Chapter 13 0013: A Visitor Comes to See Young Master Chu

In an instant, he committed the name "Shuyue Pavilion" to memory—where he could read splendid stories without interruptions or advertisements.

Yi Tianxing wondered if he’d misheard. The muscles in his face twitched.
“What did you just say?” His tone carried a warning.
“No matter how much money you give me, it doesn’t mean I’ll live to enjoy it,” Chu Yun replied. “In these times, marrying into the Ye family is just seeking a stable environment—staying alive is more important than anything. Since you’re fond of Ye Linglong and want me to leave, you should at least give me a place to settle down, don’t you think? So either I marry into your Yi family, or, if you really don’t have a sister, an older one will do—I can barely make do, even if she isn’t much to look at. After all, it’s just a marriage of convenience; I can tolerate a plain face. Isn’t that reasonable? I’m not marrying for money, just for peace.”
“You!” Yi Tianxing exploded in anger. “Who the hell are you calling plain?”
“Tianxing!” Yi Jifeng called out in a low voice, restraining the hot-tempered Yi Tianxing. He thought it beneath him to stoop to Chu Yun’s level, and besides, today, Yi Tianxing was the main suitor. Losing composure at a critical moment could leave a poor impression on Ye Linglong.
Yi Tianxing glared at Chu Yun with fierce eyes. With Ye Linglong standing between them, if he advanced, he might actually end up fighting her.
“If you know that surviving means more than anything, aren’t you afraid that offending the Yi family could leave you with nothing in an instant?” Yi Jifeng narrowed his eyes, his threat plain.
Other Yi family elders chimed in, “Even the Ye family might not be able to protect you. Be practical.”
Before Chu Yun could respond, Ye Linglong spoke up, “Uncles, I will choose according to my heart. I believe marrying Chu Yun will make me happy!”
Yi Jifeng’s brow furrowed as he turned to Ye Zhenhuan. “As her parents, are you really going to let your daughter play with fire? Won’t you intervene?”
“Brother Yi, it’s not that we don’t want to,” Ye Zhenhuan replied with a wry smile. “It’s that we can’t. She’s always been strong-willed. As parents, it’s hard to sway her. Once she sets her mind, there’s nothing we can do.”
Ye Linglong’s mother added, “Yes, she’s our only daughter. We only worry she’ll suffer after marriage. She wants to be independent of us, so having a husband who lives with us gives us some peace of mind. We’re sorry, but that’s how it is.”

Ye Linglong’s uncle nodded as well. “When the Chu patriarch was in power, he never looked down on our family head, which is why this engagement was arranged. We can’t just turn our backs on the Chu family now that they’ve fallen. We could have given Chu Yun some money, but we worried he wouldn’t manage alone and the family line would end. Better to honor the old agreement and let them marry—at least then Chu Yun will have some support in the Ye family.”
His words were perfectly crafted, leaving Yi Jifeng and the other Yi elders speechless.
At that moment, Yi Tianxing’s eyes grew deep and cold as he stared at Chu Yun. “I know everything about you.”
“What are you planning?” Ye Linglong shot him a wary glare. “Don’t you threaten him!”
“Threaten him?” Yi Tianxing continued looking at Chu Yun, then laughed coldly. “Yes, I’m threatening him. What of it? You might protect him for a while, but can you guard him for life? Get real. What kind of woman are you, Ye Linglong? Do you really think you’ll marry a useless nobody? Even if you send me away today, there will be others who’ll try to get rid of him. Let me be blunt: he won’t live to see the day he marries you! If he really angers me, I’ll have him dead by tomorrow!”
“You—!” Ye Linglong’s eyes flashed coldly.

“Girl, there’s some sense in what Tianxing says,” Yi Jifeng drawled. “You know as well as I do that on the Hope Continent, only about a billion humans remain from Earth. Excluding the whites and blacks, even among Asians, our resources are extremely limited. That’s why only the strong deserve resources—including women. You’re a gifted woman. If someone like you marries an ordinary man, it will dishearten all those young men striving and fighting for strength on this continent.”
As he spoke, Yi Jifeng pointed at Chu Yun. “A man like him—idle, useless, wanting to live off women—doesn’t belong in this era. He should have died in the era of the Star Wars, and he’s not worthy of you. It’s a mistake for him to even breathe the same air. If you married someone even more outstanding than Tianxing, that would be within the rules, and no one would complain. But to reject Tianxing for a man like this will only incur public outrage.”
“Miss Ye,” other Yi uncles said, “we only feel regret on your behalf. If you found a suitor more powerful than the Yi family, we wouldn’t be so eager to settle this.”
“Sister,” Ye Linglong’s second brother added, now that everything was laid bare, “if Tianxing becomes my brother-in-law, our Ye family could at least become a second-tier force in Sentinel City.”
“Shut up!” Ye Linglong snapped at her brother.

Just then, a servant reported to Ye Zhenhuan, “Master, there’s a guest outside asking for Young Master Chu.”
“Who?” Ye Zhenhuan was momentarily puzzled by the reference to ‘Young Master Chu.’ “There’s no such person here.”
“I think he’s looking for me,” Chu Yun said awkwardly. “I had an appointment with him today, but got delayed. I’ll go out to meet him.”

“Go ahead,” Ye Linglong urged. She felt if Chu Yun stayed any longer, he might buckle under the Yi family’s pressure and compromise, so it was better for him to escape and let the matter fizzle out.
As long as the Yi family saw with their own eyes that someone existed and the engagement was real, that was enough.
“This matter isn’t settled. I think you should stay,” the other Yi uncles said to Chu Yun.
Chu Yun was about to reply when the implant phone on his wrist vibrated.
“Answer it,” Ye Zhenhuan told him.
Chu Yun picked up.

“Young Master Chu, I’m at the gate of the Ye residence. Are you inside?” Hou Yaodong asked directly.
Chu Yun replied, “I am.”
The call ended abruptly. Hou Yaodong didn’t wait for the servants to announce him; he strode straight in. As long as Chu Yun was inside, he had no regard for the small Ye family.

As Chu Yun hung up, he heard a bold voice ring out from the courtyard. “Ye Zhenhuan, you really need to replace your servants—they don’t even recognize me! Absolutely incompetent!”