Fang Xuan wasn't an ordinary person. From the very first time he met him, Yu Tianheng had seen that.
Whether it was the way Fang Xuan had handled things when they first met, their later interactions, or everything that had happened after he came to Heaven Dou City.
No matter how difficult something was, it seemed there was always a way to solve it as long as Fang Xuan was involved.
And that was exactly how things had gone. So now, he wanted to ask Fang Xuan for help.
After all, he truly had no idea what to do about this. It was a completely undeserved disaster.
At his words, Fang Xuan stopped and glanced back at Yu Tianheng.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about this either."
Fang Xuan turned him down without hesitation. It wasn't that he thought the matter was particularly difficult; in his eyes, it didn't even count as a problem.
Dugu Bo had obviously gone there to pick a fight, simply to give Yu Yuanzhen a hard time.
It had nothing whatsoever to do with Yu Tianheng, and nothing much to do with Dugu Yan either.
They were making trouble for themselves, completely missing the point.
"Brother Xuan," Ye Lingling tugged at Fang Xuan's sleeve and pleaded softly, "if you can help, then please do. Yanyan's been pretty unhappy lately."
Ye Lingling cared a great deal about this silly best friend of hers. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to the trouble of worrying about their relationship.
"Lingling, it's not that I won't help. It's that there's no need to."
Faced with his wife's plea, Fang Xuan felt a little helpless.
His wife was letting her concern cloud her judgment. She couldn't even see through something this obvious.
Then Fang Xuan looked at Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan.
"Let me ask you: did Master return the betrothal gifts?"
When Fang Xuan had married, he'd seen everything clearly. Yu Yuanzhen had sent Dugu Bo a Soul Bone as a betrothal gift.
"If Master truly disapproved, he would have returned the betrothal gifts. A dignified Titled Douluo wouldn't stoop so low as to shamelessly swindle a Soul Bone from your family."
After all, he was a Titled Douluo. Dugu Bo might have an eccentric temperament, but that didn't mean he had no principles.
Even if he didn't care about his own reputation, would he not care about Dugu Yan's?
The fact that he hadn't returned the betrothal gifts meant this was never a big deal.
"Besides, think it over carefully. You two have been together for a long time, and what happened with your second uncle didn't happen recently. It was a long time ago."
"If Master really cared about it, wouldn't he have stopped you before you even got started? Would he have let you get this far?"
"So what exactly are the three of you worrying about?"
After hearing Fang Xuan's explanation, the three of them finally understood.
"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Fang Xuan. It really is hard to see the truth when you're caught up in things."
After all that, they'd been worrying for nothing. Yu Tianheng couldn't help laughing at himself.
Ye Lingling also breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Fang Xuan with admiration. Leaning close to his ear, she whispered,
"Tonight, I'll give you a little reward."
Then Ye Lingling gave Fang Xuan a playful wink. She seemed to know just how charming she was.
Seeing this, Fang Xuan couldn't help laughing. If they weren't surrounded by other people, he would have given her a proper scolding.
Unfortunately, the time and place weren't right. He would have to reclaim his authority as a husband that night.
"But wait, what if my grandpa stirred things up so that they'd take issue with me and then take the initiative to... What are you looking at me like that for? I'm just considering the possibilities."
Dugu Yan hadn't even finished speaking before she noticed the three of them looking at her strangely. She immediately took offense.
"Looks like I'll have to make sure you have plenty of tea when you get home. With your condition, you really can't stop taking your medicine."
When Dugu Yan wasn't in her clear-headed mode, she could be incredibly scatterbrained. Or perhaps Dugu Bo had simply protected her too well. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked such a brainless question.
"Your grandfather's a Titled Douluo. Do you really think they'd be out of their minds enough to come after you over something like this?"
Dugu Yan was underestimating how important she was—or rather, how important Dugu Bo was to the other side.
He was a Titled Douluo, after all. If they fell out with him over something this trivial, the other powers would laugh themselves to death.
"What kind of person is Yu Xiaogang? Can he compare to your grandfather?"
"The main reasons your grandfather stirred things up were, first, to deliberately pick a fight, and second, because he doesn't want you to get married so soon. You're the only family he has left. Once you marry out, he'll be all alone. He wants you to stay with him for another couple of years. Do you understand now?"
Yu Tianheng was a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, so he certainly wouldn't marry into Dugu Yan's family. That meant Dugu Yan would have to marry out.
And once she did, the two of them would have far less time together. Dugu Bo would be left an old man rattling around an empty nest.
Everyone knew Dugu Bo doted on his granddaughter, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan knew it too. That was why they hadn't urged Yu Tianheng to move things along.
Everyone understood how important Dugu Yan was to Dugu Bo. Only Dugu Yan herself, the beloved granddaughter at the center of it all, didn't realize just how much he loved her.
Fang Xuan's words left Dugu Yan stunned. Yu Tianheng was stunned too.
"Your situation isn't the same as Lingling's. Don't keep thinking about getting married and leaving. Wouldn't it be better to spend more time with your grandfather? He has only you left."
If that incident hadn't happened to Ye Lingling, then even if Ye Qinru had been willing to accept Fang Xuan, she wouldn't have married off her daughter so soon.
And Fang Xuan's circumstances were different from Yu Tianheng's too. He could have married into Ye Lingling's family; Ye Qinru simply hadn't wanted him to.
Dugu Yan fell silent. Perhaps this was the first time she had truly considered the matter.
"Come on. Let her think it over by herself. Yu Tianheng, that goes for you too."
"If you really love her, then this is something you should take into account. I shouldn't have to keep reminding you what you ought to do, because it's something you should have thought of yourselves."
Fang Xuan was a little angry now. In this era, people seemed to take family ties far too lightly.
He didn't want what had happened between him and Ye Lingling to affect anyone else, especially the people close to him.
After saying that, Fang Xuan took Ye Lingling by the hand and left without looking back.
Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng remained where they were, stunned for a long time.
When they got home, Ye Qinru had already returned. She smiled and came over to greet them as they walked in.
"Wash your hands. Dinner's almost ready."
"By the way, son-in-law, what was that slimy dish you had someone make?"
Okra wasn't found on the Douluo Continent, and this was Ye Qinru's first time seeing it. If she hadn't heard Fang Xuan had left it for them, she probably would have thrown it away.
"Oh, that's good stuff. Eating it can help your complexion. It's a plant my Martial Soul just produced today. It can..."
Fang Xuan briefly explained the okra to Ye Qinru, and she was finally able to accept it a little.
Ye Lingling, meanwhile, was curious about this so-called okra Fang Xuan had mentioned.
But when she saw the plate of slimy vegetables on the table, she understood why her mother had asked. It really wasn't much to look at.
In the end, it took a great deal of coaxing from Fang Xuan before she reluctantly tried some.
The taste wasn't as strange as she'd expected, but the texture was novel to her. She'd never eaten anything like it before.
After dinner, the three of them chatted for a while, then went back to their rooms.
Back in their room, Ye Lingling was like a cat that had snuck a taste of something delicious. She tiptoed over to her Storage Soul Tool, took out a little porcelain bottle, and presented it to Fang Xuan like a treasured gift.
"Here, I specially asked someone to make this Fragrant Dew. It's really good for your body..." Her cheeks flushed and her eyes darted away. "That reward I mentioned earlier—this is part of it."
Fang Xuan raised an eyebrow, took the bottle, and opened it. A delicate herbal fragrance wafted out, though there was clearly something else mixed in.
He looked at Ye Lingling with a teasing smile.
"Lingling, that 'reward' of yours is certainly something special."
Ye Lingling blushed and didn't dare say a word, but her body did unconsciously lean closer to Fang Xuan.
"Are you coming over on your own, or should I help you?"
Fang Xuan gave the porcelain bottle a little shake, his meaning clear.
But the moment he finished speaking, his hands were already at work.
After another night of hard work, they were both exhausted, but the results were gratifying.
The next morning, Fang Xuan appeared in the dining room with faint dark circles under his eyes. Ye Qinru was sitting there with a bowl of porridge. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of him.
"Son-in-law, did you not sleep well last night, or did Lingling keep you up again?"
Before she'd even finished, Ye Lingling poked half her head out from the inner room, her cheeks flushed as she called out, her voice muffled,
"Mom!"
One look at her daughter's guilty yet satisfied expression told Ye Qinru everything. She only shook her head with a smile and didn't ask any more, instead turning to the matter at hand.
"By the way, someone came from the Crown Prince's residence this morning. He said he'd like to invite you over for lunch. Apparently, the matter he promised you has been taken care of."
Fang Xuan picked up a piece of okra, chewed it, and nodded.
"All right. Got it."