Chapter 4: Breaking Off the Engagement

By the time Ji Yi had finished his second bowl of porridge, Hou Mocheng had already grown impatient. He stood up abruptly, intending to say something to Ji Yi.

Just then, a servant guarding the courtyard entered to announce, "Master, the Sixth Young Lady has arrived."

"Good, bring Ruoling in quickly." As if she hadn't noticed Hou Mocheng's movement, Ji Yi simply ordered the cold porridge on the table to be taken away and replaced with a fresh, hot bowl.

Hearing this, Hou Mocheng said nothing more. He sat back down, his eyes fixed intently on the courtyard entrance.

In truth, he was quite curious about this never-before-met, "useless" fiancée. He had heard rumors from outsiders that she was incredibly ugly, and that anyone who had seen her would suffer from nightmares every single night for a month.

Of course, there was an element of exaggeration in that. If the rumors had spread to such an extent, Ji Qianxue and the others were largely to blame.

Ji Ruoling would likely have laughed herself silly if she heard this. Ji Qianxue saw her every single day; how come she never had nightmares?

However, dreaming about her every day was possible—she could bully her in her dreams, after all. That was understandable.

Hou Mocheng’s brows were tightly knit. He saw Ji Ruoling; she wasn't as terrifying as the rumors suggested, but she did indeed look unattractive.

What angered him even more was her attitude.

She was actually sitting in a chair, having people carry her in.

Before seeing her, he had felt a tiny shred of anticipation.

After seeing this arrogant and presumptuous display, that last bit of anticipation vanished completely.

All that remained was disgust.

Hou Mocheng looked at her, making no effort to hide the loathing in his eyes.

Sitting in the chair, Ji Ruoling nearly grimaced in pain.

Don't think she was sitting comfortably; this wasn't a sedan chair with soft cushions.

Furthermore, with only two servants carrying the chair, even though she wasn't heavy, it was wobbly, causing her various injuries to be bumped and jarred.

On the way here, one of the servants had accidentally tripped on a stone. Even though they stabilized themselves, she had slammed heavily against the back of the chair, making her back sting with sharp pain.

Ji Yi was somewhat stunned by Ji Ruoling's appearance, but remembering the situation described by the physician yesterday, he understood and did not blame her.

"Ruoling, how did you sleep? You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Come, sit down and eat with your father." Ji Yi completely cast aside yesterday's lukewarm attitude and greeted her warmly.

As the two servants placed the chair by the table, the corner of Ji Ruoling's eye twitched again.

It hurt!

The tempting breakfast on the table attracted Ji Ruoling, and she didn't even bother to ask who the young man beside her was.

Hou Mocheng watched from the side. Seeing Ji Ruoling eat as if no one else were present, his face grew darker and darker.

After consuming two large bowls of porridge and two plates of side dishes, she finally satisfied her appetite.

Although last night's dinner had been quite sumptuous, she didn't know if the original owner of this body had gone a long time without food, but an hour after last night's meal, she had actually felt hungry again.

After taking the medicine provided by the physician, her hands felt much better; at least she could hold chopsticks herself.

Ji Ruoling was also puzzled by Ji Yi's uncharacteristic behavior. To have him invite her to breakfast so warmly this morning was strange.

From her memories, she knew he had never cared about the original owner's life. He hadn't even come to check on her once when she was beaten half to death by Ji Qianxue last time.

To be honest, after digesting so many memories, she felt a sense of heartache and disappointment toward Ji Yi.

"Uncle, can we discuss the marriage contract now?" Hou Mocheng had managed to restrain his anger. If he were any other profligate son, he might have slammed the table and walked out long ago.

But this also demonstrated his firm determination to dissolve the engagement.

"Of course. I wonder what Nephew wishes to discuss? Do you want to finalize the wedding date, or do you want to take Ruoling out to cultivate some feelings?" Ji Yi smiled like a fox before adding, "If it's taking her out, I'm afraid that won't work. Ruoling is injured and cannot even walk on her own yet."

When Hou Mocheng heard the first sentence, his sword-like brows furrowed and his face darkened.

But the second sentence surprised him. So, Ji Ruoling truly couldn't walk, which was why she had been carried in a chair.

He had thought she was just being excessively arrogant.

His impression of Ji Ruoling improved slightly, but this still did not shake his resolve to break the engagement.

"Neither. Uncle, I came today to discuss breaking the engagement." After calming his emotions, he stated his purpose for the day.

Hou Mocheng thought for a moment and added, "I believe Miss Sixth and I are not a good match, and I have no intention of liking her."

Ji Yi's eyes flickered as he said, "Feelings can be cultivated. Once Ruoling's injuries have healed, I'll let the two of you go out for strolls to get to know each other better."

"There is no need. Nothing you say will help. I am here today specifically to break the engagement!" Hou Mocheng said angrily. He could see that Ji Yi was playing dumb to keep the marriage contract.

Ji Yi narrowed his eyes, a hint of displeasure appearing in his gaze. "This is my fault for not letting you two cultivate feelings earlier. But as for dissolving the engagement, you should let your father speak to me personally. After all, this marriage was decided by the two of us; it seems inappropriate for you to be the one to break it."

These words completely enraged Hou Mocheng. He stood up, slammed his hand hard against the table, and said, "Uncle, there is no need for my father to speak. The engagement is mine, and I will not allow anyone to force me to marry a woman I do not like!"

Ji Yi also lost his temper, his voice rising significantly. "Is there something so wrong with my daughter?"

"Everyone knows I am the genius of Feng City, while she..." Hou Mocheng glanced at Ji Ruoling, who was keeping her head down, lost in thought, and spoke with utter disdain, "...is also the well-known 'useless' person of Feng City."

From the moment she arrived, Ji Ruoling felt the atmosphere was off, but she was preoccupied with the food. In the end, she simply acted like a ghost; the less she dealt with this nonsense, the better.

She hadn't expected that this young man was her legendary fiancé, the eldest young master of the Hou family, Hou Mocheng.

She held no favorable impression of this young master. Who would like someone who treated them with cold eyes upon their first meeting?

Besides, an engagement like this was just something the two families had played around with years ago. If it was broken, it was broken; she had no intention of playing around with the major life events of her future.

"Then break the engagement! Leave!" Ji Yi was exasperated, his hands clenched into tight fists, the veins on his forehead bulging as if he might strike Hou Mocheng dead if he didn't leave immediately.

"Fine." The cold expression on Hou Mocheng's face finally broke into a smile. He hadn't expected that provoking Ji Yi would make him relent so easily. If he had known, why would he have gone through all this trouble?

"Then this junior shall take his leave." With that, he flicked his sleeves and left gracefully.

After Hou Mocheng left, Ji Ruoling looked at the furious Ji Yi and wondered if it would have been better if she had left first as well.

But the two servants who had carried her in were nowhere to be seen, and there was only a young maid behind Ji Yi. There was no one to carry her back.

While Ji Ruoling was struggling with this dilemma, Ji Yi suddenly spoke to her. "Ruoling, are you reluctant to let this marriage go? Don't worry, I will definitely find a better marriage for you. Isn't he the number one genius of Feng City? We will find someone even more impressive than him."

Seeing Ji Ruoling with her head bowed in silence, he assumed she was grieving and spoke to comfort her.