14 Marriage proposal: Denied

Wang Tengfei who had hinged his plan on something like that happening to make him look good, had met a dent in his plans.

While he had a troubled expression, his father had an amused grin plastered on his face.

*Cough*

The old man faked a cough and rested one hand on his son's shoulder, "why don't you try recruiting the youngster into your army? Maybe he won't pose a threat to you that way." His father teased.

"Or perhaps you could take notes from him." He went on to say, laughing in between his words.

Wang Tengfei curled his fingers into an angry fist and dismissed the men to continue their watch.

"It seems as though we won't be receiving the acceptance any time soon." The ex general announced, stating the painful obvious fact.

The matter had escalated from a simple forced wedding to a question of how capable the young general was. And Wang Tengfei had no intention of losing to his father.

"It is the day a dog eats a tiger that I shall admit back away." Wang Tengfei sternly told his father, before clasping his hands and taking his abrupt leave.

His father who was amused by this, could not help but want to meet this Yu Xiaoguang, who had placed a damper on his son's plans.

"Your son takes after you in more than one aspect, you sly dog." The general exclaimed, looking at the sky with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Wait, why am I looking up?" He swiftly said in realisation and instead looked down at the ground, wearing a menacing grin on his face.

***********

Wang Tengfei marched up to his quarters with his closest troop members all following behind him, unsure about what had ruined his mood.

"Get a carriage ready for me." He announced, furiously selecting a change of clothes.

"Is there any trouble ahead we cannot see?" His worried subordinates asked, placing their hands on their swords, ready for battle at any time.

"We're headed for the emperor's domain." He told them with a straight face, raising the tension in their hearts.

***********

Yu Residence.

The guards who were stationed at their gates, had all allegedly gone on a break at that time, and there was nobody manning the gate.

What's worse, the gates just happened to be left half open, giving the protesters free passage into the residence.

Even a blind man could see that this protest was staged and the helps had a hand in it.

"This is too much, master Yu's funeral hasn't even concluded, and yet trouble knocks at our door." Chunhua cried out, while she cleaned up Yu Xiaoguang's bedroom.

Mei Deng sat on the bed, staring at his hands, still drinking in the shock that he was able to beat and chase away all the angry protesters all by himself.

"Am I always this violent?" He ended up asking, ignoring the debris scattered across the room. Although he wanted to save his family, his sense of duty as a doctor didn't approve of hitting other people.

Chunhua who heard his question clearly, pretended to not have and continued with her meaningless rantings.

*Knock*

Mei Deng and Chunhua exchanged glances with one another, as the person opened the door and walked inside uninvited.

Yu Daiyu, who had a bandage wrapped around her head, and Yu Yīnuó, his mother both walked into the room, with their maids standing closely behind them.

Chunhua immediately stopped her cleaning and stood beside her master, staring at the ground, afraid to make eye contact.

"You should both be resting in bed, there is no need to come all the way here to thank me." Mei Deng said to them, standing to his feet, despite how sore he felt all over his body.

Yu Daiyu and Yu Yīnuó exchanged shocked glances with one another, then burst out into an uncontrollable laughter.

"Brother Xiaoguang has his head stuck in the clouds if he thinks we came to offer thanks to him." Yu Daiyu chimed into the conversation, amused by his naivety.

Mei Deng raised his brow at her and parted his lips to say something, only to be beaten by his mother.

"You've come and caused troubles for us you problem child, who asked you to beat up those protesters?" His mother retorted, her Stern eyes glaring directly at him.

Chunhua wanted to say something in Yu Xiaoguang's defense, but he held her by the wrist, silencing her.

"If I hadn't intervened, the situation would have spiralled out of control." Mei Deng said in a level headed tone, trying to reason with them.

"Out of control? Stop getting so full of yourself! The only thing you've done is make more enemies for us." His mother went on to say, deliberately picking on her son.

"The news has spread like wildfire, that instead of mourning father's death, elder brother Yu is picking fights all over the capital." His sister scolded, forgetting how he had helped to treat her wounds.

'Why do I have the feeling that these two had a hand in the protest that happened here? Or is my imagination running loose?' Mei Deng thought to himself, trying to make sense of their behavior.

"Even after father's passing, you still refuse to mend your treacherous ways!" His sister shamelessly said, raising her porcelain nose at him.

"Trying to talk sense into you is like beating a dead horse, asking it to come back to life. You will have to fix this mess you've caused our family name." Yu Yīnuō brashly told him, without any remorse.

Chunhua knew all too well that the mistresses in the house must have given the guards the instructions to leave the gates unattended to. And for good reason too.

"We would have pleaded with the emperess to compensate us for being bothered during our mourning period. The money would have saved us from the debts incurred by your father. But..." His mother took a pause and dramatically fell on Yu Daiyu's shoulders, sobbing into them.

"Yu Xiaoguang you bastard!" Hid sister cried, showing her true colours at long last.

Chunhua who was at her limit with their name calling and blame pushing almost threw her slipper at the black bellied duo.

Luckily, Mei Deng was swift to speak up.

"Ah, I see, it seems as though mother and sister are overly ambitious. Was it not just yesterday that father had passed away? But yet, why is it that you are overly concerned over the family's rep?" Mei Deng voiced out, beating around the bush.

"If I recall, did younger sister Daiyu not speak of worshipping Buddha and writing good wishes for others?" His strict gaze landed on his sister's, forcing her to look the other way.

"Mother also threw her words around, and claimed to sit by father's grave, reading the hundred poems to him till his soul fell asleep? Has your grief expired already?"

His mother pursued her lips and stared at her nails, only now remembering all the tall claims she had made.

"As to whether or not I have the family's best interests, that is something only I can decide." He stretched out for the marriage letter sent by the Wang family, and placed it in his mother's hands.

"What is this?" She asked, eyeing the broken seal suspiciously.

"A marriage proposal for Daiyu came in, it seems General Wang has set his sights on her." Mei Deng said, filling them in on the conversation.

"I refuse! I won't be wed to a man as ruthless as the Wang son general." Daiyu stated, tearing the letter from her mother's grip to confirm it for herself.

"How can this be?" His mother managed to ask, more frightened than pleased by the proposal.

"I don't know much about this general, but he is very suspicious. How come protesters march up to our residence after he sends a marriage proposal? And what's more, I spotted some suspicious men lurking around, I had Chunhua follow them, and it turns out they were subordinates of the young general." Mei Deng explained, reminiscing the events that occurred immediately after he had beaten the protesters.

"He's undoubtedly trying to force this alliance on us, for reasons I haven't begun to understand. So for now, let us put aside the bad blood and focus on watching each other's backs." He concluded, an unfamiliar aura exuding him.

'Wang general huh? You've picked a fight with the wrong foe.' he thought to himself, smirking from ear to ear.