He refused to believe that with such a tight defense, combined with the various medicines he had brought out—which he would personally ensure Yun Huizhou took on time—anyone could harm Yun Huizhou right under his nose.
Furthermore, he only knew that something would happen to Yun Huizhou; he didn’t know the specifics of when or how he would be blindsided. His assumption that it would happen during the martial arts marriage competition was merely a guess.
Perhaps it wasn’t this event at all.
It was impossible to make Yun Huizhou hide every time they encountered a conflict.
Having decided to face the matter, Lian Li stared at Yun Huizhou, waiting for his response.
Yun Huizhou lowered his head in thought for a moment before asking Su Jun, “So, what exactly do you intend for us to do?”
Lian Li blinked. Oh, right—Su Jun had only described the Su family’s plight; he hadn’t actually voiced his request for help yet.
Su Jun remained silent for a while before speaking. “We originally planned to discuss this with you both after you had arrived and settled into the Su residence, but I didn’t expect things to take such a turn.”
Lian Li asked, “So, do you have a plan?”
Su Jun replied, “We had a rough plan.”
Lian Li signaled for him to continue.
Su Jun said, “If the Young Hero is willing to help, our plan is as follows: on the day of the martial arts marriage competition, as soon as Su Shan appears, the Young Hero will step up and defeat him directly to prevent any accidents.”
Lian Li: “…”
Wow, that really is a simple and crude plan.
Lian Li asked, “Then what if he wins in the end?”
Su Jun was stunned by the question. Subconsciously, he wanted to say, If he wins, he wins; he’ll marry my sister.
But as the words reached his lips, he suddenly reacted.
The fact that the other party asked such a question meant they had no intention of participating in the competition, nor did they want to marry his sister.
This was clearly outside his expectations. The Su family had a substantial fortune, and Su Fu was a world-renowned beauty; he truly hadn’t considered the possibility that Yun Huizhou and Lian Li wouldn’t want to marry into the family.
He looked at Lian Li, then turned to look at Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou nodded, indicating he shared the same concern as Lian Li.
Su Jun said, “The three people who enter the final round will all need to exchange blows with me. After all, at the very least, they must have higher martial arts skills than mine.”
Lian Li understood. Su Jun meant that Yun Huizhou could simply lose to him at the end.
He hadn’t seen Su Jun fight, but he had seen Yun Huizhou’s performance at the Martial Arts Assembly.
To be honest, the gap between the two was not just a little bit.
If Yun Huizhou were to lose to Su Jun, you couldn’t just say he was “going easy”; it would be more like “releasing an entire ocean.”
Moreover, Yun Huizhou had just taken first place at the Martial Arts Assembly last year. If he were to lose here to a Su Jun who was barely a Second-class martial artist…
Anyone who had paid even the slightest attention to last year’s Martial Arts Assembly would know there was some inside maneuvering going on in this marriage competition.
Seeing that the two remained silent, Su Jun assumed they were unwilling and understood their concerns. Many proud martial artists looked down on the act of intentionally losing to someone inferior in skill.
His face flushed with a bit of heat, but for the sake of his sister, he had no choice.
Thus, he spoke up, “If we can obtain the Young Hero’s help, the Su family will surely offer a heavy reward.”
Lian Li said, “He was the Champion of the Martial Arts Assembly last year. Are you sure he can lose to you here this year? Not everyone, but surely some of the young talents coming here will recognize him. It might be hard to convince the crowd then.”
Su Jun: “…”
Su Jun looked at Lian Li, his eyes filled with a glimmer of hope.
Lian Li: “Don’t look at me. I only started practicing martial arts last year. I truly can’t even beat you.”
The light of hope in Su Jun’s eyes gradually extinguished. Then, he pulled himself together again and said, “Regardless, the two of you have traveled thousands of miles to Fengyi City for the Su family. We must at least host you properly.”
With that, he once again invited Lian Li and Yun Huizhou to stay at the Su residence.
This time, the two did not refuse. After checking out of the inn, they followed Su Jun into the Su family estate.
Master Su received them warmly and prepared a grand evening banquet to welcome them.
Knowing they were fellow disciples, Su Jun arranged for them to stay in the same courtyard.
After Su Jun left, Lian Li looked at Yun Huizhou and said, “This matter with the Su family is hard to call.”
Yun Huizhou shrugged and said, “I actually think the Su family is overthinking it.”
“How so?” Lian Li asked.
Yun Huizhou replied, “Even if Su Shan has reached the second class, he won’t necessarily win the competition. The Su family thinks too highly of him. But that’s normal; I heard that before Su Jun, the person with the highest martial arts in the Su family had only just entered the third class.”
Lian Li looked around to ensure no Su family servants were nearby, then leaned toward Yun Huizhou and whispered, “You mean the Su family themselves are too weak, so they think a Second-class martial artist having ill intent is a catastrophic event?”
Yun Huizhou nodded and, mimicking his manner, whispered back, “That’s exactly what I mean. Given the Su family’s status and Miss Su’s reputation for beauty, there should be plenty of people among those attending the competition who are stronger than Su Shan.”
Lian Li’s expression was somewhat complicated, feeling as though Yun Huizhou was humblebragging.
But considering the circles Yun Huizhou moved in, he felt his perspective was actually normal.
So, he continued to ask, “Then what do you plan to do? Tell the Su family that Su Shan is nothing to fear, or find a way to help them deal with him?”
“We’ll see,” Yun Huizhou said, looking Lian Li up and down. “Su Shan is unlikely to have a chance at winning, and you shouldn’t even think about it. Calling you a Third-class martial artist is already a stretch.”
Seeing Yun Huizhou turn the topic back to him, Lian Li became annoyed. “If we’re talking about Su Shan, talk about Su Shan. Why bring me into it? I’ve only been practicing for a year; I’m doing quite well, alright? Just make sure you don’t lose your head when you see how beautiful Miss Su is.”
“I won’t,” Yun Huizhou huffed.
In the evening, the two followed a Su family servant to the guest courtyard.
Just as they took their seats, a person appeared whom they completely did not expect.
Miss Su, Su Fu.
Lian Li: “…”
Huh? Is it really okay for this young lady to just come out like this and sit at the same table as two unrelated men?
Master Su introduced her with a beaming smile, “This is my daughter, Su Fu. This competition is being held for her.”
Lian Li looked at Su Fu. She gave him a slight smile, though it looked forced no matter how one viewed it.
It felt as though she wasn’t very happy.
Su Jun also kept talking to Yun Huizhou, seemingly making small talk just for the sake of it, as if he were deliberately trying to divert Yun Huizhou’s attention to keep him from looking at Su Fu.
Lian Li’s intuition told him that Su Jun’s mood wasn’t particularly pleasant at the moment either.
After returning a distant yet polite smile to Su Fu, Lian Li lowered his head, his eyebrows arching.
He seemed to know why Miss Su Fu had appeared.
The atmosphere of this banquet was very subtle. Lian Li didn’t know how Yun Huizhou felt, but seeing that his expression hadn’t changed from beginning to end, Lian Li felt a sense of relief.
