it was possible for a steward to bring along an errand boy, but this middle-aged man in brown didn’t seem like someone who would be running errands.

Meeting Lu Songli’s sharp gaze, Xie Zhan felt a headache coming on. He was also puzzled—when had his fiancée become so perceptive? Wasn’t she usually timid, quiet, and withdrawn? Now her words were sharp, almost like knives, making him feel uncomfortable.

Madam Xie also sensed that something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” Lu Desheng squinted at the middle-aged man in brown.

Before Xie Zhan could respond, the man suddenly fell to his knees in front of him and Madam Xie, begging, “Young Master Xie, please, go and see our young lady. She just tried to take her own life, sob…”

Upon hearing this, Lu Desheng stood up. “You’re from the Zhao family?”

“Are you saying Zhao Yutan attempted suicide? Is she dead?” Madam Jiang directly asked.

Lu Songli, already expecting this, remained calm, sitting composedly in her chair even after hearing the news.

The middle-aged man in brown snapped back, “Madam Lu, how can you be so cruel? Are you all hoping something bad happens to our young lady?”

Slap!

In a flash, Lu Songli stepped forward and slapped the man across the face. “How dare you! Who gave you the courage to cause trouble in my Lu household?”

The room fell silent. Everyone was stunned by her bold move, even the man who had been slapped was momentarily dazed. When he recovered, he glared at Lu Songli with hatred.

Lu Desheng immediately stepped forward and kicked the man to the ground. “Someone, come here!”

The commotion in the hall had already alerted the servants waiting outside. At their master’s command, they quickly entered and restrained the man.

Xie Zhan’s headache grew worse.

Madam Jiang was the first to regain her composure. Steadying herself, she asked the middle-aged man, “Just tell us, did she die or not?”

Lu Songli thought to herself, ‘Mother, of course she’s not dead. But I didn’t expect the Zhao family to be so shameless as to bring their drama right to the doorstep of the legitimate fiancée.’

The middle-aged man hesitated, unwilling to answer directly.

“What’s going on with Zhao Yutan?” Madam Xie grew impatient with the man’s vague responses.

The middle-aged man lowered his head and replied, “Fortunately, she was found, and her life was saved. The doctor was called, but she still hasn’t woken up. The doctor said that she has lost the will to live and is in a critical condition. Our master and madam would like to invite Young Master Xie to visit her, in case…”

*Smash!* A cup flew toward the middle-aged man, narrowly missing his head as he dodged. It grazed his scalp and shattered on the floor.

After throwing the cup, Lu Desheng pointed to the door and shouted at the Zhao family’s men, “The Zhao family has gone too far! Get out, all of you!”

Xie Zhan sighed and said, “Uncle, Aunt, we’ll take our leave now. Mother, let’s go.”

Madam Xie opened her mouth to speak, but then sighed and took the lead in leaving.

The Lu family ignored them, and even the task of seeing the guests out was left to Butler Chen.

In the end, the meeting was anything but pleasant, with both sides parting on bad terms.