If this was exposed now, wouldn’t it be a huge joke?

Although Li Cun would be the laughingstock, he looked too pitiful. People naturally sympathize with the underdog, and if they turned around and blamed Jing, wouldn’t that just cause him trouble?

He had just placed first in the exam, and many already found the result questionable. If a scene were made now, it wouldn’t reflect well on Jing.

However, when it came to his own marriage, Zhao Jing had no intention of being vague.

He enunciated every subsequent word with perfect clarity.

"De’an’s paternal cousin and I broke off our engagement. My family elders then personally went to the main branch of their family to ask for his older sister’s hand. On the twentieth of the first month, his sister and I were married."

BOOM. It was as if a bomb had gone off in Li Cun’s head.

’Was that my brain?’

’If it was, how am I still alive? Why don’t I just drop dead?!’

In an instant, the rims of Li Cun’s eyes turned crimson. His breathing grew heavy and ragged, like that of an overburdened old ox.

"Impossible! Zhao Jing, you’re lying! I... I’m clearly engaged to De’an’s older sister! How could she marry you?"

Zhao Jing said, his voice devoid of emotion, "Li Cun, are you certain the person you’re engaged to is De’an’s older sister? Have you even seen the betrothal card?"

He said, "You should go home and look at the betrothal card. Then you can come back and question me."

That said, Zhao Jing gave a slight nod to the others. "I must get home to celebrate with my family today. We can gather again some other time, gentlemen."

As he turned to leave, Zhao Jing suddenly remembered he hadn’t answered Chu Xun’s question. He looked at him and explained, "De’an and I are brothers-in-law. His older sister is my wife. And since my father- and mother-in-law have practically watched me grow up, I take the liberty of calling them ’Mom’ and ’Dad’."

Chu Xun replied sheepishly, "Oh, s-so that’s how it is."

Zhao Jing nodded to the group once more, then left with De’an.

The teahouse fell silent, everyone quietly watching them walk away. Outside, the announcement of the exam rankings was still a lively affair, the atmosphere as scorching as a wok of oil, ready to erupt if hit with a ladle of cold water.

Yet inside the teahouse, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one made a sound, and certainly, no one tried to stop Zhao Jing from leaving.

Just as Zhao Jing was about to step out the door of the teahouse, a piercing cry from Li Cun rang out from behind. "Zhao Jing, you stop right there!"

At that very moment, a tall, slender woman with a harsh-looking face came running joyfully into the teahouse.

The woman didn’t clearly see the person about to step over the threshold, and she completely ignored the teahouse’s overly quiet atmosphere. She spotted Li Cun standing in the middle of the room and immediately shouted, "Cun, you’re on the list! Fifth place! It’s not first, but with a score like this, the prefectural and academy exams are a guaranteed pass..."

Before she could finish, Mrs. Li got a clear look at Li Cun’s face, which was twisted into an expression as ghastly as a tormented spirit.

She was startled for a moment, then rushed over to him as if the sky were falling.

"My boy, what happened? Who bullied you? You tell your mother, and I’ll get justice for you even if it costs me my life. My son, do you think the rankings are unfair? It must be! That Zhao Jing, a boy who was in mourning for three years! He had no tutor for three years, so his studies couldn’t have progressed. I’m the first to say I refuse to accept him getting first place..."

"Mother!" Li Cun suddenly shouted. "Mother, tell me the truth. Who exactly am I engaged to? It’s the girl from the main branch of the Chen family in the Zhao Village, right?"

It was as if a basin of cold water had been dumped over Mrs. Li’s heated rush.

’Why on earth would Cun be asking this question?’

’What’s happened?’

’Did someone let it slip?’

Mrs. Li was instantly speechless, as if her throat were stuffed with cotton.

It was only then that Mrs. Li noticed it: everyone in the teahouse seemed to be minding their own business, but in reality, they were all watching the mother and son out of the corners of their eyes.

And right at the entrance to the teahouse stood the two young men who had just brushed past her: Zhao Jing and Chen De’an.

The two of them didn’t try to hide or look away. One had an undisguised sneer playing on his lips, while the other watched her with a calm, cold indifference.

They were watching, waiting for the mother and son’s relationship to rupture, for the drama of a family turning on itself to unfold right there.

The blood ran cold in Mrs. Li’s veins, and her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Cun, just listen to me."

Li Cun’s voice was choked. "Mother, I’m listening. I have nothing now, but I have plenty of time. Whatever you want to say, Mother, take your time. I’ll listen closely."

Li Cun’s words choked Mrs. Li up all over again.

She was trapped, unable to advance or retreat, and felt a fire raging in her chest.

The flames surged ferociously, threatening to burn her to cinders before they abated.

Mrs. Li’s body felt unbearably hot, as if her panicked blood were flowing in reverse.

In the end, she still couldn’t figure a way out of this. So, she resorted to her old trick. The whites of her eyes rolled back, and she fell to the floor in a dead faint.