Guo couldn't stop smiling. "Third daughter, don't be too sad. Just consider these six years as a waste!"

Madam Yun gave her a displeased look.

Madam Su said, "The most important thing right now is for us to strike first and not let any rumors spread, lest we ruin the Third Miss's reputation for nothing!"

Madam Yu immediately realized, “Yes, yes, yes. The sooner the better to break off the engagement. My husband and I will go first thing tomorrow morning. Marriage is a major event, and it is the parents’ decision. It is perfectly legitimate for us, the parents, to break off the engagement.”

Yun Zheng nodded, his tone becoming lighter, "Daughter, don't be afraid. Even if you don't get married, you can still travel around with your father and see the world. Once you've seen the outside world, you'll understand the meaning of 'the sky is the limit for birds to fly.'"

Mrs. Yu immediately glared at him, "You can fly by yourself, but you want to run away with your daughter? No way!"

"Pfft—" Yun Manying couldn't help but laugh, and Yun Tianzhi and Yun Tianjiao also laughed.

Just then, a doorman came to report, "The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an and the heir of the Marquis of Jing'an have arrived."

"So fast?" Old Madam Yun frowned. "Alright, everyone's here, please come in. You younger ones, go to the side room."

Yu Ran and the others obediently hid next door.

A short while later, Liang Yi, with a bruised and swollen face, helped an old lady in.

"My dear in-laws—" The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an wiped away her tears as soon as she saw the old lady of Yun. The old lady of Yun quickly got up and helped her sit down beside her.

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an pressed her eyes again. "My dear in-laws, why are these two children always so troubled? Our two families have waited for each other for six years, we can't just break up like this..."

Madam Guo understood the implication. "Does the old lady mean that the marriage between the two families will proceed as planned? But today's banquet is over..."

"No, not yet... Our family's banquet is in the evening, it's not over yet."

Everyone was taken aback.

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an took a deep breath and glared at her grandson. "It's all because of this unfilial grandson of mine! Why don't you kneel down and apologize to your future grandmother?!"

Liang Yi looked around for a moment before absentmindedly kneeling down.

Madam Yun hurriedly said, "Get up quickly. We were both at fault today."

Upon hearing this, Liang Yi immediately stood up, her eyes darting around again.

Seeing his lack of sincerity and shifty-eyed appearance, Madam Yu was very displeased and said, "What is the old lady doing? The marriage between the two families has become like this, I'm afraid it can't be done. We were just preparing to go to your house tomorrow to break off the engagement, with the betrothal gifts and betrothal papers ready."

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an waved her hand, "There's no rush for the betrothal gifts, and we don't need to use them."

Madam Yun's face darkened. "What do you mean, Madam?"

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an smiled and said, "Old Madam Yun, you see, this marriage is about forging a bond between two families. My young master has been delayed by the Third Miss for so many years, and now that the banquet has been prepared at the manor, it wouldn't be right for us to have worked so hard for nothing, would it? In my opinion, since the Third Miss is unwilling to marry, why not give the Sixth Miss to us? We can bring her back now so that it will be in time for the auspicious time of her marriage as the principal wife. Then there's no need to return the betrothal gifts, nor to reduce them, to show how much we value the Sixth Miss. Let her move from the Fourth Branch to the First Branch."

Upon hearing this, Madam Su flew into a rage and was about to get up when Old Madam Yun reached out and pressed her down.

Upon seeing this, Yu dared not make any rash moves.

Yun Tianzhi, who was in the next room, almost rushed out in anger, but You Ran grabbed him.

With a blank expression, Madam Yun asked, "Oh, so you want to break off the engagement with Third Sister and marry our Sixth Sister instead?"

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an chuckled and said, "Sixth Miss is a stepdaughter from outside the Yun family. How could she be worthy of being the wife of my Yi'er? I will take her back now and have her perform the concubine's rites at the auspicious time for the principal wife. After the principal wife enters the family, she won't dare to look down on her, will she?"

Madam Yun slammed her hand on the table, pointed at her nose, and began to berate her, “What kind of thing is your Jing’an Marquis’s Mansion? You’ve wasted six years of my third daughter’s life, and you still dare to call her a jinx? Fine, this marriage is off, our Duke’s Mansion doesn’t want her! And you dare to come and ask for my sixth daughter to be your concubine?! Your Jing’an Marquis’s Mansion has quite the nerve!”

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an was dumbfounded, not understanding why the old lady of the Yun family had suddenly started to make trouble when they were just talking peacefully.

Liang Yi rushed forward, "Old woman, it's her good fortune that I've taken a liking to your sixth daughter! I'm not even asking for the original betrothal gifts, what more do you want? Ordinary concubines don't have such heavy betrothal gifts!"

Yun Zheng immediately stood up, strode forward, and slapped Liang Yi across the face. "You rude brat! Do you think our Yun family cares about your paltry sums?"

The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an screamed and rushed to her grandson's side, "Yi'er! You...you dare to hit my Yi'er!"

"Get out!" Old Madam Yun shouted. "Guards! Throw these two shameless old rascals out!"

"You... alright, alright... let's go!" The old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an and Liang Yi helped her out.

Old Madam Yun's voice boomed, "And their meager betrothal gifts—throw them all in front of the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion for everyone to see! A mere thirty-six loads of betrothal gifts—not even worth a single gate of my Yun family. How dare they send them here to embarrass themselves?!"

Upon hearing the sound, the old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an stumbled.

When she entered the mansion, she did see the gates of the Yun mansion shining with golden light.

They thought that was just the facade of the Yun family mansion. Could it really be that copper nails wrapped in gold?

Madam Yu slumped into a chair, letting out a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, thank goodness Ying'er didn't marry into such a family..."

Madam Li chimed in, "Exactly! Has the Liang family gone mad? Who in the entire capital doesn't know that our Yun family's Sixth Sister is our lucky star? Even His Highness the Crown Prince couldn't marry her. How dare he ask her to be a concubine?"

Madam Guo: "Oh dear, it must be because of her surname, Su, that outsiders think she's actually a stepdaughter from outside the Duke's family..."

Receiving a death stare from her mother-in-law, she quickly changed her tune, saying, "Don't you even know? In our Yun family, have we ever treated her like an outsider? She's a daughter we love even more than our own!"

This little lucky charm is someone we can't afford to offend.

Madam Yun's expression softened slightly.

Madam Yu scoffed, "She even said she'd take him back for the wedding ceremony at the auspicious time for the principal wife. I think she just doesn't want the feast to go to waste. How could she even think of that!"

Still furious, Madam Su stood up. "No, I have to make some arrangements, otherwise, who knows what kind of rumors will spread tomorrow!"

Madam Yu quickly stood up as well, "Mother, I'll go pack up. We have to call off the engagement tonight!"

Madam Yun waved her hand, and everyone immediately dispersed.

Yun Tianzhi and Yun Tianjiao also came out from the side room, their knuckles cracking as they pressed their fingers together.