Chapter 601 - 201: Noble Lady of Jintai (3)
"I don’t care how outstanding he is!" Hong Qingzhu’s voice suddenly rose, her tears flowing faster. "He’s not my type! I won’t agree to this marriage. I’ll die before I agree!"
Hong Shixian’s brow furrowed slightly. His voice was tinged with impatience, but he still tried to reason with her. "Listen to your father. This Yang Jing is no fish in a small pond. For you, it’s a chance to marry a good man. For our Hong Family, it’s an enormous layer of security. It benefits both you and the family greatly."
"Benefits? I don’t see any benefits!" Hong Qingzhu cried. "I heard from the fifth sister of the Lin Family that Yang Jing is a martial arts fanatic."
"That kind of man spends all day, every day, buried in his cultivation. He knows nothing but martial arts! He’s a block of wood, completely devoid of charm! I don’t care how talented or powerful he is, I don’t like him!"
She wiped away a tear, her voice catching as she spoke through her sobs. "Father, you know what I’m like. I’ve always loved excitement. I love going shopping for rouge with my friends, hunting and racing horses outside the city, and just gathering with everyone to talk and laugh."
Lost in her own sense of grievance, she failed to notice her father’s expression slowly darkening, like a gathering storm cloud.
"But Yang Jing? He probably can’t even tell one brand of makeup from another, much less go hunting and shopping with me!" Hong Qingzhu grew more agitated as she spoke. "I could never get along with a block of wood like him! The very thought of spending the rest of my life with someone like that makes me feel like I’m going insane!"
She shuffled forward on her knees, moving to her father’s side. Wrapping her slender arms around his, she nuzzled her head against his sleeve, trying to win him over with a pitiful plea. "Father, you’ve always doted on me more than anyone. You can’t bear to see me suffer, can you? Don’t force me to marry someone I don’t like. I’m begging you, please?"
Hong Shixian lifted the teacup from the table and took a sip. The warmth of the tea failed to soften his tone, which remained cold. "You’ve always been boisterous and wild. Yang Jing is calm and reserved—he’ll be just what you need to rein in that temper of yours. I think you two complement each other. It’s a perfect match."
Hearing that her father, far from relenting, was doubling down, Hong Qingzhu burst into even heavier sobs. Her tears fell like pearls from a broken string, splashing against his sleeve and spreading into a dark, wet patch.
She clung to her father’s arm, refusing to let go, her voice a choked plea. "Father, I don’t like him! I really don’t! Just don’t make me marry him. I don’t want to..."
Hong Shixian slammed the teacup down on the table. The sharp CRACK of porcelain on wood cut off her plea. His voice turned hard as ice. "It doesn’t matter what you want. This is not up to you."
𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Hong Qingzhu was furious, her chest heaving with ragged sobs. "Father! We are the Hong Family, the first family of Jintai Prefecture! Our house is powerful, our business vast! You told me yourself that I would never have to marry to secure our family’s position! Why are you forcing me now?"
Hong Shixian took a deep breath, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He began to speak, his voice heavy. "Yang Jing is exceptional. He is more exceptional than any man your age, and his future is boundless. He is a prized disciple of the Xuanzhen Sect. Marrying him is no misfortune for you. On the contrary, it is a match others could only beg for."
"A good match? This is no good match for me!" Hong Qingzhu shot back, incensed. "So what if he’s exceptional? I don’t like him! I wouldn’t marry him even if he were a Pill Realm master! In all these years, I haven’t fallen for a single man, because I’m waiting to find someone I actually love! Marrying someone you don’t love isn’t a marriage, it’s torment!"
Hong Shixian gently set down his teacup. He slowly raised his gaze. His eyes were piercingly cold, devoid of their usual fatherly affection, and they landed squarely on Hong Qingzhu.
Hong Qingzhu froze under her father’s stare. Her mind went instantly clear, the torrent of indignation and anger from moments before extinguished as if by a bucket of cold water. A chill shot up her spine, and her body gave an uncontrollable shiver.
But the thought of her father forcing her to marry some "block of wood" she’d never even met reignited her defiance. She gritted her teeth, her lips pressed into a thin line. Refusing to back down, she forced herself to meet his icy gaze.
Hong Shixian’s voice was cold, laced with deep disappointment. "Since you were a child, I have given you everything you’ve ever wanted. Fine clothes, exquisite food... I’ve indulged your every whim. It seems I have spoiled you rotten, fostering this willful, defiant, and audacious nature of yours. Now you even dare to defy me on matters of grave importance to the family."
Hong Qingzhu kept her teeth gritted, her gaze defiant, showing no hint of surrender. But fresh tears were still welling in her eyes.
Looking at her, Hong Shixian continued, his voice low and powerful, "This arranged marriage between you and Yang Jing was never just a personal affair. This is a matter of the Hong Family’s future. It is not something you can be willful about."
He paused. His gaze swept over the silent Grand Elder before returning to his daughter, his tone carrying a profound weariness and gravity. "The Hong Family, on the surface, appears to be a garden of prosperity, the first family of Jintai Prefecture. But in truth, our situation is more like oil poured on a raging fire. We are on the brink of disaster."
"Here in Jintai Prefecture, the Lin Family and the Su Family watch us like hungry tigers, hindering our every move.
"Lord Prefect is no true ally. In fact, he is secretly wary of us, waiting for an opportunity to make his move.
"And that’s not to mention the Five Great Sects, which tower over every family." Hong Shixian’s voice grew quieter, yet it carried a dreadful pressure. "Any single one of those five sects has the power to annihilate our Hong Family with ease. Do you truly believe the Hong Family is so powerful?"