The Young Lady is a Bit Unruly [Fragrant Harbor] - Chapter 2: Ritual Marriage to Ward Off Bad Luck

Chapter 2: Ritual Marriage to Ward Off Bad Luck

Who arranges a blind date where you have to meet the man’s elders first?

What kind of momma’s boy is this? Ye Baoling had zero interest.

I don’t want to meet him.

In her previous world, Ye Baoling had been all about work—nothing but work—to build a better life. She’d never even considered dating or marriage.

Now that she’d transmigrated into this story world, and considering her grandfather was one of Port City’s top tycoons, if she wanted to make big money, she could just find a way through her grandfather’s family. There was no need to marry for money.

Seeing her granddaughter’s firm stance, Gu Old Lady didn’t push further. Then I’ll turn her down.

The old woman stood up and walked to the window to pick up the phone, preparing to call the matchmaker.

Before she could dial, she heard a car pulling up downstairs and instinctively looked out.

Ye Baoling, who had followed her, also glanced outside and saw a classic Rolls-Royce parked at the entrance, with a license plate bearing only the single digit 3.

The blind date’s family car?

Gu Old Lady had farsightedness and could see clearly. Isn’t this the car from your Ye family’s Third Branch?

The Ye family’s Third Branch?

That was the powerful backer behind the male lead in the original story.

Ye Baoling’s grandfather was the third-generation head of the Ye family’s Eldest Branch, making her a veritable fifth-generation heiress.

The Ye family’s founding patriarch, Ye Qingtang, came to Port City alone in the late 19th century to make his fortune. He earned his first bucket of gold by selling a secret-recipe herbal tea.

Later, Ye Qingtang opened over ten herbal tea shops, acquired Port City’s largest gold and jewelry store, Su Man Jewelry, established the 999 gold standard, monopolized the gold business in Port City, and became a wealthy magnate.

Ye Qingtang had three sons.

The eldest, Ye Baoling’s great-grandfather, was born to the legal wife and was responsible for managing the family business.

The second and third were born to concubines.

The second son became a doctor, while the third son became the most renowned Chinese lawyer since Port City’s founding.

After Ye Qingtang passed away, the three brothers divided the family assets and went their separate ways.

The Eldest Branch inherited 80% of the ancestral property, while the Second and Third Branches each received 10%.

This meant that Ye Baoling’s grandfather’s Eldest Branch was the largest holder of the Ye family’s ancestral wealth.

The Second Branch later opened a private hospital, and aside from practicing medicine, most of their descendants became cultural workers.

The Third Branch’s patriarch, being a lawyer, was shrewd. He married the illegitimate daughter of the British Chamber of Commerce president, leveraged various connections to establish the first Chinese-owned private bank, and—crucially—his children and grandchildren were exceptionally capable. Building on the private bank, they founded a multinational industrial company.

Unlike the conservative Eldest Branch, the Third Branch had always been more ambitious, and their family business had now grown even larger.

Ye Baoling accompanied her grandmother downstairs to the living room to meet the guests.

The visitors were the current matriarch of the Ye family’s Third Branch, Guan Old Lady, and her eldest daughter-in-law.

Guan Old Lady looked Ye Baoling over and asked with a smile, This must be our Eldest Branch’s Baoling, right? By family hierarchy, you should call me Fifth Aunt.

Hello, Fifth Aunt.

It’s been nearly ten years since we last met. I never expected you to have grown into such an elegant young lady. Your eyes and brows look so much like your mother’s. Guan Old Lady’s eyes were full of admiration.

Gu Old Lady modestly replied, What’s the use of good looks? She stays at home with an old woman like me every day and hasn’t seen much of the world.

After chatting in the living room for a while, Gu Old Lady noticed Guan Old Lady hesitating slightly and tactfully invited them to the small tea room to continue their conversation.

After hearing their purpose for the visit, Gu Old Lady was quite shocked. I’m afraid that might not be possible, right?

It turned out that Ye Huaizhang, the eldest grandson of the third branch, had been kidnapped a month earlier while negotiating business in South Africa. After the third branch paid a huge ransom, the kidnappers vanished without a trace. Ye Huaizhang never returned, and there had been no news of him since.

Guan Old Lady had been crying at home for a month. Previously a highly rational woman who prided herself on being cultured and never believed in ghosts or gods, she suddenly recalled that during her mixed-race mother-in-law’s lifetime, whenever faced with unsolvable problems, she would go to Three Dragon Pond to seek Tong Po for divination and rituals—after which things often resolved smoothly. For this reason, Guan Old Lady specially went to consult Tong Po.

Tong Po instructed them to find a girl whose birth characters matched Ye Huaizhang’s for a ritual marriage to ward off bad luck. She assured that if they followed her guidance, the young master would surely return safely.

What seemed like a simple requirement proved extremely difficult in practice.

After calculating Ye Huaizhang’s fate pattern, Tong Po determined they needed a girl whose birth date and time contained pure yang energy without any yin to guide him home and ensure his safety.

After searching throughout the entire city, Ye Baoling was the only candidate who matched both the age and birth character requirements.

Hearing Gu Old Lady’s refusal, Guan Old Lady sighed and said, This is precisely why I didn’t consult with our Ye family’s main branch. I know they’re very traditional and believe people with the same surname and lineage cannot marry. What’s a matter of life and death to us may not be so to them.

Gu Old Lady responded, While marriages between cousins are common, unions within the same lineage are indeed rare.

Blood-wise, cousins are actually closer relatives! In Port City, cousin marriages are everywhere and nobody objects, right? Baoling and our Huaizhang are already fifth-generation collateral relatives, and they don’t even share the same great-great-grandmother. Both medically and legally, there’s absolutely no problem. Being an old intellectual, Guan Old Lady tried to persuade Gu Old Lady, I was thinking we could just perform the ceremony first. After the wedding, when our Huaizhang returns—if they get along well, then everyone’s happy with a harmonious union. If they really can’t stand each other, I won’t stop them from divorcing. I’m quite open-minded about this. We’re willing to provide any compensation.

The implication was that they were willing to pay for a ceremonial formality.

Gu Old Lady shook her head: Guan Old Lady, this isn’t about money. I can’t make decisions about Baoling’s marriage—we must consult her grandfather and father.

Guan Old Lady knew the main branch would definitely object, which was why she wanted to present them with a fait accompli by having the marriage take place first.

Baoling, what do you think? Guan Old Lady looked at Ye Baoling, placing her hopes on the young girl. Whatever you need, if we have it, we’re willing to offer it with both hands.

Houses, cars, savings, jewelry—none of these were problems.

Before coming, they had investigated thoroughly: since the Gu family went bankrupt, the large household had been living in difficult circumstances.

When they entered earlier, they saw the humble doorway, worn furniture, and five or six boisterous children dressed very plainly. The children had taken the chocolates they brought upstairs and were noisily arguing about something.

It wasn’t hard to see the family was truly struggling.

Guan Old Lady looked at Ye Baoling with earnest anticipation. The young girl must surely like beautiful clothes and pretty jewelry—the main branch probably didn’t care much about her, otherwise they wouldn’t have let her live in such conditions.

If Ye Baoling agreed to the marriage, both she and her grandmother’s family would enjoy better lives.

But Guan Old Lady couldn’t state this too bluntly—after all, everyone valued their dignity.

Her words were tactfully implied, leaving one to wonder if the young girl could grasp the underlying meaning.

Having been battered by society, how could Ye Baoling fail to understand the subtext?

From the moment they met, she had sensed Guan Old Lady’s excessively attentive gaze, but she never expected her blind date to be Ye Huaizhang, the eldest grandson of the Third Branch of the Ye family.

In the original plot, the Third Branch was merely background detail, with no elaboration on their circumstances. She had no idea whether Ye Huaizhang ultimately lived or died.

However, after being kidnapped for a month with no further news, it was almost certain that something had happened to him.

The odds were grim.

In other words, if she agreed to the marriage, there would be no groom—so whether she married or not made little difference.

She wouldn’t be at a disadvantage and could still secure the benefits she desired.

With this in mind, Ye Baoling smiled faintly and said, What I want, Fifth Aunt, you may not be willing to give.

Guan Old Lady and her daughter-in-law exchanged a glance. As long as the other party showed willingness, there was hope.

Just name your terms.

Gu Old Lady, fearing her granddaughter might actually agree, hurriedly intervened, Baoling, marriage is no trivial matter—you can’t treat it lightly.

But it was too late to stop Ye Baoling from stating her conditions: I want the Ugly King Jade Pendant held by your Third Branch.

At these words, Guan Old Lady seemed not to comprehend. You want what?

The Ugly King Jade Pendant in the possession of your Third Branch.

Why?

Why? Because it was her mission.

The very day Ye Baoling transmigrated into the story, she received a task: to collect the Ugly King Jade Pendants from all three branches of the Ye family within one year, or face 360 different ways to die.

When she first saw this mission, she was furious.

She had no idea what the Ugly King Jade Pendant looked like or what purpose it served.

The original script of *The Appraisal Genius* contained no mention of the Ugly King Jade Pendant. However, she had once suggested that the plot was too disjointed and proposed adding a treasure-hunting subplot to tie the storylines of the Male and Female Leads together.

So, the Ugly King Jade Pendant was likely a new element the screenwriter added based on her suggestion.

She had only herself to blame.

She never should have made that damn suggestion!!

Who would have thought she’d end up digging her own grave?

Faced with this golden opportunity, Ye Baoling was determined to seize it firmly.

You may not know this, but my parents’ divorce had something to do with the Ugly King Jade Pendant. I won’t go into details. I want to obtain the pendant and present it to my mother, to fulfill her wish. To downplay her intense desire for the jade, Ye Baoling added extra conditions as cover: Besides the Ugly King Jade Pendant, I also want your family’s heirloom jade bracelet and at least 500 grams of gold.

That made it much more reasonable.

Yet Guan Old Lady looked troubled. The gold is manageable, but could we convert the Ugly King Jade Pendant and the heirloom jade bracelet into cash…

Judging by the old lady’s tone, she would likely be willing to offer hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

Of course, Ye Baoling would have preferred cash, but her life was at stake. She had to complete the mission, so she reluctantly insisted, I don’t want money.

Guan Old Lady found her both filial and stubborn—admirable qualities, yet troublesome. This complicates things, she sighed.

Yang Pinxian, Ye Huaizhang’s mother, had remained silent until now. Seeing her mother-in-law in a difficult position, she softly said to Ye Baoling, The Third Branch’s heirloom jade bracelet is in my possession. If you’re willing to become my daughter-in-law, I would naturally pass it to you—that’s not an issue.

So, the problem still lay with the Ugly King Jade Pendant.

Old Lady Guan spoke truthfully: The Ugly King Jade Pendant is a family heirloom. All three branches of the family have one. To be honest, it’s not particularly high-quality jade and isn’t worth much money – your grandfather should know this well. Its significance outweighs its material value. It’s not that I’m unwilling to give it to you, but… when Grandpa Huaizhang was still alive, he passed down our third branch’s Ugly King Jade Pendant to Huaizhang. We don’t know where he might have kept the jade pendant. How about this – we’ll replace it with more precious top-grade jadeite. What do you think?

Ye Baoling employed a strategic retreat: Then we’ll have to forget about it. I’m also afraid that if Grandfather and Father find out, they’d break my legs.

Old Lady Guan paused.

We can’t just let this go, said Yang Pinxian, her eyes red-rimmed. Even if there was only a sliver of hope, she wasn’t willing to give up: Mother, why don’t we go back and search for it first? We might actually find it.

Though Old Lady Guan was advanced in years, her mind remained sharp. She already had a plan and wanted a definite answer.

Baoling, if we manage to find the Ugly King Jade Pendant, will you agree to this marriage arrangement?

Old Lady Gu gently tugged at Ye Baoling’s sleeve, signaling her not to agree carelessly.

A fake marriage would complete one-third of her task, with the only cost being a wedding ceremony ritual – and without even needing a groom. This was like manna from heaven, and Ye Baoling couldn’t possibly pass it up.

But she couldn’t agree so readily.

As someone navigating society, she still needed to maintain proper decorum.

Fifth Aunt, regardless of everything, we’re still family. Since you’ve come to ask me, and with such sincerity, I’m certainly willing to help my own family. However, I have one precondition – it must be clearly established that this is a fake marriage, not a real one. I’ll only help you complete the ritual, nothing more.

Old Lady Guan said excitedly: No problem. Holding the ceremony should be sufficient.

Then I agree to this marriage arrangement. Ye Baoling nearly extended her hand to say pleasure doing business.

Thank you, Baoling. We have an agreement then. The mother and daughter-in-law were quite pleased.

They didn’t have time to stay longer, rising to take their leave and return home to search for the Ugly King Jade Pendant.

After the guests had left, Old Lady Gu expressed her dissatisfaction with her granddaughter’s unilateral decision: How could you agree just like that?

It’s fake, not a real marriage. Just performing a ritual ceremony.

Old Lady Gu sighed: You still remember how your mother was falsely accused of stealing the Ugly King Jade Pendant. Ah, your mother was foolish back then too – she was forced to agree to the divorce.

This matter had happened over ten years ago.

Ye Baoling comforted her grandmother: If I can get that pound of gold, I’ll exchange it for Hong Kong dollars and let my younger sisters eat meat every day.

This statement immediately made Old Lady Gu laugh.

But her laughter soon turned sorrowful as she wondered: how had their family fallen to such a state?

Even if she refused to admit it, in others’ eyes, the Gu family had long become impoverished.

Ah!

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring…

The telephone rang.

After answering the phone, Sister Ping covered the receiver and whispered to Ye Baoling: Young Miss, it’s your father on the phone.

Author’s note: