Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 50 Breaking Off the Engagement
Chen Huan spoke these words casually, yet they carried an undeniable air of authority.

When he said Chen Qing was being unreasonable, he wasn't necessarily referring to the argument between Chen Qing and Madam Li. Rather, he was saying that when he came to the Gu family today, Chen Qing was there but didn't greet him at the door.

As a son, this is a great breach of etiquette, or what Chen Huan calls "ignorance."

Chen Qing stood still, not moving. After a while, he looked up at his father and asked, "What are you going back to Huzhou for?"

Chen Huan frowned, then looked up and glanced at his son before him, saying calmly, "Go back to Huzhou, apologize to your aunt, and then reconcile."

"Next year, I'll find you a wife in Huzhou, and you can stay in Huzhou and take care of the family business."

Chen Qing looked up at Chen Huan.

"Apologize and make up."

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "We've never been on good terms, so how can we talk about making up?"

Chen Huan lowered his head and drank his tea: "That's not important."

Chen Qing gave a self-deprecating laugh: "I know that Father doesn't really want me to reconcile with that concubine. He just wants to make it look like we've reconciled, so as to erase the incident with Deqing from the past."

He clenched his fist, looked up at Chen Huan, and shook his head: "I won't go back to Huzhou."

Anger finally showed in Chen Huan's eyes.

"Do you think that once you're in Deqing and have a powerful backer, you can act with impunity?"

Chen Huan said coldly, "You think too highly of the Gu family, which is just a merchant family. Gu Chenglong even praised you for being smart, but I don't see where your intelligence lies."

At this point, the prefect stood up, walked up to Chen Qing, raised his hand high, and slapped Chen Qing across the face without hesitation.

"Fool!"

He slapped her.

Chen Qing had been watching him the whole time. He took a step back and dodged the slap.

Chen Huan flew into a rage and kicked Chen Qing hard, yelling, "You unfilial son, you dare to dodge!"

Chen Qing dodged again, taking several steps back and looking at Chen Huan from a distance: "Why can't I dodge?"

He clenched his fist: "You still want me to reconcile with that woman!"

"It's been three years. In these three years, every time I drink the herbal medicine she sends me, my head feels dizzy!"

"do you know?"

Chen Huan failed to hit Chen Qing twice, and was extremely angry. However, as a scholar and having served as an official for many years, his skills were naturally not very good. After catching his breath, his anger intensified.

"This isn't about you and your aunt!"

Prefect Chen roared, "You dare to disobey your own father like this? I'll have the Deqing County government arrest you immediately and find you guilty of disobedience!"

Disobedience is indeed a sin, and a serious one at that.

In this era that values ​​filial piety, this crime is the most serious and punishable by death.

Moreover, if Chen Huan were to take "vigilante justice" and beat Chen Qing to death, it wouldn't even be against the law.

However, Chen Qing's behavior was clearly not rebellious; at least he refrained from attacking Chen Huan.

"I did not disobey."

Chen Qing looked at Chen Huan, and his heart was surprisingly calm. He took a deep breath and said, "I can't go back to Huzhou with you."

Chen Huan said "good" several times, then sat back in his seat and said angrily, "I don't know where you get your backing, but the marriage between the Chen family and the Gu family must be called off today!"

"I wonder what you'll have to rely on without the Gu family!"

Chen Qing looked at him and said, "I have no intention of relying on the Gu family for anything. If Father insists on breaking off this marriage, I will move out of the Gu family today and live elsewhere."

"As for the future, whether Miss Gu and I can still be together, that depends on my own abilities."

He looked at Chen Huan, clenching his fist: "In these three years, I won't say I've narrowly escaped death, but I've certainly faced danger several times! Half a year ago, I was in a coma for several days and didn't see my father return, nor did I hear a single word from him!"

“More than a month ago, my father personally asked me to come to Deqing to marry into the Chen family, and I agreed. Now that I have left the Chen family, how is that a crime?”

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, then continued, "Now that I have just gained a foothold in Deqing, my father has come from out of town, determined to break up this marriage."

He looked at Chen Huan.

"Can you really not bear to see me living a peaceful life?"

Chen Huan said coldly, "You have only yourself to blame. You had a huge fight with your aunt, and things got out of hand." Chen Qing smiled self-deprecatingly, "It probably affected Father's reputation."

He looked at Chen Huan.

"Shouldn't Father have reprimanded the mother and son for this?"

Chen Huan said expressionlessly, "Your aunt said that she wanted to take you back to Huzhou after she saw that you had regained your senses, so that you would not continue to marry into the Gu family and ruin the reputation of our Chen family."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing sneered repeatedly: "She came to Deqing to finalize the matter of her son-in-law marrying into the family, but when she heard from Uncle Gu that he was going to marry his daughter to me, she insisted on taking me back to Huzhou!"

"What a blatant distortion of the truth!"

Chen Huan closed his eyes, barely suppressing his anger.

"These are all family matters of the Chen family. Don't embarrass yourself here. Go pack your things immediately. Once we return to the Chen family in Huzhou, you can naturally discuss everything with them."

"I won't go back."

Chen Qing turned and left: "If Father is really angry, he might as well have the yamen send someone to arrest me and send me back to Huzhou in a cage."

Chen Huan got up and chased after him. Looking at Chen Qing's back, he was no longer calm and collected. Instead, he gritted his teeth in anger and cursed, "You unfilial son! You unfilial son!"

Chen Qing stopped, turned around and looked at him, gritting her teeth.

"From now on, my son and I will be considered to have separated our households!"

After saying that, Chen Qing made a firm decision, turned around and strode away, returning to his courtyard to pack his things.

The engagement between him and Miss Gu was indeed arranged by Chen Huan. If Chen Huan wanted to break the engagement, then theoretically the engagement would no longer exist.

Therefore, he could no longer continue living at the Gu family's house; he had to at least express his attitude.

Chen Qing hadn't gone far when he saw Master Gu waiting nearby. Chen Qing stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Uncle, I need to move out of the Gu family for a while."

"So that the Chen family won't say that I'm still relying on their connections."

Master Gu patted his shoulder and sighed, "Although your father has a bad temper, he is not entirely unreasonable. Nephew, you should be a little more tactful."

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "There really is no reason to explain it."

At this point, he looked at Master Gu and suddenly bowed, saying, "Uncle, no matter what, I am sincere towards Miss Gu. If this engagement is broken off, please do not betroth Miss Gu to anyone for the next year or two."

"Once I have a stable foundation, I will come to the Gu family to propose marriage."

Chen Qing said solemnly, "When the time comes, my agreement with my uncle will still stand. If I have two sons, I will choose one of them to take the surname Gu."

Mr. Gu nodded first, then silently patted Chen Qing's shoulder and sighed, "I'm afraid I can't wait much longer."

"Go ahead, I'll go and talk to your father again."

Chen Qing nodded and strode away to pack his things.

Meanwhile, Master Gu returned to the main hall. As soon as he entered, he saw Master Chen sitting in a chair with a dark face.

Upon seeing Master Gu enter, Chen Huan abruptly stood up, grabbed Master Gu's sleeve, and angrily exclaimed, "That unfilial son has truly lost his mind!"

"Brother Gu, come with me to the county government office and be my witness. We'll have him thrown into jail for his disobedience!"

Master Gu pulled him down to sit again, and said with a wry smile, "Brother Zhaoming, how can we question his disobedience in his condition?"

Chen Huan calmed down and had nothing to say.

Chen Qing's actions could at most be considered "unfilial," and at worst, they would affect his future civil service exams, but they did not break the law.

Furthermore, Chen Huan is unlikely to publicize this matter, as failing to properly educate his son would also damage his own reputation.

"A son is no longer under his father's control once he grows up."

Master Gu sighed: "Brother Zhaoming, the children already have their own ideas."

Chen Huan took several deep breaths before looking up at Master Gu.

"We absolutely cannot let this go!"

Chen Zhaoming clenched his fists, his face showing anger.

"The Chen and Gu families hereby sever their engagement!"

(End of this chapter)