Chapter 91 Xiao Yan: She is just aggressive, what can you do?
When the Lu family "visited" Jiyun Lane this time, they sent a formal visiting card and attached Lu Chongyuan's visiting certificate.
However, when Lu Chongyuan brought Lu Zhinian to the Tang Mansion, they saw Madam Fu and the wife of Marquis Wenxin sitting next to Song Tangning, as well as Qian Qiuyue, the daughter of Minister of Revenue Qian Baokun.
Lu Chongyuan realized that he had greatly underestimated the Song girl's malice towards the Lu family.
"Why is Lord Lu here?" Marquis Wenxin's wife smiled warmly, "Old Madam Fu and I came to visit Princess Cheng today. We didn't expect to meet Lord Lu by chance."
Old Madam Fu still had that serious look on her face. Even when facing the Minister of the Central Secretariat, she just nodded coldly as a greeting.
Lu Chongyuan looked at Song Tangning calmly, "I came here today specifically to look for Miss Song. I sent my invitation in advance, but I didn't know Miss Song would have so many guests today."
Song Tangning seemed not to understand the hidden meaning in his words. She just smiled and said, "Mr. Lu only said he would come today, but he didn't tell me what he was going to do. I just thought you were here to return the things that the Lu family had taken from me."
"These are all my elders and distinguished guests. It's not right to turn them away for such a small matter. However, when Mr. Lu sent the invitation, he only mentioned that you were coming, but he didn't mention that Mr. Lu would also come to the house."
Her smile faded a little. "If I had known that Mr. Lu was coming, I would have sent the visiting card back to the Lu Mansion."
"Tang Ning..."
Even though Lu Zhinian knew that she was cruel, his lips still trembled slightly.
After all, we have been friends for many years, why is she so heartless?
Song Tangning seemed oblivious to his paleness: "Mr. Lu, are you here today to fulfill your promise that day and return to me those things that your Lu family despised?"
Lu Zhinian's face was pale, and he clutched the Jinsui in his hand tightly with embarrassment.
Lu Chongyuan took a deep breath and said, "Miss Song, you and Sanlang have been engaged for many years. He has indeed treated you poorly. My Lu family is willing to make amends for this. However, marriage is no joke after all. Moreover, your marriage was personally approved by the Empress and was approved by Rong Taifu when he was still alive. How can it be cancelled just like that? I'm afraid we need to discuss this matter slowly..."
He mentioned the Queen and Master Rong, but his eyes were only on Song Tangning. He wanted to take advantage of her anxiety to break off the engagement and force her to make some concessions.
Unexpectedly, Song Tangning smiled and said, "Mr. Lu is right. Although Mr. Lu and I have had our disagreements, and he almost killed me, this marriage is not something the Lu family can decide."
"My injuries haven't healed yet, and I'm worried about my grandfather's belongings that were stolen. There's no rush for marriage. When I'm better, I'll go to the palace and ask the Empress. I'm sure she'll be so kind that she won't want to see me and Mr. Lu become a couple of enemies. If the Empress doesn't agree, I'll go and ask His Majesty for an imperial decree to dissolve the engagement."
She is extremely considerate, gentle and humble.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lu, I will definitely not make things difficult for the Lu family."
The corners of Marquis Wenxin's wife's mouth twitched, and even the originally solemn Madam Fu coughed softly.
Qian Qiyue, who was standing by, covered her mouth and leaned on her arms, her shoulders shaking like a sieve from laughing.
Lu Chongyuan's face froze, and his heart skipped a beat when he looked at the gentle Song Tangning.
She knew.
The little girl knew that those things were not in the hands of the Lu family, and she also knew that the Empress was involved in them and the Lu family could not pay them back.
Lu Chongyuan could hardly maintain the smile on his face, and even though he was mature and steady, he felt a little unsteady.
"How can this be considered embarrassing the Lu family? It was Sanlang's fault that ruined this good marriage and made Miss Song want to back out. It's my fault that I didn't teach my grandson well, which is why the Lu family didn't have the chance to have a daughter-in-law like Miss Song."
"I brought Sanlang to the mansion today to discuss the cancellation of the engagement with Miss Song. If the Empress blames you, it is not Miss Song's turn to bear the blame."
His tone was completely different from before, and he looked at Lu Zhinian beside him with full of anger.
"You bastard, why don't you admit your mistake to Miss Song!"
Lu Zhinian had never been humiliated like this in public before. He clenched his hands even tighter, and his fingertips turned white.
"Tang..."
He wanted to call her as he did in the past, so he met her eyes that were as white as clear snow.
"Miss Song."
Lu Zhinian's throat felt bitter as if he had been fed with Coptis chinensis, and as if someone was cutting him with a knife, making it painful even to speak. He hung his head in shame and embarrassment.
"Shao Zheng is at fault. I've failed Miss Song, and I've also failed the Empress and Grand Tutor Rong. Please..."
The word "beg" almost broke all his pride. There was blood between his fingers. Lu Zhinian's voice seemed to be squeezed out from his throat with all his strength, and there was mist in his eyes.
"I beg... Miss Song, for the sake of our past friendship, please forgive Shao Zheng's confusion."
Song Tangning looked at the young man standing in front of him with his head bowed.
This was the man she admired in her youth, the sun she desperately pursued, and the man she longed to spend her life with.
But it was also him, together with Song Jinxiu and others, who ruined her life and destroyed her life, causing her to be strangled to death alone in that abandoned courtyard. She didn't understand what she had done wrong until her death.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Lu Zhinian, who looked like he had suffered humiliation, and suddenly smiled.
"Mr. Lu, do you think that your mistake can be used to offset the things your Lu family took away?"
Tang Ning looked at Lu Chongyuan:
"Mr. Lu, if the Lu family really wants to apologize, shouldn't they return my grandfather's belongings first?"
Lu Zhinian looked up at Song Tangning in disbelief. He was already so humiliated, why was she still so aggressive?
Lu Chongyuan didn't expect Song Tangning to still hold on to those things. His face was not happy. "The Lu family will return them. We will never owe Miss Song anything..."
"Then wait until the Lu family pays back, and then we can talk about Lu Zhinian and me."
"Miss Song..."
"Mr. Lu, please go back."
Song Tangning's face turned cold as she sent the guests away. She turned to Madam Fu and the others and said, "My aunt must have woken up by now. Madam, Aunt Jun, and Madam Qian, let's go."
"Tang Ning!"
Seeing that Song Tangning was about to leave them, Lu Zhinian couldn't help himself any longer and reached out to grab Song Tangning's arm. However, this time Song Tangning didn't tolerate him at all. She kicked him on the calf and waved his hand away with a "pop".
Seeing Lu Zhinian stepping back in pain, she looked up at Lu Chongyuan with indifference: "Is this what Mr. Lu calls the Lu family's apology?"
"Sanlang!" Lu Chongyuan frowned and looked unhappy.
Lu Zhinian didn't care about his usual cultivation, and just looked at Song Tangning with resentment.
"Song Tangning, you and I have been engaged for many years. I have been a little slow in my steps towards you, but I believe I have never had any other thoughts. Even though everyone says that you and I are not a good match, I have never considered breaking off the engagement."
"I only did one thing wrong, I was wrong just once, and you're going to deny all our past friendship?"
Lu Zhinian looked at her with red eyes: "You said that I treated you like that because of Song Shulan, and you are still mad at me, but I have never had any feelings for her, and we have never crossed the line."
"I'm willing to admit my mistake about Shan, I'm willing to repent, and I'm willing to treat you as sincerely as you did to me before. I've already begged you so humbly, even if it's just because we've known each other for so many years, why can't you forgive me just once?"
Song Tangning looked at the aggrieved Lu Zhinian and found it ridiculous. She said in a cold voice, "Lu Zhinian, are you admitting your mistakes because you regret it, or are you bowing down because the Lu family can't pay back those things?"
With just one sentence, Lu Zhinian's face turned pale.
"Everyone says I'm not worthy of you, even you think we're not a good match. But have you forgotten that I'm the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion, a descendant of the Rong family, and my grandfather is a great scholar of the time. Why am I not worthy of you?"
"This engagement was requested by your Lu and Yu Rong families, not by me, Song Tangning!"
Song Tangning couldn't help but sneer when he saw the panic and helplessness that flashed across his face.
"You said you had no other thoughts, but that's because you enjoyed the admiration I earned from the world by stepping on my kindness to you. It's because the daughter of a prominent Duke's family, regardless of her status, was obsessed with you, and I felt proud of the pleasure you brought her. Half of the glory you enjoy is earned by my notoriety over the years."
"You didn't cancel the engagement not because you cared about me, but because you knew very well that, apart from a brainless idiot like me, there's no other woman in the capital who's as easy to manipulate as me and who's also so devoted to you!"
She was full of sarcasm, and every word she said was like a sharp blade, peeling off Lu Zhinian's hypocrisy bit by bit.
"You were wrong about Shan, but you turned a blind eye to my situation all these years. Isn't it wrong for the Lu family to fuel those rumors?"
"I've been humiliated for years, and I've endured it for you for years. You think you can make up for it with just a simple sentence: you're wrong? You want my forgiveness? Fine, just like I knelt before you and begged you to look back. Kneel down and compensate me for the friendship I've given you over the years, and then tell the world in person."
"It was you, Lu Zhinian, who let me, Song Tangning, down. It wasn't me, Song Tangning, who let you down. It was your Lu family who let me down!"
Lu Zhinian staggered back two steps, feeling extremely embarrassed by Song Tangning's words.
Lu Chongyuan was furious: "Miss Song, the Lu family is negotiating with you out of kindness, are you really going to be so aggressive?"
"She's being aggressive, what can you do?"
The room was silent. Xiao Yan stepped over the threshold with his boots, and with his robe fluttering, he came directly to Song Tangning's side.
Frowning, Xiao Yan said coldly: "Why are your eyes red?"
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