Chapter 55: Can the Engagement Be Canceled?

"Yiqing, why are you suddenly concerned about this?"
"Don’t ask so many questions. Just look into it as I asked, and don’t worry about the reasons. But once you find out, don’t take any action immediately. Inform me first."
Lu Yiqing’s voice carried a note of exhaustion.
Every day, his workload exceeded the limit, and now he had to confront Su Yunjin over a betrothal that seemed laughable to ordinary people.
This kind of emotional fatigue was truly adding insult to injury.
Nevertheless, he would give Su Yunjin an explanation. He would find out who had started the rumors and make sure they paid a price for it.
In the quiet of the night, the vast office floor echoed with the man's footsteps. Soon, they reached the underground parking lot. Pei Xuan drove, and the two of them returned to the Lu family home.
As for Su Yunjin, it was already past midnight when she returned to the hotel.
Suppressing her exhaustion, Su Yunjin completed her evening practice. Fortunately, the next day’s training was scheduled for the afternoon, so she allowed herself the rare luxury of sleeping in.
It was nearly eleven when she finally got up, and the first thing she did was her morning practice.
After a simple lunch, she returned to her room and picked up the phone to call her sect.
It was her third grandfather who answered. When Su Yunjin posed her questions, he sighed. "Yunjin, this is something we should have told you long ago."
After her grandfather’s explanation, Su Yunjin finally understood the ins and outs of the matter.
"Then... Grandfather, what if I want to withdraw from the engagement? Is it possible to annul it?"
Carefully, Su Yunjin voiced the thought in her heart.
Her seventh grandfather’s life had been saved by the Lu family, and this connection made her reluctant to break off the engagement as easily as she’d once imagined.
She had been doted on by her grandparents since childhood, and she knew well the character of her seventh grandfather—loyal and grateful, always remembering those who had helped him.
So, if it was her seventh grandfather who had arranged the betrothal, only if the Lu family broke it off first would her family agree. Otherwise, the marriage must go ahead, and withdrawing would be difficult.
Thinking of the bold words she’d spoken to Lu Yiqing, Su Yunjin began to worry.
"Withdraw the engagement? Yunjin, tell me, have you been wronged over there?"
As Su Yunjin began to feel the situation slipping out of her control, her grandfather’s voice on the other end grew anxious, as if he wished he could rush to her side through the telephone line.
Knowing how much her grandfather cared for her, Su Yunjin smiled warmly. "No, I just wanted to ask—if I withdraw, will it make things difficult for Grandfather?"

"It certainly will be difficult. The Lu family has done nothing wrong all these years.
Moreover, the Lu family is well-respected among the prominent families. For us to break off the engagement so abruptly... it’s a tricky situation. But Yunjin, tell Grandfather, what exactly happened?
And how did you find out about this?"
Regarding the childhood betrothal, these elders had all tacitly agreed not to tell Su Yunjin.
First, the thought of marrying off their beloved granddaughter pained them, so they preferred not to speak of it.
Second, they didn’t want to burden their only granddaughter with pressure. Even though they had arranged this prestigious marriage, there was no need for her to know before the time came.
They had allowed Su Yunjin to leave the mountain this time in hopes she and Lu Yiqing would have a chance to get to know each other.
From their perspective, they were open-minded—if the two children found each other suitable, they could proceed; if not, so be it.
But for their granddaughter to learn about the engagement and immediately want to break it off, and so soon after leaving the mountain—this was not like the clever, gentle child they knew.
"It was Lu Yiqing who told me."
"Lu Yiqing? You met with him?"
"Yes."
Su Yunjin selectively recounted her meeting with Lu Yiqing.
However, she withheld many details—for instance, how he had humiliated her the day before, and how Zhang Chuchu’s previous hostility had puzzled her.
She didn’t keep these things secret out of any lingering sentiment for Lu Yiqing or to cover for him.
It was because the Lu family and the Seven Sects were still intertwined by mutual interests, not to mention that Old Master Lu had saved her seventh grandfather’s life.
Given these entanglements, if she revealed everything before the truth became clear, she might ruin everything.
Heaven and earth are indifferent, treating all things as straw dogs.
From the outside, as the heir to the Seven Sects, she appeared to be basking in glory; marrying into the Seven Sects was like adding wings to a tiger.
But in reality, she, Su Yunjin, was nothing more than a straw dog between heaven and earth—she, too, must endure grievances and sacrifice small interests for the greater good.
Such is life; such is the fate of all under heaven. No one is privileged, and no one can escape suffering.
"So, the boy has someone else in his heart, doesn’t he?"
After listening to Su Yunjin’s brief account, her third grandfather's expression changed, his narrow eyes narrowing further.

No one understands a man like another man. Though he hadn’t left the mountain in many years, he knew well enough Lu Yiqing’s attitude during the times the fifth elder had come down to treat the ailing heir of the Lu family.
Before, they hadn’t bothered to look into it, but now it seemed clear: for all these years, perhaps the Lu family had kept quiet, but Lu Yiqing had never been willing.
"I’m not sure about that, but since the young master of the Lu family has no such intention, does that mean I can break off the engagement?"
Su Yunjin’s voice was gentle, yet firm.
She had originally thought she would have to wait until she returned to the sect to discuss the matter, but to her surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, her third grandfather replied with approval.
"Of course you can. It’s better to break ten temples than to force one marriage. If that Lu boy’s heart is elsewhere, we certainly won’t force you to marry him.
But this matter—I must discuss it with your other grandparents, especially your seventh grandfather."
This answer was within Su Yunjin’s expectations.
No matter how one looked at it, this was a major affair.
It didn’t matter whether Lu Yiqing had someone else in his heart; whoever took the initiative to break off the engagement would be in the wrong, so she had to proceed with caution.
After discussing the matter, Su Yunjin chatted with her grandfather for a while longer.
Upon learning that her other grandparents were either gathering herbs in the mountains or weaving at their looms and couldn’t come to the phone, Su Yunjin had no choice but to hang up.
Yet, after putting down the phone, she did not rest; instead, she carefully reviewed the situation in her mind.
Withdrawing from the engagement was no small matter. As her grandfather had said, the Lu family was a family of standing. To break off the engagement abruptly would only embarrass them.
The Seven Sects had no reason to make an enemy of such a powerful house.
They were all part of the same social circle. The Seven Sects might be formidable, but throughout history, strength alone was never enough.
Those blinded by their own power had found themselves caught in endless cycles of retribution.
This is how the world works—mutual benefit and collaboration are essential.
Thus, this break from the engagement was not only about casting off their own shackles.
It was also about finding a way to let the other side exit gracefully in the eyes of outsiders.
The process would undoubtedly be long and must be meticulously arranged, not handled rashly with a few casual words.