Gongsun Yanran said with a cold expression, "Jin Buhuan, I’ve said it before: I don’t like you. If I had never met Yizhou, and if the Gongsun Family had captured me and brought me back, perhaps I would have been unable to resist my parents’ orders and been forced to marry you. But even if you had my body, you would never have my heart. I do not love you."
"I do not love you."
Gongsun Yanran’s voice was absolute and decisive.
At a time like this, she couldn’t give Jin Buhuan even the slightest sliver of hope.
"No! It’s not like that. You just think I’ve messed around with too many women. You’re angry, and that’s why you don’t want to marry me. Yanran, I’ll change starting right now, okay? From today onward, I won’t touch anyone else. Just say it—you actually do like me."
"Jin Buhuan, neither of us is a child. Can you please not be so childish? I don’t like you, and that’s the end of it."
Gongsun Yanran’s words echoed relentlessly like a tolling warning bell.
"Heh heh heh..."
Jin Buhuan laughed, but his smile was more agonizing than weeping.
Clutching his head, he stumbled backward a few steps.
Her words seemed to strike like a terrifying weapon, leaving him dizzy and utterly defenseless.
"Xuan’Er..."
Seizing the opportunity, Gongsun Yanran rushed forward and pulled Ye Xuan back.
After a long while, Jin Buhuan finally spoke. "So you’re saying that even if I kill them, you still won’t marry me?"
Gongsun Yanran answered with resolute determination, "No. I would die alongside Xuan’Er and Ling’Er."
"HA HA HA HA!"
Jin Buhuan suddenly burst into uproarious laughter.
Another jug of wine appeared in his hand. Tipping his head back, he didn’t pour the liquor into his mouth; instead, he splashed it right over his head.
His long hair fluttered without a breeze.
"True love has never lingered since ancient times...
"Life is better spent in wanton romance.
"In wanton romance..."
He threw his head back and howled at the heavens, his prolonged chant masking his bitter tears.
At this moment, Gongsun Xin, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke up. "Jin Buhuan, isn’t that enough?"
Jin Buhuan lowered his head, a trace of sorrow swirling in his blue eyes.
"It’s enough," he said in a low voice.
"Then, did you find the answer you were looking for?"
"Though it isn’t the answer I wanted, it is an answer nonetheless."
The aura radiating from Jin Buhuan gradually settled into calmness.
He took one last look at Gongsun Yanran and spoke.
"I said I would wait for you. But I fear that even if you look back, you still won’t see me.
"Gongsun Yanran, let our ties end here. I don’t want to marry you, nor am I willing to anymore."
Jin Buhuan’s words left Gongsun Yanran slightly stunned.
"Really?"
"Really. You don’t want to marry me, and I don’t want to marry you. This marriage contract no longer exists.
"I, Jin Buhuan, have no need for feelings in this life.
"Where in the world can true love be found? As long as she’s a pretty girl, I’ll love her all the same."
Drinking from his jug, Jin Buhuan swayed and staggered as he walked out of the Lingxuan Courtyard.
"Wait a minute, what about Yizhou...?" Gongsun Yanran called out again.
Before she could finish, Jin Buhuan replied.
"I didn’t kill him. I merely knocked him out and took his Peace Talisman. I wouldn’t stoop so low as to vent my hatred on a weakling. Doing so would be beneath me."
SWISH!
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
The Peace Talisman turned into a streak of light and shot toward Gongsun Yanran.
Gongsun Yanran caught the Peace Talisman in her hand. By the time she looked up again, Jin Buhuan’s figure had already vanished.
"Jin Buhuan..." Gongsun Yanran sighed softly.
In her entire life, aside from the guilt she harbored toward Ye Xuan and Ye Ling’Er, the only other person she felt she had wronged was Jin Buhuan.
She knew that he genuinely liked her and treated her with sincere kindness.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited for her for the past twenty years.
Just as Jin Buhuan had said—if not for love, he had no reason to wait!
The City Lord’s word was law; what was spoken had to be done.
As long as Jin Buhuan was unwilling to wait, Gongsun Yanran would have been forced to marry him.
"In the past, I underestimated him..." Gongsun Xin chimed in.
He had genuinely disliked Jin Buhuan before. The man his little sister was supposed to marry was far too debauched. In Celestial Horse City, countless beauties had been involved with Jin Buhuan.
But looking at it now, while the man was a libertine, he was not a scumbag.
The women Jin Buhuan slept with were all willing, and some even desperately yearned for his bed.
"Alright, Jin Buhuan’s matter is settled. Little sister, I’ll be taking my leave. Get some good rest for the next two days, and then we will head to Chasing Moon City."
One day later, in Chasing Moon City.
The Flying Cloud Eagle was astonishingly fast. Even though Chasing Moon City and Dapeng City were separated by eight thousand miles, a single day was more than enough to complete the journey.
As soon as he returned, Liu Yongzhi summoned all the Direct Lineage members of the Liu Family to the assembly hall.
This especially applied to his youngest son, Liu Zhengyuan’s branch. All of Liu Zhengyuan’s children were present.
"Father, are you saying that Gongsun Yanran’s eldest son is still alive? That’s impossible! Didn’t he enter the Gongsun Family’s Forbidden Area? I heard that anyone who goes in there has a ninety-nine percent chance of dying. Even if they make it out alive, they turn into monsters."
Liu Yongzhi replied coldly, "I don’t know why he is still alive either. All I know is that because he is alive, our Liu Family won’t be taking in a daughter-in-law. Instead, we are marrying off a daughter."
"Marrying off a daughter!"
The members of the Liu Family were momentarily stunned. However, as realization dawned on them, they unanimously turned their gazes toward the left side of the hall.
Two young women sat there. Even in stillness, their every subtle movement exuded an air of elegance and nobility.
The woman on the left wore a pristine white dress.
Her skin was as pale as jade, her demeanor graceful and alluring. Sitting there, she resembled a blooming lotus—affectionate yet perfectly modest, gentle without being frivolous. Like a clear moon and a refreshing breeze, she radiated an otherworldly tranquility, as serene as a lone orchid in a deep valley.
The woman on the right was dressed in a pink skirt. With her delicate brows slightly furrowed and her teeth lightly biting her lower lip, a hint of playfulness danced across her forehead. One look was enough to tell she was entirely unpretentious; rather, she possessed a fiery, passionate energy that felt ready to ignite at any moment.
Their temperaments couldn’t have been more different.
But they were unquestionably two breathtaking beauties.
Their charm rivaled that of Gongsun Yanran, and perhaps even Meng Dieyi.
These two were none other than Liu Zhengyuan’s eldest and second daughters: Liu Yan and Liu Ruoxi.
The one in white was Liu Yan, and the one in pink was Liu Ruoxi.
They were famously known as the Two Beauties of the Liu Family.
"Why is everyone looking at me? Let me make this clear first—I’m not getting married. The one who should marry is my older sister."
Liu Ruoxi’s voice rang out immediately.
Her personality was straightforward and blunt; she never bothered to mince words.
As her words fell, Liu Yan sat poised and calm as still water, showing little to no emotional fluctuation.
After a good while, she finally spoke up. "I am fine with whatever. I will obey Grandfather’s arrangements."
When Liu Yan finished speaking, the family members sighed in admiration.
"Liu Yan is sensible as always. But Father, are we really going to marry off a young lady of the Liu Family to that illegitimate son? Although it’s not my daughter getting married, but the daughter of my youngest brother, Zheng Yuan, no matter how you look at it, our Liu Family is the one taking the loss here."
"That’s right, Father! A precious young lady from our Chasing Moon City marrying a bastard—it’s utterly humiliating to even speak of it. At first, when we were taking in an illegitimate daughter, we could have just made her a concubine to save some face. But now that we are marrying off a daughter, there’s no way to bend the rules!"
"Father, why don’t we just break off the engagement!"
Liu Yongzhi snorted coldly. "As the City Lord, my words are not some childish game! You think we can just break the engagement on a whim? This marriage can only be canceled if that Ye Xuan doesn’t want to marry her, and we also refuse to give her away. But do you honestly believe that an illegitimate son would reject marrying a daughter of our Liu Family?"