However, since Wang Ningxi had already made that decision, he was naturally prepared for it.
After a few awkward breaths, Wang Ningxi rose and cupped his hands. "In reply to Ancestor Grandfather, Ningxi merely feels that I am not worthy of Miss Shangguan, and I fear I would delay her for the rest of her life."
"Miss Shangguan rejected you?" Wang Shouzhe asked sideways.
"No, not at all..." Wang Ningxi said. "I even received a letter from Miss Shangguan before the New Year. She encouraged me not to give up and to focus on treating my illness. But..."
"No buts." Wang Shouzhe said. "Marriages between noble clans are not as simple as you imagine. They concern a whole series of future cooperation, coexistence, and mutual support between the Wang Clan and the Shangguan Clan. Since that child Lingbo is already betrothed to you, she is the Wang Clan's future daughter-in-law."
"Never mind that you are only temporarily unable to cultivate—even if you were truly crippled, the marriage would still have to take place."
"Wouldn't that be too unfair to Miss Shangguan?" Wang Ningxi said helplessly. "After all, if my problem cannot be solved, I will only live another sixty or seventy years at most."
The Wang Clan of today was no longer the Wang Clan of old. Forget the children of the direct line—even the children of the main branch began as Lesser Heavenly Prodigies, and in the future, they would at the very least be charging toward the Celestial Realm.
Not living past a hundred was equivalent to having come into this world for nothing.
"There has never been absolute fairness in this world." Wang Shouzhe said. "Our Wang Clan is flourishing now, with tremendous potential ahead. Forget you being crippled—even if you died, the Shangguan Clan would still