Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

There were no lights on in Yaochi. Luo An had excellent eyesight and had become familiar with the room's layout after living there for so long, so he simply made up his bed, took off his clothes, and went to sleep in the dark.

I had just lain down when I heard Nianyao turn over. Since Ji Kongming left, Nianyao had been going to bed early every day, and to others, her routine seemed perfectly normal.

But she tossed and turned in bed, occasionally letting out suppressed sobs. Luo An, a light sleeper, heard it all clearly in the quiet night.

When Nianyao got up, Luo An was nowhere to be seen, as usual. Unless there were special circumstances, his daily routine was so rigid that it had never changed in years. Nianyao walked out of the backyard, stretched, and saw Nanfei standing by a pillar in the tea room, looking to the right.

Someone was carving words on a stone near the flowerbed to the right. The person was dressed in noble purple robes, with a jade flute at their waist. They seemed completely unfamiliar.

Nianyao walked over and called out, "Xianzhou Academy!"

Xu Sheng finished his last stroke and smiled at her: "Little wife, isn't the name beautiful? I see Chongming Island shrouded in mist, like a fairyland. I also heard that this place doesn't have a name, which is a real pity. Little wife, the winding and rounded boulder, the ethereal name, and my free and unrestrained calligraphy—it can be listed as the number one scenic spot on Chongming Island, right?"

Nianyao's face twitched. Nanfei's narcissism had reached an extreme level; this guy was utterly shameless.

Xu Sheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Little wife, I was just joking with you."

Nianyao then realized something was wrong and asked seriously, "Who are you? Who is the little wife? Uncle Liu..."

Qin Jiu and Liu Lin were discussing last month's accounts in the side hall when they heard the shout and came out with Liu Lin.

Nianyao asked, "Uncle Liu, who is he?"

Xu Sheng spoke first: "I'm Xu Sheng. We arranged a marriage between you when you were just born. But you were really ugly back then, like a monkey. Now, girls change a lot as they grow up, and you've become more and more beautiful..."

"What?" Nianyao picked at her ear, interrupting him: "What did you say... an arranged marriage... you and me..."

Xu Sheng shoved the dagger into the jade flute, twirling it a few times in his hand with a flourish: "What? Am I not good enough for you?"

Nianyao looked him up and down: "No, it's that I'm not good enough for you. I think you and Nanfei are a match made in heaven."

One was extremely narcissistic, the other shameless. Nan Fei was walking down the steps when he heard these words and his legs went weak.

Xu Sheng said, "It's alright, I don't mind."

Nianyao kicked him, and Xu Sheng took a big step back: "Hey, is this how you treat your sweetheart?"

Nianyao asked, "Uncle Liu, where did this madman come from?"

Xu Sheng answered quickly, his expression serious: "We really were engaged as children. I came here specifically to propose to you. I arrived last night, but you were already asleep, so I didn't want to disturb you. Didn't your father tell you?"

When Xu Sheng is not smiling, he is very serious and has a kind of power that makes people believe him.

Yaochi: "My father never mentioned it. Uncle Liu, have I ever been betrothed as a child?"

Liu Lin honestly replied, "I've never heard the old gang leader mention it."

Yaochi asked, "How old are you?"

Xu Sheng said, "I will be exactly twenty years old on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month."

Yaochi sneered: "Those who are truly betrothed as children usually marry when the boy is fifteen and the girl is thirteen. You're already twenty, and you haven't come to propose all these years. My father just passed away and you come now? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Nanfei gave a thumbs up: "The leader is brilliant."

Xu Sheng said, "It's a long story. Let's sit in the tea room and talk about it slowly. The pavilion over there is fine too."

Yaochi said, "Make a long story short, and get out of here. I have things to do, I don't have time to chat with you."

"When you were born, your father was the first to hold you, and I was the second. When you opened your eyes, you smiled at me, and my mother said it was fate, so we arranged a marriage between us. Since then, you have been weak and sickly. Coincidentally, a holy monk came to our house and said that our fates clashed, and we must meet again after the woman turned eighteen and the man turned twenty in order to ensure the safety and happiness of both of us. You turned eighteen on the twenty-sixth of last month, and I turned twenty on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. I arrived on the island yesterday, the eighth day of the sixth lunar month. Don't you think that's enough sincerity?"

Xu Sheng spoke in one breath, then let out a long sigh: "I'm exhausted."

Yaochi said incredulously, "My father is gone, and there's no way to verify this. Of course, you can say whatever you want."

Xu Sheng said, "It's not that there's no evidence. You have a black mole on the back of your neck, don't you?"

Nianyao said calmly, "As long as you're not blind, you can see it."

Xu Sheng reached out and touched her neck with lightning speed. Nian Yao looked down and saw that the longevity lock on her neck had been pulled out.

Xu Sheng said, "When we got engaged, Mother promised to give you a longevity lock every year until we got married. You wear a silver one before you turn one year old and a gold one after you turn one year old. You are eighteen this year, so you have one silver longevity lock and sixteen gold longevity locks..."

Xu Sheng took out an exquisite silver box, opened it, and handed it to her: "This is the last one."

The gold longevity lock was exactly the same as her previous one, so Nianyao naturally recognized it. She took the silver box: "Isn't this the birthday gift my father gives me every year?"

Xu Sheng said, "Only tokens remain unchanged. What father sends his daughter a longevity lock every year? Can't he send a gold necklace, gold bracelet, gold hairpin, or gold hair ornament? Before, when we couldn't meet, your father would accept the gifts. I finally waited until I turned twenty to send them to you in person, but who would have thought your father would be gone?"

Holding the longevity lock in her hand, Nianyao looked at Xu Sheng again and murmured, "Am I destined to be plagued by romantic entanglements?"

Xu Sheng asked, "What?"

Nianyao said, "I'm telling you, you're too late. I'm already married."

Xu Sheng said, "I know that your marriage with Young Master Luo is fake. It's okay, you can get a divorce. I don't mind."

Nianyao slammed the box shut: "I'll take the longevity lock, but you're out of the question. I don't like you."

Nanfei laughed without giving him any face: "Chief Xue, you have backbone, a real man."

Nianyao said, "You think you can just brush me off with a few words? If it were true, how could my father not have told me? Even if he didn't tell me, he would at least have told Uncle Liu. Someone in the Dahe Gang must know. You're probably from some goldsmith shop. My father must have paid in advance and left before he could take it. And then you had bad intentions..."

Nanfei nodded: "Chief Xue is right."

Xu Sheng glanced at Nan Fei, then reached out and took off his waist tag, holding it up in front of Nian Yao.

Nianyao asked, "Prince Rui? You're a prince?"

Xu Shengdao said, "I am the son of the late Emperor of Nanyue, and the current Prince Rui of Nanyue."

Nianyao glared at Xu Sheng, who tucked the waist token into his pocket: "Your father didn't say anything, maybe it's because he feels inferior?"

Nianyao raised her voice: "Inferiority complex?"

Xu Sheng said, "My mother had a difficult childbirth and was in poor health. I was raised by your parents when I was little. After your father founded the Great River Gang, various countries regarded you as river bandits and thieves. Your father felt he was not good enough for my family, so naturally he didn't mention it to you."

Seeing Nianyao gritting her teeth, Xu Sheng added, "I guessed."

Nianyao blurted out, "What the hell are you guessing? You pig!"