"It doesn't matter who told me that. I hope that Miss Ye won't insistently demand for something that doesn't belong to yourself."
Ye Zhen didn't take her words to heart at all. She waved the pair of scissors in front of Shen Weiyin, then casually tossed it on the floor. "That's right. People shouldn't insistently demand for something that doesn't belong to them. Miss Shen, since you understand this reasoning, you should change out of the dress you're wearing. It doesn't belong to you. The dress has gotten dirty and should be thrown away."
After saying this, Ye Zhen turned a blind eye to Shen Weiyin's pale face and strode out of the room.
To be honest, Shen Weiyin had completely changed Ye Zhen's impression of young women from prestigious families.
Fortunately, she had only met one rare piece of work like Shen Weiyin.
Right after she walked downstairs, Lu Beichuan approached her. Holding her hand, he whispered into her ear, "What's wrong?"
"Mr. Lu, you have a lot of rotten admirers. They're unusually persistent too. I get rid of one and another one comes out. They won't give up until they become Mrs. Lu."
Lu Beichuan furrowed his brow. He looked upstairs and happened to see Shen Weiyin coming out of their room. Something flickered through his eyes.
"I understand. Thank you for your hard work."
After saying that, he let go of Ye Zhen's hand and walked towards Shen Weiyin's direction. After the two of them stood together and exchanged a few words, Shen Weiyin's expression noticeably looked off. However, since she was in view of many of the other guests, she had to keep smiling, causing her forced smile to look increasingly twisted.
It doesn't matter if another woman was trying to insert herself in your relationship. The important thing is your husband's attitude towards it.
Ye Zhen glanced their way from a distance, then she looked away. For the time being, she didn't have to worry about Lu Beichuan.
"Zhenzhen is back." Mrs. Lu glanced behind her. "Where's Weiyin?"
Not waiting for Ye Zhen to speak, Lu Beichuan came from behind her and wrapped an arm around Ye Zhen's waist. "Miss Shen is feeling a bit uncomfortable. She's going home early."
Mrs. Lu was a bit surprised by that, but she didn't say anything. "That's okay. Beichuan, just go tell Old Master Shen we were a bit neglectful with our hospitality, so he doesn't take offense."
Lu Beichuan nodded and left for the main hall after whispering a few words into Ye Zhen's ear.
On that side, Old Master Shen was still happily chatting away with Old Master Lu. After hearing those words from Lu Beichuan, Old Master Shen immediately got up.
Old Master Lu frowned. "Old Shen, your granddaughter is already in her 20's. You still worry about her?"
Old Master Shen smiled. "I'll just go take a quick look." He quickly headed outside.
Old Master Shen was getting older. Lu Beichuan didn't feel at ease seeing him tottering off with only his cane as a support. He assigned a servant to support Old Master Shen as he walked to the parking area.
Shen Weiyin was currently sitting in the car and sulking. The public had a very good impression of her. She was the ideal young lady from a prestigious family in the eyes of others and couldn't be lacking in manners when she was in front of outsiders.
Old Master Shen got into the car. Seeing that Shen Weiyin's eyes had obviously reddened, he asked, "What's wrong? Who bullied my precious granddaughter?"
Shen Weiyin turned her head to the side and wiped away a tear. She shook her head. "It's nothing."
"If it's nothing, why would you be like this?! Tell grandpa. Who bullied you? Is Lu Beichuan or someone else?!" Old Master Shen was very imposing as he said those words.
The Shen's didn't have as many family members as the Lu's. In the last three generations, there was only one child in each generation. Shen Weiyin didn't have any siblings. Thus, Shen Weiyin had grown up with everyone revolving around her. Truly, she had grown up as the precious darling of her family.
Shen Weiyin's look, it was obvious she was suffering.
How could Old Master Shen not understand? He sighed. "Did grandpa put you in a difficult spot?"
Shen Weiyin stayed silent.
"Grandpa knows this matter is really putting you in a difficult spot. If you had a sibling, our family wouldn't haven't gotten to this point."
Hearing her grandpa saying words of self-disdain, Shen Weiyin mustered up a smile to comfort him. "Grandpa, don't worry. I'll figure out a way."
"Weiyin, grandpa is sorry. If Lu Beichuan wasn't the one in charge of the Lu's right now, grandpa wouldn't have asked you to get close to him."
Shen Weiyin took a deep breath. "Grandpa, don't worry. I'll definitely get this matter done."
Old Master Shen gripped his cane. It took awhile before he finally gave a heavy nod.
People were coming and going in the villa. The sounds of them voicing their congratulations never stopped. The old butler came in and whispered to Old Master Lu, "Sir, he's back."
It was only a few words, but Old Master Lu immediately stood up. In a low, excited voice, he asked, "That rascal is back?"
"Yes, he's just outside the villa. He says he's afraid of getting a beating from you, so he doesn't dare to enter."
Old Master Lu sneered, "So he has a little bit of self-awareness!"
The old butler knew that Old Master Lu was just saying that and didn't mean those words. He smiled and didn't try to persuade him.
After saying that, Old Master Lu sat back down and angrily said, "Beichuan, you go, go get your uncle! I'm definitely going to give him a beating!"
But there was no real anger on Old Master Lu's face.
The heaviness on Lu Beichuan's face had been swept away. There was even a faint trace of a smile that showed he was looking forward to seeing his uncle. "I'll go right away."
Old Master Lu's angry voice had reached the side hall. Ye Zhen whispered to Mrs. Lu, "Mom, who's here?"
Mrs. Lu quietly answered, "Beichuan's uncle. You should go over there to see him too."
Old Master Lu had married three times. Lu Shaoren had several half-siblings too. However, other than Lu Shaoren, he had only given recognition to one other son.
Lu Shaoren was the son that Old Master Lu had with his first wife, so he did have some affection and willingness to help him. As for the man that had just come here, this was the son that Old Master Lu had with his third wife, the wife that he truly loved.
Ye Zhen walked to Lu Beichuan's side. Seeing that he was completely relaxed with anticipation in his gaze as he looked towards the front gate, she furrowed her brow. At this point in time, Lu Beichuan was still naive.
It didn't take long for the old butler to lead the young man into the courtyard. The man looked quite youthful and didn't seem to have experienced how society would grind one down. His expression looked simple, and his face looked sharp and clear-cut. When he smiled, he looked rakish and frivolous. He had the air of frivolity and disrespect. He looked to be around Lu Beichuan's age. Perhaps, he was even a bit younger than Lu Beichuan. His every movement conveyed an aura of someone who had led a life of luxury.
However, Ye Zhen had seen his ruthless decisiveness and fierceness. He was a calm person that had experienced many things as well as a skillful trickster. He wasn't inferior to Lu Beichuan at all.
In the novel, the reasons why Lu Beichuan had been defeated so badly was not just because of the male lead, Lin Zhan. The young man coming towards them had also contributed greatly to Lu Beichuan's downfall. Lu Beichuan had fallen into a disadvantageous position not just because he trusted his uncle too much, but also because his uncle had hidden his scheming side deep enough. That was why Lu Beichuan had ended up facing that biggest crisis in the novel.
"That's my uncle. He was kidnapped with me when I was a kid. He was the one that saved me." Lu Beichuan gave this introduction before stepping forward to chat with his uncle.
Ye Zhen's brow was tightly furrowed. She grabbed Lu Beichuan's arm and whispered, "Are you sure... that he saved you from that kidnapping?"
Lu Beichuan didn't understand the meaning of Ye Zhen's words.
Ye Zhen continued to choose her words carefully in order to not appear as a woman that was trying to baselessly sow dissension without reason. "Haven't you thought about how... the two of you were both children then... How could he have saved you?"
Lu Beichuan understood the meaning of Ye Zhen's words. "Don't worry, my uncle isn't a bad person. At worst, he's just a bit of a smoothtalker that won't let people off easily when he's offended. You'll see for yourself once you get to know him. Let me introduce you to him."
Right after saying that, Lu Beichuan felt as if he had just slapped himself in the face.
It was because he saw the person following behind his uncle, who he had said wasn't a bad person. It was Lin Zhan.
Lu Beichuan slightly furrowed his brow and calmly and silently watched as Lin Zhan followed his uncle into their home.
Soon after, the old butler led the two people to Lu Beichuan. The young man's first action wasn't greeting Lu Beichuan. It was taking a sidelong glance at Ye Zhen.
"If I'm not guessing wrong, this must be your wife, right? His eyes slightly narrowed, and the smile on his face was very licentious. "This is our first time meeting each other. I'll introduce myself first. I'm Lu Shaoyan. Shaoyan as in one that exercises caution. If you don’t like that name, you can call me by another name, Wu Yanzhu.”
(T/N: Wu Yanzhu is a Hong Kong-American actor, director, and producer. He's known for being a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor.)