Chapter 062: The Dispute in the First House
The eldest aunt was so angry that she jumped up and down, and she pulled Xu Qingying with a wronged look on her face: "Sixth girl, you are finally here, please judge for yourself, this Qian Zhenniang is a jinx, don't you know that her wicked uncle and aunt changed her horoscope in order to marry into our family... I heard from Madam Cao that Qian Zhenniang's horoscope is very strong, and her parents were killed by her. Whoever she goes to will die suddenly. Now she goes to her uncle's family, and her uncle's business has plummeted... Her damn uncle, in order to get rid of this jinx, actually made up a fake horoscope and insisted that the two of them are a match made in heaven..."
The eldest aunt was so angry that tears came out of her eyes. She sat down on the ground and started slapping her thigh and howling: "Oh my God... No wonder... Maybe our family was exiled because of this jinx... You see, after she came, the escorts robbed our things, and she even said she was not a jinx. My son has been with her for so many days, who knows how much bad luck he will have in the future... Quick, drive her away, don't let her follow us anymore..."
After hearing her second aunt's howl, Xu Qingying immediately understood the whole story.
It's really not easy for her to get involved in this matter.
Although she was a staunch materialist, she also knew that the ancients were quite superstitious about horoscopes and feng shui. No matter how much she felt sorry for Qian Zhenniang, she could not force her aunt to accept her.
Qian Zhenniang was obviously almost fainting from crying. She was completely speechless in the face of the accusations. She just sat on the ground and tried to grab her cousin's trouser legs.
My eldest cousin Fang Huijia dodged with a gloomy look on her face, "You are such a vicious woman. Not only did you bring misfortune upon your parents, you even wanted to kill your husband! No wonder you followed us on the day of exile. It seems you wanted to harm me..."
"No, it's not!" Qian Zhenniang's face was full of tears, and she was speechless. She never thought that she would tell Mrs. Cao the deepest secret in her heart when she was being open with her. She was obviously trying to comfort herself, so why did she turn around and tell it to the Xu family?
Qian Zhenniang was filled with regret and hatred. "I didn't know my uncle had changed my horoscope, and I had no idea he was trying to trick me into marriage... If I had known and still tried to deceive you, I would have been struck by lightning and died a miserable death!"
"Hmph, it doesn't matter if you die, our lives are precious. Miss Qian, I beg you, please let me go——"
Qian Zhenniang looked at Xu Huijia with tears in her eyes, her heart aching. "Xu Dalang, you said you would marry me... I followed you into exile thousands of miles away, taking care of your daily life, washing and mending for you, without a single complaint. How could you treat me like this..."
Xu Huijia was furious. "Ah... You have no sense of shame. You're trying to get close to me before you even get married. I have my own hands and feet, but you insisted on doing my laundry... I think you know you're a jinx, and you're afraid you won't get married, so you're just clinging to me for no reason!"
"I...I didn't!" Qian Zhenniang's tears flowed like pearls from a broken string. "I treated you sincerely...How could you slander me like this..."
"Slander? How could I slander you? A good girl from a good family would try to get close to her fiancé before getting married? I think you're just shameless. I'm not a slut, so why would I want a jinx like you? What if you bring bad luck to our family? There's no point in crying. We should be the ones crying!"
The eldest aunt also said, "Hurry up, write her a letter of annulment, and don't let her bother us again. She can go wherever she wants, but she is not allowed to follow us!"
Qian Zhenniang was suddenly anxious. The maid beside her knelt down with a plop, tugging at Huang Cui'e's trouser legs and crying, "Please, Madam, have mercy... My young lady was driven out by my uncle. Now that she has followed you, she belongs to me. Where can you let her go back to... She has nowhere to go... Please, Madam, have mercy on my young lady..."
"I pity her, but who will pity me?!" Huang Cui'e became more and more angry as she spoke. She pushed the girl away and pointed at Qian Zhenniang's nose and cursed, "No wonder your uncle sent you here. I thought he kept his promise to marry my son, but he never thought he would set me up with such a big trap! Miss Qian, I beg you, can you have pity on me? It's okay for you to kill your own parents, but can you please do some good deeds and stop pestering us? I'll kowtow to you, okay?"
Huang Cui'e was really about to lift up her robe and kneel down. How could Qian Zhenniang bear this? The master and servant went to pull her up. Xu Huijia pushed her away with great disgust, "Don't touch my mother, you jinx! It's very unlucky! Go away! Go away! Don't let me chase you away with my big stick!"
The second cousin also tried to persuade her earnestly, "Miss Qian, please go away and stop pestering us. A forced melon won't be sweet. Why do you have to keep pestering my eldest brother? I'll write a letter of withdrawal and have my eldest brother sign it. From now on, you two will have no relationship. You can go wherever you want, just stop pestering our family..."
Xu Huijia hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up and write the letter of withdrawal! I don't want to marry this unlucky person!"
Qian Zhenniang's tears continued to flow, her eyes filled with confusion. "But...where else can I go? My parents died a long time ago, and my uncle kicked me out. If you don't want me either, where else can I go?"
"What does that have to do with us? I'm warning you, don't even think about blaming us!" Huang Cui'e jumped up and urged her second son to write a letter of cancellation, cursing, "It's true that cheap things don't get good things. Those who are chasing after them are worthless. Hurry up and write the letter of cancellation, so she won't bother us..."
Qian Zhenniang's face was pale, and her body was shaky. The maid beside her gritted her teeth and supported her, but she was also at a loss. She just looked at Xu Qingying, and then knelt down in front of Xu Qingying again, "Miss Xu Liu...you are capable...your words are effective...can you please save our young lady and don't chase us away...my young lady has nowhere to go...all the money I have on me has been given to Madam Xu...please be kind...don't chase us away..."
Huang Cui'e's expression changed immediately when she heard about the money. She grabbed the girl and said, "Well, you little girl, it's time for you to take charge of the master's money. She's a troublemaker. She might have been the reason why our Xu family was exiled. I haven't even settled the score with you yet, and you still dare to ask me for money?!"
The girl screamed in pain and could only cry and beg for mercy.
Grandmother Huang watched silently for a long time, and finally spoke a fair word, "Old lady, you took so much money from her, give it back to her. Since you want to cancel the engagement, you have to do it cleanly, so that people won't criticize you..."
"Mom, where is the silver?" Huang Cui'e naturally refused to admit that she had taken Qian Zhenniang's silver, but she could not stand the mocking looks from everyone.
Miao couldn't help but say, "Sister-in-law, we can't go against our conscience. We all know whether you took anything from the Qian family girl or not."
Lian couldn't stand it any longer. "Sister-in-law, you didn't take any money, so where did the clothes on your body come from? Who made the new shoes on your feet? Since you want to break off the engagement, you have to spit out what you have eaten!"
Seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, Huang Cui'e was furious and anxious. "It was just at the beginning, when we were out of food, but she went out to buy food at a high price, saying that she was showing filial piety to me, her future mother-in-law! And this dress, this dress too, she insisted that she wasn't cold, and she made it bigger and gave it to me... I didn't ask her for anything, but she came forward to show her filial piety. Can I really chase her away?"
Xu Huijia felt the same way and echoed, "Exactly. She's the one who's willing to throw herself at him. If I'd known she was a horoscope that would bring bad luck to her parents, I wouldn't even let her in the door, to save her from all the bad luck!"
Qian Zhenniang's tears were almost dry, but she had no way to refute what they said. She was afraid of being driven away, so she was extra attentive, but...but...she just wanted them to accept her sincerely. Is there anything wrong with that?
Huang slapped Huang Cui'e hard and said, "You've been a dog that's never changed in your life. I'm telling you, give back everything you've stolen from others!"
Huang Cui'e argued confidently: "I didn't ask for this thing. She insisted on giving it to me. Mother is forcing me to return it. I've already eaten and drunk it, so how can I return it? Do I have to vomit it in her or poop it in her?"
"You bastard, how can you talk like that? The children are here!"
"Even if they were here, I'd still say that if she offered something to us, we shouldn't refuse it. If you don't believe me, ask her: would she be embarrassed to return it to us?!"
Qian Zhenniang bit her lower lip tightly and was unable to speak.
Xu Huijia was about to take action and said anxiously, "Hurry up and tell Grandmother that you gave us those things voluntarily, and we didn't take them from you!"
Qian Zhenniang shook her head, clearly unable to face the eldest wife's anger. Although she felt resentful, she didn't dare to provoke the eldest wife. She could only nod in agreement with tears in her eyes, "Thank you, Madam Xu, for taking the initiative. I gave those things voluntarily... They don't need to pay them back..."
Dafang and others breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Qingying didn't care about the horoscope. After a moment's hesitation, she said to the others in the main house, "It's already noon, and we're in the middle of nowhere. These two girls can't get far. Plus, there are wolves in the nearby mountains. You don't want to get married, but you don't want to take two more lives either."
The eldest aunt cursed, but Xu Huijia made her position clear: "Sixth sister, I have signed the letter of annulment. Qian Zhenniang has nothing to do with my family anymore. I can't take care of myself now, so how can I care about her life or death?"
Qian Zhenniang's body swayed, as if she had not expected Xu Huijia to say such heartless words.
She looked up at her former fiancé and saw that his face was full of disgust, as if she had committed some unforgivable crime.
Clearly before this, he had held her hand and praised her for her virtuousness, saying that he would definitely marry her when he arrived in Qianzhou.
She was filled with joy, thinking that she would finally have a home this time and no longer have to live a life of wandering around, living under someone else's roof. Even though her mother-in-law had a strong temper and the Xu family were exiled prisoners, it was precisely because of this that she wanted to follow them all the way in exile and serve them wholeheartedly, even warming up a piece of ice.
But unexpectedly, because of this birth date, everyone avoided her like the plague.
"Since both parties have called off the engagement, whether Miss Qian lives or dies is none of your business." Xu Qingying turned her head and inquired about Qian Zhenniang's intentions. "Miss Qian, why don't you follow us to the next city first? Once you get there, you can consider settling down there. If you really can't find a place to go, just follow us towards Qianzhou until you figure out where to go."
Qian Zhenniang smiled bleakly, the tears in her eyes seeming to have dried. She bowed solemnly to Xu Qingying, "Xu Liu, thank you for speaking up for me. But you and I are not related, so why would I follow you? What's more, I'm destined to be alone. You've been so kind to me, how could I be so ungrateful as to drag you down?"
The maid beside her burst into tears: "Miss, where can we go? The house in our hometown has been burned down. This uncle's family finally got rid of us, but they won't let us go back!"
"It doesn't matter. The world is big, there will always be a place for me." Qian Zhenniang's eyes were filled with tears. Although she said this, she bit her lower lip tightly. "People say that it is better to die than to accept charity. Since the Xu family doesn't want me, why should I shamelessly follow them..."
Xu Huijia had already signed the letter of withdrawal, and then tossed it to Qian Zhenniang. "Don't blame me for being heartless. If you want to blame someone, blame your parents for not choosing a good time to have you. With a fate like yours, you deserve to be a nun in a nunnery for the rest of your life. Why bother to bring harm to others?"
The letter of withdrawal fluttered to the ground. Qian Zhenniang stared at it for a moment, then bent down to pick it up. Her movements were slow, and Xu Qingying saw her withered and trembling hands.
Xu Qingying couldn't bear it any longer and sighed softly, "Miss Qian, I never believe in the saying of fate. They say that man can conquer nature. You don't have to—"
Qian Zhenniang interrupted her with a smile, "Xu Liu, you say man can conquer nature, but that's only because you haven't experienced the life of a dependent like me, with both parents dead. If you had, you'd know that no one can escape fate. This is my fate, and I've accepted it..."
Xu Qingying wanted to say something, but Qian Zhenniang didn't give her the chance. "Xu Liu, thank you so much. I appreciate your kindness."
Qian Zhenniang looked up and took in everyone's looks.
The eldest wife of the Xu family hates her deeply, the second wife avoids her like the plague, the third wife is hesitant to speak, and someone as gentle as Miao must not want Miss Xu Liu to have anything to do with someone like her, right?
"Miss Xu Liu, sometimes I really envy you..."
Qian Zhenniang seemed unable to say what she was envious of.
She envied Xu Qingying for her courage to speak and act, envied Xu Qingying for having a pair of parents who loved her, envied Xu Qingying for not having to rely on begging for mercy like her to survive, and envied Xu Qingying for having a group of relatives and friends around her even in exile, so she was not alone.
It is said that a child without a mother is like a weed. If her parents were still alive... they would definitely not let her fall to this point.
Xu Qingying was stung by the confusion and sadness in her eyes, and felt a little uneasy. She said, "Miss Qian, I keep my word. Even if you break off the engagement with my eldest cousin, we won't chase you away. Just follow the team and settle down on your own when we get there."
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