Chapter 15: Breaking off the Engagement She always hides it carefully.
In the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, inside the Guanxi Garden.
The Prince of Jin casually put on a white fox fur coat, placed a cold medicine cup beside him, and was setting up a chessboard and making a move.
Zi Su walked in from outside and reported through the screen, "Your Highness, the birthday gift for Madam Xie has been delivered. Prime Minister Xie and his wife came to greet us and invited me to stay for a while at the banquet."
King Jin asked casually, "Did anything exciting happen?"
Zi Su replied, "It's nothing more than dancing, music, feasting, and drinking. If you want to say it's lively... maybe Third Young Master Xie playing polo would be a lively event."
Prince Jin stroked the chess piece between his fingers, lowered his eyes and smiled.
On this day in his previous life, he had also played polo with the Prince of Huai, knocking his stick away and cutting his reins. However, Cong Ying wasn't there, so he didn't see it with his own eyes.
At that time, their engagement had already been decided. He had not sought to gain credit in front of her by looking for trouble with Prince Huai, so he did not care whether she knew it or was grateful. But it was different now.
Now the Jiang family has not reached a dead end, and Cong Ying has not forced her way to the Xie family with a marriage certificate.
When the King of Jin was about to place his piece, he suddenly changed direction, landing on a square to the left. The black and white pieces followed suit, only a single piece and five or six steps apart. The situation was completely different from what he had expected.
He grabbed three or five white pieces from the chess basket and filled them one by one in the gaps left by the wrong moves just now.
To make this marriage happen again, it is inevitable that we have to take a few more steps and make a few more moves.
The purpose of this first child is to let Congying see him teach Prince Huai a lesson with her own eyes, so that perhaps she can understand his intentions.
"Although Third Young Master Xie was deducted 24 points for accidentally injuring Prince Huai and Qian Laoba, his moves like 'Dragon Piercing the Sun' and 'Swallow Reaching the Flower' were truly beautiful, and he ultimately won the match by a narrow margin of one point."
Zi Su was rarely so excited. Thinking of the heroic appearance of Mr. Xie San, she couldn't help but say a few more words.
King Jin looked at his hands and pretended to hold a stick and hold flowers, but found that he could not exert even a third of his strength.
My mood suddenly became gloomy.
He asked Zi Su: "Who told Xie San about Qian Lao Ba's matter?"
Zi Su was stunned when she heard this. Although there was a screen between them, her eyes flickered: "I don't know..."
Only the sound of chess pieces falling could be heard behind the screen, no human voices could be heard, even the breathing was shallow and slow.
Zi Su's heartbeat was getting faster and faster. Recalling the methods used by Prince Jin to regulate the inner court some time ago, she secretly annoyed herself for being too talkative.
She was actually a servant in the Xie family.
Seven years ago, the Xie family's steward purchased a group of bright and clever children with clean backgrounds, intending to place them in the residences of various ministers as spies. Zi Su was beautiful, a talented singer and dancer, and the steward had originally planned to place her with Qian Lao Ba.
Qian Laoba was already notorious for his lechery even before he reached adulthood, having raped every maidservant in the house. Zi Su didn't want to go to the Qian residence, so she tried to escape from the Xie residence at night, but was caught on the spot by the patrolling Fengchen Guards and nearly killed on the spot.
Fortunately, Mr. Xie San arrived in time, saw that it was a little girl, found out the reason, and asked Fengchen Guards to let her go.
At that time, the Third Young Master said, "If you don't want to go to the Qian Mansion, then fine. How about we give you a quiet place, the Prince of Jin's Mansion?"
Prince Jin didn't care about state affairs and didn't like women. Going to Prince Jin's Mansion was like retiring. Zi Su was of course willing and agreed with tears of gratitude.
She had been in the Prince of Jin's mansion for seven years, rising from a maid to a seventh-rank female official beside Princess Xuande. She had never met the Prince of Jin properly many times. Unexpectedly, a few months ago, after the Prince of Jin pretended to be dead, he suddenly transferred her to Guanxiyuan.
It was indeed Zi Su who told the Third Young Master about Prince Jin's dealing with Qian Lao Ba, but she was shocked and frightened by the fact that Prince Jin suspected her so quickly, and she couldn't figure out where she had let him slip.
Behind the screen, the King of Jin was still making his move.
Of course he knew Zi Su's origins, and he had her by his side just to make it easier for her to pass on messages to his former self.
As for scaring her on purpose just now... it was purely because he was in a bad mood and couldn't stand seeing others happy.
Zi Su was about to kneel down and confess her guilt when she heard someone stop by the door and announce, "Sister Zi Su, here comes Madam Jiang Si, she's waiting to see you in the side room."
“Clatter—”
On the other side of the screen, the chess basket seemed to be knocked over unexpectedly, followed by several sudden coughs suppressed in the throat.
Zi Su stared at the chess piece that rolled out of the screen and asked carefully, "Does His Highness wish to summon Fourth Lady Jiang?"
After a long time, a very light "hmm" came from behind the screen.
When Cong Ying followed Zi Su in, the chess pieces on the floor had been cleared away and the screen had been removed. She caught sight of the hem of a moon-white garment and bowed prostrate, "Your humble servant greets His Highness the Prince of Jin."
"Get up." Prince Jin casually rearranged the chessboard.
Cong Ying handed the osmanthus branch she was holding in her arms to Zi Su and said, "I have already picked some osmanthus flowers from the Xie family for Your Highness. I will not disturb Your Highness's peace any longer."
The King of Jin said, "Perilla, serve the tea."
Cong Ying had no choice but to stop. After Zi Su left, only she and King Jin were left in the warm flower hall.
The Prince of Jin looked at her quietly until she could no longer bear the confusion and looked up at him. Then he smiled and returned his gaze to the chessboard and asked her, "Fourth Lady, are you willing to play a game with me?"
Cong Ying said, "If Your Highness has any instructions, please speak frankly."
Prince Jin asked her, "I heard that you went to Xie's house to celebrate his birthday today?"
Cong Ying replied: "Yes."
"Have you seen anything new?"
After some thought, Cong Ying said, "These are just some ordinary things about celebrating a birthday. If we talk about excitement, the most lively ones are probably me and the Third Young Master—"
Zi Su came in to serve tea and took a cup of dried ginger, Chuanxiong and ginseng tea from Ying. She thanked her, but only took a symbolic sip and put it on the table.
The chess piece between King Jin's fingers did not fall for a long time, waiting for her next words. He did not show it on his face, but he was nervous in his heart.
Would she also think, as Zi Su did, that he was so impressive on the polo field?
"My engagement with Third Young Master Xie, the Jiang family and the Xie family has been cancelled."
With a "click", the black jade chess piece fell on the chessboard, and the lingering buzzing sound continued.
Prince Jin frowned and stared at her, feeling a surge of blood rising from his heart to his throat.
After a while, he finally spoke: "You said you and Xie San... broke off the engagement?"
"yes."
"Why?"
Cong Ying lowered her eyes: "When a marriage fails, there are always reasons for it. But when it succeeds, we should ask why."
Her tone was so calm, as if what she was giving up was not an enviable marriage, but a gorgeous but impractical brocade, a banquet that was delicious but tasteless.
It seemed as if others felt sorry for her, but she only felt relieved.
But - is it really easy?
After his marriage in his previous life, he had seen her hide her tranquility too many times.
When he broke up with his mother and forcibly took his younger sister away from the Jiang Mansion; when he became different from his old friends and could no longer socialize and chat with them due to his position.
Standing on the Tower of Babel, looking alone at the bright lights of Taiyi Girls' School.
He had seen it too many times and could already see clearly that her surface calmness was like a bronze mirror, reflecting back all inquiries and curiosity. No one had ever seen the emotions hidden beneath the mirror.
Prince Jin stood up, supported himself with his jade staff, and slowly walked to Cong Ying.
She had the faint scent of osmanthus from the Xie Mansion on her body, and it was about to dissipate. Prince Jin couldn't help but raise his hand, wanting to touch her, but he saw her take a few steps back and walk into the noon sunlight that penetrated the flower hall.
The King of Jin had no choice but to withdraw his hand awkwardly.
His heart was in a tangle of confusion, as he was angry at her ruthlessness and felt sorry for her difficulties.
He asked unwillingly, "Can you find a better way out if you cancel this marriage?"
Cong Ying said, "This matter has nothing to do with Your Highness."
She seemed to be a little annoyed by the questioning and took another step back from Ying: "If Your Highness has no other instructions, I will take my leave first."
King Jin also knew that she was not the type to be forced, so he did not dare to press her too hard for fear of angering her.
Then he sighed and turned around: "Forget it, go away."
Hearing her footsteps leaving the flower hall, she suddenly stopped and asked him tentatively, "Do you still want the wintersweet flowers from Red Plum and White Snow Mountain, Your Highness?"
The King of Jin said, "Does marrying Xie mean that the favor you owe me is no longer a favor?"
Cong Ying replied, "I will go."
*
Cong Ying visited Princess Xiaocheng, took back the marriage certificate, and sent someone to return it to Xie's house along with the jade ruyi, a token of trust that Xie Xiang had exchanged with his grandfather.
When Prime Minister Xie learned about this, he was furious and summoned Jiang Shanggu to give him a severe scolding.
"When has anything concerning the Xie family been decided by you without even asking for permission? If you want to be transferred back to the capital, wait until your family has learned all the etiquette in Yunjing first."
This meant that he was still going to be sent away. Jiang Shanggu panicked when he heard it. He didn't care that they were talking about private matters at the moment, and knelt down in front of Prime Minister Xie with a plop.
"Your Excellency, please understand! Marrying into the Prime Minister's household is a blessing from our ancestors. We are overjoyed, so how could we possibly come here to cancel the engagement? This must be a mistake on my part, or perhaps it's just jealousy."
Prime Minister Xie sneered, "Last year, the old Imperial Censor Jiang wrote to me from Xuzhou, saying he was willing to pledge his lifelong reputation and request a transfer back to the capital to help secure a better future for the Jiang family's descendants. I had already set aside past grudges and condescended to offer a marriage, but what about you? You keep stabbing me in the back, you're simply betraying me!"
Jiang Shanggu was so anxious that he kept kowtowing: "Prime Minister, please calm down, Prime Minister, please calm down! I will go back immediately to clarify this matter, and I will definitely bring my daughter to apologize!"
"Go away."
Xie Xiang dropped the engagement token, the jade ruyi, along with the smudged marriage certificate, in front of Jiang Shanggu. The jade ruyi broke into two pieces, and Jiang Shanggu trembled all over, as if his spine was broken.
Xie Xuanlan listened outside the door for a long time, and after Jiang Shanggu left, he walked into the flower hall.
Xie Xiangyu was still furious, but when he saw him, his expression softened. "How come you're free at home today? Do you want to play a game of chess?"
Xie Xuanlan responded with a "OK", lifted his clothes and sat down at the small table by the window, with his black gold shoes resting on the horizontal shelf under the wooden couch. He casually picked up two white pieces and played with them with his crossed long fingers.
Seeing that he was in a good mood, Xie Xiang was quite puzzled and asked him, "How dare the Jiang family, a mere family, insult you? How dare you not be angry? I thought you would bring people to tear down the Jiang family's gateposts."
"Why am I angry?"
Xie Xuanlan made his move, and when he raised his eyebrows, he actually smiled with a bit of pride: "I was the one who forced the Jiang family to cancel this marriage."
Xie Xiangluozi's hand paused: "What did you say?"
"I said, I don't like the dull and wooden Fourth Lady Jiang, nor do I like the Jiang family with their humble background. It was me who forced Fourth Lady Jiang to break off the engagement."
He dropped the chess piece, then picked up another one, his long eyelashes fluttering and half-covering a playful smile in his eyes.
"On the day she came to celebrate my birthday, I told her that if she wanted to marry me, she'd have to prepare a dowry of at least one million taels. This was to be used to take twelve beautiful concubines for me after marriage. They had to be of varying sizes, and they had to come to me every morning and evening, standing in a row in the hall to pay me their respects."
Xie Xiang was stunned for a long time, then slammed the chessboard hard, shaking the chess pieces out of place.
He scolded, "That's just nonsense! Madam Jiang Si is a woman of high character and integrity, a descendant of the Qing Dynasty. How could she allow you to humiliate her like this?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "No matter how noble and virtuous she is, I don't want to marry her to be my wife."
"Marry a virtuous woman," said Prime Minister Xie. "Besides, everyone is watching. If we treat the Jiang family poorly, how will those wealthy families willingly serve the Xie family?"
Xie Xuanlan threw the chess piece between his fingers back into the chess basket: "But I just don't want to marry."
Xie Xiang sighed helplessly: "You really are..."
Xie Xuanlan said, "There are other ways to show kindness to the Jiang family and establish trust in the world. Leave this matter to me, and I will definitely satisfy my father."
Xie Xiang also lost the mood to make a move. He swept up the remaining chess pieces, waved his hand and told him to get out. Xie Xuanlan really left without looking back.
The noise of half a day was really tiring. Xie Xiang stood up and walked to the Boshan stove, picked up the long-tongued copper spoon, and pinched the smoke from the stove to make it thinner.
In the misty smoke, he closed his eyes and recalled Xie Xuanlan's words and expression just now.
Although his youngest son was unruly and unruly, he still had at least some upbringing from a noble family and should not have said such shameless words in front of Madam Jiang Si.
But if he hadn't offended someone so badly, why would Madam Jiang Si take the initiative to cancel the engagement?
Another possibility is that the Jiang family has found another better match and despises the Xie family. If that is the case, given Sanlang's arrogant personality, not destroying the Jiang family is already generous, and he will not take the initiative to take the blame.
After ruling out all the impossible reasons, Prime Minister Xie had to admit that the cancellation of the engagement was most likely caused by his Xie family, not the Jiang family.
This bastard... Prime Minister Xie sighed and called in the legal advisor who was on standby in the ear room.
"Go to the Jiang family and meet Jiang Shanggu for me."
Xie Xiang pondered and said, "Speaking of the matter of breaking off the engagement, it was the Xie family's son who was unfilial first. Tell him not to make things difficult for the girl in the family. We can discuss the follow-up after the mourning period is over."
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