Before Yan Qingqing could even sort things out, the gatekeeper came to report that the young master was requesting an audience.
Yan Qingqing didn't react for a moment. Which son-in-law? Han Yu came to the door so quickly?
But then he thought something wasn't right, so he looked at the gatekeeper and asked, "Which son-in-law?"
The servant replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it's the eldest son-in-law of the Wu family."
Wu Jingzhi and Li Xinniang would occasionally come to Mingzhao Prefecture to keep an eye on whether the servants were slacking off.
Therefore, all the servants at Mingzhao Gatehouse knew Wu Jingzhi.
Yan Qingqing's face darkened immediately upon hearing that Wu Jing had come to her door.
Li Xinniang had a bad time in the Wu family, so Yan Qingqing now had very little goodwill towards Wu Jingzhi.
However, since Wu Jingzhi was already there, Yan Qingqing wanted to get things cleared up once and for all, to avoid dragging things out and making things difficult for everyone.
So he said to the gatekeeper, "Go, let him in, and take him directly to the flower hall. There's no need for anyone to entertain him."
The gatekeeper quickly agreed upon hearing this, while silently feeling sorry for Wu Jingzhi in his heart.
This was the first time their son-in-law had visited since their wife came to Beijing. Although he wasn't turned away, it was probably even more unpleasant than if he had been turned away.
Yan Qingqing was not in a hurry to see Wu Jingzhi. Instead, she told Li Yueniang a few more things about Han Yu, and Li Yueniang remembered them all.
When Li Xinniang heard that Wu Jingzhi had arrived, she rubbed her hands together, looking somewhat at a loss.
Yan Qingqing sighed helplessly, then waved to her and said, "Don't worry, whether you two stay together or separate in the future, your mother will never let you suffer any injustice."
"You go back and rest first. I'm going to see Wu Jingzhi and see if he's improved in the past two years."
Upon hearing this, Li Xinniang hesitated for a moment, but in the end she obediently nodded and slowly returned to her own courtyard.
Wu Jingzhi sat alone in the flower hall, without even a cup of tea.
He knew Yan Qingqing was angry and was deliberately ignoring him. He only found out after he got home that Li Xin's mother had been confined to her house by his mother.
Yan Qingqing disagreed with marrying Li Xinniang, but he promised to treat her well, and Li Xinniang also liked him and insisted on marrying him, which made the marriage possible.
In fact, he knew that his mother disliked Li Xin's mother and looked down on her because she came from a small place. Even though she had a mother with an imperial title, it didn't change his mother's opinion of her much.
Wu Jingzhi was caught in a dilemma, torn between his wife and his mother.
At first, he may have been wholeheartedly protective of Li Xin's mother, but as conflicts increased and there were always endless household chores to deal with, he also felt annoyed. So, he turned a blind eye to things whenever possible and was unwilling to get involved any further.
But he didn't expect his mother to go too far. In order to make him marry his cousin Qiu Chan, she deliberately sent him away and then confined Li Xin's mother to her home.
It is said that no one knows a mother better than her son. Based on his understanding of Madam Wu, he suspected that she wanted more than just confine Li Xinniang to her home.
It's just that Yan Qingqing arrived in the capital in time, and was also promoted to the rank of Second-Rank Lady, so there was no time or courage to take action.
Wu Jingzhi felt increasingly disheartened as he thought about this; he genuinely loved Li Xinniang.
He has been running the family business for years, supporting that bunch of parasites, but when it really matters, not a single one of them is willing to help Li Xinniang.
His mother, in particular, broke his heart, but what could he do? She was his mother, after all.
Wu Jingzhi knew that no matter what happened in the future, he had to get past Yan Qingqing first.
Wu Jingzhi knew a little about Yan Qingqing's temper.
She seems to have a good temper, but she is actually the type to become stronger when faced with adversity, and she has a bottom line and principles in her actions.
Although Li Xinniang's insistence on marrying him initially displeased Yan Qingqing, Li Xinniang was, after all, her daughter. It was said that Yan Qingqing had already declared at the Wu family's door that Li Xinniang should divorce her husband, and Yan Qingqing was certain that she could accomplish this.
So Wu Jingzhi went to apologize as soon as he returned.
Yan Qingqing finally arrived after an hour.
Wu Jingzhi noticed that Yan Qingqing's demeanor was even more refined than before, and her face was also very serious.
In truth, Wu Jingzhi was also intimidated by Yan Qingqing's demeanor. However, remembering the purpose of his trip, he quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your son-in-law greets Your Majesty, Mother-in-law."
Yan Qingqing did not speak, but went straight to the head seat and sat down.
After a short while, Yan Qingqing's mocking voice finally came: "Young Master Wu is too polite. I cannot bear the title of 'mother-in-law'."
I don't know what my daughter Xinniang did wrong to deserve such mistreatment from her mother-in-law in your Wu family.
If you didn't like her, why did you marry her in the first place? And since you married her, why don't you protect her?
Because Yan Qingqing didn't tell Wu Jingzhi to get up, Wu Jingzhi could only bow and reply, "This is all my fault. I have already spoken with my mother, and this will definitely not happen again."
Yan Qingqing was furious when she heard this. This was Wu Jingzhi's attitude towards handling things. No wonder Madam Wu dared to treat Li Xinniang like this.
They just say a few perfunctory words that they know they were wrong and that they will never do it again, and then they think they can just let it go.
So when Yan Qingqing spoke again, her voice was even colder: "If this is your attitude, then Young Master Wu, you should go back."
My wife, Xinniang, is not worthy of your Wu family. Either we get a divorce or she divorces her husband. Please be prepared and give me an answer as soon as possible.
Furthermore, effective today, Canghe Li Ji is terminating all cooperation with the Wu family.
Wu Jingzhi was shocked to hear this. How could he have suddenly angered Yan Qingqing?
Was his attitude not sincere enough? So he knelt down with a thud and said, "Mother-in-law, is there anything I did wrong? Please tell me and I will correct it immediately."
Yan Qingqing sneered and said, "Wu Jingzhi, considering that you once helped my family, let's get straight to the point today."
Your mother probably didn't just lock Xinniang up to get her to agree so you could marry your cousin as a concubine.
What she wanted was Xinniang's life, but perhaps she had reservations or simply didn't have the chance to carry it out.
My daughter is about to be harmed, and I can still speak to you calmly and rationally. I feel like I'm about to become a saint.
You haven't even offered an apology, and you think you can just let this go with a simple promise that it won't happen again? Are you taking advantage of me, a widow and her orphan, and the Li family?
Before Yan Qingqing could finish speaking, Li Xiangping's voice rang out again: "Although my sister has lost her father, she still has her brothers and her mother."
From now on, any business dealings with the Wu family will be refused entry to Canghe Li's Restaurant.
Wu Jingzhi was even more shocked upon hearing this; he hadn't expected the Li family to be so angry about the matter.
To put it bluntly, he was actually quite proud of himself for marrying Li Xin's mother against his family's wishes.
In addition, the Li family had hardly had any contact with each other in Chengyang County, Xuancheng Prefecture in the past two years, so he thought that the Li family no longer valued Li Xinniang, and he couldn't help but feel a little contemptuous of them.
But little did he know that the Li family would take such a tough stance on this matter.
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