Li Ke strode back home. No one in the family knew about Li Ke. When they saw Li Ke coming back, they just thought he was back with a hangover with his friends.
As soon as he entered the door, Li Ke was stopped by the housekeeper Xu Zhiru: "Young master, you are back. The master came to you last night and said that he wanted to discuss your marriage with the eldest daughter of the Tian family. He didn't find you, so he was not in a good mood."
"I know." Li Ke responded coldly and walked to his room. As soon as he entered the door, he fell down on the bed and fell asleep.
At noon, the noise in the yard woke up Li Ke who was sleeping. He vaguely heard what was being discussed outside, which seemed to be about the dissolution of his engagement with Tian Fenxiao. Li Ke did not take it seriously and continued to bury his head in the conversation. sleep.
Just as Li Ke was about to fall asleep, the bookboy Linji hurriedly opened the door of Li Ke's room and stumbled in. Li Ke slowly looked up and saw Linji and asked, "Xiao Jizi, what's going on? Panic disturbed my sweet dream, young master."
In the entire Li family, apart from his grandfather, Linji was the one who really cared about him, and he had been with him since he was a child. Linji said in a panic: "It's not good, young master, the Tian family people have come to the palace to break up the engagement between you and Miss Tian family on the street. The master heard that he was furious and is currently talking to everyone in the Tian family in the front hall. As for Zhou Xuan, I'm afraid the young master will suffer a lot later, so why not sneak out and hide for a few days while everyone is unprepared?"
Linji said as he took out Li Ke's soft clothes from the cabinet, arranged the long sword that had been hanging on the bedside for a long time, and then pulled Li Ke out of bed.
Li Ke, however, was sleepy and said slowly: "Xiao Jizi, don't panic. I have wanted to terminate the Tian family's engagement for a long time. It is normal for the family to find it hard to accept it for a while. As long as it is over, it will be fine. Let them toss. Young Master, I will continue to sleep. I will explain it to my father later. Stop messing around and just do whatever you need to do when you go out." After hearing this, Linji was worried but also left the room, hesitantly closing the room. Door.
In the hall, Tian Sanqian, the head of the Tian family, was attacking Li Tian. His face was filled with anger as if it was on fire. He said to Li Tian: "The marriage between your two families is a good thing. Today, such a ridiculous thing as breaking off the engagement happened in public." , Are we going to let this junior mess up our family’s face and let the whole Jinyang City laugh? No matter what, your Li family must give an explanation today, otherwise I, Tian Sanqian, will not give up."
Li Tian has never been so arrogant since he established himself in Jinyang City, but he really knew nothing about breaking off the engagement. Now that Tian Sanqian is acting like this, although the Li family is the largest family in Jinyang City, this time Shi also didn't want to refute the Tian family's face. He picked up the tea cup and said slowly: "Brother Tian, please be patient. It's only now that Li heard about the divorce. There must be a misunderstanding. Besides, how can such a big thing as the divorce be left to a junior without permission?" Make the decision, how about allowing Li to figure out the ins and outs of the matter and then explain it to Brother Tian?"
Tian Sanqian saw that Li Tian's attitude was sincere and did not seem to be perfunctory. Besides, the Li family's status did not allow him to push too hard, so he said: "Since Brother Li just knew about this matter, let's follow him for the time being." What Brother Li said."
Tian Fengxiao and Tian Yong, who were standing next to Tian Sanqian, saw that Li Tian had not known about the matter, so they added fuel to the fire and told Li Tian about breaking off the engagement on the street. In order to get back the losses they suffered today, He actually put all the faults on Li Ke, hoping that Li Tian could punish Li Ke. After they finished speaking, they pretended to have aggrieved expressions on their faces.
After listening to the two men's statements, or rather their performances, Li Tian was thoughtful and said, "I, Li Tian, will find out what the two nephews said. If it is really that little bastard's fault, you don't need to If the Tian family greets you, I will take care of him."
Tian Fengxiao and Tian Yong were secretly happy when they heard this, but they were still chattering about Li Ke's romantic night in Ciyulou last night.
Li Tian looked calm on the surface, but he was already filled with anger. He thought that I, Li Tian, had lived my whole life, but today I was forced to go in or retreat in my own home. It was really embarrassing.
"Let's do this, Brother Tian. I think you can take your two wise nephews back today for the time being. When I figure out the matter, I will bring that naughty brat to come to apologize. What do you think?"
Seeing that there was no result today, the Tian family could no longer be aggressive. Tian Sanqian stood up slowly and said to Li Tian: "That being the case, I will leave today. However, I hope Brother Li will resolve this matter as soon as possible." The result will be released to prevent the rumors from spreading outside, which will be bad for you and my family, so I’ll say goodbye today."
Li Tian watched the three Tian family members slowly walk out of the front door, then picked up the tea cups on the table and threw them to the ground angrily, shocking the housekeeper and servants beside him. They had followed Li Tian for many years and had never seen Li Tian so calm. Talking to others, I have never seen Li Tian so angry.
"Linji! Get that little bastard to get over here. I have to skin him today." Li Tian shouted angrily at Linji in front of the court.
"Yes, sir." Linji responded and ran towards Li Ke's room as if he had lost his soul.
Seeing this, the butler Xu Zhiru on the side stepped forward and said: "Master, since it is such a big deal to break off the engagement, I'm afraid there is no way to find out the reason according to the young master's past behavior. Do you think you should have someone notify the elders in the family to come over and discuss the matter in the hall? Only under the pressure of the elders, the young master was able to tell the whole truth of the matter."
"Old Xu, what you said makes sense. Let's do this. You quickly tell your servants to inform your family elders and clan elders to go to the hall to discuss matters. Even if you can't walk, you have to be carried over by them. Today we will definitely meet with you. This bastard son will dare to do whatever he wants after seeing Zhen Zhang." After finishing his instructions, Li Tian looked at the sky in the courtyard and sighed.
The servants rushed to various courtyards and shops to inform the clan members. And Linji hurriedly opened the door of Li Ke's room again and shouted: "Master, Master, something bad has happened. Master is really angry this time. I want you to come to him immediately now, I'm afraid." You will have to suffer." At this time, Li Ke and Linji did not know that Li Tian had notified the elders of the family.
Seeing this, Li Ke said: "This knife will come sooner or later. It doesn't matter. I will go and tell my father clearly that I, Li Ke, have canceled the marriage today." So he got up, changed into a set of clean clothes and went to the house. Walk towards the front hall.
Along the way, Li Ke saw the servants in the family walking around in a hurry and with serious expressions, and he laughed disdainfully: "Isn't it just to get angry? As for scaring the people at home like this?" What Li Ke didn't know was that what was waiting for him was What will be seen will be the familiar but indifferent faces of the family members.
Li Ke has failed in the scientific examination since he started taking it six years ago, and he is not interested in business affairs. No one in his family has given him a good look except his grandfather and Linji. He regarded Li Ke as a dispensable person in this family, and many people, like the Natian family, regarded Li Ke as a waste.
As soon as they arrived outside the hall, Li Ke could hear the chatter in the hall through the wall. They were all unanimously opposed to Li Ke's behavior of breaking off the engagement. Some even said mercilessly: "To put it bluntly, my Li family is married to the Tian family. , all for the sake of closer business ties between the two families, and although the young lady from the Tian family is domineering and unreasonable, she is also quite shrewd in business matters. On the other hand, Li Ke, a bastard, is obsessed with recruiting scholars all day long. And you can’t continue, and you don’t know anything about business. This marriage is a benefit to Li Ke no matter what, and he dares to break off the engagement today. I really don’t know what to say.”
The whole hall came up to complain about Li Ke. Only Li Ke's grandfather sat on the chair in the middle of the hall with his eyes closed, his hands leaning on a crutch in front of him, without saying a word. Li Ke didn't care about the comments in the hall and walked into the hall with his head held high. Seeing that Li Ke had arrived, Li Ke's grandfather slowly opened his eyes.
Li Ke first saluted his grandfather and father who were sitting in front of him, and then said hello to all the uncles and clan elders present. Although no one paid attention to him, Li Ke remained calm and magnanimous.
Li Tian suddenly shouted angrily: "Li Ke! Kneel down. I have summoned all the elders here today. I have something to ask you."
Everyone looked at Li Tian's expression and looked at each other, thinking that Li Ke might not be able to escape the family law today.
What is surprising is that Li Ke did not kneel down, which made his grandfather who usually doted on him shine, but also made everyone stunned. What is even more shocking is that Li Ke not only did not kneel down, but said: "Father, if you have anything to ask, I can just stand there. If you have anything to discuss, I will tell you frankly."
"You dare to disobey my will. You have to kneel today, and you have to kneel if you don't want to." After saying this, he was about to signal the servant to come forward.
"That's all, what Ke'er said is right. Since we are discussing, it's better to stand." Li Ke's grandfather glanced at Li Tian. Li Tian saw his father's eyes, but he did not continue to embarrass Li Ke.
Before Li Tian could ask, Li Ke spoke first: "Today, my father summoned all the clan elders here to discuss the matter of my breaking off my engagement with Tian Fenxiao in the street, right?"
"You bastard, you already know it and why don't you tell me about it." Li Tian looked furious.
Li Ke sighed and said: "Since ancient times, marriage matters have been ordered by parents and matchmakers, but Ke'er thinks that he has no fate with Tian Fenxiao, let alone her reputation for being arrogant and domineering, and not showing mercy to others. Outside, the engagement between me and her was only to facilitate the business between the two parties. There was no affection at all between us. To put it bluntly, this was not a business. Besides, Tian Fengxiao, since she has made an engagement with me, I But I heard that she has an affair with many young masters, and even called me a useless person in front of outsiders. It’s okay to cancel this engagement." After that, Li Ke recounted everything that happened in the market in the morning. , Li Tian also heard that this matter was very different from what Tian Fenxiao said.
"Having said that, since your marriage has been decided, how can you easily break off the engagement without your permission? After all, this is related to the face of the Li Tian family." As soon as Li Tian finished speaking, the elders in the hall , and my uncle also began to object to breaking off the engagement.
"Father, Haier has canceled the marriage today. Not to mention that the child has promised in front of everyone on the street that he will never regret it. Even if the child has to pay any price today, the child is willing to accept it. However, Tian Fengxiao is determined in this life. She can’t become a daughter-in-law for her children.”
Seeing Li Ke's determination, Li Tian stood up angrily, walked to Li Ke and angrily said, "Okay, it seems you don't know your own worth. Today I will let you know the consequences of disobeying me."
"Come here, I'll take care of you!" Li Tian called for someone to fetch a spiky rattan from the ancestral hall and was about to greet Li Ke.
"Stop! I'm still here! I've heard you guys making trouble for a while. Although Ke'er is at fault for breaking off the engagement without consulting the family, what he said is not unreasonable. I've also heard of Tian Fengxiao. , It’s almost the same as what Ke’er said. I see that the Tian family’s marriage has been cancelled, so I’ll cancel it. At worst, my old man will go to the Tian family in person to apologize.” Li Ke’s grandfather said while scanning the people in the hall. When everyone saw this, No one dared to speak.
Li Tian put down the cane in his hand, turned around and said, "Father, you can't spoil this bastard like this. Today's matter will be decided by your son. You'd better leave it alone. Otherwise, I don't know what this bastard will do in the future." Trouble is coming.”
Seeing that Li Tian's attitude was clear, everyone agreed: "Yes, old man, this bastard dared to break off the engagement in the street today. I don't know what more outrageous things he will do in the future. It's better to let the head of the family handle it, so that this bastard can be dealt with." A lesson to the boy."
Li Ke saw his grandpa showing embarrassment in the presence of everyone's support, so he stood up and said, "Grandpa, what happened today is because of my grandson. Whatever the consequences are, my grandson will suffer. Please don't be upset, grandpa."
Seeing Li Ke's resolute attitude, Li Tian looked at the old man again and said, "In that case, let's ask all the elders in the clan to vote together. It's up to the elders to decide whether we agree to cancel the engagement or not."
Li Tian was cunning, knowing that all the clan elders would not agree to break off the engagement, yet he still acted like this. Sure enough, the elders of the clan expressed their opinions one by one, and no one agreed to break off the engagement. They also came up with the bad idea of asking Li Tian to take Li Ke to the Tian family to apologize and resume the engagement.
"In that case, the matter has been settled. Tomorrow, you bastard, go to Tian's house with me to apologize and resume the engagement." Li Tian said to Li Ke with a slightly softened attitude.
"Father, I don't agree. Although the clan elders have expressed their opinions, I have not. It is my marriage contract, not theirs. The child knows that it is related to the interests of the two families, but the child is determined not to remarry, and it is absolutely impossible to apologize." Li Keyi responded righteously to Li Tian.
Li Tian was so angry that he almost vomited blood and slapped Li Ke on the face: "You bastard, I already gave you enough face by not cleaning up today, but you are so ignorant. What have you done for my Li family in these years? What have you done with me?" What’s the difference between what others call trash?”
"That's right, I haven't done anything for the Li family. I'm a waste, but my life should be controlled by myself. No one can say anything about it. This is the attitude of a child."
"It's contrary. Since the words have been said and the elders of all clans are here, I, Li Tian, will make it clear today that this marriage cannot be canceled. Unless Li Ke is not my Li family and severs relations with my Li family, otherwise, the engagement must be restored. .”
"Does father really want to be so heartless?" Li Ke's voice trembled slightly at this time.
"Yes, it's our Li family who will do our best for the Li family. What's the point of being ruthless?"
Li Ke looked at the people in the hall, extremely disappointed. Everyone looked at him with indifferent eyes. Everyone regarded him as a waste. Thinking back to the humiliation he had suffered over the years, Li Ke suddenly laughed loudly: "Hahahaha..., You so-called gentlemen from well-known families are just a bunch of intrigues and villains. Today, I, Li Ke, have left the Li family. I have my own place in the vast world. From now on, I have nothing to do with the Li family."
Everyone was shocked to see Li Ke like this. The usually gentle and elegant young master was acting uncharacteristically today. How strange!
Li Tian was also unprepared, thinking that Li Ke would give in, but he couldn't control it. But the words had already been spoken, and in front of everyone, he said: "Have you thought about it? If you leave the Li family, You gain nothing but yourself."
Li Ke smiled coldly: "So, what's the point of attachment?"
Li Tian was even more angry at this time: "You are an unfilial son. In this case, if you leave the door of my Li family, don't come back again."
Li Ke stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed in front of his grandfather, got up, knelt down and kowtowed in front of Li Tian without saying a word, saying his final farewell to the Li family.
After getting up, Li Ke laughed loudly again: "Hahahaha... As expected, I feel a lot more relaxed without the family chains." Then he walked straight out the door, chanting loudly as he walked:
Smiling up at the sky and going out,
From now on, there is no idle person in the world.
Live up to your youth and be young,
There are deep green pines, clouds and cypresses.
With everyone looking astonished, Li Ke walked out calmly. The next day, Li Tian announced in Jinyang City that he had severed ties with Li Ke and expelled Li Ke from the house. He also announced that the Li family's family business would be officially managed by Li Ke's sister Li Qingyuan, and the engagement with the Tian family was also announced. This is void.
