Chapter 21: The Ideal Match (Part 1)

  Zhe Yan Chong initially thought he had misheard, but then recalled the conversation between Yang Yingqi and Ouyang Shi, and remembered Ouyang Shi's advice to marry Wan Yuhu a few days ago, and exclaimed: "Are you talking about me and Wan Yuhu?"

  Di Yu said: "That's right, Yan Chong you..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Zhe Yan Cong had already jumped up, pointing at Ouyang Yi and shouting: "Ouyang! You stinky little brat! Was it you who played this trick!"

  Di Yu and Yang Kaiyuan both blamed Ouyang Shi for being too impulsive, but since things had already happened, they could only continue. Deep down, they actually agreed with this marriage, it's just that they didn't expect Zhao Yancong to react so strongly.

  "I don't care!" Zhao Yan heard Di Yu's explanation of the whole thing and roared: "Whoever caused the trouble, let him solve it himself! This Wanyan Hu, I'd rather die than marry him!"

  Di Yu said: "Yan Chong, calm down. Ouyang is wrong this time, but things have come to this point and can no longer be handled with emotions. Now the entire Jurchen tribe knows that you and Wanyan Hu have already agreed to marry, if you don't marry her, how will she live in the future? Wu Ya Shou and A Gu Da will not let us off easily!"

  Yang Kaiyuan also said, "Big brother, Ouyang has gone too far this time. But his intentions are good. We are living in a foreign land and have to be careful with our behavior at all times. However, if you become the son-in-law of the Wanyan clan, they will no longer regard us as outsiders."

  Zhe Yan Chong coldly laughed and said: "In the end, you're all just thinking of yourselves! You might as well sell me out!"

  Di Yu and Yang Kaiyuan's faces turned red, speechless.

  Yang Yingqi sighed and said, "Big brother! I also have a share of blame in this matter. When Ouyang came to find me, wanting me to approve of his actions, I refused him on the spot. At that time, I thought he would give up, but unexpectedly he was so reckless. But now saying these things is useless. This marriage has already reached the point of no return, if you don't become the groom, we will have to make a great enemy of the Jurchen people, and I'm afraid Zong Xiong will be the first to take action."

  "Come and kill us if you dare! What are we afraid of? We've been through the Dead Valley, Taihang, the grasslands, Wugou... haven't we experienced enough killing?"

  "But this time it's different. In the past, we were either forced to rebel or betrayed and seeking revenge. But this time, we are in the wrong - we broke off the engagement, and if Abaoji wants to take revenge, he would be justified in any country!"

  "Engagement? It was you who made the engagement! Not me!"

  Cao Guangyi said: "We are brothers in one body..."

  "Brothers are one body, then you help me marry her!"

  Cao Guangyi was speechless, and Alu said: "Big brother! I don't understand why you're reacting so much. Ahu is not bad either, just marry him if you want to, what's the point of saying so much!"

  "He scolded, 'No matter how good she is, she's not my type. In short, I won't marry her no matter what. You figure out what to do about it yourselves. Even if we have to flee overnight, I won't object.'" After finishing speaking, he stormed off.

  Cao Guangyi and Yang Kaiyuan looked at each other in dismay, thinking to themselves: "What's this 'type I like'? This phrase sounds so awkward."

  "What should we do now?"

  Several people glared at Ouyang Shi, who felt extremely uneasy. He looked at Xiao Tienu and wanted him to speak up for himself, but Xiao Tienu stood up and said: "I'll go follow the boss, don't let him run away."

  Ouyang Yi looked up and saw no one to turn to, so he sighed and said: "In short, whether it's execution or punishment, let's talk about that after this matter is over - for now, let's just discuss what to do."

  Yang Yingqi said, "Although I strongly disapprove of blind marriage, there's no way out now. Eldest brother has to get married! He says he wants to run away overnight, but who among the Han family members will follow him? Everyone thinks it's a good thing."

  Cao Guangyi said: "So your meaning is......"

  "If we can't persuade Big Brother, then we'll have to use force."

  "Really?" Cao Guangyi said: "You want to tie him up and take him into the bridal chamber?"

  Yang Yingqi said: "After the worship of heaven and earth, whatever they do in the bridal chamber is none of our business - that's just a matter between the couple, it has nothing to do with the big things between the two families."

  Ouyang Yi let out a burst of laughter: "Good kid! You're even more ruthless than me."

  Zhe Yan Chong had been sulking in the house for half a day, gradually calming down, feeling that he had said too much earlier, and was about to discuss with his brothers how to make amends. However, he discovered that the door had been locked from the outside. He immediately understood and loudly shouted: "Who is outside? Open the door quickly!"

  Only Xie Tienu's voice replied, "Boss, stop messing around. Ying Qi and the others are helping you with your wedding, I'm just in charge of keeping an eye on you. You can eat and drink whatever you want, but you can't leave the house. The people living nearby have all been sent away to take care of things, no one will hear your shouting."

  Zhe Yan Chong angrily said: "Have you all turned against me? Who is the real boss of the Han Department?"

  Xiao Tienu said: "Now it's up to us to take charge temporarily, after you get married, he will still be the eldest."

  Zhe Yan Chong scolded angrily, but Xiao Tie Nu remained unmoved. When Zhe Yan Chong finally calmed down, he passed a cup through the door and said: "Tired? Have a drink."

  Zhe Yan was furious, took a knife and wanted to break the door, but Xiao Tienu said: "Older brother, you'd better not act rashly, we've already prepared iron bars for you. If you try to chop the door and lock, we'll immediately use the iron bars to seal the door - no matter what, you can't get out. Why make it too difficult? If you don't believe me, go take a look at the window, if you can cut off the iron bars outside the window frame, then come back and chop the door later."

  Zhēi Yàn retreated to the window and took a look. As expected, he saw iron bars blocking both windows. He was furious and jumped up in anger, but there was nothing he could do.

  On the other side, Yang Yingqi and others were busy preparing for the wedding. Zhao Guan happened to come for the third time to discuss the matter, they not only brought many goods but also accompanied a Korean person, it was said that Zhe Yan Chong was going to have a grand wedding, the object was the beloved daughter of the Jurchen Jiedushi, together with congratulations, these two groups of people were all far-sighted and generous guests, immediately turning the goods they brought into gifts.

  On the eve of the wedding, several Mongolians came to ask for directions. It turned out that Heshen was worried about the safety of Zheyanchong and others, so he sent someone to inquire all the way. Yang Yingqi hastily entertained them as honored guests.

  Wuyan Shuo said to Aguda: "People from Central Plains, Mongolia and Korea all came to congratulate us. Which daughter of the Jurchen tribe has ever had such a glorious marriage?"

  Wanyan Hu heard it and was secretly delighted.

  Yang Yingqi said it was best to follow what he called "Han customs" when passing through the gate, in fact, it was to reduce the opportunity for exposure. Wu Ya-shou and others were also happy and agreed. Ouyang Shu and Cao Guangyue drove a large red wedding car to welcome the bride, just entering the village entrance, suddenly saw some chaos in the crowd, Yang Kaiyuan, who was guarding the village entrance, looked anxious, Cao Guangyue asked in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

  Yang Kaiyuan said, "Big Brother was originally gradually calming down, we thought nothing was wrong, who knew he was actually a lazy enemy plan. When we opened the door to welcome him out and pay our respects, he suddenly knocked over the iron slave and took advantage of the opportunity to run away. Ying Qi and the others have gone after him."

  Cao Guangyi was shocked, and on the other side, Zong Xiong, who had come to send his sister off, shouted: "What are you whispering about! Why don't you hurry up and go in."

  Cao Guangyi hastily said: "It's just a small problem with etiquette, let's go in."

  Zong Xiong Dao said: "You Hans' etiquette is really troublesome! Didn't you say that Zhe Yan Chong was going to come out and kick the carriage door?"

  Ouyang Shi didn't hear Cao and Yang's conversation, but he also sensed something was off, so he hastily said: "This can be discussed later, let's enter the village first."

  The team entered the village, and Wu Ya Shu, A Gu Da, and the guests were already waiting in the hall. The bride walked in, and everyone praised her. Wu Ya Shu was in high spirits on happy occasions, and his illness seemed to have alleviated a bit. Di Yu and others, however, looked like they were sitting on pins and needles.

  Aguo saw that several leaders of the Han army were missing, including Yang Yingqi and Xiao Tienu. He asked about the reason, and Di Yu hastily replied: "They are busy in the rear."

  The groom was late and the bride was getting anxious. Although Ouyang Yi kept telling jokes, Ah Gu Da was very clever and soon saw that something was wrong, so he signaled his eldest son Zong Gan to go and find out what was happening. Zong Gan excused himself and left, but soon rushed back in angrily saying: "We've all been cheated by the Han people! That Quan Yan Chong never intended to marry Ah Hu! He's already escaped!"