The heavy door of the Yongding Marquis' Mansion closed behind him, isolating himself from the coldness and humiliation inside.
Sang Wenyin, who was half-dragged and half-pulled out of the Marquis' Mansion, was not as dispirited as expected. Instead, she straightened her back, and even her steps were uncharacteristically brisk.
She didn't even pay attention to Mrs. Sang beside her. Instead, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her fingers subconsciously stroked her still flat belly.
"Mom, this is great! The Marquis's family called off the engagement! No one can stop Ling Xi and me anymore!"
Madam Sang was so shocked by her words that she staggered and almost lost her balance. She grabbed her daughter's arm in fear, her voice trembling: "Yin'er! Are you crazy? What nonsense are you talking about! Your reputation is completely ruined! Our Sang family is going to be doomed because of you! How can Liao Lingxi marry you? How can he support you and the child?"
"Reputation?" Sang Wenyin shook off her mother's hand as if she were shaking off something dirty. "For this false reputation, are you forcing me to marry someone I don't like? Are you going to kill my child? I'd rather not have that!"
Her voice rose, filled with confidence about the future. "Mother, please don't look down on Ling Xi! He's a man of great talent! It's just bad luck! He promised me that if I passed the imperial examination this spring, he would marry me in a grand sedan chair! Who would dare to laugh at me then?"
Jiang Songyi, who had been following behind at a slow pace, suddenly stopped in his tracks upon hearing this. The sneer he had been suppressing in the hall just now was no longer controllable.
“Puff—”
This chuckle sounded particularly harsh behind the Sang mother and daughter.
Sang Wenyin turned abruptly and glared at the splendidly dressed Princess Jiaqing, her eyes burning with offended anger. "Jiang Songyi! What are you laughing at?!"
Jiang Songyi turned around slowly, with a sneer on his face that had not yet subsided.
She looked down at Sang Wenyin, her eyes as cold as ice water.
"I laugh at Miss Sang's foolish dream. A sedan chair carried by eight people? Liao Lingxi?"
She tilted her head slightly, as if she had heard the world's funniest joke. "Where does Liao Lingxi live now? If I remember correctly, he seems to still be in that shabby, narrow, and drafty little courtyard in West City? He can hardly even find a place to stay. He can only barely scrape together the rent for that house by copying ten books for the bookstore every month. With his life in such a predicament, how can Miss Sang expect him to carry this eight-man sedan? Will he carry the two broken tables and chairs in his room, or the chipped iron pot in his kitchen?"
This sharp irony was like the sharpest awl, instantly piercing the illusory bubble that Sang Wenyin had carefully maintained.
The forced composure on her face shattered, turning a red with shame and anger. "You... Jiang Songyi! You only got the position of county lord thanks to the protection of your father and brother. What qualifications do you have to look down on Ling Xi's poverty? I know you've never liked him! He is talented! There will be a day when he can transform into a dragon! When that happens, I'm afraid that you and your arrogant elder brother may not even be worthy of his attention!"
"Oh," the smile on Jiang Songyi's face completely disappeared, and his eyes were as cold as ice in the coldest days of winter. "Whether this county lady relies on the protection of her father and brother is up to the emperor to decide. As for that Liao Lingxi you hold in high regard..."
Her voice suddenly turned harsh, with a sharpness that completely tore her face apart.
"He's just a poor fellow in your Sang family, living under someone else's roof and only earning the title of foster brother! Even the word 'dependent' is a stretch! His talent, aside from being able to coax a few ignorant prostitutes into writing a few erotic poems in exchange for a drink, is all he can do to make a living by being a ghostwriter! How many copper coins in his pocket are honestly earned? His so-called brilliance can only shine through the blind eyes of your Miss Sang!"
"You!" Sang Wenyin's whole body was shaking violently, her face turned from red to white, and finally to a pale color.
She bit her lower lip so hard that it almost drew blood. She glared at Jiang Songyi with resentment and then glared at the gate of the Marquis' Mansion with hatred.
"Good! What a great Yongding Marquisate! What a great Jiaqing County Lady! We'll just have to wait and see!" She uttered these harsh words in a sharp voice, and swung her sleeves violently, but with too much force, her body shook.
Amidst Mrs. Sang's exclamation, she rushed towards her family's simple green-curtained carriage without looking back, and almost rolled and crawled in.
"Yin'er!" Mrs. Sang took two steps forward, looked at the tightly closed car door, and then turned back to look at Jiang Songyi with an arrogant expression.
His lips trembled, and in the end he could only bow deeply in the direction of Jiang Songyi with shame and despair, unable to utter a word, and was helped staggeringly into his carriage by the old woman.
Jiang Songyi withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, with a cold arc at the corner of his lips.
[Golden scales transforming into dragons? Ha. Even if a loach in the mud emerges from the water, it can't become a true dragon. Sang Wenyin, your drama is only halfway through.]
…
The news that the engagement between Jiang Jinzhao, the eldest son of the Yongding Marquisate, and Sang Wenyin, a daughter of the Sang family, was cancelled was like a huge rock hitting the calm surface of a lake, instantly causing a thousand waves in the deep water of the capital.
At first, people who did not know the truth speculated about the inside story and thought that the Prince of Yongding was wrong.
However, the rumors spread at an alarming speed. Following closely behind was even more explosive news—the young lady of the Sang family had long been secretly in love with a poor scholar named Liao, and even conceived a child! The Yongding Marquis's Mansion, upon noticing the situation, angrily broke off the engagement to preserve the purity of their bloodline!
The news spread like wildfire in the market.
In teahouses, taverns, streets and alleys, people were discussing the scandal enthusiastically.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk! I never thought that! A family as renowned for its poetry and refinement as Grand Secretary Sang's could actually produce such a shameless daughter!"
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