102 Chapter 102 – The Person Escorting The Bride

Zhuang Qian looked over at Yi Fan and thought to himself: He's really misjudged Yi Fan, he never would've expected that Yi Fan was like this!

Zhuang Hao glanced at Qi Shaorong, and carefully read through the agreement.

Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao's concentrated appearance and scratched his head.

"It says here that if you end up liking someone else, you'll have the right to terminate the marriage." Zhuang Hao said gloomily.

Zhuang Qian took a look at it and thought: Qi Shaorong this guy is really cunning! Such an important point was placed in such an inconspicuous position. If Elder Brother didn't notice it and just agreed to all the terms, then he'd be screwed.

"I'm a fair person, the line underneath that one says that you're also allowed to terminate the marriage if you find someone else you like." Qi Shaorong said.

Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "I don't agree to this one."

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and asked, "Why not?"

"We talked about this before, if you like someone else, that person must pass my test first."

"Test, how would you test them? Get them to fight you?!" Qi Shaorong said angrily.

Zhuang Hao took a deep breath and said, "Yes! If you like someone who isn't even able to beat me in a fight, then you might as well just choose me instead. I'm also a fair person, you can add another line underneath that one, saying that if I take a fancy to someone else, you also have the right to make them pass your test."

Qi Shaorong: "…"

Qi Shaorong rubbed his forehead and said, "Fine, I'll add that."

Yi Fan said to Qi Shaorong, "Young Master, the only people who can beat Zhuang Hao in a fight, in this country, are all a bunch of old men."

"Shut up, don't praise other people so much, or you'll end up forgetting about your own strength." Qi Shaorong said, feeling annoyed.

Zhuang Hao patiently read over all the terms and conditions one by one, and Qi Shaorong couldn't help but admire Zhuang Hao��s patience.

"I've finished looking. I don't really have any problems with it, just modify it a little, and then we can sign." Zhuang Hao said.

Qi Shaorong nodded and uttered a word, "Okay."

Yi Family.

Several maids were gathered together and whispering with one another.

"Have you heard? Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao are officially getting married, the invitations have even been sent over here."

"I never would've thought that when Miss Yi Chuxue painstakingly made that trip back then to cancel the engagement, she'd only end up going around in a circle. Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong still got together in the end."

"Qi Shaorong is super strong! Fourth Young Master Qi and Young Master Zhuang Hao are a really good match."

"Actually, Young Master Yi Fan isn't too bad either! I heard that he's the second-in-command of Allure Cosmetics, it's just that Young Master Yi Fan doesn't care about the Yi Family at all."

"It's no surprise, considering how when Young Master Yi Fan was young, the family didn't treat him that well."

"Young Master Yi Fan really suits the saying, a man of true talent never shows off."

"I heard that the people from the Li Family went to find Young Master Yi Fan, and they also didn't succeed in convincing him to go back to their family. If even the Li Family wasn't able to move him, then the Yi Family doesn't stand a chance.

Yang Man heard the maids' conversations and couldn't help clenching her fists. Her face was gloomy like the sky before a rainstorm.

Yang Man never would've expected that because of her actions of cutting the grass but not removing the roots in the past, she had left behind such a horrible hidden danger, and now her two sons have become wastes and her daughter has gone crazy.

During this time, Yang Man seemed to have fallen straight from heaven to hell. The people she never cared about in the past, would only treat her coldly and with ridicule now when they met her. All the servants in the family just sat back and watched the drama unfold, as soon as they saw her lose her power and influence, they all left one after the other to find work somewhere else.

Yi Xun also didn't care about Yi Bing and Yi Huo anymore, and whenever he saw Yi Chuxue, his eyes would always be full of suspicion. Not only that, Yi Xun also brought several concubines home, while she had fallen out of favour [1].

Yang Man closed her eyes. Zhuang Hao was actually going to marry Qi Shaorong, after everything that's happened, were those two finally going to end up together?

"Stop talking, stop talking, the Madame heard us."

"So what if the Madame heard us, can she even be considered the Madame anymore! The Master is completely ignoring her now, and she committed adultery, Miss Chuxue isn't even the Master's daughter."

Yang Man closed her eyes, and it took a long time for her to calm the anger in her heart. The Yi Fan of today wasn't someone she could deal with anymore.

Qi Family.

Qi Shaoru was pacing back and forth in the house, while Qi Shaofu nibbled on some melon seeds, lazily watching Qi Shaoru.

"Shaoru, stop walking around already, what are you doing that for?"

Qi Shaoru looked at Qi Shaofu and said, "What do you know, Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao are getting married."

"Isn't that a pretty normal thing for them to do? They were already engaged in the past anyway. Zhuang Hao liked the Ghost Doctor, and the Ghost Doctor turned out to be Fourth Brother. The fate between them isn't little!" Qi Shaofu said.

"You shut up." Qi Shaoru said angrily.

Qi Shaofu shrugged and said, "If you want me to shut up, I'll shut up. I know Fifth Sister is in a bad mood, so I'll consider your feelings this time."

"Third Brother, it seems that you think pretty highly of Qi Shaorong! What a pity! He prefers outsiders rather than his own family, Yi Fan, that cold and arrogant guy, fits his taste the best." Qi Shaoru said, flustered and exasperated.

Qi Shaofu glanced at Qi Shaoru and said, "Enough already, Fifth Sister, it's only Zhuang Hao, is it really necessary for you to act like this? Even if Zhuang Hao doesn't like Qi Shaorong, you wouldn't have much of a chance with him either."

Qi Shaoru gave Qi Shaofu a fierce look. Qi Shaofu was leaning back in a rocking chair and said languidly, "Father seems to be in a pretty bad mood lately!"

Qi Shaoru thought to herself: Father suffered a huge loss at Qi Shaorong's place, it would be strange if he was in a good mood.

Qi Shaoru agitatedly twisted her handkerchief. Father wasn't successful in his meeting with Qi Shaorong, and he'd always let out all his anger at her.

"Father seems to regard you highly!" Qi Shaoru said sourly.

Qi Shaofu shook his head and said, "Don't mention it." Father valued him because he's the only one who could actually hold a normal conversation with Qi Shaorong. Qi Shaorong was also willing to give him a little face, but every time the topic changed to the Qi Family, Qi Shaorong would always change his attitude. The knot that Qi Shaorong has in his heart towards the Qi Family wasn't something Qi Shaofu could resolve.

Qi Shaoru ground her teeth, "I also don't know what exactly the Zhuang Family is thinking. Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong are getting married, yet our Qi Family was only invited as ordinary guests, just what's the meaning of this?"

Qi Shaofu: There's nothing they could do about this anyway, who let Zhuang Hao be so scared of his wife?

[T/n: The word used for "to be scared of/to fear someone can also mean to respect or admire.]

At night, Qi Shaorong was leaning on the railings, looking up at the moon in the sky.

Qi Heng looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Young Master, what's the matter?"

Qi Shaorong shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

"Young Master, judging from your appearance, it doesn't look like it's nothing!"

"Then you tell me, what's wrong with me?" Qi Shaorong asked with his arms folded.

"I'm afraid that Young Master, you're feeling nervous right now."

"Nervous? Why would I be nervous?" Qi Shaorong said disapprovingly.

Qi Heng smiled and said, "Young Master, it's normal to be nervous about getting married. You don't need to feel embarrassed."

"It's only a marriage [2]."

Qi Heng nodded and said, "Right! But, after you two go through this ceremony, if someone else wants to steal you away, a lot of different factors have to be considered."

"If I ever take a fancy to someone else, but he doesn't even have the courage to go up against Zhuang Hao, then you can only say that I have bad taste."

Qi Heng: "…"

"Young Master, have you decided on who's going to escort you for the ceremony [3]?" Qi Heng asked.

"Yi Fan is fine."

Qi Heng, "…Generally speaking, it's usually the elders of the family who'll perform this task."

"That's just right then! Yi Fan is older than me." Qi Shaorong said.

The corner of Qi Heng's mouth twitched a little, and he said, "Young Master, Yi Fan isn't that much older than you."

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "I know! But that guy always puts on a serious, straight face all the time, acting like a little old man. It makes it seem like he's a lot older than me, it's good enough for him to pretend to be my elder."

Qi Heng: "…"

"I am greatly honoured that Young Master thinks so highly of me, if that's the case, then the matter of escorting you will be my responsibility." Yi Fan said, walking out from the shadows.

Qi Heng looked at Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan, and his head was filled with black lines.

As the abandoned son of the Qi Family, for Qi Shaorong to be escorted by the abandoned son of the Yi Family, when the marriage ceremony ends, just this sole action would be enough for everyone in the Imperial Capital to be discussing it for months afterwards.

"Young Master, I had originally thought you'd ask the Principal to do this." Yi Fan said.

"The Principal would ask for money." Qi Shaorong paused and said, "Although I have a lot of money, I still want to save money if I can!"

Yi Fan: "…"

"Young Master, so you only chose me because I'd do it for free?" Yi Fan asked.

Qi Shaorong hugged Yi Fan's shoulders and said, "Of course there's more to it than that, the Principal can't beat you in terms of holding the audience's attention either!"

Yi Fan : "…"

Qi Shaorong tilted his head, and a light twinkled in his eyes. His relationship with Yi Fan wasn't ordinary, and his relationship with Hu Feng was more similar to a business transaction. When comparing the two, Qi Shaorong trusted Yi Fan more.

Zhuang Family.

"Fourth Prince, you're here, long time no see!" Zhuang Hao said, looking at Tang Tianying.

"In a few days, A-Hao, you'll get married to Qi Shaorong, congratulations." Tang Tianying said.

Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Before, I've always felt that A-Hao, you'd never done anything wrong in your life. I didn't expect, A-Hao, that you'd also have a day like this." Tang Tianying shook his head.

"What day?"

"A day when you'd try to seize possession of someone else by every means possible." Tang Tianying said with a smile yet not a smile.

There was no trace of guilt or remorse on Zhuang Hao's face whatsoever, "If I don't do this, I'm afraid I'll never have a chance in my entire life again."

"Speaking of, I heard some news." Tang Tianying played with the folding fan in his hand.

"What news!" Zhuang Qian asked.

Tang Tianying smiled and said, "A-Qian, you guess."

"Fourth Prince, stop keeping us in suspense, just say it."

"It's about the person who'll escort Qi Shaorong for the ceremony, guess who Qi Shaorong chose."

"There's no way it's someone from the Qi Family. You know what Qi Shaorong's personality is like, he said that he won't return to the Qi Family, so he would never rashly return to the Qi Family like that. Naturally, he wouldn't choose someone from the Qi Family. If it��s not the Qi Family, could it be Principal Hu Feng?"

Tang Tianying laughed and said, "I also thought it would be Hu Feng, but from the news I heard from Tianlan College, Qi Shaorong seems to have chosen Yi Fan. Rumour has it that it's because Qi Shaorong wanted to save money."

Zhuang Qian did a spit-take, "Yi Fan is a member of the Yi Family!"

The four major families have a competitive relationship between one another. The relationship between the Qi Family and the Yi Family wasn't very good, but the relationship between Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan, those two abandoned children, was actually pretty great!

Qi Shaorong inviting Yi Fan to escort him for the marriage this time, was equivalent to placing the reputations of the Yi Family and Qi Family onto the ground and stepping on them! Qi Shaorong, that guy, sure is good at directing hatred towards himself!

Tang Tianying looked at Zhuang Hao's unperturbed appearance and said, "A-Hao, you don't seem surprised at all!"

Zhuang Hao calmly took a sip of tea and said, "As long as he doesn't break it off, anything is fine."

Tang Tianying, "…I heard that in order to get married, you signed a humiliating agreement with him. It's really too bad, if it weren't for what Yi Chuxue and Chen Yuan did back then, you wouldn't have to do that now."

Zhuang Hao shook his head, "All of that's already said and done, it's useless to talk about it any further."

"Ah!" Zhuang Qian exclaimed loudly, his eyes widening.

Zhuang Hao glanced at Zhuang Qian and asked, "A-Qian, what's the matter with you?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that the person who should escort Qi Shaorong should be his elder. If Yi Fan is the one escorting Qi Shaorong, then in the future, he'll become your elder. Big Brother, for your status to be lowered for no reason, I'm afraid that you'll be laughed at by people." Zhuang Qian said evasively.

Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "If the people in the Imperial Capital want to laugh at me, just let them laugh. Besides, I've already become a joke in the Imperial Capital long ago."

Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "Big Brother, don't say it like that."

Footnotes:

Fallen out of favour: To be banished to the cold palace (where disfavoured queens or concubines were sent), but not literally in this case. It means to be out of favour or to be totally neglected or discarded.

Marriage: Just a reminder, I translated this as "engagement" previously (chapters 99-100), but it's not actually the kind of engagement we'd think it is. Basically, it's just a small part of the larger, more complicated process of marriage in ancient times, but after Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao complete this "engagement", it'll almost be like they're married already, but without the actual marrying/wedding part, I think? Also, I feel like the author's version of this is a little different too. I decided to translate it as "marriage" instead of "engagement" because I found it confusing (although now that I think about it, maybe I just made it more confusing lol.)

Escort: An ancient Chinese wedding custom, when the bride's family escorts her to the groom's home (or wedding hall). The elders escorting the bride plays an important role, they represent the authority and honour/credibility of the bride's family. The bride has to carefully select the person (or people) who'll escort her, usually it's an uncle or cousin who's directly related to the bride, if not, then any elder who's the closest-related will be chosen. There's more to this, like there are certain items the bride and her family have to bring with them, and there's the wedding banquet afterwards, etc. (So this is actually one of the reasons why I was confused about the "engagement" vs. "wedding/marriage" thing, because I'm pretty sure escorting the bride is for the actual wedding, and a lot of the other things mentioned in the story sounds like it's for a wedding/marriage, but QSR and ZH's ceremony is apparently only for the "engagement" part, which doesn't make sense to me.)