In this short moment, Wenren Lurui stared at Li Qiye in astonishment. She couldn’t gauge him at all. In her eyes, this seemingly ordinary man was an unfathomable abyss shrouded in mist. No one could see just how deep he was.
She became afraid. The closer someone stood to him, the closer they found themselves standing on the precipice. A careless step would result in falling down, never being able to escape again.
“Don’t worry, I won’t expose you by telling your father and brother.” Li Qiye chuckle: “You can protect his reputation and status.”
After a long time, she calmed down and took a deep breath: “Since you know already, why are you involving yourself in this trouble?”
Li Qiye couldn’t help but laugh: “Trouble? This matter might seem insurmountable to you, a problem that could swallow up the sky but in my eyes, it’s no big deal and can be easily solved.”
“And as for why?” He continued: “I am only coming through here by chance and I’m bored enough to find some entertainment.”
Lurui became quiet again and didn’t know what to say at all due to the mystifying nature of this man and her own unawareness.
Li Qiye looked at her and said: “I’m actually curious, was he your senior brother or junior brother?”
She eventually sighed and had to respond: “He’s my eldest senior brother and was taken in by my family at a young age.”
Since Li Qiye guessed everything completely, Lurui didn’t feel the need to hide it any longer. She might as well tell him everything.
“Our Wenren Clan has been in an alliance with the Dongfang Clan all this time. Moreover, it is a marriage alliance as well. Only when our two clans are together that we are able to oppose the ambitious Soaring Hawk State. Because of this, I was engaged to the Dongfang Clan’s eldest son when I was still a child…”
Her clan dominated Renowned while the Dongfang Clan ruled over a city named East. The two clans were quite close with their marriage pact. [1]
Meanwhile, the other ruler in another territory within the island chain was Soaring Hawk. It was much stronger than the two clans so in order to contend against this third faction, the two clans needed to form an alliance. No alliance bond was stronger than a marriage.
Wenren Lurui was betrothed to Dongfang Cong, the eldest son of the Dongfang. Alas, she hated this marriage, the source of her internal conflicts.
Moreover, as she grew up, she found herself liking her eldest senior brother, Gu Qiyu. The two were childhood sweethearts and were together all the time. Naturally, feelings eventually arose and turned into love.
Gu Qiyu was taken in by the Wenren Clan when he was a child. His talents were exceptional on top of being diligent, resulting in his great cultivation. Though he couldn’t become the successor for the clan, he would be one of its pillars in the future.
He knew that his junior sister was engaged to the Dongfang Clan as well. Because of this, he didn’t move forward in spite of their feelings for each other.
However, as time continued to pa.s.s, the marriage date was fast approaching.
In spite of Lurui’s protest, the marriage was decided by the ancestors from the two clans. It wasn’t something a young lady could oppose nor control. Even her father couldn’t object to this marriage.
Her disgust with the marriage only worsened since she had someone else in mind as well. She garnered courage out of nowhere and actually left the clan to escape out of Renowned.
The Wenren Clan naturally became angry when the marriage was so close and the bride was nowhere to be found. If anything happened to this marriage, the pact between the two clans could crack.
Because of this, it sent out many disciples and tried its best to find Lurui. Of course, the eldest senior brother shouldered this responsibility as well.
He and Lurui grew up together and had feelings for each other so he understood her quite well. He knew where she was hiding so he was one step ahead of all the other pursuers.
His mission was to take her back to the clan but he couldn’t do it when actually staring at her face to face.
