“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just an engagement. We are pushing for marriage. Moreover, the origin house of the Hung Clan will definitely provide you with more than enough resources to support you in your training!” said Hung Yun Zak. He could hardly believe that Wun Fan had come up with an excuse like this to refuse the marriage. He saw Hung Yu Fei’s expression change and her eyes go wide with shock and quickly changed the topic.
“There’s a lot to be gained in marrying into the Hung Clan’s origin house. You will have wealth, power and a beautiful girl as your wife as well! You should know Fei has plenty of suitors back in the capital,” said Hung Yun Zak, trying his best to change Wun Fan’s mind with all the benefits he could think of, but he was also not afraid to resort to threats. He continued, “If I’m being honest, what do you think will happen now that you have taken Fei’s love mark? If this incident ends up angering the origin house, even I can’t help you.”
Both Wun Ching Yeung and the great elder frowned when they heard this. The threat in Hung Yun Zak’s words was far too obvious for them to ignore.
“Married life is not what I seek, love and romance tie me down,” said Wun Fan. He had lived two lives and knew that he could only protect the people he loved with power. He could not stop now.
“Is there really no room for discussion…?” asked Hung Yun Zak as his expression turned dark. He was not happy. It was an insult to the Hung Clan to have their young lady beg for marriage again and again.
Wun Fan was not attached to his own life. So what if the Hung Clan’s origin house hunted him down? There was no way they would do anything to the Green Sea Town Wun Clan, right? Wun Fan believed that the origin house of the Wun Clan would not sit by and let that happen. As for himself? His life was worth next to nothing. He was never worried about losing it.
When Wun Fan saw Hung Yun Zak’s expression, he unleashed his aura and said arrogantly, “No rules nor law may bind me, no ruler may make me bend the knee.”
Wun Fan was greatly influenced by his old man from his previous life. He would not let the heavens dictate his fate, let alone other people!
He would be the one to control other people’s fates!
“Fan!” shouted Wun Ching Yeung. His face turned pale when he heard his son’s words. He stared at him and angrily as he said, “Shut up!”
Wun Fan’s comment about the ruler could easily be taken to refer to the emperor of the Naap-Lan Empire. He dared to use the emperor to make a point about his pride—in other words, he was saying that he did not even respect the emperor!
Those words alone were enough to bring destruction to the Green Sea Town Wun Clan and the Wun Clan’s origin house would be helpless to stop it from happening. A mere branch house was nothing compared to the fury of the emperor.
Hung Yun Zak looked like he had just won when he heard Wun Fan’s words. He said sarcastically, “Oh, boy, have you never seen the world? You dare question the authority of the emperor?”
Wun Fan shook his head and replied proudly, “It is you who has never seen the world.” He wasn’t lying. He had experienced life in two worlds, after all, unlike Hung Yun Zak.
“Wun Fan, watch your mouth,” said the great elder with a stern expression. He was upset with how inappropriately Wun Fan was behaving. He might not care for the mayor’s words, but he should not say such things.
Wun Fan knew that the great elder was serious, as he was referring to him by his full name. He immediately covered his mouth to indicate that he would stop talking.
“What a child. He does not know what the world truly is like,” said Hung Yun Zak at that moment, as if disappointed in Wun Fan’s upbringing.
“And you call yourself an adult when you are so intolerant?” said Wun Siu Lan out of nowhere. No one noticed that she had closed her eyes due to her mask, but she couldn’t help but insult Hung Yun Zak out of frustration.
Anyone who dared to humiliate her brother would face her wrath ten times over!
Hung Yun Zak never expected the little girl in the hall to be so sharp with her words. He turned to Wun Ching Yeung and said, “Ching Yeung, are the youngsters of the Wun Clan all so rude and impolite to their elders these days?”
“It is truly kind of the mayor to look after my upbringing. Since the Hung Clan has such noble virtues, I am sure that the younger generation of the Hung Clan is just as upstanding!” replied Siu Lan coldly, emphasizing every word. Her tone was gentle, but it was clear that she was throwing shade at Hung Yu Fei.
Wun Fan had mentioned what happened with Hung Yu Fei to her.
“Watch your mouth, lest it catches fire,” replied Hung Yuk Huen furiously. She could not tolerate insults directed at the origin house.
“Sorry about that, but my martial soul happens to be fire,” said Siu Lan with a shrug. Wun Fan almost couldn’t help but clap and cheer for Siu Lan’s quick rebuttal.
Wun Ching Yeung could feel the quickly escalating tension in the room and felt a headache coming on. He didn’t know what Wun Siu Lan was doing by adding fuel to the fire. The great elder was also surprised by how provocative the girl was being. For a moment, he wasn’t sure how to respond.
Wun Ching Yeung immediately changed the topic as much as he could. He looked at Hung Yu Fei and said, “May I know what is Miss Hung’s intentions in visiting Green Sea Town this time?”
Wun Ching Yeung thought Hung Yu Fei would be defeated and lost after hearing Wun Fan’s firm rejection of the marriage proposal. That was why he tried to shift the topic of conversation. However, to his surprise, the girl looked even more infatuated with Wun Fan. She stared at him with soft eyes without looking away. She seemed to feeling all sorts of emotions right now, so much so that she didn’t even respond to Siu Lan talking back to Hung Yun Zak.
Hung Yu Fei had met all the so-called ‘talented young men’ in the capital. All of them were obsessed with wealth, luxury, power and women. They bowed down to superiors and stepped on the backs of those they deemed inferior. They had no backbone to speak of. She even saw men who sacrificed their own wives and daughters without batting an eyelid just to advance in their political careers. Those same men would brag about their decision, praising themselves for making ‘good investments’.
Many of the men who approached her were only after the status of being a son-in-law to the clan head of the Hung Clan. Those men clearly hated her behavior but still pretended to be enamored by her. It was revolting.
However, the boy in front of her was different. He did not care for her status. He did not even care for the emperor. All he wanted was power, power to protect the people around him. All he wanted was freedom, freedom to not be bound by the world and its rules.
In other words, power, money, influence and even the throne itself were nothing compared to the people he loved and the freedom he sought! Hung Yu Fei knew that marrying this person would be much better than marrying those nobles back in the capital.
“Does this boy know exactly how charming he is?” muttered Hung Yu Fei to herself. She fell even harder for Wun Fan. Most eleven-year-old boys would still be playing in the mud. Eleven-year-olds in the capital would be learning politics or even be fooling around with their maids already.
However, this boy did not care for those things. Even the emperor was nothing to him.
He was wild, reckless and a rebel, but she liked him because of that.
Hung Yun Zak saw Wun Ching Yeung staring at Hung Yu Fei in silence. He turned to look at his niece and saw her infatuated expression. He coughed lightly to bring her to her senses and said, “Yu Fei, Clan Leader Wun is talking to you.”
It was just a boy. Did she have to be so infatuated with him?
“Huh?” said Hung Yu Fei. She had tried her best to look like a proper lady earlier and that impression was completely ruined now.
“Oh, I just wanted to know what Miss Hung wanted to do during your visit to Green Sea Town?” said Wun Ching Yeung in a friendly tone. However, just by looking at her reaction, he was certain that the girl was in love with Wun Fan.
He couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing back when he was eleven years old.
Hung Yu Fei thought for a moment and immediately snapped back to her senses. She conducted herself properly and said, “Yu Fei is just here to visit my uncle. I am also here to see more of the world and experience different cultures.”
Hung Yu Fei wanted to keep going and say that she also suddenly wanted to get married to a certain person. However, she didn’t dare to say that out loud and risk making Wun Fan angry.
“Hahaha, the mayor is truly lucky to have a niece like yourself,” said Wun Ching Yeung with a chuckle, as if the conversation was going well. However, there was no hiding the tension in the air. So, he quickly suggested, “Why not we write some verses to entertain ourselves?”
He totally forgot that writing verses would just help Wun Fan show off his literary skills, which would probably make the girl even more obsessed with him.
“A great suggestion, Ching Yeung!” said Hung Yun Zak with a smile, relieving the tension in the room and avoiding discussion about the marriage for now. He could tell that Hung Yu Fei was absolutely in love with the boy. He thought to himself, Seriously? You guys were only together for two weeks. Do you really like him that much already?
The great elder let out a sigh of relief. He stood up and clapped his hands. He then ordered the servants to make the preparations, “The calligraphy tools please, as well a long table!”
“Yes, sir,” said the servants, who immediately left the meeting hall.64Please respect copyright.PENANAGs3xJEH0G1