Servants had knocked on the courtyard door to deliver a message.

Liu Yingqi said with a smile, "Then I shall take my leave first and not disturb you young people from talking."

Yan Fu bowed respectfully, "Thank you, Uncle Liu."

Liu Yingqi boarded his lavish carriage, and guarded by two rows of guards, he departed in the lingering glow of the sunset.

Like the afterglow, it looked splendid but one could not tell how long it would last.

Jiang Wang couldn’t help but ask telepathically, "If Master Xuanhuai is such a person, why did your family ever agree to this marriage arrangement?"

Yan Fu watched the semi-closed courtyard gate and replied telepathically, "The marriage was arranged by my grandfather and Miss Liu’s grandfather. Also, Master Xuanhuai... he wasn’t like this before."

So much had changed, all left unspoken.

Soon afterward,

The courtyard door opened.

No one spoke.

Behind the courtyard door, stood a woman with a delicate demeanor.

Her willow-shaped eyebrows bore a hint of the vibrancy of spring, yet her limpid eyes carried an unresolvable sorrow.

She stood there like a wisp of wind, as if ready to fly away at any moment.

Yan Fu opened his mouth but no words came out.

Jiang Wang remained silent, and the servants of the Liu family made no sound either.

Even the sunlight falling over the small courtyard seemed to become desolate.

Yan Fu moved forward slightly and finally said, "Miss Liu, I..."

"Just stand there," Liu Xiuzhang interjected. "Whatever it is, we can talk across the gate to avoid idle gossip."

"I..."

"Isn’t that why you came?"

"...Yes. That’s right."

"What brings Mr. Yan here today?"

"There are some rumors, I don’t know if you have heard..."

"Look at where I reside," Liu Xiuzhang glanced around the solitary courtyard, "All I see and hear each day are but the gentle breeze and the bright moon. How can it compare to the clamor of Linzi?"

Yan Fu lowered his gaze and didn’t dare look directly at the woman across the gate, speaking slowly, "Many say... after that incident, you grieved excessively, washing your face with tears every day..."

"Mr. Yan," Liu Xiuzhang’s oval face showed little emotion, "There’s nothing in that which warrants gossip. We have known each other since childhood, often playing together. Ever since we were young, adults would say that our... it was merely a jest that lasted too long, it needs time to fade away."

She cut off her recollections and looked at Yan Fu, "You want to annul the engagement. I have agreed. What, don’t I even have the right to be upset?"

She didn’t question whether it was fitting or possible, only whether it should or shouldn’t be.

It was only when she spoke these words that a hint of fluctuation appeared in her voice.

"I didn’t mean that," Yan Fu’s expression was also restrained, his voice as smooth as possible, "it’s just that certain whispers have fallen on Tinglan... she is going to be my wife, and I must protect her reputation."

"Yes, it should be so," Liu Xiuzhang’s gaze also lowered, "I stay behind closed doors to live my own life; what my father says outside... I don’t know."

The two facing each other across the gate both stared at the ground.

As if the ground held secrets to solving the world’s complex problems.

The threshold was like a high wall, separating the insiders from the outsiders, worlds apart.

"I can’t possibly do anything to your father," Yan Fu realized after speaking that he shouldn’t have said it like that, and added, "After all, the Yan and Liu families are old friends."

Liu Xiu Zhang merely said, "You know his situation too. If only he had listened to me... things wouldn’t have turned out this way."

Yan Fu sighed softly in his heart and said, "That is why I hoped you could say something."

"Say something?"

Liu Xiu Zhang, ever astute, understood immediately after she asked the question.

"Do you want me to say that I have no feelings for you? Do you want me to say that I have never been heartbroken by this?"

She gave a sorrowful laugh, "Yan Fu, you are so cruel."

Yan Fu stood outside the courtyard gate like a silent tree.

Only the sound of rustling could be heard when the wind blew.

After a long silence, he said, "Wen Tinglan is my wife who has yet to pass through our door. She has done nothing wrong and should not be maligned in such a way. I cannot smooth this over for her, nor can I show my face in the world. Now, I have only two choices. One is for you to speak up and dispel the rumors. The second is you say nothing, and after I return to Linzi, I will carry a sword and strike down anyone who dares give idle talk. Be they friend or foe, highborn or lowly. Even if people see me as a madman like Tian Anping, I will do it."

Few had seen Yan Fu in action, and almost none had heard of him using physical force in public. Even when Jiang Wuyou had chased him around Linzi attempting to beat him, he had merely fled without fighting back.

But no one doubted Yan Fu’s prowess.

This was the first time Jiang Wang had heard Yan Fu make such a ruthless vow.

This elegant gentleman, even when speaking of slaughtering others, was restrained in his tone.

Yet the resolve he expressed was frighteningly firm.

"Do you even understand what you are saying?" Liu Xiu Zhang looked up, gazing at Yan Fu who had yet to meet her eyes. "For her, are you really willing to give up everything?"

Yan Fu said, "Doctor Wen loves his daughter dearly, and I protect Wen Tinglan this way. Even if my future is utterly ruined, it will not affect the relations between the Wen Family and the Yan Clan."

"After all is said and done, what you care about most is still the Yan Clan."

"I was born in the Yan Clan, raised in the Yan Clan, educated by the Yan Clan, and I owe everything to the Yan Clan. So..." Yan Fu finally looked up, finally meeting Liu Xiu Zhang’s gaze, "I will also die for the Yan Clan."

Liu Xiu Zhang averted her gaze, "This matter is my fault, it has affected your marital harmony, and I will handle it. Master Yan, please leave."

The entire situation, from beginning to end, was Liu Yingqi’s refusal to accept the succession change, desperately clinging to the Yan Clan. First, he would not agree to break off the engagement, and after Yan Fu himself came to dissolve it, he then spread everywhere that Yan Fu and Liu Xiu Zhang were deeply in love, unable to part. It was only due to Wen Yanyu’s power that they were forced into a tearful separation...

This could hardly be blamed on Liu Xiu Zhang who kept behind closed doors.

But Yan Fu said nothing.

He just bowed deeply, very deeply, towards Liu Xiu Zhang, and after giving such a profound bow, then he turned and left.

...

"How did it go?"

As soon as Yan Fu and Jiang Wang had left, Liu Yingqi hurriedly ran back, "Is there still a chance between you and Yan Fu?"

Liu Xiu Zhang looked at him with sorrow and walked inside without a word.

Liu Yingqi chased after her, "Xiu Zhang, Xiu Zhang. Hey, don’t rush off. Since Yan Fu is heartless, we needn’t remember him. And what about Jiang Wang, Jiang Qingyang who accompanied him? He is now the most sought-after young prodigy in Daqi, defeating Wang Yiwu in the same realm, his talents utterly astonishing. He also gained fame in a battle overseas, silencing peers from Diao Hai Building with his prowess. He would be a suitable match! If he could marry into our family..."

Liu Xiu Zhang turned around furiously, perhaps for the first time in her life yelling at her own father, "Have I not suffered enough humiliation for you!?"

Liu Yingqi was stunned.

Watching his daughter turn around with tears streaming down her face, utterly despondent.

All of a sudden, he felt all his strength leave him.

"What can I do..."

The ambitious Liu Yingqi, the one who swore to revive the Liu Family, the one who, filled with rage at his eldest son’s death, had declared he would not share the sun and moon with the Tian family... was dead.

He died on the day Tian Anping left alive.