Zhang Yu's Fiancée

Hearing their self-righteous remarks, Zhang Yu let out a cold laugh, full of scorn and absurdity.

"Good, very good. So this is just a jealous fit."

Zhang Yu was speechless. He thought these people had something wrong with their heads, as if they couldn't understand plain speech. So he could only be even more direct:

"Today, I, Zhang Yu, will voluntarily go to Jingzhao Prefecture and take responsibility for injuring a Wang Family son. That will repay the debt of being born. From this day on, the Marquis Estate and I are finished. We have nothing more to do with each other."

After saying that, he turned and left without hesitation, heading alone for the Jingzhao Prefecture offices.

He spoke those merciless words clearly and calmly, without the slightest trace of anger or agitation.

Yet when Qin Xuehua and the others heard them, they interpreted them in an entirely different way.

Qin Xuehua's tense expression relaxed a little, and she even showed a hint of scornful amusement, as if she'd expected this all along.

"Hmph, isn't he still going to take the blame obediently?"

She spoke in a low voice to Zhang Wanning beside her, her tone full of contempt. "I told you. He made this scene because he was unhappy and wanted to show how important he is.

"See? No matter how loudly he makes threats, in the end he still has to go take the blame like a good boy.

"It's nothing but a child's tantrum."

She didn't take Zhang Yu's declaration that they were finished to heart at all. She thought it was just a trick to get attention.

Zhang Wanning also pursed her lips, looking as though she'd seen through everything.

"Exactly. All thunder and no rain.

"I thought he'd actually make waves, but in the end, doesn't he still have to take the blame?

"What's all that talk about being finished? Who's he trying to scare?

"After he suffers in jail for a few days, won't he still have to count on the Marquis Estate to get him out?

"Let's see if he still has the nerve to say such tough words then."

Zhang Heng also breathed a sigh of relief. "Eldest Brother is just like this. He gets fixated on things. Mother, Sister, don't take it personally. Once he gets out of jail and sees how hard things are outside, he'll naturally realize how good he had it at home."

It couldn't be helped. For three years, Zhang Yu's image as a suck-up had been deeply ingrained. No matter what he did, everyone assumed he was trying to curry favor with the Qin family.

After leaving the Marquis Estate, Zhang Yu didn't go straight to Jingzhao Prefecture.

He turned onto a quiet street and went into a shop called Mo Yun Zhai, which sold brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

The shop wasn't large, and the shopkeeper looked a little dazed.

The moment the dazed-looking shopkeeper saw Zhang Yu, his eyes changed; he suddenly looked sharp and alert.

He hurriedly glanced at the entrance and lowered his voice. "Boss, what brings you here?"

This was one of Zhang Yu's own people, a man named Li Dagang, who usually handled intelligence and commercial operations around the Capital City.

Zhang Yu lowered his voice too and said without a hint of amusement, "My good younger brother, Chen Heng, got into trouble. The Marquis Estate wants me to take the blame for him."

"That's outrageous!"

Li Dagang had been promoted by Zhang Yu himself. He couldn't help speaking up for him. "How many times has this happened now? If they're so heartless, why does Young Master keep offering them a warm face only to get a cold shoulder?"

Li Dagang knew Zhang Yu's reputation as a suck-up, but he couldn't understand why Zhang Yu went to such lengths to please those ungrateful wretches at the Marquis Estate.

As Zhang Yu's trusted subordinate, Li Dagang knew just how vast a force Zhang Yu commanded—a power that could easily topple the Marquis Yong'an's Estate.

So in theory, Zhang Yu had no reason to curry favor with anyone at the Marquis Estate. That was what Li Dagang couldn't understand.

In the end, he could only follow everyone else's assumptions and figure that perhaps Zhang Yu had grown up starved of affection, and so desperately tried to please the family around him in hopes of winning their approval.

Zhang Yu nodded silently. "This is the last time. After today, the Marquis Estate and I will have nothing more to do with each other."

"Really?"

This time, it was Li Dagang's turn not to believe him. After all, Zhang Yu's past behavior was still fresh in his mind.

"You ask too many questions."

Seeing Li Dagang's doubtful expression, Zhang Yu said crossly, "Stop imagining all sorts of nonsense. I have something important for you to do. Be quick."

"What? You want to gather evidence against yourself?"

After hearing Zhang Yu's instructions, Li Dagang was completely dumbfounded—more astonished than when Zhang Yu had said he would stop trying to please the people at the Marquis Estate.

How could anyone gather evidence against himself?

Had the people at the Marquis Estate bullied Boss until he'd gone mad?

After a long silence, Li Dagang tried to talk him out of it. "Boss, this... this isn't something to joke about."

"Even if you want to get the attention of everyone at the Marquis Estate, there's no need to humiliate yourself."

After turning it over in his mind, Li Dagang arrived at the same conclusion as the people at the Marquis Estate: Zhang Yu was using this as an excuse to curry favor.

Oh, for heaven's sake!

Zhang Yu rubbed his forehead helplessly. Looks like getting rid of this suck-up reputation won't be easy.

"Enough talk. Just do it."

Zhang Yu couldn't be bothered to explain and gave his instructions directly. "Tell everyone immediately to gather a set of evidence against me. The charges can't be too severe or too minor. Ideally, it should be the kind of offense that gets me imprisoned without a beating."

Li Dagang understood. Boss wanted to spend a long time in prison in exchange for affection from the Marquis Estate.

Though he thought it wasn't worth it for Boss to do this, he still replied helplessly, "I understand. I'll get it arranged."

"Good."

Zhang Yu nodded. "Also, my time in prison mustn't be too unpleasant. Pay off the jailers and guards. I want a clean private cell, and the food and drink must be decent—clean, at the very least."