"Nalan Yanran, you don't need to act so overbearing. You only want to break off the engagement because you think a good-for-nothing like me, Xiao Yan, isn't worthy of a favored daughter of heaven like you. To put it harshly, aside from your beauty, there isn't a single thing about you that catches this young master's eye! The Misty Cloud Sect is indeed powerful, but I'm still young. I have plenty of time! I became a Dou Zhe at twelve. And you, Nalan Yanran-what stage of Dou Qi had you reached at twelve? That's right, I am indeed a good-for-nothing now, but since I could work a miracle three years ago, what makes you think I can't turn things around again in the years to come?"
Faced with the girl's aggressive stance, the silent Xiao Yan finally erupted like a volcano. His youthful face was cold and stern, and his impassioned words stunned everyone in the hall. Who could have imagined that this usually quiet, taciturn boy could be so formidable?
"Young Master Xiao Yan, you seem to have misunderstood something. I'm not breaking off the engagement because you're a good-for-nothing, nor because I'm some favored daughter of heaven. Even if you were a Dou Wang or a Dou Sheng, I still wouldn't be interested in you. Our personalities are different, and I truly have no desire to spend my life with you. Besides, I earned my strength one step at a time!"
Nalan Yanran remained calm and composed, without the slightest hint of fluster. Every word was a pearl.
"You don't think anything of me, yet you still refuse to break off the engagement? Is this your male chauvinism? You're allowed to fail me, but I'm not allowed to hurt your pride-even if it means gambling away my lifelong happiness!"
"You're still young and have plenty of time, but I, Nalan Yanran, haven't grown old either. You were a genius once, and you may be a genius again. Even if you come to rule the entire Dou Qi Continent, you've still misunderstood one thing: the feelings between us have nothing to do with your strength. I've told you, whether or not you're a good-for-nothing has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to break off the engagement!"
Looking at the girl whose youthful face had turned ashen, Xiao Yan laughed mockingly. "There's no need to wait three years. I have absolutely no interest in you!" With that, he ignored Nalan Yanran's icy expression, abruptly turned, and strode to the table, where he began writing furiously!
The ink fell, and the brush stopped!
Xiao Yan suddenly snatched up the short sword on the table with his right hand. Its sharp blade slashed a bloody gash across his left palm...
His bloodstained palm left a glaring crimson print on the white paper!
Lightly picking up the document, Xiao Yan let out a cold laugh. As he passed Nalan Yanran, he slammed it down on the table.
"Don't think I care so much about having a so-called genius wife like you. This document isn't an agreement to dissolve our engagement. It's a Divorce Certificate by which this young master casts you out of the Xiao Family! From this day onward, you, Nalan Yanran, have absolutely nothing to do with my Xiao Family!"
"Miss Nalan, out of respect for Old Master Nalan, let me offer you a few words of advice. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west-never scorn a young man for being poor!" Xiao Yan's cold words rang like steel.
"Well said! Never scorn a young man for being poor!" Just as everyone stood with swords drawn and bows bent, locked in confrontation, a voice suddenly called out in approval from the hall entrance.
Everyone turned toward the voice, only to see a boy who had yet to shed his youthful air.
His face was haggard, and he was covered in the dust of the road.
He looked as though he had spent days traveling, returning from a long and arduous journey.
"Xiao Ge?"
Nalan Yanran was the first to react. This was the younger brother she had longed for day and night, the one who had never left her thoughts.
Nalan Chaoge had always weighed on Nalan Yanran's heart. Back then, Pill King Gu He had only intervened because Nalan Yanran had pleaded with Yun Yun.
After returning home from the Misty Cloud Sect and learning that Nalan Chaoge had actually gone out to temper himself, Nalan Yanran had left the family estate without a moment's delay.
She had searched all along the way, but had found no trace of Nalan Chaoge.
What Nalan Yanran had never expected was to meet her younger brother at the Xiao Family's home, under these circumstances.
She pulled Nalan Chaoge into her arms, and her tears began flowing once more.
As he breathed in the sweet fragrance of Nalan Yanran's body,
a swell of emotion rose in Nalan Chaoge's heart as well. This was the bond of blood, thicker than water!
His long, arduous journey here had not been in vain.
"Ahem, Sis, let's deal with the problem in front of us first!" Although Nalan Chaoge was a year younger than Nalan Yanran, he could at least count as half a man-well, because he had yet to go through his coming-of-age ceremony!
At Nalan Chaoge's words, Nalan Yanran wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, looking a little embarrassed.
"Xiao Ge, wait off to the side. Once your big sister has dissolved the engagement with the Xiao Family, we'll have a proper catch-up!"
"No!"
Nalan Chaoge flatly refused her.
Nalan Yanran gave him a puzzled look.
"As a man of the Nalan Family and its future heir, let me handle this, all right?"
The confidence that had suddenly blossomed in Nalan Chaoge made Nalan Yanran feel, for an instant, that the Xiao Ge she had worried about so dearly had already grown up.
As though guided by some unseen force, Nalan Yanran actually nodded.
Releasing Nalan Yanran's hand, Nalan Chaoge took two steps forward.
"Ahem, well, I've been here for a little while, so I have a rough idea of what you've been discussing. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Nalan Chaoge, and just like Brother Xiao Yan here, I'm someone people call a good-for-nothing!"
Pfft!
Nalan Chaoge's words drew snickers from some of the Xiao Family's younger members in the hall.
They had all heard about Nalan Chaoge, too-the good-for-nothing whose talent had supposedly been stolen by Nalan Yanran.
Across the entire Jia Ma Empire, if anyone was discussing famous good-for-nothings, Nalan Chaoge would definitely make the list!
"See? You all seem to know who I am!"
Seeing their reactions, Nalan Chaoge smiled self-deprecatingly.
"What do you want?" Still seething, Xiao Yan stared coldly at Nalan Chaoge, who had stepped out to clown around.
"It's simple, very simple. As the Nalan Family's heir, I have the authority to settle this marriage between our two families on behalf of my sister and my grandfather. Now, I have a question for my former brother-in-law!"
Nalan Chaoge glanced around, his gaze passing briefly over Xiao Xun'er.
His expression unchanged, he continued.
"You just said that our grandfathers arranged your marriage to my sister, and that unless the elders spoke up, no one had the right to dissolve it. Otherwise, it would be a desecration of our departed elders! That is what you just said, isn't it?"
Xiao Yan looked at the boy before him in confusion, but still nodded slightly.
"Good. In that case, I'd like to ask my former brother-in-law: if no one has the right to dissolve the engagement, what exactly is this divorce letter of yours supposed to mean? Are you going to personally desecrate your Xiao Family's departed elders?"
Nalan Chaoge's words suddenly turned razor-sharp, and his piercing gaze swept across the faces of the Xiao Family's elders.
Everyone's faces began twitching uncontrollably.
Those who had just cheered Xiao Yan's actions and relished the satisfaction now found their faces turning ashen.
Those stinging slaps to the face had come far too quickly!
A moment ago, everyone had been swept away by Xiao Yan's forceful presence, actually forgetting the reason he had initially given for refusing to break off the engagement.
Silence hung in the air for a full five minutes. With considerable grace, Nalan Chaoge gave the Xiao Family those five minutes to cycle through their expressions and think up an excuse.
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