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“What? Break off the engagement?” The moment Lilith heard those two words, an overwhelming sense of deja vu washed over her, as if she had suddenly stepped into the familiar template of one of those power-leveling wish-fulfillment novels.

Except that in those stories it was always the woman who rejected the man. Here, the situation had somehow reversed, and the man was the one demanding to break the engagement.

As for the pale and listless young man standing there, his identity was not difficult to guess. He was none other than the old city lord’s only son, Julius Song.

There was just one thing Lilith could not quite understand. The City Lord’s Manor was clearly on the verge of collapse. Shouldn’t they be desperately clinging to the Ye family, the only great tree sturdy enough to shelter them, in order to preserve themselves? Why would they choose this moment of all times to come here and demand the dissolution of the engagement?

Blending into the crowd, Lilith quietly decided to watch the situation unfold for the time being.

“Nephew, are you certain you won’t reconsider?”

Seated at the head of the hall, Landon fixed Julius with an unfriendly stare.

“This marriage was arranged personally between your father and myself. For all these years, the City Lord’s Manor and the Ye family have supported each other and endured together until today. And yet now you wish to tear up the agreement so casually. Don’t you think that is rather difficult to justify?”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“Besides… does your father, City Lord Song, actually agree with this decision?”

“My father’s opinion has nothing to do with it. My marriage should naturally be decided by me.” Julius showed none of the respect one would expect when speaking to the head of a great family. He lounged carelessly in the grand armchair, slouched as if he owned the place. Despite the chill of late autumn, he still waved a folding fan with exaggerated flair.

“Uncle Ye, honestly, what era do you think this is? That old-fashioned arranged marriage nonsense went out of style ages ago.”

“Oh?” Landon narrowed his eyes slightly, a dangerous chill glinting within them. “Nephew… do you truly believe this was merely an arranged marriage?”

“Meh, whatever. None of that matters.” Julius shrugged indifferently. “In any case, I absolutely refuse to acknowledge this engagement. I’ve already found my true love, so there’s no way I would ever marry that lunatic, Liana.”

“How dare you!”

With a furious strike of his palm, Landon shattered the tea table beside him into splinters and rose abruptly to his feet. A terrifying pressure descended like a towering mountain upon the arrogant young man who clearly did not know the difference between heaven and earth.

“My Liana is intelligent and bright. I will not allow you to smear her name with such nonsense!”

Julius’ talent had always been mediocre, and since childhood he had shown little interest in serious training. Instead, he had spent his days indulging in various excesses, thoroughly draining his vitality. If he were forced to endure Landon’s peak Ninth-Stage pressure head-on, he would likely cough up blood and collapse with severe injuries.

Yet at that moment, the black-robed figure who had been silently standing behind him stepped forward. With a casual motion, he effortlessly dispelled Landon’s terrifying aura.

“Heh… Patriarch Ye, it’s quite rare to see you lose your composure like this.” The man removed his hood, revealing the withered face of an elderly figure.

“The Wang family’s Third Elder?” Landon’s pupils contracted slightly. “What are you doing here?”

“What? Is the Ye family so grand that it cannot even accommodate an old acquaintance paying a visit?” The Wang family’s Third Elder spoke with a gentle, smiling expression.

“A visit?” Landon sneered. “I don’t recall ever inviting you. Besides, this is a matter between the Ye family and the City Lord’s Manor. What right does your Wang family have to interfere?”

“Who says we don’t?” Like a kindly old grandfather, the Third Elder reached out and patted Julius on the shoulder. “The young lad from the Song family just so happens to have fallen in love with my fifth granddaughter.”

“What nonsense. Don’t you only have four granddaughters? And they’re all already married. Where did this fifth granddaughter suddenly come from?” Landon let out a cold laugh. “Or perhaps the eighteenth concubine you recently took has just given birth to another one for you? But planning to marry her off while she’s still a baby seems a bit impatient, don’t you think?”

“Hahaha, you’re mistaken about that.” The Third Elder chuckled. “My fifth granddaughter is the apple of my eye, so I kept her hidden away since childhood, raised deep within the inner chambers. It’s perfectly normal that no one knows about her. But who would have thought that even though I hid her so carefully, this young prodigy from the Song family still managed to discover her.”

With a satisfied expression, as though admiring a rare and priceless gem, the Third Elder sighed. “Since the two of them are truly in love, how could I, as their elder, refuse to support them?”

‘Who are you trying to fool?’ Almost everyone watching could not help but think the same thing.

What kind of person Julius was had long been common knowledge throughout Maplefall Town. Setting aside his notorious reputation, so terrible that young women across the town avoided walking alone at night, even looking at his hollow, drained face while hearing such claims would make anyone question their conscience.

Lilith, however, quickly grasped the real situation. This farce might appear to revolve around the engagement between Liana and Julius, but in truth it was a struggle between the two great families, the Ye family and the Wang family.

If the engagement were truly broken, the Ye family would lose all face, while the City Lord’s Manor would also lose its final protective talisman in the form of the Ye family. Killing two birds with one stone.

As for this so-called *fifth granddaughter* of the Third Elder… who knew where he had dug her up from. Perhaps some master seductress capable of charming Julius so completely that he had lost his mind.

“Haha, exactly, exactly! Third Elder really understands me.”

The only person in the entire hall who failed to realize that it was all blatant nonsense was Julius himself. Beaming with excitement, he threw an arm around the Third Elder’s shoulders and, puffing out his chest with smug arrogance, declared to Landon, “Uncle Ye, now that things have come to this, are you still going to remain so stubborn? Why not just accept my conditions so we can part on good terms?”

“Julius, you…” It was rare for Landon to be angered to the point that his hands trembled, yet he still forced himself to suppress the surge of fury. Gritting his teeth, he said: “For Victor to have a son like you… truly a blessing he could not have cultivated in eight lifetimes.”

“Haha, Uncle Ye, you flatter me.” Julius gladly accepted the *praise,* grinning from ear to ear. “In that case, I’ll take it that you agree. Don’t worry, the five thousand spirit crystals I promised will be delivered to your residence later.”

“You!” Landon glared at him in fury. In truth, he very much wanted to slap this idiot to death on Victor’s behalf, but doing so would be highly unwise.

Since matters had already reached this point, the most sensible course of action was simply to go along with Julius and agree to dissolve the engagement. At worst, it would only cost him a little face.

Besides, with the City Lord’s Manor having declined so severely over the years, he had long since begun to regret the marriage arrangement made back then.

“In that case, I—”

“Wait!” Just as Landon was about to relent, the long-silent Liana suddenly erupted. “I refuse!”

“Liana, what trouble are you stirring up now?” Landon frowned and looked at her in confusion. “Weren’t you the one who always disliked this engagement the most?”

“That’s a completely different matter! I do hate this useless trash, but—” Liana leapt in front of Julius and pointed straight at his nose, angrily scolding him. “But what right does he have to be the one to break off my engagement?”

“Liana!” Julius brushed aside the finger she was pointing at him and sneered. “I know why you’re saying that. You can’t bear to let go of our engagement, so you’re deliberately trying to provoke me. But I suggest you face reality.”

He puffed out his chest arrogantly. “A young master like me… is far beyond your reach!”

Liana: “…”
Landon: “…”
The Third Elder: “…”
The onlookers: “…”

Truly unbelievable.

If there hadn’t been so many people around making the situation so conspicuous, Lilith would have been tempted to applaud Julius right then and there. What kind of upbringing could possibly produce such an extraordinarily narcissistic oddity?