Chapter 94: Frankly Speaking
“Beloved daughter, dad has finally gotten you to express your true feelings.”
“Huh?” Hua Shuirou lightly called out.
Hua Zhentian chuckled, “Beloved daughter, you are my daughter. How could I not know my own daughter? Ever since we came back that day, you look like you had lost your soul. During meal times your mind was always wandering. Yesterday you shut yourself in your room the entire day, and I had no idea what you were up to. A while ago, you were exchanging flirting glances with this fellow, you thought I hadn’t seen them all?”
Hua Shuirou covered her face and let out a soft squeak, seemingly both embarrassed and happy.
“Hmph, furthermore…..” Hua Zhentian glared at Ye Wuchen, “This fellow must have done some shameful and shady business with my precious daughter. Did he secretly go inside your room earlier? Xiao San, the one guarding the main gate, was absolutely certain he didn’t see this guy come in, or else he would have told me when I arrived!”
“Moreover, if he didn’t use any trick, based on your character, will you even dare to ignore that bullshit engagement, and admit your affections for him? Daddy raised you, who would know your character better than your father?”
Ye Wuchen laughed but did not say anything. As Hua Shuirou was reminded of the earlier events, her face burned and she whimpered. Twice, she tried to protest, but could not find anything to say.
Hua Zhentian firmly glared at Ye Wuchen once more and said, “Daring to sneak inside to take advantage of my daughter, if you weren’t so pleasing to my eyes… if that fellow from the Lin Family had dared to come in like that, I would break off his legs.”
He immediately shook his head, his face exposing a little smile. “But it is better this way. Not long ago, I even worried about how to make my daughter change her mind. Come to think of it, I don’t have to worry about it anymore. As for the engagement, hmph! For the sake of my beloved daughter, it will cost me nothing to have to break a promise once again.”
Since his contact with Ye Wuchen had been quite minimal, it was impossible for him to get to know the man entirely, but from the bottom of his heart he felt satisfied. He even regretted not having met him earlier, because he had been the only person who looked pleasing to the eyes. Though the main reason for accepting Ye Wuchen was because of his daughter. From his previous proclamation, if his daughter did not wish it, not even the Emperor himself would be allowed to enter the gates of the Hua residence.
When Hua Zhentian uttered the words “break promise”, Ye Wuchen had a look of determination flash past his eyes, without even the slightest trace of hesitation. For the sake of his daughter, this man, who was known for keeping his word, would willingly damage his own reputation, and become one of the promise breakers he despised. This caused Ye Wuchen to respect him a bit more deeply. As opposed to those who disregard their own daughter’s happiness just to fulfill their promise or to maintain their reputation, Hua Zhentian is genuinely passionate and righteous.
“Daddy……” Hua Zhentian’s words had touched the heartstrings in the innermost parts of Hua Shuirou. She softly called to him, aside from her show of emotions, she did not know how to express the warmth that she felt in her heart.
Hua Zhentian laughed saying, “Haha, beloved daughter, after all these years of not going out of the house, you didn’t get the chance to know the people around, but now you finally have a man you really like. I have to say, my daughter really has pretty good insight, I’m very satisfied. En… my beloved daughter, now that your future husband has personally come to propose marriage, why don’t you personally cook up some dishes for this fellow to taste. And of course, as your dad, I will also partake.”
“Ahh…...Yes.”
Hua Shuirou had been wanting to escape somewhere far away due to her embarrassment, so Hua Zhentian’s words were like amnesty to her. After she stole a few glances at Ye Wuchen, she half lowered her head and slowly left.
As Hua Shuirou’s figure disappeared through the doorway, Ye Wuchen laughed and said, “Elder Hua, do you have something to tell me?”
Ye Wuchen could plainly see that Hua Zhentian had intentionally sent Hua Shuirou away.
“That’s right.” Hua Zhentian’s smiling face now turned serious. Such rapid change in his facial expression caused Ye Wuchen to begin dripping with cold sweat. Hua Zhentian’s body leaned closer to Ye Wuchen, wide eyes staring directly at him and said, “Fellow, regarding the matter of you taking advantage of my daughter, I won’t delve too deeply into it. I accept the affair going on between you two, but if you dare to mistreat her in the future……”
“Then I will cut off both my hands as my punishment, Elder Hua.” Ye Wuchen said in all seriousness.
Hua Zhentian smiled to show his satisfaction. “Pretty good, but you seem like a fellow who won’t bully women. Though….” Hua Zhentian’s posture straightened, he seemed to have difficulty finding the words. “What I would like to say is, you might have overdone things the other day.”
“Oh?” Ye Wuchen puzzled.
Hua Zhentian shook his head and said, “The Ye and the Lin Families usually do not get along very well, this is a well-known fact. Nobody really knows why, and they can only speculate that it came from conflicting opinions between the authority of these two powerful families. But even if you have disagreements, it does not necessarily equate to being hostile, at most there would just be small arguments. But what you did that day… even though it looks like the Lin Family were the ones who provoked you, it was actually you who deliberately set up some tricks for them to easily fall into your trap, before trampling them down with humiliation in front of numerous influential officials. To my knowledge, the Lin Family have never experienced such humiliation before.”
Ye Wuchen smiled weakly, his face expressionless. Hua Zhentian searched for a reaction, before he continued, “What you have done had naturally caused your entire Ye Family to raise eyebrows, and has also lead to the anger of the entire Lin family. And now, the Hua and Lin Family’s engagement…… Hah, come to think of it, it will be cancelled because of you. That fellow from Lin Family, though he is not as pleasing as you are, was Tian Long’s number one genius and a man of honor. What you did that day is indeed excessive. A noble man can be killed but not humiliated. Moreover, the Lin Family is a family that gives importance to their reputation more; the Lin Family must still harbor a grudge in their hearts. For this wedding agreement to be cancelled because of you, they will certainly hate you to the bone. It would not surprise me if they hired a killer to assassinate you. What you have done in such a short period of time is very unwise!”
“Elder Hua’s discipline is correct.” Ye Wuchen said slightly nodding.
“Bullshit!” Hua Zhentian’s beard raised up and his eyes opened wide, his entire person now in a position that looked like he might burst into a violent rage, “I’m a rude person, but I’m not an idiot, your face clearly shows that you are treating what I’ve said a while ago as nonsense!”
Ye Wuchen promptly made a placating gesture. “I have listened carefully to every word that you have said. I absolutely have no such inclinations.” He paused a bit, sighed and said, “Elder Hua, I know that although you have a rough character and are carefree towards some minor details, I am aware that you are not careless with major issues. Even more so than any other ordinary person, since you couldn’t have merely relied on your strength alone to develop the Hua Family to this level. But Elder Hua, do you really not know the real reason behind the conflict between the Lin and the Ye Families?”
Hua Zhentian was startled upon hearing those words, but didn’t say anything.
“It’s because there’s someone who wanted to take control of my Ye Family, thus the Lin Family emerged. The disruption had been temporary, but it has already begun. If it wasn’t for that bed-ridden Ye Wuchen’s transformation into this version of me, they might already prevailed.” Ye Wuchen said flatly.
Hua Zhentian stared, but did not seem too surprised. He only furrowed his brows and said, “I have been loyal to the Emperor all my life, and I will stay true, so you should not be telling me this. If it was like this, even if you were right, I would still slap your face. But now…… what the fuck, you are soon to be my son-in-law, ai!” he began beating his head in annoyance.
“Elder Hua, as an outsider, you must have seen it.” Ye Wuchen said smiling.
Hua Zhentian did not deny this. He shook his head and said, “Your grandpa and father were too devoted, blinded by their loyalty, even if they noticed something they subconsciously tried to forget or deliberately forget it. Outsiders who have seen evidence of this are plenty. But the Emperor didn’t do anything wrong as well, although you are highly intelligent, you wouldn’t know how large the military power of your Ye Family is as well as their popularity with the army. A true Emperor will not allow the existence of a threat to his position, even with all the assurances of that threat not manifesting. The Lin Family emerged as a result of this threat. If it wasn’t for the Lin Family, the Ye Family would be the sole family in power, and there might come a day wherein they will focus their attention to gain more power. In this situation, although it might be unfair to the Ye Family, it is still a necessity. As for the Lin Family’s current position, aside from Lin Kuang, I think the other members have no idea.”
Ye Wuchen shook his head, quietly waiting for Hua Zhentian to finish. He had a bitter smile as he said, “If everything is just as Elder Hua had said, then I will no longer deliberately aggravate the Lin Family. But…… what a pity that the Ye family has been so loyal to the nation, and has had numerous outstanding military services. In the end, the person whom they’ve been devoted to plans to break off the Ye family, even wishing to take control over the entire Ye Family by himself!”
Hua Zhentian abruptly stood up, staring directly at Ye Wuchen’s emotionless face. After a while, Hua Zhentian fell heavily back into his seat, rubbing his head and saying, “Young fellow, you didn’t look like someone who could speak off the cuff. What did you discover? Please tell me. Don’t worry, although I’ve been loyal all my life, I will never tell anybody of what you’ve said. I only want to protect my daughter.”
Ye Wuchen nodded. He had the audacity to tell Hua Zhentian these things, because he had already concluded the kind of person he was.
“The entire Clan of Ye was usually bold and powerful, but when I was born with my weak body, are you aware of why, Elder Hua? Someone had intended to poison our Ye Family. Originally, they wanted the son to immediately die in the womb, but I was successfully birthed. But due to the poison, my body was very weak. And the Ye Family…… was not able to produce further descendants because of this.”
“......”
“Later on, by chance, the Ye Family adopted a son. After ten years, the adopted son became very close to the entire Ye Family. When his power and popularity had exceeded that of the true son’s, the sickly son of Ye then disappeared from within the Ye residence without a trace. Who could send drugs to Ye family without being suspected, and who could've made the only son of Ye disappear without leaving any trace? If the only son of the Ye Family dies, who would inherit the Ye family?” Ye Wuchen said distantly, as if he were an outsider.
He was indeed an outsider, only using this identity of Ye according to the will of heaven. He, who does not want to owe the Ye family anything, made good use of this identity, and made sure to do right by the original owner of his identity.
Translated by: Fatty_Uncle
Edited by: seriouspotato and patrick_father_of_dragons