"What kind of family did you choose? Your aunt and I came to their house in a nice manner to discuss arranging your marriage with the second son of the Chen family in advance. What a shame, the Chen family actually didn't want to!" Yao's mother scolded in a bad mood.
Yao Xing stood there with her head down, letting her talk.
"If I hadn't been so forceful, I would have told them directly that if they were willing to get married earlier, we would give them an extra 20% of the dowry. If they weren't willing, then we could call off the engagement, but we would only return half of the betrothal gift their Chen family had given. If it weren't for these threats and inducements, this matter would have continued."
After saying this, Yao's mother looked at her with disdain and waved her hand to send her away.
After that day, Yao Xing became much more obedient and silent.
When she came out of Yao's mother's room, she saw her aunt and uncle standing under the eaves talking. She paused for a moment, and instead of going over, she turned back to the house.
Yao Chunnuan and her eldest cousin Yao Qingfeng also saw her, but they didn't care much.
Summer rain always comes quickly and suddenly. Her eldest cousin came to deliver a message to her and was caught in the downpour.
"The Wang and Han families will be interrogated tomorrow. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Yao Chunnuan reached out to catch the raindrops falling from the eaves and said, "No."
Her mood, like the rainy day, was gloomy and unpleasant. So, when she heard his words, she refused without a second thought. This wasn't a case where an injustice had been redressed and the truth had been revealed. Going would only cause her trouble. While she wasn't a completely good person, she still hoped there would be more good people in the world.
Unfortunately, this world loves to turn good people into bad people. This major drama of Wang Lang's blackening turned a sunny and cheerful handsome guy into a cruel and ruthless conspirator.
She sighed, thinking that with one less good person, it would be harder to survive in this society.
Yao Chunnuan didn't go to see it because she already knew the result, but the Yao family didn't know, so they were naturally concerned.
The case involved the Wang and Han families, and the prefecture lasted for ten days to try it.
The Yao family was in a heavy mood at first, but later they seemed to have accepted the worst outcome and gradually calmed down.
In the prison, as the case progressed, the moods of the two families involved also fluctuated.
The final trial is approaching, the situation is not optimistic, and the case is very unfavorable to them.
The men were fine, having a relatively high ability to handle stress, but they were just feeling heavy-hearted. The women, on the other hand, were not doing so well. They all sat in their cells in a daze, an atmosphere of despair permeating the air.
Wei Qiuyu hugged her knees with her hands, buried her face in them, and said in a hoarse voice, "I don't know what the verdict will be tomorrow."
No one paid any attention to her, no one was willing to speak, and no one even had the desire to talk.
"Will we be beheaded?!" Wei Qiuyu said this hesitantly.
Her words caused a commotion among the two women in the prison.
"Beheading? No way?"
"Mom, I'm scared..."
"No, I don't want to be beheaded!"
The women in both cells became agitated, and some began to sob.
Mrs. Wang shouted softly, "Stop crying, we don't deserve to die. She doesn't understand, don't you understand too?" As she spoke, Mrs. Wang glanced at Wei Qiuyu, who had caused fear.
Wei Qiuyu said embarrassedly, "I hope you don't have to be beheaded. As long as there is green mountains, there will be no shortage of firewood. As long as you live, there will be a day when the injustice will be vindicated."
Then she pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's good that Ah Nuan is out. With the situation we've been in, there's really no need for her to end up like this again."
On the Wang family side, a concubine's daughter-in-law, Zhang, rolled her eyes and sneered, "You are so kind."
"A Nuan has her own reasons for doing this, so don't blame her." Wei Qiuyu said this, looking as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
Zhang saw her expression, "I have something to say, but I won't tell you. Come and ask me!" and curled her lips in disdain. Wei Qiuyu's tactics were ridiculously simple and straightforward. She was enjoying the tricks she had stopped using after she turned fifteen. And had she forgotten? The last time Yao Chunnuan came to visit them in the prison and brought them some cakes, Yao Chunnuan was so rude to her that her words almost hit her in the face. Why was she still acting like they were close friends and could speak for each other?
However, they are already in this situation now, so it doesn't matter whether they are being used or not, so just listen to what she says.
So, she replied coldly, "What difficulties could she have?"
Wei Qiuyu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Ah Nuan—she's pregnant! I know she wanted to keep the baby in her belly, so she cut off ties with the Wang family."
A single stone caused a thousand ripples, and Wei Qiuyu's words made the women of the Wang family speak out collectively.
"What did you say?"
"Yao Chunnuan is pregnant?"
"How did you know?" The last question was asked by Mrs. Wang. She was in charge of the inner courtyard. Yao Chunnuan had clothes to change last month. Even she didn't know that Yao Chunnuan was pregnant. How did Wei Qiuyu know?
Wei Qiuyu covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes filled with panic, as if she had just realized that she had said something out of turn.
Zhang tutted her words. "This Wei Qiuyu is quite something. She's all smiles, but she's a ruthless slayer." Yao Chunnuan had been married for six months and childless, and her escape from the Wang family's quagmire was thanks to the superiors' willingness to let the younger off the hook and avoid causing public outrage. If she'd been pregnant with a Wang child, she'd definitely have been sent back to jail.
Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Wang was shocked and angry. She was shocked because Yao Chunnuan was pregnant and the child was her second child. She was angry about Wei Qiuyu's actions. After thinking about it for a while, she realized that she couldn't bear to see Yao Chunnuan living a good life and wanted to kill her with a borrowed knife and drag her into the water.
The others also gradually calmed down. Wei Qiuyu had no good intentions when she revealed the fact that Yao Chunnuan was pregnant at this time. Did she think they were all fools?
Madam Wang looked at her deeply, then said to Madam Han, "Very good, very good, Madam Han, your Han family has truly married a good daughter-in-law! My Wang family will remember everything that happened today."
Honestly, she had a feeling their Wang family wouldn't be able to recover this time. If Wei Qiuyu hadn't revealed Yao Chunnuan's pregnancy, their Wang family might still have had some bloodline left. It was too late to say anything now.
Madam Han, who was innocently picked out by Madam Wang, said unhappily, "You're so smart, why are you meddling in other people's affairs?"
All the women present were foxes with a thousand-year history. Who could she fool with her little tricks?
Mrs. Wang might not care about Yao Chunnuan, who had severed ties with the Wang family, but she certainly cared about the child in her womb. Wei Qiuyu's revelation was tantamount to ending her grandson's life and severely offending the Wang family.
In the past, if you offended someone, you would have offended them. But now, more connections mean more hope. Offending one more person may be the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
idiot!
Wei Qiuyu's mouth was bitter. She knew that her actions were too obvious. But she had no choice. In the prison, with no one to cooperate, she had little room to maneuver. Besides, if she didn't tell them now, she would be out of time. Tomorrow they would be sentenced to exile. She couldn't shout out this secret at the last minute, could she?
On the final day of the trial, the Wang and Han families were ultimately sentenced to exile. The Wang family was exiled to Yichun, 1,400 miles away, located northeast of Daliang. The Han family was more unfortunate; their exile was to Fengqing, further north and even colder than Yichun.
Wang Lang breathed a sigh of relief, no longer needing to be exiled to Fengqing. Yichun was the result of his secret mediation. He returned too late, otherwise he could have tried his best to find a way to help the Wang family avoid this disaster.
He has few chips and resources at his disposal, and each one is very important to him and cannot be wasted.
In his previous life, he hadn't been very resourceful in planning, and had wasted almost all of his time on this case, on his confrontation with the Third Prince. Little did he know that with the First Prince in a coma, the Emperor in poor health, and other factors, he wouldn't be able to win.
So, the night he came back, he had only one thought in mind, which was to protect all his family members.
This result now is the best he can do.
Yichun was much better than Fengqing, and the climate was warmer. He believed that this time, he could protect his family. His mother wouldn't break her leg on the road and suffer in Fengqing, and his niece wouldn't die from a cold. And his older brother and younger brother...
Han Jinan's face changed drastically when he heard that they were exiled to Fengqing. "Fengqing? Why Fengqing?"
The Han family also began to make a commotion.
"Fengqing is a notoriously cold place."
"Why did the Wang family go to Yichun, but our Han family went to Fengqing?"
As the saying goes, it's not the lack of wealth that's worrying, but the inequality. If both families were exiled to Fengqing at the same time, the Han family's resentment wouldn't be so great. However, this one good and one bad exile location has stimulated the resentment and anger of some people in the Han family to the extreme.
So, Han Jinan's sister stood up and said, "Sir, I heard that reporting is meritorious, right?"
"That depends on who you're reporting and what you're reporting. Do you want to report it?"
"Yes, I want to report Wang Lang's wife Yao Chunnuan!" She also heard what was said last night.
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the Wang family girls changed, and Mrs. Wang's expression was the ugliest.
Wei Qiuyu lowered her eyes to hide the smile in her eyes.
Mrs. Han said nothing.
Han Xiaomei said aloud, "Yao Chunnuan is a member of the Wang family and a member of the family of an exiled criminal. She divorced Wang Lang on her own initiative and later returned home. She does not qualify for pardon."
Wang Lang's face changed slightly. He didn't expect that he didn't take action because of the favor she gave him when she came to visit him last time, but she was not secretive and was caught by someone.
When Wang's father, Wang Yangchao and others heard this, they were all surprised.
"Are you serious?"
"Please investigate!"
"Investigate! We must investigate! Someone, come!"
Deputy Commander Deng hesitated for a moment, then stepped out. "I'll handle this," he sighed. Honestly, he hadn't expected this. A day, a day, was all it took. After the case was closed, the government wouldn't dwell on any of the minor follow-up issues. He hadn't expected her to be so unlucky.
At this time, Brother Yao and his cousin, who were among the people listening, were also frightened and broke out in cold sweats. They looked at each other and hurried home in a hurry, without even having time to say more.
"Sir, if this is true, will there be a reward?"
"What reward do you want?"
Han Xiaomei wanted to ask for her pardon, but she knew in her heart that this was impossible. Seeing her family members looking at her intently, she licked her lips and said, "Can we change the place of exile? Sir, please exile us to Yichun."
When the officials at the government office had just sentenced the two families to exile, she could sense her elder brother's surprise and envy at the Wang family's exile to Yichun. She wanted to find a better place to be exiled, but was afraid that the higher-ups would tamper with it, so she decided to simply designate Yichun.
Han Xiaomei's words made Wang Lang's eyes darken. It was great that he could use his flesh and blood as a bargaining chip to ask the government officials to change the place of exile for the Han family.
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