Upon hearing Madam Pei's words, the little girl's tears, which she had been holding back, and all the grievances she had been holding back burst forth. She threw herself into the old lady's arms and cried uncontrollably.

"Grandmother, I just saw that man in the front yard. I won't marry him, I'd rather die than marry him..."

"Fine, I won't marry him. Our Shushu won't marry him."

Madam Pei hugged her tenderly, but Madam Wen scoffed. Although she didn't say anything, everyone knew that this marriage was not something that could be called off.

Upon realizing this, everyone fell silent.

The air was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Just then, Jiang Shuwan reached out her hand to Madam Wen, "Madam, may I show the marriage certificate to my daughter-in-law?"

"Ha! Go ahead and look. Every word of this marriage agreement was written by the Fourth Master. I don't believe you can find any tricks up your sleeve."

Wen saw that Jiang Shuwan wanted to meddle in this matter, so she disdainfully handed the marriage over to Jiang Shuwan and watched the show with amusement.

She didn't care about Pei Shushu's marriage, but if it could implicate Jiang Shuwan and pin the blame on her for failing to save her sister, it would be somewhat advantageous for her.

Thinking about it, Madam Wen secretly observed Jiang Shuwan's expression.

On the other side, the fourth wife also looked at Jiang Shuwan with hopeful eyes, hoping that she would have the insight to see the problem with the marriage certificate and then reject the marriage.

However, these days gambling is not illegal, and neither is a father selling his daughter.

The marriage certificate was written word by word by the fourth master in front of everyone at the gambling den.

With everyone watching, the Marquis's family had no way to deny it.

"No! You can't!"

“I do not agree to let Shushu marry into that kind of family. I have already sent people to inquire. That madman and cripple loves to torture women. His first two wives were tortured to death by him. I absolutely do not agree to Shushu marrying him!”

Even if... even if...

The fourth wife glanced at everyone in the room, her gaze finally settling on the Buddhist prayer beads in Wen's hand.

Her gaze was filled with pain and determination. "If Shushu marries him, her life will be ruined. Even if she shaves her head and turns to dust, and spends her life in seclusion with only a Buddhist lamp, I cannot stand by and watch her suffer such humiliation."

After the fourth wife finished speaking, she burst into tears, clearly this was the only solution she could think of.

Wen sneered at this.

"Fourth sister-in-law, I'm not trying to discourage you, but even if you're going to shave your head and become a nun, you have to be a free person first. Now that your daughter has been given away, legally speaking, she belongs to that cripple. What right do you have to make her become a nun?"

As she spoke, Madam Wen paused again, glancing at Jiang Shuwan with a seemingly casual look before leisurely recounting the cruelty of the world.

"Even if she becomes a nun, with this marriage certificate, that cripple can still drag her back from the Buddhist temple!"

"..."

The fourth wife's face immediately turned ashen from the blow.

Pei Shushu looked completely blank, the little girl's red and swollen eyes staring blankly around her.

She looked up at Madam Pei, who was holding her, and saw that the old lady was frowning and not speaking, so she knew that what Madam Wen said was true.

For a moment, she felt as if her heart had been hollowed out.

Suddenly, she remembered Pei Jing's mocking words to her that morning.

"You think you can marry into a family like the Duke's mansion like I did?"

"You blind fool, the fact that you can marry a rich man or a minor official of the seventh or eighth rank is all thanks to our Marquis's family."

At the time, she only found these words harsh and unpleasant, but not unacceptable.

After all, she had witnessed Pei Jing's experiences in the Duke's mansion and the constant targeting of Jiang Shuwan by the Wen family. She knew all too well that life was not easy for women who married into high-ranking families.

She also admitted that she was not capable of marrying into a wealthy family.

She didn't have Pei Jing's background, nor was she as intelligent as Jiang Shuwan.

Ever since her mother started arranging marriages for her, her idea has always been to marry a wealthy man who shares her sentiments, or even a minor official.

I don't ask for great wealth or high status, I only ask for a peaceful and smooth life.

This has always been her thought, and even after experiencing the thrill of deceiving the Duchess today, it hasn't changed.

She is still herself.

I don't seek great wealth or high status, I only wish for peace and tranquility.

I never imagined that even this would be a pipe dream...

She covered her mouth with both hands, tears silently streaming down her face. The little girl's once bright and clear eyes were now empty, filled only with confusion and sorrow.

"Shushu, I'm so sorry, I was wrong..."

"Father deserves to die..."

"But the marriage agreement has already been signed, there's no going back on it, so you...you...you should just marry me!"

"Your father has knelt down and kowtowed to you, so just accept your fate. Don't blame your family. It's not that your family hasn't thought about saving you. The old lady even said she was willing to give 100,000 taels of silver to arrange the marriage, but the other party won't do it!"

Looking down at her father, who was kneeling at her feet and wailing, Pei Shushu subconsciously reached out her hand.

"Father, you are my elder, how can you kneel before me?"

As she spoke, she went to help him up.

The fourth master's face lit up with joy. "Good child, have you forgiven your father? That's wonderful! I knew you would forgive me, after all, you are my most precious daughter!"

Pei Shushu paused in her act of helping the person up, but the Fourth Master didn't notice anything.

As he nimbly got up, he continued, "Your mother is a shrew too. She'll start a fight at the slightest disagreement. Look at my face, it hurts so much! It's only because I'm magnanimous that I didn't hold it against her. Otherwise, if she, a woman, had beaten me like this, I would have divorced her!"

The Fourth Master touched the wound on his face and grimaced as he stared at Pei Shushu, whose face was as white as paper, feeling very gratified.

He smiled.

"Good girl, it's a good thing you're not like your mother!"

Pei Shushu's arm, which was supporting the person, suddenly slumped down, and something in her eyes gradually faded away.

The oblivious Fourth Master finally noticed that something was wrong with her.

"My good daughter, are you afraid that the cripple will treat you badly? Don't worry, he won't dare to treat you badly."

"Father, do you know that the cripple has killed two of his wives before?" Pei Shushu stared at the Fourth Master, still holding a sliver of hope.

"I know, what man doesn't hit a woman?"

"Besides, if you don't provoke him, why would he hit you?"

Pei Shushu smiled desperately, "Father, he beat someone to death!"

"Then, then, he must have been careless, just by accident. After all, who in their right mind would like to kill someone? It must be because those women are too weak to handle."

"And Shushu, my good daughter, if he had done it on purpose, he would have been locked up by the authorities long ago. How could he still be out doing business, let alone doing such a big business?"

"Good boy, let me tell you, his family is incredibly wealthy. Not to mention anything else, his gambling den in the capital alone brings in tens of thousands of taels of silver a month!"

"That's a whole month!"

"That adds up to hundreds of thousands of taels a year. With so much money, you'll enjoy a life of luxury if you marry into that family."

"His family is so wealthy, they're probably even richer than the Duke's mansion!"

"You'll be blessed to marry into this family! You'll live a good life!"