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Chapter 3: Apprehending the Fugitive
Chapter Three: Capturing the Fugitive
The marriage certificate nearly smashed Perfected Zhu in the face!
Perfected Zhu flew into a rage, humiliation curdling into fury. He moved to strike, ready to deliver a personal lesson himself: "You insignificant wretch— ugh, a marriage contract?"
He had barely finished cursing when his eyes suddenly focused on the characters written there — it was a marriage contract. In an instant, he stood utterly dumbstruck, eyes wide and tongue tied.
"Marriage certificate? What marriage certificate?"
The young man stepped forward, both hands balled into fists, and upon seeing the words written on the marriage contract, he froze like a statue.
Two families joined in matrimony, a covenant sealed before one hall, a blessed union bound for eternity, matched and equal in name and standing…
The groom: Ye Fusheng.
Female party: Huangfu Qing.
Huangfu Hai also stepped forward, and upon seeing the marriage contract, exclaimed in astonishment: "This… what the old man said is true?"
He remembered his father mentioning, before he left, that he had arranged a childhood betrothal for his daughter. He remembered it, yes, but hadn't taken it to heart — what era did they think they were living in, still arranging childhood betrothals? And even if he remembered, the other party had most likely forgotten all about it long ago.
Splash, splash, splash.
The crowd also began to murmur among themselves — could it be that Huangfu Qing had been waiting for him all this time?
Ye Fusheng took back the marriage contract and said coolly, "Old blind man, tell me again—what age did you begin learning your craft? Give me the details."
Perfected Zhu's eyes nearly split with fury, his face flushed so deeply it looked ready to drip blood. If a marriage contract still didn't count as a fated connection, then what on earth did?
"It's fake, Uncle Huangfu—this marriage document is fake!" The young man ground his teeth, his gaze toward Ye Fusheng sharpening with malice. "He's a con man. Have someone throw him out!"
"The marriage contract is real."
Huangfu Hai shook his head, fixed a long, weighty gaze on Ye Fusheng, then said slowly: "Since there is a marriage contract, my Huangfu family will naturally honor it. However, times have changed — in all things, Qingqing's wishes come first. Go ahead with the blood ritual for now; the matter of the marriage can wait until Qingqing wakes."
Though Perfected Zhu had spoken in error, every rule has its exceptions — this betrothal had been arranged decades ago, and it was only natural to misjudge matters when made in haste.
"No need for the blood — it's pointless. The marriage is off too. I came here to break off the engagement. Keep the betrothal papers. I'm leaving."
Ye Fusheng departed with easy grace. Already through the gate, he called back: "The prescription is your compensation for the broken engagement—remember that!"
The hall erupted in an uproar once again. He wouldn't even become the son-in-law of Tianhai City's wealthiest man — the sheer audacity!
Huangfu Hai's face flushed a deep crimson with barely contained rage. His own daughter had been jilted — if word of this got out, it would be an utter and unforgivable humiliation!
Once everyone's blood had finished dripping, he turned and walked upstairs.
Perfected Zhu and the young man followed behind.
Second floor.
Asleep on the bed lay a girl with skin like white jade and hair cascading like a waterfall, her features so delicate she might have stepped from a painting — she was none other than Huangfu Qing, daughter of the wealthiest man in the city.
Not only that, she was also acclaimed as the number one beauty of Tianhai City!
Perfected Zhu stood before the blood-dripping bowl, his lips moving once more in murmured incantations. A full five minutes passed, yet Huangfu Qing showed no sign of coming around.
"Perfected Zhu, my Qingqing…" the beautiful woman sitting at the head of the bed asked, her voice choked with sobs.
She was Huangfu Qing's mother, Jin Lanzhi.
Perfected Zhu shook his head and sighed. "Still no one of destined affinity. We must keep searching."
Jin Lanzhi's eyes brimmed with tears: "You said Qingqing's destined one was somewhere in Tianhai—but every unmarried young man in all of Tianhai has come and gone, and still there's no one!"
Perfected Zhu's brow furrowed. He raised his hand and began to divine: "Confirmed—in Jinhai."
As the counting went on, she suddenly glanced at the young man beside her: "Young Master Xiao, haven't you dripped your blood yet? Why not give it a try!"
The young man — Young Master Xiao, as he was known — was Xiao Tianyou, heir to the Xiao family, a newly risen powerful clan in Tianhai.
"I…" Xiao Tianyou said with some difficulty. "Qingqing and I have known each other since we were children. I have always treated her like a little sister — never once… Well, so be it. Let's give it a try!"
He bit his finger open and let the blood drip into the bowl.
At the very instant it dripped in.
Huangfu Qing, lying on the bed, suddenly let out a cough. Hearing the sound, joy lit up in the eyes of Jin Lanzhi and Huangfu Hai — a cough meant she was about to wake.
A gleam of smug satisfaction also flickered in Xiao Tianyou's eyes.
But after waiting a dozen seconds or so, Huangfu Qing's breathing steadied — she had drifted back to sleep!
A flicker of doubt crossed Perfected Zhu's eyes. He said at once, "Young Master Xiao must be the destined one—perhaps the force was simply insufficient. Continue!"
Xiao Tianyou hesitated no longer, immediately biting open another finger. Huangfu Qing coughed once more, then drifted back to sleep.
"Release again!" said Perfected Zhu.
Xiao Tianyou's face went deathly pale from the pain as he bit down again, yet this time it had no effect whatsoever — Huangfu Qing only sank deeper into sleep.
Jin Lanzhi said anxiously, "How did it come to this? She's sleeping even more deeply. Is the force still not enough? Let's use a knife to draw blood!"
The words fell away.
Xiao Tianyou gave a startled shudder and looked toward Perfected Zhu as if begging for help.
Perfected Zhu was drenched in sweat. By all rights, this should never have happened!
The light in Huangfu Hai's eyes grew ever more intense. Recalling Ye Fusheng's words, he saw that the situation before him matched exactly what had been described, and immediately gave the order: "Quickly, send someone to find Jingzhe's shed snakeskin…"
Though these medicines were hard to come by, for the wealthiest man in the world, they posed no challenge at all.
Soon, the finished soup was brought to the table.
Huangfu Hai personally fed the medicine to Huangfu Qing. After just two sips, Huangfu Qing slowly opened her eyes.
"This…" Xiao Tianyou gaped at him as though he had seen a ghost, struck completely speechless.
Huangfu Hai was overjoyed, and immediately cried out in excitement, "Quick, bring Ye Fusheng back!"
……
Gu Ziqi, a native of the Imperial Capital.
After Ye Fusheng left the west suburb manor, he had already set his sights on his next target for breaking off an engagement. He didn't want to waste time — the old man could return at any moment, and he still needed to head back to Zhenlong Prison to wait for him.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast called for an imminent heavy rainstorm, so the flight was cancelled. We won't be able to fly until tomorrow.
For now, let's just find a place to eat and fill our stomachs first.
"How does she manage to turn up wherever I go?"
Ye Fusheng passed by a private room. The door was left slightly ajar, and through that gap he glimpsed the people inside — one of them was none other than He Yuting.
But since she was in a private booth, and Ye Fusheng was there as well, he paid it no mind and took a seat in the main hall.
Inside the private room.
He Yuting raised her glass and said with a smile: "President Wang, I'd like to offer you this toast. I do hope you'll consider He's for this round of raw material procurement — He's will deliver nothing short of the finest quality."
Director Wang sat at the head of the table, brow furrowed, and said dismissively, "We'll talk about it later."
He Yuting's expression turned awkward. She had only recently taken charge of the He family business and was in urgent need of results to prove her worth — the CEO Wang standing before her simply had to be won over.
Probing carefully, he asked, "Mr. Wang, is there something weighing on your mind? If there's any way I can help, I won't hesitate."
"You?"
President Wang cast her a sidelong glance and said with disdain: "Fine. This afternoon, Miss Gu of the Dijing Gu family is arriving in Tianhai. Get me a meeting with her, and I won't just hand over this raw material order—every future raw material contract goes to He's as well."
He Yuting was momentarily stunned. There had been rumors that the Gu family from the imperial capital was coming to Jinhai to invest—could they really be here already?
The others exclaimed in admiration, "Miss Gu sealed off the entire airport before she even stepped off the plane. Such power — it leaves the rest of us utterly in awe."
"Indeed, only the Gu family of the Imperial Capital could possess such power."
"It is said that the young lady of the Gu family possesses the beauty of a celestial being, capable of toppling cities and kingdoms…"
He Yuting overheard their discussion and immediately smiled. "Mr. Wang, and everyone — you've got it wrong. The airport lockdown this afternoon had nothing to do with the arrival of the Gu family's young miss."
"But rather, to apprehend the fugitive!"
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