Attending the Banquet

"Whoever arranged this marriage can marry him themselves. I don't care!" Hearing her father's words only made the girl angrier, and she hurled the porcelain vase in her hand straight at him.

The middle-aged man's heart clenched. With a leap, he caught the cloisonné vase just before it hit the floor and hugged it to his chest, letting out a long breath. "Thank goodness, thank goodness!"

The girl stomped her foot, then ran over and grabbed a painting, about to tear it apart. The middle-aged man cried out, "No, no, no! We can talk this over! That's Fan Kuan's authentic Northern Song masterpiece, Snowy Landscape in Winter Forest. Your father went to great lengths to trade for it." Inwardly, he regretted it bitterly. What was I thinking? Why did I have to meet this little brat in the study?

"Fine. Explain yourself first. If there's even the slightest thing I don't like about what you say, I'll tear up this painting immediately. Believe me?" The girl huffed and made as if to rip it.

This father and daughter were, of course, Puchá Ahute and Pucha Qiucao. Seeing his daughter's movements, cold sweat immediately broke out on Puchá Ahute's brow. He hurriedly said, "Qiucao, you know your father has always valued his word. Prince Zhao has long since passed away, and Wanyan Kang died in a foreign land. Prince Zhao's branch has now fallen into decline. If I were to break off the engagement now, what would others think of us? They would only say that the Puchá family are a pack of snobs, eager to form ties when Prince Zhao's branch was at its height, but willing to break the engagement now that they have fallen. People would point fingers at us behind our backs."

Pucha Qiucao hesitated, but soon