Volume One, Chapter 15: Have You Ever Heard That Classic Saying?

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When Xiao Yichen returned from the riverside and reached the courtyard, he heard voices coming from inside.

“Sister Lingxue, you should accompany Tenth tonight. I... I’m not ready yet.”

Han Ziyun spoke hesitantly from within the courtyard.

After breakfast, she and Luo Wanying had pulled Su Lingxue aside for a private conversation.

Both girls were curious about married life, but in this era, people’s thinking was rather conservative.

Their mothers had died when they were young, and no one had ever taught them about relations between men and women. They could only figure things out for themselves.

Su Lingxue herself had known nothing the previous night. She had thought that simply sleeping naked together would be enough to have a baby. Only after Xiao Yichen guided her had the two of them finally consummated their marriage.

After hearing Su Lingxue describe everything, both girls had blushed scarlet.

Even Luo Wanying, who was a physician, knew very little about such matters.

“Are you afraid Tenth will hurt you? Don’t worry. Tenth is very weak. Last night, I wore him out so badly he couldn’t even get out of bed. In the end, he was begging for mercy. You should have seen the look on his face—it was hilarious.”

Outside the courtyard, Xiao Yichen was instantly covered in black lines.

What was this reckless woman saying?

Wasn’t she ruining his reputation?

It was true, of course, but did she really have to tell the other two girls? Did he have no dignity left?

Just as he was about to enter, Liu Fu came rushing over in a panic.

“Young Master, something terrible has happened! General Su has come to our gate, claiming that our Xiao family abducted his daughter. Minister Han has come as well, and they’re making a scene in the main hall. You must go and see!”

Xiao Yichen was startled and immediately turned around.

The three women inside the courtyard had also heard Liu Fu’s voice, and they rose in alarm.

“Come on, let’s go take a look.”

Su Lingxue and the other two hurried toward the main hall.

...

Inside the main hall of the Xiao residence, the Dowager Lady Xiao wore a grim expression, while Liu Jin’e’s face was livid. The other women of the Xiao family had also hurried over after hearing the commotion.

Su Jinfeng and Han Gengyao stood in the center of the hall.

“Dowager Lady Xiao, my daughter is foolish and insisted on coming to the Xiao family. Were you simply going to let her do as she pleased?”

Su Jinfeng’s tone was openly accusatory.

“I admit that my daughter did have a betrothal agreement with the Xiao family. But now that the Seventh Young Master is dead and I have returned the betrothal gifts, the engagement is naturally void.”

“I will never agree to my daughter marrying the Tenth Young Master.”

“Indeed.”

Han Gengyao also spoke up.

“I truly don’t know what kind of spell your Xiao family cast over my daughter to make her willing to sever ties with her own father just to marry into this household.”

The women of the Xiao family were visibly moved by his words.

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They had known only that the three girls had come to the Xiao residence the previous night and insisted on marrying Tenth. They had never imagined there was such a story behind it.

In the Liang Kingdom, severing ties between parent and child was considered a grave act of rebellion.

Even so, the women were deeply touched by the three girls’ determination.

Su Jinfeng stepped forward.

“You all know the state the Xiao family is in. Is Xiao Yichen truly worthy of my daughter?”

Liu Jin’e was just about to answer when a voice came from the doorway.

“Father, I am already married to Tenth. You should go home.”

Su Lingxue entered the hall before Xiao Yichen could.

“What is so wonderful about the Xiao family that you are so determined to stay? It has neither power nor wealth, and Xiao Yichen is a cripple. I raised you, taught you martial arts, and turned you into a military commander. Is this how you repay me?”

At Su Jinfeng’s words, the Xiao family members grew angry.

Liu Jin’e’s voice turned icy. “My son is no cripple. His abilities are beyond anything you can imagine.”

“Oh? Not a cripple? Everyone in the capital knows that the Tenth Young Master of the Xiao family is a useless cripple, good for nothing.”

He then turned his gaze toward Xiao Yichen, his face filled with mockery.

“Am I wrong, Tenth Young Master?”

In truth, Su Jinfeng did not want to say such hurtful things. He admired the Xiao family. The northern borders of the Liang Kingdom remained peaceful only because the Xiao family guarded them.

But there was no helping it. A powerful figure was targeting the Xiao family, and even a second-rank general such as himself would suffer if he became involved.

He could only play the villain and drag his daughter away before she leaped into a pit of fire.

Xiao Yichen met Su Jinfeng’s gaze directly and said coldly, “General Su, power and wealth are not the measure of everything. It is true that I have lost all my cultivation, but the so-called judgment that I am a cripple is merely the shallow opinion of ordinary people.”

“Have you ever heard a certain saying, General Su?”

“What saying?”

Su Jinfeng frowned. He had expected Xiao Yichen to lose his temper out of humiliation and drive his daughter away in a fit of anger. He had not expected him to remain so composed.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Xiao Yichen walked to the center of the hall and spoke the famous words that countless people in the modern world revered as a classic:

“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—never look down on a young man for being poor!”

The words exploded through the hall like a thunderclap, leaving the entire room in stunned silence.

No one had expected Xiao Yichen to say something like that. The women of the Xiao family gazed at him with shining eyes.

Ever since the broken engagement, he had continued to surprise them one revelation after another.

Su Lingxue’s eyes widened. At that moment, Xiao Yichen seemed incredibly handsome to her.

Han Ziyun’s eyes gleamed as she savored his words again and again, ripples spreading through her heart.

The Eighth Young Master had once said something similar. For an instant, the face of the Tenth Young Master before her seemed to overlap with that of the Eighth.

Luo Wanying covered her mouth. It was as though she had seen the return of the capital’s greatest martial arts prodigy.

Su Jinfeng stood frozen in place, the mockery vanishing from his face.

Never look down on a young man for being poor.

Was Xiao Yichen warning him?

Could his cultivation truly be restored? Otherwise, why would he possess such confidence?

Yet even if his cultivation returned, he still could not contend with that powerful figure.

He looked toward Su Lingxue and said solemnly, “Come home with Father. You cannot stay with the Xiao family, or our Su family will face disaster.”

Su Lingxue stubbornly replied, “I have already married Tenth, and our marriage has been consummated. I am his woman now. I will not leave.”

“You...”

Su Jinfeng was so furious that he nearly burst a blood vessel.

“Fine, fine, fine! Since you are willing to disregard the Su family, then I no longer have a daughter like you.”

“Don’t come crying to me for help later.”

After saying this, Su Jinfeng snorted angrily and stormed away.

“Father, you may as well consider me no daughter of yours either. I will not go back with you. Tenth and I have already completed the wedding ceremony.”

Seeing that Han Gengyao had not yet left, Han Ziyun spoke up.

Han Gengyao’s expression was grim. He had been away from home for only one day, yet Han Ziyun had left behind a letter and run away.

Now she had already completed the wedding ceremony, and the rice had been cooked. What could he possibly do?

This was a disastrous loss.

The Xiao family was no longer the Xiao family of old, and now he had even lost his daughter to them.

He had also vaguely heard that some powerful figure was moving against the Xiao family. Why couldn’t his daughter understand that he was only acting for her own good?

“Take care of yourself.”

Han Gengyao left those words behind and walked away.

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After the two men had departed, Xiao Yichen looked at the three women and smiled bitterly.

“Why did you have to do this? I thought your families had all agreed.”

“With the Xiao family in its current state, there was no need for you to wade into these troubled waters.”

Su Lingxue’s expression turned displeased.

“What do you mean? Are you planning to deny us? We have already completed the wedding ceremony. We will belong to the Xiao family for the rest of our lives.”

“Exactly. Could it be that you want to go back on your word?”

Han Ziyun also spoke up.

Luo Wanying added, “My father agreed to let me marry you.”

Looking at the seriousness on the three women’s faces, Xiao Yichen felt a surge of emotion.

What virtue or ability did he possess to earn the affection of three such remarkable women?

He looked at them solemnly.

“My three wives, for the rest of this life, if you never fail me, I shall never fail you.”