Chapter 410: Chapter 410: So Everyone Knew After All

Zhuo Pengju asked in surprise, “Retrieve them? Do you know what your dad and the others went to the Capital City for?”

Xia Wenjin felt a stir in her heart and said, “Uncle Zhuo, is there something else going on?”

Zhuo Pengju pointed to Juyi Hall and said, “Come on, let’s sit inside and talk. Now that you’re finally back at the village, don’t treat yourself like an outsider and talk standing outside!”

Xia Wenjin nodded and said, “After you, Uncle Zhuo!”

These three words made Zhuo Pengju slightly startled. When he looked at Xia Wenjin again, he laughed heartily and said, “Wenjin, you’ve really grown up after more than a year in the outside world!”

Xia Wenjin was in no mood to think about this. She half-pleaded, half-urged, “Uncle Zhuo, don’t tease me. I’m worried sick here. Why did Dad go to the Capital City for no reason? Isn’t the village good enough?”

The two of them sat in Juyi Hall, and seeing that she was genuinely anxious, Zhuo Pengju didn’t keep her in suspense and said, “Actually, this matter does have something to do with you!”

After Zhuo Pengju explained the situation, Xia Wenjin felt a surge of anger she couldn’t vent. This Huangfu Yuxuan was truly despicable.

It turned out that the last time Xia Wanqing and Xia Wenjin met, Xia Wanqing, seeing Xia Wenjin’s firm stance and her absolute unwillingness to accept this marriage, thought maybe she truly had passed the life-threatening barrier predicted by the High Monk at Bodhi Temple after she turned sixteen.

So, this engagement should be canceled, he thought.

After returning to the mountain, it so happened that Huangfu Yuxuan went up to the village again, claiming he had come to get married.

Xia Wanqing thought to himself that he had brought the man up the mountain by force back then, forcing him to marry his daughter. The young master had no objections and followed them up the mountain. But his daughter was unwilling, ran away from the marriage, and he didn’t even utter a word of complaint, obediently staying on the mountain for months.

The brothers in the village had not been able to bring Xia Wenjin back, and with things happening at home, they had returned.

Now, he’s come back so earnestly proposing marriage. Xia Wanqing couldn’t bring himself to break off the engagement.

He’s a man of the Jianghu, the Village Chief of Haotian Village. One must keep their word. But when it comes to his daughter’s marriage, he’s acting like a dishonest man. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

However, although it was hard to say, he subtly brought up breaking the engagement.

Huangfu Yuxuan seemed to be greatly affected when he heard about it.

This made Xia Wanqing feel uneasy again. What a nice young man he is. For the sake of this engagement, he’s been delayed for several months, and now to break it, wouldn’t that be playing him?

With a guilty conscience, Xia Wanqing said he would help Huangfu Yuxuan with something to end this marriage contract.

Upon hearing this, Huangfu Yuxuan indeed asked Xia Wanqing for help.

So Xia Wanqing sent the brothers from the village down the mountain, and a month later, Xia Wanqing himself led the brothers down to help Huangfu Yuxuan, saying he was going to help him.

Xia Wenjin was helpless. As people of the Jianghu, they valued trust and loyalty. This matter indeed started because of her. If she had woken up a few days earlier, maybe she could have stopped her father from going down the mountain to capture people.

But when she woke up, everyone was already on the mountain, and Huangfu Yuxuan had agreed to the engagement. The marriage contract bizarrely took shape.

Now that her father felt guilty towards Huangfu Yuxuan and was willing to do something for him, how could Huangfu Yuxuan not seize this opportunity?

She looked at Zhuo Pengju helplessly and asked, “Uncle Zhuo, does Dad know about Huangfu Yuxuan’s background?”

Zhuo Pengju looked into Xia Wenjin’s eyes, avoided her gaze, and said, “Maybe he doesn’t know!”

Xia Wenjin’s heart sank.

It seemed not only her father knew, but Uncle Zhuo also knew.

If they really didn’t know, Zhuo Pengju would have asked in surprise, “What’s his identity?” or directly stated an identity.

But he said, “Maybe he doesn’t know!”

Xia Wenjin’s expression was serious, and she said, “Uncle Zhuo, then you know, don’t you?”

Zhuo Pengju glanced at her again and then avoided her gaze. Suddenly, he felt that facing a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl’s gaze, he dared not make eye contact. He hesitantly replied, “Young Master Yu, a rich merchant’s son from the Capital City!”

That was too perfunctory.

Xia Wenjin sighed helplessly and said sincerely, “Uncle Zhuo, actually you know everything, and so does Dad, isn’t that right?”

Zhuo Pengju, pressed by her clear gaze, felt that lying also depended on the person. Lying to such a young girl seemed like she already knew everything, and her gaze was like a mirror of truth, it was indeed very difficult.

He slowly said, “Yes, I know!”

Xia Wenjin asked, “When did you find out?”

Zhuo Pengju thought for a moment and uncertainly said, “Two months ago? Maybe three months ago!”

So they didn’t know at first and only found out later.

Xia Wenjin inquired, “How did you find out?”

At this point, Zhuo Pengju did not want to hide it from Xia Wenjin anymore. She had the right to know, and besides, he thought if he could persuade Xia Wenjin to agree to the marriage, the Village Chief wouldn’t have to be a man without integrity, so he revealed the whole situation.

Previously, Xia Wanqing had already sent people to the Capital City to investigate Huangfu Yuxuan’s background.

Huangfu Yuxuan knew, as a young man who suddenly appeared at the foot of Haoran Mountain, without roots or history, with Xia Wanqing’s status, how could he not clarify his background?

Early on, he had arranged people in the Capital City, disguising his identity as the son of a rich merchant.

The surname Huangfu is the national surname, but it’s not exclusive to the Imperial Family. In the Capital City, there are some people, likely descendants who were demoted to commoners long ago from the Huangfu family.

After all, the surname Huangfu has been passed down from the Tianqian Royal Family to the Nanxia Royal Family for over a thousand years. In that time, if any descendants committed significant wrongdoings, they’d be demoted to commoners, and their descendants would never become officials.

Those with the Huangfu surname are scattered everywhere, with quite a few in the Capital City.

They can only reminisce about their ancestors’ past glory through their family genealogies, having nothing to do with the splendor of the Imperial City.

Huangfu Yuxuan was resourceful, intelligent, and had manpower.

So he disguised himself as a rich merchant’s son, with a mansion, businesses to run, “neighbors” to vouch for him, and details as evidence. The people Haotian Village sent to the Capital City, unfamiliar with the place, heard only what Huangfu Yuxuan wanted them to hear.

As for the name Huangfu Yuxuan, although he was once the Crown Prince’s son, of distinguished and noble status, few in the Capital City knew his real name, and everyone addressed him as the Second Young Master.

This was also why Huangfu Yuxuan dared to disguise himself under another identity.

Xia Wenjin remembered that in her past life, Huangfu Yuxuan initially did the same. She didn’t know why he was so determined to marry her, but he meticulously planned all the details, so as not to let Xia Wanqing and the Haotian Village people know his true identity and scare them away.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep