Xu Lanyin rubbed her arm, which had been severely beaten, and said, "Well, I've figured it out. Gu Wangchen and his mother are evil-minded. They only want my family's money, not me. I don't want to marry him..."
Before she could finish her words, she was suddenly hit by a broom, which made Xu Lanyin jump in pain. Seeing that Old Lady Xu's eyes were red with anger, Xu Lanyin started running in circles again, "Grandma, why did you hit me again!"
Old Lady Xu chased after him, cursing, "You fool! Your family spent so much money on Gu Xiucai, sending him to school and providing him with delicious food. If you don't marry him, won't all that money be wasted? Oh, I'm so angry! My second son is so smart and capable, why did he raise a fool like you?"
She stopped hitting people, threw away the broom, sat on the ground and started crying. While crying, she slapped her legs and cursed her second son for dying early, scolded Qin for being weak and useless, scolded Xu Lanyin for squandering the family money, and felt sorry for the two brothers Xu Lanzhou... She was very sad and cried with tears and snot.
Xu Dashi went over and helped the old lady up and sat her on a stool, saying, "Grandma, please don't be sad. This isn't your sister's fault. The scholar's wife was bought by her family with so much money. Her parents arranged it for her. She has to marry him even if she doesn't want to."
Xu Lanzhou poured a bowl of water and handed it to the old lady, his expression also saying that this matter was not hers and she had to marry even if she didn't want to. He also hated Gu Wangchen's greed and shamelessness, but his family had spent so much money on him, he couldn't just let it go to waste.
In order to successfully break off the engagement with Gu Wangchen and avoid being schemed by him, she had to win these people over. Xu Lanyin could see that although these people didn't like the original owner, they were not bad people at heart. If she explained the interests to them, they would not have the heart to push their loved ones into the fire pit.
Xu Lanyin put down the basket on her back, looked around and saw no stool, so she sat on the steps in front of the door. She was too tired.
She took a few deep breaths before saying, "Grandma, Big Brother, Big Brother, I've been foolish and made too many mistakes before. I've caused Mom and my brothers a lot of suffering, and I've also caused Grandma and Big Brother a lot of worry. I won't do that again."
Those people looked at Xu Lanyin in surprise. It was like the sun rising in the west to hear such pleasant words coming out of her mouth.
Xu Lanyin ignored their expressions and continued, "Now, it's not about whether I want to marry Gu Wangchen or not, but Gu Wangchen doesn't want to marry me at all. They want to break off the engagement."
Xu Dashi shook his head in disbelief, "The mother and son are so comfortable eating at your house, how could they not want to marry you?"
Xu Lanyin said, "It's true, I didn't lie. That day, I was walking home from the mountains and passed by Gu Wangchen's father's grave. I happened to see Mrs. Gu burning paper. I wanted to go over and say hello, but I heard Mrs. Gu saying bad things about me at the grave, saying that I was not worthy of her son, that the Xu family was poor, and that if Gu Wangchen married Miss Su from Sujiazhuang, he would have the hope of becoming a high-ranking official in the future..."
Blah blah blah, she told them all about their sinister intentions, and even told a few lies to make them more credible. Actually, they weren't really lies, they just said things they'd said behind her back to her face.
When those people heard this, they were first incredulous, and then they started cursing.
Old Lady Xu spat, "You want to cancel the engagement? Fine, then make them return all the money they spent."
Xu Dashi shook his head and said, "That scholar Gu is so smart, and Mrs. Gu is so stingy, how could they possibly spit out the silver they took in? Besides, he was provided by my second uncle's family. If they cancel the engagement, the spit will drown them. Even those who take the imperial examinations must have a clean reputation, so I don't think they are likely to ask to cancel the engagement."
Old Mrs. Xu said, "Then we won't break off the engagement, because the girl must marry into the Gu family. If Gu Wangchen dares to break off the engagement, I will go to the county government and sue him for being ungrateful." Although she was angry at Gu Wangchen and his mother for their greed, deep down she still wanted her granddaughter to be the wife of a scholar or a juren, so that her family could gain some glory and the money she gave to the Gu family would not be wasted.
Xu Lanyin said, "Grandma, after that day, I began to think carefully about how the Gu family used my family's money so confidently over the years, and about the many things that Gu Pozi did in the past one or two years that I couldn't understand. She cried poor and asked for money from me behind my back, but she said all kinds of bad things about me in front of outsiders. They used my family's money while ruining my reputation in preparation for breaking off the engagement. Especially this year, they often instigated me to do inappropriate things, such as going to Sujiazhuang to make a scene and scolding Wang Sanni for seducing men. And this morning, Gu Pozi... She actually asked me to steal pears from Xu Lizheng's house for her to eat. She was setting a trap for me, trying to make me a thief. My reputation was ruined, and they could not only cancel the engagement, but also put all the blame on me. I thought about it for a long time and finally figured it out. Ever since my father passed away, Gu Wangchen's attitude towards me has changed. Gu Wangchen is smart. He won't propose to cancel the engagement, but he will hint to his relatives to do it on his behalf. If grandma goes to the county government to complain, and they tell me all the wrong things I have done, anyone would think that someone like me is not worthy of marrying a scholar.
Those people were so angry that they started cursing again. Xu Lanyin had become a thief, and not only her reputation was ruined, but also the reputation of the entire family. Even if the Gu family broke off the engagement, they would not have done anything wrong.
Xu Dashi glanced at Xu Lanhui with a complicated expression and said, "If it's as Sister Yin said, then that scholar Gu is really a bad guy. Even if he had to marry Sister Yin, he wouldn't treat her well. He might even torture her to death and marry another girl he can use."
Xu Lanyin nodded. She thought to herself, Xu Wangchen wouldn't want to marry her and then torture her to death. That would make her a second wife, and no family with enough slaves would allow their daughter to marry a poor scholar. His goal was to completely ruin her reputation before the wedding, then cancel the engagement, or even kill her.
Xu Lanzhou spat in anger and said, "What should I do? I can't let the Gu family take my family's money and not give my eldest sister a chance to live, right?"
In a hurry, he spat and used force to make the nose bleed again.
Everyone was terrified, and Xu Lanyin took out a wet cloth and stuffed it into his mouth. Seeing him tilt his head back, she wanted to say that lowering his head forward was the correct way, but she couldn't say it at this time, and no one would listen even if she did.
Fortunately, the nosebleed was not severe and it will be gone in a while.
At this time, Qin came out, holding onto the wall. She didn't dare go out, so she stood at the door of the main hall. Seeing that Xu Lanzhou was fine, she felt relieved. She said, "That Gu Wangchen is not right. He is worse than I thought before. Yin'er can't marry him. If she marries him, she won't be able to live out her life."
Her voice was trembling and she was unsteady on her feet. She listened to their conversation in bed and was shaking with anger.
Xu Lanyin quickly stood up and helped Qin sit on the chair. Several people in the yard went into the main room and closed the door.
Old Lady Xu was so angry that she pointed at Qin and cursed, "You spendthrift woman! You knew Gu Wangchen was not a good person, but you still promised him Yin and spent so much money on his education. This damn girl is even more shameless. She even sold the land. Now look what happened. You got nothing."
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