Chapter 230
Rules?
Dai Mubai deliberately lowered his posture, even going so far as to belittle himself as an incompetent prince. He avoided eye contact, not daring to meet Lin Xia's calm yet all-seeing gaze.
Geng Jincheng carried too much weight, so much so that this disgraced prince had no right to speak to him as an equal, let alone confront him.
Dai Mubai just wanted to figure out the other party's intentions and get away as soon as possible.
Looking at Dai Mubai's fierce yet cowardly and forcedly calm demeanor, Lin Xia felt nothing but indifference.
Lin Xia ignored the probing and flattery in Dai Mubai's words, and went straight to the point, her voice clearly echoing through the silent hall.
"I've come because of your engagement with Zhu Zhuqing."
Lin Xia turned slightly to the side, her gaze falling on Zhu Zhuqing, who had been standing quietly in the corner. Her eyes instantly became gentle yet firm.
Zhu Zhuqing felt his gaze, and her cold and tense expression softened a bit. She took two steps forward and came to a position slightly behind Lin Xia. Her beautiful face stared straight at Dai Mubai without any expression, her determination as solid as ancient ice.
Lin Xia turned back to look at Dai Mubai, her tone calm yet containing an undeniable power.
"I want to annul this engagement on Zhu Zhuqing's behalf."
boom--!
If Lin Xia's identity was a thunderclap, then this sentence was a nuclear bomb that detonated Dai Mubai's sense of shame!
"Break up...break up the engagement?!"
Dai Mubai's face turned ashen in an instant!
First, the deathly pallor caused by blood loss and shock faded instantly, replaced by a crimson red as blood surged to his head. Then, that crimson red quickly turned into an iron blue due to immense humiliation and rage!
Finally, it settled on a purplish-black color, almost like pig liver!
break off an engagement!
Moreover, it was the city lord of Gengjin City who, with his nominal fiancée, came before him in full view of everyone—especially after he had just been beaten badly and lost face by an unknown nobody—and personally proposed to annul the engagement!
This is not just a simple matter of breaking off an engagement!
This was tantamount to stripping away Dai Mubai's dignity, the pride of the third prince of the Star Luo Empire, and the honor of the Dai family, throwing them on the ground, and then repeatedly trampling and crushing them under the cold and contemptuous gaze of the people in front of him!
An unprecedented, burning fire of shame and anger, mixed with the resentment of betrayal, violently assaulted his reason.
Dai Mubai could even clearly sense the shock that Tang San and Xiao Wu had followed by a look of amusement, and even a hint of schadenfreude, as well as the disbelief and subtle disdain in the eyes of the trembling twin sisters.
"You... Lord Lin!"
Dai Mubai's voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and cold, filled with offended anger. He tried to use his status as a prince to regain some face.
"Are you kidding me?!"
He suddenly pointed at Zhu Zhuqing, his fingers trembling slightly with extreme anger.
"You brought her... you brought my fiancée, and you came to me to break off the engagement?! Lord Lin! Do you know what you're saying?! Do you know what this means?!"
Lin Xia's expression remained unchanged. Faced with Dai Mubai's furious questioning, he simply asked back calmly.
“I know exactly what I’m saying. I also know exactly what this means. But you, Third Prince, seem to have missed the point?”
Dai Mubai was so taken aback by Lin Xia's indifferent attitude that he felt his anger about to explode.
Dai Mubai took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to immediately summon the White Tiger Martial Soul and fight to the death—that would be tantamount to suicide.
He knew how terrifying the man before him was; the way he had so casually crushed the hidden weapon earlier had left him with no courage to fight back.
Dai Mubai could only grit his teeth and bring out his last and only shield—the empire's unchanging iron law.
"Lord Lin! It seems you truly are unaware!"
Dai Mubai gritted his teeth, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a cold sense of shirking responsibility and a hint of barely perceptible fear.
"Is this marriage contract something I can decide? Huh?!"
Dai Mubai straightened his back, trying to appear more confident. "This is a rule passed down for a thousand years between the Star Luo Empire's royal family and the Zhu family! It's an ironclad rule of political marriage within the empire! It's a symbol of maintaining the bloodline and loyalty between the two major powers!"
"It is not merely a marriage certificate, but a national policy concerning the very foundation of the empire!"
Dai Mubai's tone grew increasingly impassioned, as if he were so faithfully upholding the sacred traditions of the empire.
"You're looking for me? What good is it?! I, Dai Mubai, am nothing more than a pawn on this chessboard of rules!"
"Only His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire—my father! And the current head of the Zhu family! Have the authority to decide whether this marriage will remain or end!"
"You've come to me to discuss annuling the engagement? Lord Lin, don't you think you've come to the wrong person and asked the wrong question?!"
As Dai Mubai spoke, he became more and more fluent, as if he had found a lifeline, and his voice even carried a hint of sarcasm and admonition.
"Lord Lin, I know that your Gengjin City is powerful and influential. But some rules are the cornerstones that have been passed down for thousands of years! They are the foundation of the empire's stability! Even you cannot trample on them at will, can you?"
"To challenge the ironclad rules of the entire Star Luo Empire and the Zhu family for a woman? Is it worth it? Aren't you afraid of unpredictable consequences?!"
Dai Mubai spoke these words with righteous indignation, as if he himself were a loyal and filial son who strictly adhered to ancestral rules, completely shirking his personal responsibility and passing the buck to the emperor and the head of the Zhu family in Xingluo City.
He knew that as long as he raised the banner of "Imperial Iron Law" and "Millennial Tradition", he could create enormous resistance for Lin Xia.
Discuss annulment of the engagement?
you can!
But that would mean going to Xingluo City and confronting the emperor and the head of the Zhu family head head-on!
That would be a massive vortex involving countless interests and intricate connections!
He, Dai Mubai, was nothing but a pawn, which was a good opportunity for him to get away, and he could even watch Lin Xia suffer a crushing defeat in the power struggle at the heart of the empire!
Silence fell over the lobby once again.
Tang San and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.
The Ironclad Marriage Rules Between the Star Luo Empire's Royal Family and the Zhu Family?
It certainly sounds like a behemoth.
Is Lord Lin really going to challenge this deeply ingrained tradition for the sake of the girl in black beside him?
Zhu Zhuqing's expression grew even colder.
Dai Mubai's evasive and hypocritical remarks disgusted her so much she wanted to vomit.
He absolved himself of all responsibility, blaming everything on the so-called rules, but never mentioned his cowardly escape and his actions that put her to death!
This shamelessness has completely crossed the line of what she considers acceptable.
Lin Xia listened quietly to Dai Mubai's impassioned "performance" until he finished speaking. Only Dai Mubai's heavy breathing and Manager Wang's suppressed gasps in the distance remained in the lobby.
A meaningful smile slowly curved the corners of Lin Xia's lips.
He looked at Dai Mubai with the same gaze he would give a child who was making a fool of himself in front of an adult.
"Rules?" (End of Chapter)