“You love him so much that you’re willing to die for him?” Meng Chi asked, supporting her.
Ruan Ning took a deep breath and let out a cold laugh. “I’m not doing it for him, but for myself. Rather than being locked up as your plaything, I’d rather die!”
If he hadn’t been stubborn, his mother Wu would have already called off the engagement. In earlier years, when Old Meng was alive, the two families were considered well-matched, and the marriage was arranged.
But later, Zheng Yu’s father made a fortune and sent him to study. He became a scholar at seventeen or eighteen, making Yuan Ning no longer a suitable match. If Meng Chi, commander of the Xiao Yun Guard, had been willing to support his stepsister, the marriage might still have been possible. However, Wu discovered that Meng Chi and his stepmother and stepsister were essentially enemies, rendering the marriage unbeneficial.
Zheng Yu, unwilling to break off the engagement, felt reneging on a marriage was unrighteous. He believed he had a responsibility to save Yuan Ning, who was alone and helpless. When a stranger informed him that Yuan Ning was being detained by her stepbrother and her life was in danger, he asked his mother to arrange the marriage. When she refused, he secretly ran away.
Looking at his anxious fiancée, he said soothingly, “But there’s room for negotiation. My mother has a good heart. She likes obedient and virtuous women. As long as you behave well and show filial piety, she will surely change her mind.”
Ruan Ning felt a headache thinking about the original story of this ill-fated couple struggling to get married.
“The most urgent thing is to grow your hair back,” Zheng Yu said awkwardly, looking at her short black hair and struggling to reconcile his imagined delicate fiancée with the reality of her baldness.
“I’ll go back with you. Staying here might cause trouble. Meng Chi and his sister are not quite normal,” Ruan Ning replied, grabbing her bundle and walking out.
Zheng Yu felt uncomfortable. Despite her fragile appearance, his fiancée was decisive and didn’t need his planning, deflating his rescue ambitions.
