"Cao Zhili! How dare you slander me!?" Xie Chuhe was furious. The internal conflict erupting at this moment was practically a fatal blow to her. Ji Shanhong had already been somewhat displeased that Xie Chuhe had suddenly stepped forward, but he was not as callous as Cao Zhili. Because he had an old friendship with Xie Chuhe's father, his expression softened as he said, "Chu He, I watched you grow up. I don't want to see you deceived by him. I've already warned you. Don't make us all lose face."
Those words, laced with familial concern, made Xie Chuhe tremble all over. Yet she still gritted her teeth, seemingly holding on to a sliver of hope for me, and said, "Uncle Ji, how could Sister Yuhe possibly have anything to do with the leader of the Heaven's Realm? The leader of the Heaven's Realm is a man, while she's a woman! How could you believe it despite such an obvious difference? Besides, the patterns of our powers are different. Could you really overlook that? Why couldn't Military Adviser Zuo Qiu simply have been mistaken?"
Reminded of this, Ji Shanhong also froze. He seemed to be hesitating over the connection. At that moment, I also undid the fifth shackle, so I took the opportunity to gasp for breath and said, "Military Adviser Zuo Qiu kept sending me messages just now, asking me to meet someone named Xia Ruize and trying to arrange this marriage for me. I didn't know who that person was, so I cursed him through the transmission in a fit of confusion. Who could have guessed he'd be so petty and bring it up again?"
My words made Ji Shanhong stare in surprise, but he soon laughed and said, "Leader Xia, it seems you still plan to argue.