Chapter 1 Confiscation and Exile

"Don't hit her, don't hit her! She was just confused for a moment, I promise she won't run away!"

Zhao Liya was drowsy, her ears filled with noisy cries and curses. The intense pain made her tremble all over. When she opened her eyes, she saw a tearful woman rushing over and hugging her tightly, "Please, sir, have mercy!"

"You don't know what's good for you. If you do that again, I'll break your legs! Get up, everyone, get out of here. It's time to get going!"

The middle-aged man on the other side patted the shivering children in his arms, and staggered over to help her and the woman up.

The woman hugged Zhao Liya into her arms and cried bitterly: "Silly child, be obedient, stop making trouble, stop making trouble!"

Zhao Liya moved her lips, not knowing what to say.

On the other side, the officers who beat the man left cursing - they were only responsible for escorting the man out of the Ministry of Justice prison.

Six more officers stepped forward, the leader expressionless: "Come on, put the shackles on Zhao Xiang, it's time to set off."

The family looked terrified. A heavy shackle was put around the middle-aged man's neck and his hands were handcuffed.

The lock was locked with a "click", and the once high-ranking Minister of Rites, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Prince Taifu Zhao Xiang became a criminal exiled to Lingnan, and anyone could step on him.

When Zhao Liya set off, she was still a little drowsy, and her body was burning and painful all over. The original owner's memory gradually became clearer.

That’s right, the original owner had died from the beating just now when the back of her head hit a stone, and she was replaced by the core.

Zhao Liya didn't even want to vomit. Is there anyone more unfortunate than her? As soon as she traveled through time, she was immediately exiled!

She could only try to be cheerful and thankful that the accomplices and children under ten years old did not have to wear shackles, otherwise the whole family might not be able to walk even fifty miles.

After much difficulty, we arrived at the Chunfeng Yangliu Pavilion, ten miles away from the city. This is a farewell pavilion. If relatives or friends come to see you off, they will wait here.

The clan had already expelled their branch before the incident, so there would definitely be no one coming.

Her father committed "great disrespect", which was not a small matter, but a serious offense to the emperor. How many officials in the court would dare to offend him?

Just as they were about to continue on their journey, a carriage came quickly and everyone was stunned.

The carriage stopped in front of them and a steward of medium build with a small moustache jumped out.

"Who are you--"

"Master Zhao, please excuse me for a moment."

Zhao Xiang gave him a suspicious look and said, "Please."

The steward pulled out a token from his bosom and waved it in front of him, saying with a smile, "I am a third-class steward of the Duke of Liguo's Mansion. I believe Master Zhao knows why I am here."

Zhao Xiang was stunned, his expression changed, and his heart suddenly sank.

I'm here to cancel the engagement!

Although their daughter belonged to her husband's family once she was engaged, and they could easily rescue her, he could understand their desire to cancel the engagement.

However, in order to conceal his tracks, he specially sent a small butler who was unknown to everyone to come here in such a hurry in an inconspicuous carriage, which was a bit disgusting. He did not act like this when he proposed to her.

He had misjudged the Duke of Liguo's Mansion!

"Does Duke Li know about this?"

The steward avoided answering, smiling affably and condescendingly, "Master Zhao, this is meaningless. What is Miss Zhao's current status? How can she be worthy of the prince of our Duke's Mansion? Does our Duke's Mansion have no shame? Master Zhao, please face the facts."

Zhao Xiang was furious, his expression changing several times. He clenched his shackled hands tightly, "Marriage is based on mutual consent. Since the Duke of Liguo has changed his mind, my Zhao family will not get involved! I bet you have pen and paper ready? I will write the letter of withdrawal right away."

The young steward laughed heartily, not without pride: "Ah, Master Zhao is indeed worthy of being a leading scholar in the Confucian world. He is polite and amiable! I will go get the pen and ink. Please wait in the pavilion."

There is a stone table and stone bench in the farewell pavilion, which is just right for use.

"father!"

Hearing this, Zhao Xiang and the steward turned to look at Zhao Liya. Not knowing how much she had heard, both of their faces changed slightly.

Although Zhao Xiang was a man of great integrity, he felt a little heartbroken and guilty when facing his daughter. He gritted his teeth and promised, "Ya'er, be good. Dad will definitely find you a good marriage and ensure you a stable life."

He didn't even dare to look at his daughter. She had tried to escape not because she really wanted to escape, but because she wanted to run to the Duke of Liguo's mansion to seek help for her family. This showed how much she valued this marriage. But now -

The steward became alert, fearing that Zhao Liya would start crying and causing trouble, so he immediately said, "You must be Miss Zhao. Our Prince of the Duke of Liguo's Mansion cannot marry the daughter of a convicted official. Your father has already agreed to cancel the engagement. You'd better not make a fuss, otherwise, it will be a disgrace to your Zhao family. Miss Zhao, you don't want to make a fool of yourself before leaving the capital, and be laughed at by others, right?"

"You're overthinking it," Zhao Liya scoffed. "But, isn't it too dishonest of you, the Duke of Liguo's Mansion, to do things in such a way?"

The steward sneered, "Unkind? An engagement between people from different social classes should be cancelled, how can it be unkind?"

Zhao Liya: "Now that my Zhao family is in trouble, you're taking advantage of the situation and breaking off the engagement, but don't you have any response at all?"

The steward was stunned for a moment, then somewhat understood, but his eyes became even more contemptuous: "Miss Zhao means--"

"Shouldn't the Duke of Liguo's Mansion compensate me? The position of the Crown Prince's wife in exchange for three thousand taels of silver and a carriage, isn't that too much?"

The steward sneered and glanced at Zhao Xiang: "I thought Lord Zhao was a man of honor and noble character, but I didn't expect - haha, he actually reeks of money!"

Zhao Liya sneered, "You have no right to comment on my father's behavior. Even a small family would offer the other party 10 or 20 taels of silver as compensation if they broke off an engagement. But you, on the other hand, are so stingy! A Duke's Mansion, yet you are so petty! Ha!"

"you!"

The Duke's Mansion is not being magnanimous enough by acting in this way.

To put it bluntly, it is a loss of status.

The steward looked at Zhao Xiang angrily, "Is this what Master Zhao meant? You want three thousand pieces of silver before you're willing to break off the engagement?"

Such a straightforward question made Zhao Xiang a little embarrassed, but he was not a pedantic person. He naturally understood in his heart how different it was to have money and not have money in the current situation.

Even if he hadn't known it before, the ten miles from the capital had already made him realize how difficult it was to travel. Without money and a carriage, his wife and children would never reach Lingnan.

He was confused, but fortunately Yaer was thoughtful.

He nodded: "Not bad."

Zhao Liya: "Three thousand taels of silver and a carriage, remember that. Your Duke's Mansion is a noble and upright family, so you wouldn't deliberately use an old carriage to fool us, right?"

The steward was furious, "I didn't bring that much silver!"

Zhao Liya said without hesitation: "Then go back and get it."

“.”

I can't go on.

The steward was helpless and stamped his feet, sneering, "Alright, just wait! No matter how much you delay, it's useless. The Duke's Mansion has canceled the engagement! Humph!"

After saying that, he left with a dark face and slammed his hands.

Happy National Day!

I'm starting to work on a new book. Please vote for recommendations, check in, and add it to your collection!

(End of this chapter)