Chapter 54

She was really afraid of him now.

Shen Yao Xing glanced at the increasingly dark sky, moved back a bit, and said somewhat weakly: “You should go back now. It’s not good for a lone man and woman to stay together so late.”

She had exhausted all excuses trying to drive him away, but this person completely ignored her attempts.

“You and I are to be married in a month. Are you still afraid of what others might say?” Jiang Ming Yue’s brows relaxed, the corners of his lips curling up slightly as he spoke.

“……” Reasonably speaking, I’m afraid of you!

Moreover, before the engagement, she didn’t know this person had changed his appearance. Now of course this marriage arrangement had to be called off. She didn’t want to live the rest of her days in fear and trepidation.

Shen Yao Xing looked the young man up and down, and after careful consideration still decided not to be frank with him yet. She turned her face away, somewhat displeased: “That’s for the future. You… you as a man, how can you so casually stay overnight in a woman’s home?”

Shen Yao Xing racked her brains and managed to bring out some flowery principles she had never used before, but unexpectedly found them quite effective.

Jiang Ming Yue gently pursed his thin lips. Those originally emotionless eyes now flickered with starry points, black and brilliant, more beautiful than the night sky full of stars. He secretly observed the young woman’s expression and hesitantly asked: “You… don’t like this?”

“Of course I don’t like it.” Shen Yao Xing seized the opportunity to state her position.

The young man lowered his eyes, a few strands of ink-black hair falling at the sides of his face. In the dim twilight, his exquisite features appeared even softer, like a thousand-year-old ice finally melted into warm water by scalding lava.

Soft to the point of collapse.

He was quiet for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at the young woman again, tentatively opening his lips: “Then, may I come see you tomorrow?”

Shen Yao Xing was startled by the young man’s sudden agreeableness. She looked over in surprise. In the night, the contours of that jade-like face were blurred, those pitch-black eyes staring straight at her, vaguely carrying a sense of docile obedience.

Like a fierce beast that had its fur smoothed, retracting its claws, using naive purrs to ingratiate itself with her.

A strange feeling arose in Shen Yao Xing’s heart. She stubbornly waved her hand: “No, I have something to do tomorrow and need to go out. You’d better not come looking for me.”

“Something to do?” Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes changed slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the young woman’s attitude of rejection. His fingertips hidden in his sleeves forcefully scratched across his knuckles. After a while, he asked in a subdued voice: “Then when will you come find me?”

Since his identity was exposed, the young man seemed to act even more entitled.

Shen Yao Xing naturally had no intention of going to find him. At this moment, she only wanted this person to quickly leave her courtyard, so she could only turn her gaze away and casually brush him off: “I’ll go when I have free time.”

Jiang Ming Yue stared at her steadily for a while, then nodded slightly.

It was only when Shen Yao Xing was left alone in the courtyard that she finally relaxed completely, collapsing back onto the stone bench.

The half-eaten apple stood lonely at the edge of the table. Shen Yao Xing stared at it blankly for a while, then suddenly seemed to understand something and raised her hand to slap the stone table forcefully.

No matter what, she had to cancel this engagement!

The next day, Shen Yao Xing ran to her mother as soon as it was light out and started fawning over her in various ways, not missing out on back rubs and massages. Madam Shen was calm, seeming to have guessed that she had something to ask for, and simply enjoyed the attentive care from her daughter, just waiting for her to speak up on her own.

As the saying goes, a mother knows her child best. The young woman held out until nearly noon before she finally couldn’t hold back anymore: “Mother, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Mm.” Madam Shen put a peeled purple grape in her mouth, responding faintly.

Shen Yao Xing licked her lips, hemming and hawing for a long time before finally saying: “I… I want to cancel the engagement!”

The hand reaching for the teacup paused slightly. Madam Shen frowned: “No.”

This unquestionable attitude gave Shen Yao Xing a headache, though it was within expectations.

“Mother, it’s not that I’m unwilling. It’s that Young Master Yin isn’t really Young Master Yin at all. I know that person, he… he’s not a good person!”

Shen Yao Xing was really at a loss for words. She scratched her head but couldn’t come up with any convincing reasons. Instead, it sounded more like she was making accusations out of anger.

Madam Shen was very displeased with her behavior: “How can a woman be as petty as those young masters? Have you forgotten how I taught you before?”

Shen Yao Xing shook her head saying it wasn’t so, and tried to explain the reasons, but Madam Shen’s attitude was unusually firm. She refused to relent no matter what, using the excuse that the engagement was already set, and cancelling it now would make them a laughingstock.

“You just agreed to it a while ago. Now you want to back out just like that? How can you treat a major matter like marriage so lightly?” Madam Shen reprimanded.

“But…”

“Enough.” Madam Shen cut off what she was about to say: “In a month it will be your wedding day. You should go prepare, instead of complaining here.”

With that, Madam Shen stood up and left the main hall without looking back.

Shen Yao Xing clicked her tongue and collapsed powerlessly onto the armchair. She actually understood in her heart that what Madam Shen valued was the wealth and power behind the Yin family. She probably didn’t care who Young Master Yin really was.

Without equal conditions, it was almost impossible to persuade Madam Shen.

But now there was no time left for her to think too much. The later it got, the harder it would be to call off. If she wasn’t afraid Madam Shen would bring up Song Si Nian again, she would have left the capital long ago.

To have her marry that Jiang Ming Yue who killed without blinking an eye, she was unwilling no matter what.

Shen Yao Xing closed her eyes and hung on the armchair. Her eyeballs moved constantly under her eyelids. After pondering for a moment with furrowed brows, she suddenly opened her eyes as if she had made up her mind, and quickly walked out of the main hall.

Yin Mansion

These past few days, Jiang Ming Yue spent most of his time sitting in front of the bronze mirror. He turned his face slightly to examine himself in the mirror, his fingers lightly brushing over that jade-like skin, not allowing any flaws to appear on it.

Those long narrow eyes occasionally glanced towards the door, faintly carrying a hint of eager anticipation.