Chapter 6: Is Zhu Yingtai Running Away from an Arranged Marriage?

Heh heh, let me be a little villain this once! I pressed my face close to the door, straining to listen.

“Wencai, how are my parents doing? How about Brother Ba? Is he still angry with me?” came Zhu Yingtai’s voice.

“Hmph, you even care about them now?” Ma Wencai replied coldly.

“They’re my family, of course I care,” Zhu Yingtai said, sitting face to face with Ma Wencai, her face downcast, as if sulking.

“Care? Zhu Yingtai, you’re the one who caused all this. What right do you have to say you care about them? I never would have imagined that in just a few days, you could do so many disgraceful things,” Ma Wencai sighed before continuing, “Yingqi is fine now. He’s not someone who runs from reality. As for whether he’s still mad at you, you should go down the mountain and ask him yourself. After you left, Aunt Zhu fell ill for a bit—perhaps overwhelmed by everything happening so suddenly.”

“Mother, it’s all my fault! I’ve been unfilial!” Zhu Yingtai’s voice trembled with tears.

“Zhu Yingtai, do you realize that your actions not only broke your parents’ hearts but also humiliated the Ma family? And what you did to Yingqi—he is Brother Ba’s most beloved. How could you hurt him like that? You’re always so selfish,” Ma Wencai said angrily, slamming his teacup on the table.

Zhu Yingtai fell silent. She knew Ma Wencai was a man who prized his pride above all and that she was indeed the cause of these troubles.

“If not for the years of friendship between the Ma and Zhu families, I would have made the entire Zhu estate pay for the dignity I’ve lost!” Ma Wencai’s tone was cold and resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

I stood outside the door, listening to their conversation. Wow, Brother Wencai, you’re so manly!

Zhu Yingtai’s voice quivered with tears as she sneered bitterly, her face full of resentment as she looked at Ma Wencai. “Ma Wencai, do you know why I went to Nishan by myself? It’s because of your ruthlessness, your coldness—it scares me. I don’t know how I can spend the rest of my life with someone like you.”

Spend the rest of her life? Could it be that Zhu Yingtai is running away from an arranged marriage? Wow, this would definitely make entertainment headlines!

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“When I was very young, I knew I would grow up to be your bride, a member of the Ma family. But since Madam Ma passed away, you changed. You’re no longer the Wencai I knew. You stopped caring about me. I used to ask my mother where Brother Wencai had gone—why I hadn’t seen him for so long. That ‘long time’ was five years,” Zhu Yingtai said.

Ma Wencai remained silent—Madam Ma was his greatest pain, and Zhu Yingtai was poking exactly where it hurt.

“That year, Brother Ba, Sister Yu, and I went to Hangzhou. I recognized the young man riding the horse as you. Excited, I ran up to stop your horse, but you struck me with your whip without a word. That scar is still here. If Brother Ba hadn’t saved me with his skills, I’d have died under your horse’s hooves,” she continued.

“I didn’t know it was you, Yingtai,” Ma Wencai replied coldly.

Zhu Yingtai smiled bitterly. “Yes, you had forgotten me long ago, but I still remember you as Brother Wencai. Yet you’re not the same boy anymore. Remember Linghao? It was your beloved horse, but you cruelly killed it yourself. You’ve become so brutal, cold, and unable to distinguish right from wrong…”

“Enough!” Ma Wencai slammed the table and shouted, “You have no right to judge me.”

That startled me! Guilty people tend to get scared easily.

Zhu Yingtai bit her lip and fell silent, looking pitiful.

Ma Wencai forced himself to calm down. “Yingtai, tomorrow we’ll go down the mountain. We’ll discuss the wedding after I finish my studies. I had planned to marry you first, then go to Nishan, but now I must complete my studies first.” He sounded resigned.

I was stunned outside the door. Zhu Yingtai really did run away from her wedding.

“I don’t want to go down the mountain. I want to finish my studies with Shanbo,” Zhu Yingtai protested.

At that, Ma Wencai slammed the teacup heavily onto the ground, stood up, grabbed Zhu Yingtai’s shoulders, pulling her up from the stool, and stared fiercely into her eyes. “Yingtai, do you know how I feel hearing my fiancée sharing a room, even a bed, with another man? Have you ever cared about my feelings? When you trample on the honor of Ma Wencai, have you ever thought of me?”

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Zhu Yingtai was clearly taken aback for a moment before responding, “I was forced into it. You heard it yourself—at the academy, two people share a room. How can you blame me? Besides, Shanbo and I sleep with a book between us.” She was still defending herself; this really wasn’t what she wanted. She had even protested, but to no avail.

Ma Wencai leaned closer, his face dark. “Hmph, sleeping with a book between you? That thing only keeps out the dead. Why Shanbo? And you even swore brotherhood with him. What is he? A lowly commoner. Zhu Yingtai, you’ve truly fallen from grace!”

“I won’t let you speak like that about Shanbo! He’s kind-hearted, a good man. If his father hadn’t died early, he would have been a noble official,” Zhu Yingtai retorted fiercely. In her eyes, Liang Shanbo was perfect, and she couldn’t bear to hear Ma Wencai slander him.

I was annoyed listening outside. Calling him a commoner again and again—so what if you’re from a noble family? Without your father, would you be so arrogant?

“Enough. I don’t want to hear you defend a commoner. I’m giving you two choices: one, pack up and go down the mountain tomorrow; two, move into my room. Decide now.”

“I won’t go down the mountain, nor will I live with you,” Zhu Yingtai said firmly. “I know you don’t want to marry me out of love, and I don’t want to marry you anymore.”

“But I must marry you. Don’t forget our betrothal since childhood. Ma Wencai is not a man who breaks promises. Whether you want to marry me or not isn’t up to you. Marriage is a matter of parents’ orders and matchmakers’ words,” Ma Wencai said with unwavering determination. This was his mother’s last wish, and he was determined to fulfill it.

“Why? Does Ma Wencai also feel trapped by society? I know you have someone you like. I know who she is,” Zhu Yingtai boldly challenged.

Wow, is Zhu Yingtai threatening or provoking? The story of Liang and Zhu is far more dramatic than I imagined!