Chapter 101 – Pre-Marriage Agreement

Tianlan College dormitories.

"Father-daren, I am honoured by your presence. Please excuse me for not going out to meet you!" Qi Shaorong was slouched in a chair, holding a teacup. His languid appearance made it pretty clear that he didn't attach much importance to Qi Yao.

Qi Yao saw Qi Shaorong's dismissive attitude, and couldn't help but fume with anger.

"It looks like you've already spread your wings and become independent! You don't care about the Qi Family anymore." Qi Yao said coldly, with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Father-daren, you're wrong, it's not because I've already spread my wings that I don't care about the Qi Family anymore, I've just never taken the Qi Family seriously at all. Such a horrible family, why should I care about it." Qi Shaorong said indifferently.

"You… What do you mean?"

"Shouldn't you understand what I mean very clearly? I remember when I was a child, you often said to me, 'You waste, why don't you just go die.' I don't know, Father, if you still remember that." Qi Shaorong asked coldly.

Qi Yao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "What's your purpose, saying all this now? Do you bear a grudge against us?"

"It's nothing, Father, I just wanted to say that you can treat me as if I'm already dead to you." Qi Shaorong said.

Qi Yao's face was dark, he looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "So you really are holding a grudge."

Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "Yes, it's just as you think."

"Do you think that now that you have Zhuang Hao as a backer, you don't have to be afraid of anything anymore?" Qi Yao said viciously.

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Yes! The Zhuang Family's power and influence seems to be a lot higher than that of the Qi Family! Zhuang Hao, that guy, can also be said to have a promising future!"

Qi Yao, "You, preposterous!"

Qi Shaorong looked at Qi Yao and asked, "Father, is there anything else? If not, then you should go back. This small abode of mine can't accommodate such an honourable figure like yourself!"

"Look at the kind of people who are by your side, aren't you clear as to the kind of person Yi Fan is?" Qi Yao said angrily.

Qi Shaorong looked at Qi Yao and said, "What Yi Fan is like, I know very well. Father, if you have the time to care about the people around me, it would be better for you to go and discipline your own daughter instead. I've already put up with Qi Shaoru that horrible girl long enough, she's really too ignorant and willful. If her personality stays like this, then… She'll end up like Yi Chuxue's sorry state [1]."

"What, you want to learn from Yi Fan's actions, and hurt your own siblings?" Qi Yao said furiously.

Qi Shaorong looked at Qi Yao and said, "I don't know!"

"You… Are you threatening me?" Qi Yao glared at Qi Shaorong with a gaze full of resentment.

Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "Father is overthinking it, I just wanted to give you a slight reminder."

"I heard that you handed over Allure Cosmetics to Yi Fan, Qi Heng, those people to manage." Qi Yao said.

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Yes!"

"How could you let those people be in charge of something so important? They might not just be your subordinates, who knows what they're doing behind your back, and how much money they could've hidden from you?" Qi Yao said.

Qi Shaorong said a little impatiently, "Enough already, Father, Allure Cosmetics is only a small business I started, I have my own way of doing things and I don't need you to worry about it."

Qi Yao and Qi Shaorong talked for a long time, but he wasn't able to receive any benefits from Qi Shaorong, so Qi Yao had no choice but to leave eventually.

Tianlan College's library.

"Tingxuan, what are you doing here." Qi Shaorong asked curiously.

Mu Tingxuan said a little awkwardly, "I don't know, Yi Fan brought me here."

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "I see. Yi Fan, that guy, must have finally figured things out." Qi Shaorong crossed his arms and thought to himself: In order to let Mu Tingxuan enter the library, Yi Fan must have spent a lot of money, who knows how much money he still has left over.

"Young Master." Yi Fan walked out.

Qi Shaorong nodded towards Yi Fan and said, "You're here too!"

"Young Master, I heard that Qi Yao went to find you again?" Yi Fan asked.

Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "Yes! That guy is very annoying, I never noticed before, but he talks so much."

Yi Fan smiled. Qi Yao, this guy, wants to gain some benefits from Qi Shaorong, of course his way of talking to him would change.

Qi Family.

Qi Yao was full of anger as he swept the teapot and teacups from the table crashing onto the ground.

"Father, what's the matter!" Qi Shaoru asked, trembling.

"It's that son of mine."

Qi Shaokang frowned. This same situation has already happened many times before, every time Qi Yao returns from visiting Qi Shaorong, he'll always go flying into a violent rage.

"Father, since Qi Shaorong doesn't know right from wrong, then just ignore him for now. When the time comes and the Qi Family doesn't send any elders to escort him on the day of his marriage, he's the one who'll lose a lot of face." Qi Shaoru said.

Qi Yao snorted softly and said, "That's right."

Qi Shaofu rubbed his nose and thought to himself: Qi Shaorong's face is very thick, in the past he even voluntarily admitted that he was being kept by someone. If no elders show up on the day of his marriage, so what? Qi Shaoru's idea probably won't work, if no one from the Qi Family goes to escort Qi Shaorong on his wedding day, even if Qi Shaorong loses face, the Qi Family would also lose a lot of face.

Qi Shaorong returned to his dormitory, and Qi Heng welcomed him back, "Young Master, Zhuang Qian is here, he's waiting for you inside."

"The little fatty came? I'll go see."

"Fourth Young Master Qi." Zhuang Qian saw Qi Shaorong come in and immediately stood up in a panic, bowing respectfully to Qi Shaorong.

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Qian and said, "A-Qian, why did you come looking for me?"

"I was sent here as a messenger. I don't know, Brother Shaorong, if you have any requirements for the marriage banquet [2]?" Zhuang Qian said.

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Qian and said, "I have a lot of requests, even if I tell you, I'm afraid you won't remember them all. How about we discuss this tomorrow at Luohua Pavilion instead. Also…"

"What is it?" Zhuang Qian asked. .

"Also, please ask the Zhuang Family to send a weightier person as a messenger next time." Qi Shaorong said.

Zhuang Qian smiled awkwardly and said, "Brother Shaorong, you don't think I'm weighty enough?"

[T/n: Ok, this sounds really weird lol, but the "weighty" that they're using here means to have or exert influence, power, etc., or to seem imposing. It's better in Chinese.]

"If we're talking about body weight, then I do think you have more than enough." Qi Shaorong said.

Zhuang Qian smiled dryly and said, "I know."

"A-Qian, your skin doesn't look that good! Do you want me to send you a set of cosmetics!" Qi Shaorong asked.

"Really? Thank you so much then." Zhuang Hao said.

Qi Shaorong, "No problem, there's no need to be so polite…"

Zhuang Family.

"You secretly went to find Qi Shaorong." Zhuang Hao said, looking at Zhuang Qian.

Zhuang Qian nodded and said, "Yep! Brother, I noticed that you seemed to be wavering a little, you've just been blindly wandering around the house lately, so I wanted to help you out."

"Thank you."

Zhuang Qian tilted his head and looked at Zhuang Hao, saying, "Big Brother, were you worried that Qi Shaorong would refuse to meet you, so that's why you didn't go talk to him yourself!"

Zhuang Hao glanced at Zhuang Qian and said, "You talk too much."

Zhuang Qian frowned and said, "Big Brother, don't worry. From what I saw of Qi Shaorong's attitude, it doesn't seem like he'll back out of the marriage, but he'll probably have a lot of demands…"

Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "It's fine as long as he doesn't break off the marriage."

Luohua Pavilion.

"Young Master, your guests are here." A maid walked in and reported.

Qi Shaorong drank from a glass of juice and said, "Since they're here, invite them inside."

Zhuang Renquan walked in with Zhuang Hao and Zhuang Qian. Qi Shaorong sat on one side of a long table, and next to him were Yi Fan, Bi Liuyun, Mu Tingxuan, and Qi Heng.

Zhuang Renquan's eyes swept over the five people on the other side of the long table, and smiled at Qi Shaorong, saying, "Young Master Qi is really amazing! Not only are you yourself impressive, you also have many outstanding people around you."

Zhuang Renquan looked at the people by Qi Shaorong's side, and many thoughts were running through his head. Before Qi Shaorong came to the Imperial Capital, among the younger generation in the city, the most famous were the Seven Imperial Talents. However, after Qi Shaorong arrived, Yi Bing and Yi Huo both got into bad accidents, Chen Yuan's reputation reached rock-bottom, and the Seven Imperial Talents has completely lost its original flavour.

Zhuang Renquan looked at Yi Fan, who was sitting beside Qi Shaorong, and his heart flashed with interest. The matter of Yi Fan being Qian Mian, although he never personally came and said anything, the news had already spread like wildfire.

Yi Fan was young, but he's already a level seven mage proficient in the art of poison. Such a person, yet he follows every order of Qi Shaorong, Qi Shaorong's really amazing!

"Of course, there's a saying that he who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and he who stays near ink gets stained black [3]. I'm a powerful person, it's only normal that the people around me are also very strong." Qi Shaorong said proudly.

Zhuang Renquan smiled and said, "Naturally. Shaorong, I recognize Yi Fan, Bi Liuyun and Qi Heng, but can you introduce this person to me?"

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Sure! This is Mu Tingxuan, a wood-based mage. He used to be stationed outside the capital, and he helps me manage my Allure Cosmetics business. He's always been relatively low-key."

"So it's like that. Shaorong, you have many skilled people by your side!" Zhuang Renquan said.

Mu Tingxuan nodded at Zhuang Renquan and said, "Tingxuan's strength is low, I'm not worthy of being praised by Third Master Zhuang like that."

"Of course you are, Young Master Mu is too modest." Zhuang Renquan smiled and turned around the topic of the conversation, "Shaorong, your father recently visited the Zhuang Family."

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Renquan and said, "For what reason?"

"To talk about your marriage with A-Hao."

Qi Shaorong rolled his eyes and said, "I remember that I've already been kicked out of the Qi Family, my matters don't have anything to do with him."

Zhuang Renquan nodded and said, "Right! So, I didn't discuss anything with him."

"Third Master Zhuang, you're really a sensible person. I would never acknowledge anything you and Qi Yao talk about." Qi Shaorong said.

"Of course, the Qi Family has removed you from their family, naturally you won't be involved with them anymore." Zhuang Renquan said.

"Anyway, here's the pre-marriage agreement that I drafted." Qi Shaorong took out a stack of papers and gave them to the three people in front of him.

Zhuang Qian looked at the thick stack of papers and couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat on behalf of Zhuang Hao's.

Zhuang Qian flipped through all the rules and regulations written on the papers and said, "Fourth Young Master Qi, don't you think that there are too many regulations in here."

Qi Shaorong looked through the pages and said, "There aren't too many or too few. There's a total of 27,376, they're all the ones that I could come up with."

"Fourth Young Master Qi, you didn't have to put so much effort into this." Zhuang Qian forced a smile on his face.

"Then wouldn't that just be giving your brother an advantage?"

Zhuang Qian smiled dryly and said, "How could my brother ever escape the palms of your hands [4]."

Qi Shaorong looked down at his hands and said, "That's true, but it's still better to make some things clearer from the start."

"Fourth Young Master Qi, why is my brother responsible for doing laundry!" Zhuang Qian asked.

"Because I don't like doing it."

"Don't you have a little servant though?" Zhuang Qian asked.

Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Yes! But when the servant isn't around, then it's your brother's turn to do the chores."

Zhuang Hao: "…"

"Young Master Qi, there are so many regulations written here, were you the one who came up with it all?" Zhuang Qian said.

Qi Shaorong shook his head and said, "No, this is the result of all of us brainstorming together."

Zhuang Qian looked at Qi Shaorong suspiciously and said, "It says here that if you two both get diarrhea at the same time, then you'll be given priority of using the washroom first [5]. Fourth Young Master Qi, who came up with this one?"

Qi Shaorong: "…"

Bi Liuyun hooked his hair, glanced at Yi Fan, and said, "I remember this one, I think it was A-Fan who came up with it. A-Fan is a really meticulous thinker."

Yi Fan: "…"

Footnotes:

She'll end up like Yi Chuxue: Originally it was "warning taken from the overturned cart ahead", meaning to learn a lesson from the mistakes of someone else.

Marriage banquet: Ok y'all, so I was really confused about the whole engagement thing from the previous chapters because they were clearly talking about an engagement, but then they acted like it was basically a marriage/wedding (even though ZH told QSR that they weren't actually getting married). I did some research, and basically the term used here for "engagement" is a lot different from the one that we're familiar with. In the ancient times, people would hold "engagement ceremonies" before marriage, and it would involve visiting family, exchanging gifts, establishing a marriage certificate, other customs, and then setting a wedding date. So it's similar to a marriage, just without the actual wedding part, if I'm understanding it correctly? Anyway, I also feel like what the author is writing about is a little different from this, but to make things less confusing, I'm just going to this as a "marriage" from now on instead of an "engagement". I don't know man, it might not be right though QAQ.

He who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and he who stays near ink gets stained black: Pretty self-explanatory, means one tends to take on the colour of one's company, or you're a product of your environment.

Escape the palms of your hands: It makes more sense in Chinese, Zhuang Qian is saying that ZH won't be able to get any advantages over QSR because QSR is the one who has the power/control in this relationship, so it's like QSR has ZH in the palms of his hands. I was originally going to change it to something else, but then the sentence that comes after this one wouldn't make sense anymore (it says that QSR looked down at his hands).

Washroom: It says "thatched shed", which I'm guessing is like their ancient version of a washroom or outhouse.