Situ Yuyue gazed at the woman next to the man in front of her.

She was much more beautiful than Yuyue, in fact, she could be considered the number one beauty in the small village that Yuyue lived in

The woman in question was named Fang Yan, and the man was her childhood friend, Ji Ruo.

The Ji Ruo gave a sheepish expression as Fang Yan, draped herself over his arm.

“It’s sorry Yue’er, but we are engaged.”

Yuyue gave a gentle smile at his words, while her face was calm her insides roiled.

“I’m happy for you two, truly a dragon and phoenix pairing.” She said, giving a respectful bow.

While she was not happy with this engagement, out of respect for her childhood friend she decided to give him some face.

Ji Ruo and Situ Yuyue had grown up in the same village, Yuyue’s father was the magistrate of the village and Ji Ruo was the son of the most famous hunter in their village. Since much of what their village sold was meats and furs naturally, Ji Ruo and his father also held a high position.

Due to their statuses, they were often together, even playing together, it was not a stretch to say that their engagement was nearly certain, even if it was not set in stone. Ji Ruo’s father and Yuyue's father were drinking buddies and it wasn’t like there was no affection between Ji Ruo and Situ Yuyue.

Still, as they grew up Ji Ruo had begun to realize that he could chase other women due to his status. He was one of the top hunting talents in the village, and women would seek him out.

He was a handsome youth, and unfortunately for Yuyue, her looks could be described as earthly, she was not beautiful but rather a little tomboyish. Although her figure was good enough, her skin was ruddy unlike Fang Yan, who had creamy porcelain-like skin.

Ji Ruo looked slightly concerned

“Is this… all right with you Yuyue?” He asked.

“Of course!” Yuyue replied with enthusiasm while ignoring the stakes that dug in her heart.

“We are good friends Ji Ruo so it’s natural that I congratulate you!”

As Yuyue was saying this her mind flashbacked to all the time that she and Ji Ruo would play at the creek and how he had cheekily stolen her first kiss, declaring that they would be together forever.

Ji Ruo nodded with a knowing look, before walking away with Fang Yan still draped on his arm. As he walked away Fang Yan gave an apologetic gaze to Yuyue before nuzzling her head against Ji Ruo.

Yuyue felt herself slumping, she was not resentful towards Fang Yan, she was just another girl like Yuyue and was honest with her feelings if anything, all Yuyue could do was curse the world for not blessing her with better looks.

She trudged back into her family courtyard. Ji Ruo had come to her house to personally announce the engagement, at the very least, he had the courage to face her while announcing it.

The old servant who had taken care of Yuyue since birth was furrowing his brow.

“Is something troubling Yuyue?”

She waved him away, before settling into her room, she would soon find out that she had lost the motivation to leave her room at all.

During that time, she had heard from the servant that her father had stormed into Ji Ruo’s family house demanding to see Ji Ruo’s father.

Since they were close friends, her father had also expected Ji Ruo to marry Situ Yuyue, but now that it had fallen through, he demand an explanation.

Ji Ruo’s father could only give an extremely apologetic smile and kowtowed in apology, but it was still not enough to change matters that had already been decided. Yuyue’s father out of respect for their prior friendship gave him some face and left after that.

Still, the relationship between their two families had been cut, and Yuyue’s father had ceased the preferable treatment of Ji Ruo’s family and had stopped drinking with his father. Yuyue’s father was not so petty as to suppress Ji Ruo’s family for this matter, he was still an upstanding magistrate at heart, but now, it could be said that there was a certain “coldness” to every government affair they participated in.

“It’s ok, Yuyue, that womanizer Ji Ruo doesn’t know what’s good for him.”

Yuyue’s mother had spent many days with her daughter after Ji Ruo had come to their house. No matter what she did, she was unable to coax Yuyue out of her room.

Seeing that Yuyue was unwilling to leave, she quietly left the room.

Yuyue’s family doted on her and were extremely sympathetic to her plight. She was allowed this childish tantrum, but she knew it would not be able to last forever. Even if Ji Ruo had married someone else, Yuyue would eventually have to marry too, despite her average looks, she was still quite a good partner, being the only daughter of the magistrate.

Laying in her bed, Yuyue’s face was dry, she did not want to give Ji Ruo any of her tears.

Still, as she sat up from her bed for the first time in days, a single tear rolled down her face, as if her emotions were defying her.

Yuyue hated her weakness, she hated herself for not being strong enough to grab what she wanted, like a life with Ji Ruo.

It was then she carved a Dao in her heart,

“I refuse to bow my head again!”

Kitsura

Doot Doot new webnovel, this time a Xianxia/Wuxia Novel. The names are mostly meaningless except for the MC and others, Follow my Twitter, there might be some relation there...

I will post 5 chapters today and then 1 chapter a day until then, since I'm in the honeymoon phase of writing chapters I wouldn't be surprised to see myself post more.