The Hu Family Head's words were not without truth.
The Luo Family's situation now resembled a lone boat adrift amid a raging tempest—one rogue wave away from being completely capsized.
And if, in this perilous moment, they were to secure a marriage alliance with the Hu Family...
It would indeed be a lifeline, a powerful boon that might steady their course.
"I wonder…" Luo Ping hesitated, his fingers tapping lightly on the tea cup before him. "Has the Hu Family Head already chosen the intended parties for this alliance?"
Hu Da gave a slow, deliberate smile, his eyes gleaming with calculation.
"Luo Youwei," he said, "and my son, Young Master Hu Min. I propose they be joined in marriage."
He leaned back slightly, his tone smooth but weighted. "What does the Luo Family Patriarch think of this union?"
Hu Min, standing beside his father, gave a subtle twitch, his expression betraying a flash of revulsion before it vanished behind a practiced mask.
"Min'er," Hu Da's brow furrowed ever so slightly. His voice lowered a fraction. "Come forward."
Hu Min sighed, the sound soft and weary as if burdened by unseen weight. He stepped forward, his back straight yet shoulders strained.
With a respectful bow, he cupped his fists toward Luo Ping. "Please, Uncle Luo, grant us your blessing."
The words were proper. The posture impeccable. But even so, something rang hollow—something that made the room still and uneasy.
Luo Ping sat in the seat of honor, his gaze sweeping from the ever-smiling Hu Da to the stiff figure of Hu Min. Despite the younger man's show of deference, Luo Ping detected the veiled contempt in his eyes, the subtle recoil beneath the courtesy.
His fingers tightened slightly around the tea cup.
If the Hu Family had proposed a match with any other unmarried girl in the Luo household, Luo Ping would have weighed the offer carefully. There were merits to such an alliance—he could not deny it.
But Luo Youwei?
His daughter, the frail girl who endured torment each full moon, whose body writhed with agony under the influence of forces beyond her control?
How could he hand her over to someone who already looked at her with disdain?
Luo Ping took a deep breath, steadying his heart as he slowly set his tea cup down with a faint clink.
"If the Hu Family Head's chosen bride is my daughter Youwei," he said, his voice calm but resolute, "then I must ask you to leave."
The air in the room grew taut, as if time itself had paused.
Hu Da's eyes narrowed slightly. "You want us to leave?" he echoed, his voice tinged with disbelief. "Is the Luo Family Patriarch certain of this?"
He leaned forward, tone sharpening. "The Luo Family stands at the edge of a cliff. One misstep, and it will all fall to ruin. Without our Hu Family's support, how long do you think you can hold out?"
His words were no longer veiled. The threat in them coiled like a serpent.
"This marriage would have secured your future. Is it truly wise to cast that aside?"
Luo Ping picked up his tea cup again, took one final sip, and then called out clearly, "Someone, show our guests out."
It was done. There was no longer room for negotiation.
Hu Da's face darkened. His cultivated smile vanished, replaced by thin-lipped fury. He rose slowly, every movement sharp with suppressed anger.
As he turned toward the door, he spat out his final words like venom. "Luo Ping, you'll regret this. When your family is crushed under the Zhao Family's heel, when your clan is reduced to ashes, you'll curse the day you rejected my offer!"
…
A short while later, Hu Da and Hu Min were "escorted" from the Luo Family Ancestral Land by a contingent of silent servants.
Though Hu Da was seething, his son—oddly—seemed relieved.
As the gates of the Luo estate closed behind them, Hu Min exhaled deeply, as if shedding a suffocating weight.
"Father," he asked cautiously, glancing sideways at the storm brewing on Hu Da's brow, "now that the marriage alliance has been rejected, what should we do?"
He hesitated before adding, "Those Qing stone mines near Qingshi Town… are we giving up on them?"
Hu Da's lips curled in a cold sneer.
"No," he said, voice low but razor-sharp. "We haven't lost anything yet."
He gestured for their servants to follow as they made their way down the road back to Hu territory.
"My plan was to secure access to the Luo Family's Qing stone trade through marriage. A peaceful way in. A subtle grip on their throat."
"But since Luo Ping so publicly rejected our goodwill—" his tone turned icy, "—then he has no right to accuse us when we stop being polite."
Hu Min frowned slightly. "You… intend to side with the Zhao Family and seize the Luo Family's assets by force?"
Hu Da stopped walking and turned, staring back toward the distant Luo estate. His gaze burned with cold calculation.
"No," he said quietly. "That would make us pawns."
"I want the Zhao and Luo Families to bleed each other dry. I want to watch as they tear themselves apart. And when both lie broken and spent, our Hu Family will step in and claim what remains."
"The fisherman's prize," he added with a thin smile. "While the fish kill each other in the net."
…
Hu Min said nothing for a long time.
The wind rustled the trees along the road. Insects chirped in the distance.
He listened to his father's plan with a heavy heart. It was bold. Cruel. Risky.
And yet, undeniably brilliant.
But how exactly they would play both sides without becoming a target themselves—how they would navigate such treacherous waters—Hu Min couldn't quite grasp.
Several times he opened his mouth to ask.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He didn't want to appear ignorant.
He didn't want to lose his father's trust—or his position as heir.
So he swallowed his questions, lowered his gaze, and walked on in silence.
…
Back in the Luo Family's guest hall, silence reigned once more.
But not for long.
From a quiet corridor behind the hall's inner screen, Luo Chuan stepped out, his eyes dark with thought.
He had overheard everything.
Luo Ping looked up at his son. The lines on the family patriarch's face seemed deeper now, drawn with weariness and conflict.
"Chuan'er," he said quietly, "you must have heard all that just happened."
He set his tea cup down and stared at the surface of the table as if trying to see past it.
"Hu Da spoke the truth. If we joined forces with the Hu Family, the Zhao Family would have to reconsider any rash action."
"In this sense, the alliance would have brought real protection to our Luo Family."
He lifted his gaze to meet his son's, pain flickering behind his eyes.
"But as Patriarch, I rejected the marriage. Tell me… was I wrong?"
Luo Chuan remained silent for a moment.
He thought of his sister, Luo Youwei—delicate, kind-hearted, and tormented every full moon by a curse they could not cure.
He thought of Hu Min's eyes, the sneer that flickered just beneath the surface.
He met his father's gaze, his voice steady.
"No, Father," he said. "You made the right decision."
"To hand over Sister to someone who looks at her like a burden, like a stain on his name… would have been more devastating than anything the Zhao Family could do."
"She deserves someone who sees her strength, not just her affliction."
A silence passed between them, not empty but solemn.
Then Luo Ping gave a slow nod.
"Thank you," he said softly. "Sometimes, doing what's right feels like walking into the storm without shelter."
"But perhaps…" he glanced toward the ancestral hall, "it is in such storms that we discover who we truly are."