Chapter 08

The Marquis of Changle, who had been out gallivanting all day, returned home to find that his daughter had nearly been bullied. He immediately stormed over to the Jian’an Marquis Mansion next door to “reason” with them.

Earlier that day, Rong Susu had visited the residence of Madam Chen Yang, the wife of the Governor of Jingzhao, who was fond of matchmaking. She wanted to see if there were any suitable candidates for her nephew, Rong Mo. As usual, the lower-ranking official families looked down on Rong Mo, viewing him as a dependent cripple.

According to Madam Yang, the only person interested in Rong Mo was Li Meihua, the daughter of a nouveau riche fifth-rank official. This Li Meihua was quite “famous” among the capital’s social circles—mockingly nicknamed the “Mobile Jewelry Vault.”

Forget the fact that Rong Susu didn’t care for Li Meihua; even minor official families looked down on the girl, unless they had ulterior motives for her wealth. In Rong Susu’s eyes, aside from his paralyzed legs, how was her nephew’s appearance or temperament inferior to any noble young master? A mere Li Meihua actually wanted her nephew to marry into her family as a matrilocal husband? Pure wishful thinking!

After this experience, Rong Susu gave up on the idea of finding a match for Rong Mo.

Returning home only to hear that Cheng Qingyao had tried to bully her daughter, Rong Susu, already fuming, rushed to the Jian’an Marquis Mansion to vent her rage.

Cheng Ruyi watched calmly as her parents went one after the other to cause trouble. She stayed behind to give her younger brother, Cheng Yu, a massage; he had been supervising the mansion’s renovations all day.

Cheng Yu hummed in delight, enjoying his sister’s handiwork, though he couldn’t help but grumble, “Sister, why didn’t you tell me when Cheng Qingyao came over?”

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“Sister, are you hungry?” Cheng Yu asked, seeing her looking pitifully at her stomach.

“I’m starving. I only ate until I was sixty percent full at lunch. I had plenty of fruit after, but it’s not filling. I want meat… lots of meat…” Cheng Ruyi nodded. Thinking of her massive appetite, she felt a bit of despair.

In the apocalypse, it was fine—mutated crops and animals contained huge amounts of energy. But in ancient times, there was no mutated food; only meat could provide enough energy for her. Ideally, she wanted animals to eat plants she had accelerated with her powers; that way, the meat would be delicious and energy-rich. Her accelerated vegetables had the same effect, which was why she was in such a hurry to get the gardens and greenhouses ready.

Rong Mo’s eyelid twitched. Her appetite is getting bigger and bigger. I wonder who will be able to afford to feed her in the future.

Before long, the Marquis and his wife returned. They looked to be in excellent spirits—the Marquis especially was gloating, having clearly extracted a good deal of “compensation.”

After the siblings happily pocketed the silver banknotes their parents gave them, Cheng Ruyi, remembering the female lead’s injury, asked curiously, “Dad, Mom, how is Cheng Qingyao? Is she disfigured?”

The Marquis sighed with mock regret. “Daughter, that girl you mentioned… I heard the injury wasn’t severe. It shouldn’t leave a scar once it heals.”

“What a pity,” Cheng Ruyi said, looking genuinely dejected.

Rong Susu laughed at her husband and daughter’s identical expressions. “What’s there to be disappointed about? Cheng Qingyao has so many enemies; someone is bound to try and interfere with her recovery.”

Cheng Ruyi’s eyes lit up. Right! Even though Cheng Qingyao was the female lead, the “First Villainess,” the eldest daughter Cheng Wanru, was highly skilled. She had nearly ruined the female lead several times. With such a perfect opportunity, Wanru would never let it pass.

The family shared a warm dinner. This time, the parents didn’t retreat immediately to their room. When they heard the Yan family would visit tomorrow to break the engagement, they were thrilled.

Rong Susu took out a brush and paper to list a string of required compensations. The Marquis even brought out a shimmering gold abacus, clicking the beads rapidly. Cheng Yu added his own suggestions with glee. After all, the mansion’s renovations were expensive.

Rong Mo sat there quietly, elegantly enjoying some chilled fruit. Cheng Ruyi didn’t join the discussion; she was too busy competing with Rong Mo for the snacks. She was trying to control her appetite and had only eaten half-full at dinner, so she was using the snacks to top off.

The renovations would take a month or two. For now, they were focusing on clearing the lake and ponds to plant aquatic grass and raise fish and shrimp. This was the easiest task. Chicken and duck farming needed to be scheduled next.

Wait, she thought. I forgot there’s a massive mountain range on the outskirts of the capital! It was full of wild game she could hunt, and with all those trees, her wood-element power would level up in no time. She laughed out loud at the thought.

Rong Mo glanced at her, his lip twitching at her random outburst of “idiotic joy.” The other three were too deep in their scheming to notice.

The next day, while Cheng Ruyi was in her courtyard eating a mountain of meat snacks she’d sent for, Mexiang arrived to say the Yan family had come.

“Is it finally happening? Wonderful!” Cheng Ruyi was beaming.

Even though she wasn’t the original host and had powers to protect herself, she had no desire to deal with the Yan family and their snobbery.

“Miss, do you want to go see?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?” She wasn’t about to miss her parents fleecing the Yans.

After a quick touch-up, she rushed to the main hall. Inside, her parents sat at the head. Rong Susu was smiling as she flipped through a notebook, reading out the conditions for the breakup: gold, jewelry, silks, rare medicinal herbs, precious antiques… it was enough to empty the Huaiyang Marquis Mansion.

The Marchioness of Huaiyang turned pale with rage. Her smile vanished. This was blatant extortion.

“Madam Rong, aren’t your demands a bit excessive?”

Rong Susu remained perfectly calm. “My precious daughter’s reputation is being damaged by your family’s rejection. We are merely asking for a bit of compensation.”

The Marquis nodded in agreement. The Marchioness nearly fainted. Reputation? Cheng Ruyi is notorious throughout the capital! What reputation? This family was truly shameless!

“No. This is too much. I can offer a tenth at most,” the Marchioness gritted her teeth. She knew how difficult this family was and just wanted to settle the matter quickly.

If the Emperor hadn’t decreed that the engagement could only be broken if the Marquis of Changle agreed, she wouldn’t have bothered with these eccentrics at all.

Listening outside, Cheng Ruyi was satisfied. Ask for the sky, settle for the earth.

The Marquis and his wife exchanged a look. A tenth was actually more than they expected, but they couldn’t agree too easily. After some more back-and-forth, the Marquis “reluctantly” agreed, provided they could specify which items made up that tenth.

The Marchioness nearly spat blood but eventually agreed for the sake of her younger son. When she saw the final list—mostly gold, jewelry, and properties—she breathed a small sigh of relief. Aside from the medicinal herbs, it didn’t include the rare antiques or one-of-a-kind books. This family really just wants money, she thought. Luckily, we aren’t short of gold.

Once the deal was struck, the Marchioness fled the mansion as if escaping a disaster. To ensure the Marquis didn’t change his mind, she had the compensation delivered immediately.

Rich overnight, the Marquis finally went to the palace at the urging of the Huaiyang Marquis to officially dissolve the engagement before the Emperor.

The news spread like wildfire. People laughed at the Marquis of Changle for “selling” his daughter’s engagement for a pile of money, but Cheng Ruyi didn’t care. She was too busy preparing for her hunting trip to the mountains.

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