Chapter 48 Getting Married (Part 1)

“Xu Hong! Are you really letting Lu Cha marry that poor constable? Even if Lu Cha is no good, he’s still a young master of the Xu family. How can he marry a poor constable!”

Chen Yue angrily slammed the table: “Lu Cha doesn’t know any better, but don’t you understand? A young master from a noble family marrying a pauper, how will the people of Cloud City view us?”

Xu Hong frowned deeply and said in a low voice: “You think I want to marry Lu Cha off to Zhang Meng? It’s all because you’ve been causing trouble everywhere, giving Lu Cha leverage. If I don’t agree to their marriage, Lu Cha will expose all your misdeeds. When that happens, not only will you be finished, but I’ll be ruined along with you!”

Chen Yue angrily said: “What have I done? Don’t wrongly accuse me!”

Xu Hong threw a thick stack of papers from the desk at Chen Yue, saying coldly: “See for yourself. Each charge is enough to put you in prison for years.”

Chen Yue quickly scanned through the documents and broke out in a cold sweat. In his youth, he had been jealous of his cousin’s beauty and instructed thugs to violate him, causing his cousin to leave home in shame and despair. In business, he used unscrupulous means to frame his competitors, causing their families to fall apart. Due to his bad temper, he had beaten many servants to disability and abandoned them in the mountains to fend for themselves…

He had done these things very secretly. How did Xu Lu Cha know about them?

Xu Hong rubbed her temples: “Lu Cha didn’t give this evidence directly to the authorities, but instead passed it to people like Qin Rong, clearly threatening us. We can’t do anything to him and have to do as he demands. Once we don’t follow his requirements, Qin Rong will immediately hand over the evidence to the authorities.”

Chen Yue gritted his teeth: “Look at the good son you’ve raised, colluding with outsiders to bully his own family. Doesn’t he fear divine retribution? Without Qin Rong’s help, he’d be nothing!”

Xu Hong said coldly: “Don’t underestimate Lu Cha. He also has a lot of leverage over Qin Rong. If Qin Rong doesn’t help him, Qin Rong won’t fare well either.”

Xu Hong knew that Xu Lu Cha was more cunning and ruthless than Gong Mi, with methods and schemes that few could match. As a mere man, he could easily control the prominent figures of Cloud City. He absolutely could not be underestimated.

Although Xu Hong was his birth mother, she had no feelings for him. She only pitied him for the torment he suffered as a child, which was why she took him back to the Xu household to raise. Whenever she saw Xu Lu Cha, she would be reminded of Gong Mi, so she had no fondness for Xu Lu Cha. Sometimes when Chen Yue set traps for him, as long as it wasn’t too much, she would turn a blind eye.

Her attitude led to the deterioration of her relationship with Xu Lu Cha. She didn’t treat Xu Lu Cha as a son, so naturally, Xu Lu Cha wouldn’t treat her as a mother.

But no matter how coldly she treated him, she at least gave him a life of luxury. Now for Zhang Meng’s sake, he completely disregarded her kindness in raising him and targeted her beloved Chen Yue. How could Xu Hong not resent him?

If possible, she would cut off their mother-son relationship right now, to save herself from his constant trouble.

Although Chen Yue was frightened by Xu Hong’s words, he still didn’t believe Xu Lu Cha had such great abilities. He sneered: “Even the most capable person has a weakness. Since he cares so much about that poor constable, why don’t we target the constable?”

He couldn’t stand the thought of Xu Lu Cha happily marrying off. Xu Lu Cha had irritated him for so many years, he had to at least disrupt their wedding.

However, Xu Hong raised her eyes and glared at him: “Don’t you dare act recklessly. If you harm Zhang Meng, not only will Lu Cha go crazy and harm you, but even the authorities will make sure you suffer the consequences.”

Chen Yue angrily said: “It’s none of your business to manage my affairs!” Moreover, he wasn’t brainless, how could he possibly harm Zhang Meng at this critical moment?

Xu Lu Cha had exposed all his misdeeds, right? Then he would retaliate in kind, telling Zhang Meng about all the shameless women Xu Lu Cha had seduced over the years. Let’s see if Zhang Meng would still marry him then.

…

After leaving Xu Hong’s study, Chen Yue secretly instructed servants to find an opportunity to reveal Xu Lu Cha’s past to Zhang Meng behind Xu Hong’s back.

Meanwhile, Xu Lu Cha was discussing the wedding banquet with Zhang Meng.

They sat facing each other at a stone table, with menus from several major restaurants in Cloud City spread out on the table.

In the female-dominated world, wedding banquets could be held at home or outside. However, Zhang Meng lived in the government office, which was too solemn and austere, and indeed unsuitable for hosting a banquet. Even if held there, some people would consider it unlucky and be unwilling to attend. So Zhang Meng and Xu Lu Cha decided to choose one of the major restaurants in Cloud City to host the banquet.

Xu Lu Cha was eager to show his gentle and caring side to Zhang Meng. After briefly introducing the characteristics of these restaurants, he spoke very gently: “Whichever restaurant Zhang Meng wants to go to, Lu Cha will follow your choice.”

Zhang Meng wasn’t particularly familiar with those restaurants, only feeling that they were all very expensive. She had originally thought of setting up a few tables at a small teahouse outside, inviting a few good friends to attend the wedding would be enough. But as soon as she arrived here, Xu Lu Cha placed the menus of Cloud City’s most famous and expensive teahouses in front of her, and she couldn’t even utter a word of refusal.

Zhang Meng’s face darkened slightly, and she said with difficulty: “Lu Cha, I’m used to being poor and haven’t seen much of the world. You’re asking me to choose, but I really can’t make a choice.”

Zhang Meng had been calling Xu Lu Cha “Young Master Xu” for a long time. Xu Lu Cha was dissatisfied, feeling it was too distant, so he asked Zhang Meng to call him “Lu Cha”. Although Zhang Meng felt a bit strange at first, she gradually got used to this form of address after calling him that for a while.

Xu Lu Cha cupped his face with both hands, looking at Zhang Meng softly: “You don’t need to worry too much. Just choose whichever type of cuisine you like.”

Zhang Meng loved food the most, so she should choose whatever she liked. He would definitely give her a grand, luxurious, and exquisite wedding banquet.

Zhang Meng flipped through the menu, carefully looking at the dishes. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she was still shocked by the prices. She hesitated for a long time, but finally bit her lip and expressed her difficulty: “Lu Cha, to be honest, I don’t have that much money right now…”

“Zhang Meng, you don’t need to worry about money,” Xu Lu Cha quickly said.