Chapter 262

Are they really going to throw the embroidered ball now?

No, isn’t the second screening just beginning?

Most of the dashing scholars have been eliminated; now only he remains on the arena floor—doesn’t that mean no one’s competing with him?

Or put another way, Miss Bai Yu is throwing the embroidered ball solely for him—she’s taken a fancy to him?

Lu Yunzhan’s eyelids twitched violently; his body stiffened where he stood, and everything around him slowed to an unnatural crawl—the resentful, envious glares from the eliminated scholars, the muttered curses—made him utterly uneasy.

Especially when Bai Yu, on the arena, lifted the embroidered ball with both hands and fixed her gaze upon Lu Yunzhan—in that instant, he forced out a stiff, unnatural smile.

Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Yu hurled the embroidered ball toward the crowd below.

The ball traced a graceful arc through the air—directly toward Lu Yunzhan’s arms—but no! Just as it was about to land in his grasp, he suddenly thrust out his hand and slapped at the incoming ball.

Thwack! The ball struck the ground and rolled away, spinning endlessly.

The red-silk-wrapped embroidered ball lay glaringly on the ground; the entire arena fell utterly silent, not even a pin could be heard.

All the eliminated scholars stared, jaws dropped.

What just happened?

Did we not see correctly? That boy actually slapped the embroidered ball thrown by Miss Bai straight onto the ground?

Is he broken—or are we?

The burly female guard on the arena blinked, then smirked coldly: “Did this young master fail to catch it? No matter—just pick it up.”

Only Lu Yunzhan remained below the arena, and precisely now, the young lady chose to throw the ball—the guard understood perfectly well the reason: clearly, the young lady had set her sights on this man below.

So when this bizarre incident occurred, she immediately scrambled to explain it away.

Lu Yunzhan stared blankly at his hands; just now, he had been agonizingly torn, panicked, and on instinct, he had slapped the ball away.

Now that he thought about it, he felt a pang of guilt.

Before all these eyes, Miss Bai Yu had plainly thrown the ball to him—and yet he had slapped it back. How humiliating for her.

“I—I didn’t mean to!” Lu Fang hurriedly explained.

Bai Yu had remained expressionless throughout, but her gaze toward Lu Yunzhan now held a flicker of interest—as if his slap of rejection had sparked her curiosity.

She had always been confident since childhood; after speaking with Lu Yunzhan, she knew full well he was resistant to her, unwilling to marry yet.

Yet for some reason, she still chose him.

In her view, no man who saw her once could possibly refuse her—after all, this matchmaking event had drawn such a crowd; if she failed to select a husband, the situation would be impossible to resolve.

Rather than choose someone else as her husband, she preferred to let this man, Lu Yunzhan, be the one—it was easier to accept.

“It doesn’t matter,” Bai Yu said, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Your hand touched the embroidered ball—that proves you’re willing to become my Bai family’s son-in-law.”

Shocked beyond measure, Lu Yunzhan didn’t even realize how he left the arena; when he came to his senses, he was already seated in a Bai family carriage, brought back to a manor.

Sitting in his bedroom, Lu Yunzhan frowned slightly—not thinking of some glorious future marital life, nor how to escape this place.

He was thinking only of the whispered words Bai Yu had sent him as she left:

“Help me. Right now, I can trust only you. From your actions, you’re certainly not sent by that person.”

Those words kept circling in Lu Yunzhan’s mind, leaving him utterly baffled.

Why would she say that?

Was it a prank?

No, no, no!

Lu Yunzhan had seen clearly on Bai Yu’s face—the fleeting flash of desperation in her eyes as she whispered to him.

Somehow, his intuition felt unusually sharp.

And this time, his instinct told him that this sole heir of the Bai family was in grave trouble—trouble so great even her father, Viscount Bai Feng, couldn’t be told—or trusted—and she could only seek help by throwing the embroidered ball.

As Lu Yunzhan struggled to make sense of it all, a servant knocked softly on the door and called out: “Young Master Lu, there’s a scholar outside named Ceng Wan—he says he’s your friend.”

“Ceng Wan? Bring him in at once!”

Lu Yunzhan said quickly.

The Bai family guards wouldn’t let him leave the manor—but they didn’t stop him from meeting friends.

He had only arrived in Beiyacheng yesterday; he knew nothing of this place. If Ceng Wan hadn’t mentioned earlier today that Miss Bai was holding a matchmaking event, he wouldn’t have known a thing about it.

His only knowledge of the Bai family came from Ceng Wan.

Clearly, Ceng Wan knew the Bai family well—talking with him now might help unravel some of his doubts.

“Congratulations, congratulations, Young Master Lu! It really is you!” Ceng Wan called out from afar, bowing as he approached Lu Yunzhan at the door. “I saw you outside earlier and couldn’t believe you’d caught Miss Bai’s embroidered ball!”

“Brother Ceng, it’s a long story,” Lu Yunzhan sighed, ushering him in. Once the servant left, he recounted everything that had happened, word for word.

Yet he withheld Bai Yu’s final whispered plea for help.

Not knowing the full situation, he instinctively chose caution—if word leaked, it might endanger Miss Bai.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ceng Wan—he simply feared walls had ears.

Ceng Wan grinned, clapped Lu Yunzhan on the shoulder, and laughed: “Young Master Lu, why do you look so glum? Being chosen by Miss Bai is sheer luck!”

“You don’t know how many scholars out there dream of marrying Miss Bai.”

“Is she not beautiful? Or are you already betrothed?”

Lu Yunzhan shook his head, unsure how to explain his inner turmoil, and sighed: “Miss Bai is indeed a peerless beauty, and I have no betrothal. Perhaps I’m just overwhelmed.”

“By the way, Brother Ceng, how much do you know about the Bai family of Beiyacheng? Could you tell me more?”

Ceng Wan paused, then spoke slowly: “I know quite a bit about the Bai family. Anyone in this region knows something about them—they’re a prestigious clan.”

“The Bai family’s ancestors were marquises; even in the capital, they were influential, with connections spread across the entire Zhou Dynasty.”

“Nowadays, the Bai family is still among the top households in Beiyacheng—but compared to their former glory, they’ve fallen far.”