Free Web NovelChapter 55: Chapter 55: Marriage Pressure
’Did Fang Yue really write that poem?’
’Impossible, absolutely impossible!’
’How could a crude martial artist like that possibly write poetry!’
Ever since returning home that day, Liu Chuanzhi had scoured every book in his family’s old library but couldn’t find the verses he had heard. So, he wrote a letter to Wendong Building, the Mountain Master of the Xiahe County academy.
Wendong Building was a renowned great scholar, famous throughout the entire Shanyang Prefecture. freewebnσvel.cѳm
He was profoundly knowledgeable. In his youth, he had traveled throughout the two capitals and thirteen prefectures of Great Wei, and his experiences far surpassed those of an ordinary person.
If the poem he’d heard from Widow Yu—one that could be considered a masterpiece for the ages—was written by an ancient, then Wendong Building, the academy’s Mountain Master, would surely know of it.
But today, the Mountain Master’s reply had left Liu Chuanzhi stunned.
Wendong Building didn’t know the poem’s origin either. After investigating, he stated with certainty that it must have been written by a contemporary. He even asked who the poet was, saying he wanted to pay them a personal visit.
After reading the letter, Liu Chuanzhi’s mood soured completely.
’Wendong Building wants to pay a personal visit. A visit to whom?’
’To that country bumpkin Fang Yue from Da Liushu Village?’
Thinking of Fang Yue, who was now a Martial Scholar, his achievements had surpassed his own.
Furthermore, a Martial Scholar’s status was higher than that of a Civil Scholar, and in some respects, was not inferior to that of a Provincial Martial Scholar.
Even his own father had been telling him repeatedly to maintain a good relationship with the Fang Family and resolve their past misunderstanding.
His father had even sent lavish gifts to the Fang Family on several occasions.
It was like being the top student who always ranked first in class, only to be surpassed by a failing student during the final college entrance exams.
And what’s more, that same failing student had once gotten beaten because of him.
However, the education he’d received since childhood had taught him how to be ’tactful’ in his dealings with others and maintain a facade of friendliness.
Now, whenever Liu Chuanzhi thought of Fang Yue, his mood would darken.
So today, he took advantage of the snowfall to go out and clear his head.
Before he knew it, he had wandered to the shore of a lake.
As soon as he stopped, he saw a lone boat drifting on the lake, with a fisherman sitting at its prow.
The person sat perfectly still, unmoving, as snowflakes covered him like a coat of snow.
The scene stirred a poetic urge within him, and with his emotions running high, he felt inspired to compose a verse of his own.
But just then, a five-character quatrain drifted over to him.
"Alone, fishing the cold river snow..."
’This is another masterpiece for the ages! The scene it describes is right before my eyes.’
Liu Chuanzhi froze. The scene from the poem was unfolding right in front of him; the man in the boat must have just composed it.
’This person must be a great sage, a great scholar, living in seclusion in the countryside!!!’
And he had stumbled upon this moment by chance, just in time to hear it. This was a so-called opportune meeting—this was destiny.
’If I go up and introduce myself to this person, wouldn’t it become a wonderful story? When it spreads, my own reputation will rise with it.’
’If I’m lucky, I might even be able to take him as my renowned master today. That would be even better.’
At this thought, Liu Chuanzhi’s mood instantly brightened.
’I mustn’t disturb the great sage now. I must be respectful. In the future, the beautiful tale of ’Liu Chuanzhi Standing in the Snow by the Lake’ will surely be told.’
With this in mind, Liu Chuanzhi even set aside the umbrella he was carrying, allowing the snowflakes to fall on him.
Soon, he too became a snowman.
~~~~~~
An unknown amount of time passed. Liu Chuanzhi felt like he was about to freeze solid.
However, to fully commit to the act, he gritted his teeth and endured.
’It’ll all be worth it when the great sage sees how sincere I am.’
Finally, the small boat in the middle of the lake began to move.
It started rowing toward him.
"Teacher, please accept me as your disciple." Liu Chuanzhi was already shivering so hard from the cold that his vision had begun to blur.
He saw the person from the lake approaching, and without even getting a clear look at their face, he hurriedly knelt.
"Hey, Young Master Liu, what are you doing?"
"You absolutely mustn’t do this! Why are you kneeling..."
A familiar voice reached his ears, one that Liu Chuanzhi felt he had heard somewhere before.
Moreover, the voice was callow and very young, completely different from the white-bearded, transcendent great scholar he had imagined.
"Young Master, why are you kneeling to Young Master Fang?"
And right at that moment, the voice of his Scholar’s Attendant reached Liu Chuanzhi’s ears.
The attendant had come looking for him, as Liu Chuanzhi had been out for a long time and hadn’t returned.
Arriving at the lake, he had happened to witness this very scene.
Liu Chuanzhi felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. Through his blurry eyes, Fang Yue’s face gradually came into focus.
He had actually knelt to Fang Yue!
And to make matters worse, his big-mouthed Scholar’s Attendant had seen it all. It wouldn’t be long before everyone in the village knew. This was the ultimate humiliation.
As this realization hit him, blood rushed to Liu Chuanzhi’s head, and he fainted.
~~~~~~
"Have you heard? The other day, the young master of the Liu Family wanted to take Young Master Fang as his master. He stood in the snow for four hours!"
"And guess what? In the end, the Liu Family’s young master got so excited he fainted."
In an alley in Da Liushu Village.
The women, sunning themselves while doing handcrafted farm work, were naturally busy with their hands, but their mouths were never idle.
This was how village women in the countryside were; they loved to gossip about the trifling affairs of every household.
Lately, the main character of their stories was always Fang Yue.
Today, with the addition of the young master from the Liu Junren Family, the topic was even more captivating.
"That can’t be true, can it? Didn’t the Liu Family’s young master already become a scholar? Why would he want Young Master Fang as his master?" a woman asked doubtfully.
"Why not? Let me tell you, and don’t you dare tell anyone else, this came straight from the Liu Family itself. How could it be fake?"
Seeing her words doubted, the other woman quickly retorted.
When they heard the rumor came from the Liu Family, everyone was instantly convinced.
Just then, a horse-drawn carriage passed by the group of women.
Inside sat none other than Liu Chuanzhi.
He was wrapped in a blanket, sipping ginger soup, but snippets of the conversation from outside the carriage still reached his ears.
He immediately spat out a mouthful of ginger soup.
His face was a mask of shame, anger, and resentment.
~~~~~~
However, none of this had anything to do with Fang Yue.
After moving into their new house, the Fang Family’s life was visibly improving day by day.
During this time, more and more matchmakers had been visiting to propose marriage for Fang Yue.
Most of them were from the wealthy households of the surrounding villages.
But there was no way Fang Yue would get married right now. Although he kept refusing, Ms. Chen, who usually doted on him, wasn’t having any of it this time.
"Zhi’Er, you’re not a child anymore. Old Qi from the village already had a son when he was your age," Ms. Chen nagged.
Fine. Fang Yue couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
Ms. Chen had brought this up with him many times over the past few days. Only now did he understand the horror of being pressured into marriage, just like in his previous life.
"Mother, my older brother isn’t married yet."
Fortunately, Fang Yue had an escape route: he brought up his older brother, Fang Cheng.
He argued that since his older brother wasn’t married, it would be a breach of etiquette and a disruption of the proper order if he were to marry first.
With that said, he successfully redirected Ms. Chen’s firepower toward Fang Cheng.
"You! Fang Cheng! What are you still eating for? Hurry up and marry that daughter from the Fuquan Family!"
"If you don’t make it happen within a month, you can forget about eating from now on!"
Fang Cheng, who had been in the middle of his meal, was completely stunned. ’How did the fire spread to me?!’
