Chapter 47: Huang Yueying

  (Thanks for 3798 brother's reward and Yinhen brother's vote)

  "I have long admired Mr. Huang's great reputation." Yan Liang's gaze turned to the old man in front of him.

  "The General's name is as thunder in our ears, nice to meet you."

  Huang Chengyan also slightly nodded his hand, his tone and expression still calm and composed, but the faint fear in his eyebrows could not escape Yan Liang's sharp eyes.

  Yan Liang secretly smiled in his heart, knowing that his future father-in-law was filled with fear and dread towards him.

  Two men entered the hall, host and guest sat down, Huang Chengyan spoke politely, but his hand hidden in his sleeve was slightly trembling.

  Huang Chengyan, who thought he was all-knowing and all-powerful, never expected that Yan Liang would actually dare to come to his Huang Family Village, and what's more, he seemed calm and composed, without a single worry.

  "This Yan Liang's audacity is simply beyond ordinary people, and his speech is even more calm and composed. This heroic aura, as if born with it, is he really the brave but brainless general under Yuan Shao?"

  Huang Chengyan was secretly amazed, feeling that the longer he was with Yan Liang, the more he was intimidated by the aura emanating from his body.

  After a few rounds of polite conversation, Huang Chengyan smiled and said: "General Yan is not in Xinye to handle affairs, I don't know what noble business brings you to this humble place of mine?"

  He's just pretending to be confused and playing dumb.

  Yan Liang didn't respond, but instead gave a subtle signal with his eyes to Yijue.

  Yi Jing was smiling and said: "Has Huang Gong forgotten? Last time I came to be the matchmaker, Huang Gong said that as long as our General personally comes to visit and shows sincerity, he would agree to marry his daughter to our General. Now our General Yan has indeed come in person, I wonder if Huang Gong is satisfied?"

  As soon as this marriage was mentioned, Huang Chengyan's expression changed slightly, and a hint of difficulty appeared.

  Outside the window, Huang Yueying listened quietly, and that heart that had just calmed down started racing again with a thud.

  Yan Liang knew that Huang Yueying was eavesdropping outside, so he raised his eyes to look towards the window. Through a gap in the window, their gazes met.

  Those sharp eyes instantly pierced Huang Yueying's heart, causing her to breathe rapidly, her face flushing red, and she quickly turned her pretty face away.

  Leaning against the window, her towering twin peaks rose and fell with rapid breathing. She gently pressed her chest and muttered: "Why be shy, why come to eavesdrop, Yueting, Yueting, what's wrong with you..."

  With a blush, Huang Yueying did not dare to linger any longer, fearing that someone would see her embarrassment, so she lowered her head and quietly slipped away.

  In the hall.

  Huang Chengyan smiled and said, "The general's sincerity has indeed moved this old man. However, the general is a renowned general of the current era, while I am just a humble villager. This small household of mine may not be worthy of the general."

  Huang Chengyan was indeed a white body under his eyes, but with the identity of a noble family, he was considered to be one level higher than Yan Liang, who was born into a commoner family.

  Huang Chengyan's words this time were clearly perfunctory, and there seemed to be a hint of ridicule at Yan Liang's humble origins.

  Yan Liang's sword-like eyebrows drew a horizontal line, and his gentle face suddenly turned cold. He sneered: "Heroes don't ask about one's origin, what matches or doesn't match, I won't bother with it all. Since we have an agreement beforehand, then the betrothal is settled, will Huang Gong agree or not?"

  His tone was cold and solemn, with an air of unquestionable authority.

  Yan Liang indeed wanted to win over and make use of the aristocratic families, but this didn't mean he had to fawn on them. Since Huang Chengyan dared to show off in front of him, Yan Liang naturally wouldn't give him a good face.

  Huang Chengyan's cold words, like a command, shocked Yan Liang so much that his body trembled and several drops of cold sweat seeped out from his forehead, leaving him momentarily at a loss for what to do.

  The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became somewhat chilly.

  "Huang Gong is a man of high integrity, so he must be a man of his word. Originally, I had an agreement with Huang Gong, and I think he shouldn't be the kind of person who doesn't keep his promises."

  Yi Jie Sheng feared that both sides would be at an impasse, and smiled as he tried to mediate from the side.

  A gentleman values integrity and righteousness as much as Mount Tai, Huang Chengyan was hit in the soft ribs and instantly lost all room for argument.

  Yan Liang smiled at Yi Jie, hinting that he was cooperating well.

  After a moment of silence, Huang Chengyan suddenly smiled and said: "I am not that kind of person who speaks but has no faith. What I promised to do, I will not go back on."

  Upon hearing these words, Yan Liang's cold and stern expression eased up.

  Yi's family was also overjoyed and were just discussing the details of welcoming the bride when Huang Chengyan suddenly changed the subject.

  "Although I have agreed, whether or not the young lady is willing to marry the general still depends on her own wishes. I, as an old man, cannot make the decision for her."

  Yan Liang furrowed his brow and thought to himself that Huang Chengyan was indeed cunning, knowing it wouldn't be easy to get him to agree.

  Yi Jing hurriedly said: "Marriage is a major event, it's the parents' order, how can Huang Gong not be in charge?"

  "Two people are quite unaware..." Huang Chengyan shook his head and sighed, explaining with a lot of emotion.

  He said that his daughter, Yueying, had been different from ordinary girls since childhood. She had her own ideas about everything and if she didn't want to do something, even if he as her father agreed to it, she would rather die than obey.

  Yan Liang seemed to understand that this Huang was fundamentally unwilling to agree, and he again pushed the decision-making power to his own daughter.

  "Yellow Lord, you can't say it like that, this..."

  "It's pointless for Ba Jie to say more."

  Yan Liang waved his hand to interrupt, a cold smile rising at the corner of his mouth. "A forced melon is not sweet, and Yan Mou is not someone who forces others to do something against their will. Since Huang Gong has said so much, why don't we just invite Miss Qianjin out to ask her? If she really doesn't want to, then Yan Mou will leave immediately. What does Huang Gong think?"

  As soon as she heard this, Yijue was shocked and hastily shook her head, secretly signaling with her eyes to retract what he had just said.

  In the eyes of the Huang family, it was clear that they looked down on Yan Liang and did not want to form an alliance with this outsider warlord through marriage. The Huang family's daughter would naturally follow her father's orders, so how could she agree to Yan Liang's proposal?

  Yan Liang pretended to be unaware, with a calm and confident face.

  Huang Chengyan was secretly delighted and hastily called someone to invite the young lady over, thinking that as long as Ying'er said a word, he could get rid of this troublesome woman's entanglement.

  At this time, Huang Yueying had just returned to her boudoir and was calming down her own embarrassed emotions. She had just sat down for a short while when the maid came to invite her over.

  "This kind of thing, how can you ask me to go? Father is really something." Huang Yueying couldn't help but complain.

  The maid said: "That Yan something is pressing very tightly, Master also seems to have no way out, so he invited the young lady over to help."

  Huang Yueying had no choice but to hold her anxiety in her heart and went back to the front hall.

  Huang Chengyan would certainly not let his daughter meet Yan Liang, so a carved flower screen was set up in the main hall to separate them.

  In the shade, when Huang Yueying's slender figure appeared, Yan Liang's heart involuntarily stirred slightly, and he said loudly: "I have long admired Miss Huang's reputation."

  "The civilian woman has met the general."

  Huang Yueying's heart was racing on the other side of the screen, but she pretended to be calm, luckily there was a screen blocking her, so others couldn't see her blushing face.

  Yan Liang spoke before Huang Chengyan could open his mouth: "I, Yan Liang, have admired the young lady for a long time. Today, I came especially to propose marriage. Since I know that the young lady is a person of her word, I would like to ask boldly: would you be willing to marry me?"

  Those two words "rather believe" were intentionally emphasized, apparently with some ulterior implication.

  Huang Yueying's mind suddenly flashed back to the scene of that day, recalling the bet she had made with Yan Liang at Xin Ye.

  Huang Chengyan, however, was completely unaware of the situation and simply smiled: "Ying'er, don't be nervous, General Yan is also a man of etiquette. Whether you are willing or not, just say so straightforwardly. General Yan won't make things difficult for you."

  The hall fell silent all of a sudden.

  Everyone's attention was focused on the screen, that slender figure, waiting for her decision.

  Huang Chengyan and Huang's family were naturally very calm, while Yi Jie and Yan Liang's side were anxious and uneasy.

  Only Yan Liang had a calm expression, as if he didn't have any worries at all.

  "This Miss Huang will certainly not be able to speak out, does one even need to ask? It's fortunate that General Yan can still remain so calm, it's truly unknown where his confidence comes from..."

  Yi Jing shook her head silently and sighed, fearing that this good thing would end like this.