Chapter 48 Xie Family Compensation
Chapter 48
Xie Mansion
Early in the morning, after having breakfast, Xie Mingtang, Madam Xie and Xie Zhan moved to the conference room, where they drank tea to help digest their food while waiting for the arrival of the Lu family.
In the adjacent side hall sat two other people: Prince Gong and Lü Desheng's immediate superior, the Imperial Censor Zhou Chengzhong. These two had been specially invited by the Xie family to act as intermediaries and witness the discussion after the two families had concluded.
Fortunately, this time the Lu family did not stand up the Xie family like they did yesterday. At noon, Lu Desheng and his wife arrived at the Xie family.
The Xie family's steward welcomed the two into the meeting room.
Xie Zhan discovered that only Lu Desheng and his wife had come to the Lu family, and Lu Songli had not come. He couldn't explain what he felt in his heart. Was he disappointed? It was as if everyone else had turned around and left, but he was still lingering there.
After Lü Desheng and Jiang sat down at the guest table and the Xie family's servants served tea, Lü Desheng looked around and found that only their two families were there. He asked, "Are we the only two families here? Do we need to invite someone to come?"
Xie Mingtang smiled and continued, "Brother Lu, you really think the same as me. We have already invited the middleman, and they are currently drinking tea next door."
Lu Desheng rolled his eyes. He was still calling him a brother at a time like this. How shameless!
"Who did you invite?" he asked casually.
"Prince Gong and Imperial Censor Zhou Chengzhong."
"Okay, these two are old acquaintances." Lu Desheng nodded. In fact, he didn't care who the Xie family invited. After today's discussion, they would be clear and would have nothing to do with each other in the future.
After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Xie Mingtang glanced at his wife and signaled her that she could begin.
Madam Xie's expression froze. It was only in these two days that she discovered how much her father-in-law, her husband, and her son had been hiding from her! Was Lu Songli unable to conceive due to the injuries she sustained while saving her son? No wonder her father-in-law had been so insistent on arranging a marriage for his son into the Lu family. She hadn't agreed to it, and it had cost her son his life. Now everything made sense.
When she first learned about this, she was furious. After all, she was the mistress of the Xie family and the biological mother of her son, and yet they had concealed such an important fact from her! Xie Mingtang's reason was that he was afraid she would show it to the Lu family after she found out. Although she was dissatisfied with this explanation, Madam Xie knew her own limitations. If she had known that Lu Songli was infertile, she would have been undeniably picky when she saw her.
When she thought of the sense of superiority she had shown in front of her future daughter-in-law, Lu Songli, over the years, her face turned stiff.
Madam Xie was thinking about how to start the conversation, but Lu Desheng and Jiang were too lazy to play along with them, so they went straight to the point.
"Enough of the small talk. I'm sure you all know why we're here. Now, all your Xie family needs to do is return the engagement token and the engagement letter. From now on, there will be no further ties between our two families."
Xie Mingtang said thoughtfully, "Our Xie family has always been full of expectations for the marriage between Miss Lu Er and Ah Zhan. We have always hoped that Miss Lu Er would marry into our family. Unfortunately, fate did not fulfill our wishes, and the two were not destined to be together. Now that the Empress Dowager has granted marriage to each of them, the imperial order cannot be disobeyed. Our two families have no choice but to return the engagement letter and token of marriage and then marry separately."
The Xie family is very humble.
Jiang snorted. The Xie family made them sound as innocent as a white lotus. If the Xie family hadn't been so ambiguous and intentionally permissive, why would the Zhao family have been so desperate? If Jiang had been to the afterlife, she would have known that the Xie family's behavior was that of a scumbag: no initiative, no rejection, no responsibility. A person passes through a field of flowers, leaving a single leaf untouched. Disgusting as it may be, you simply can't find any evidence against them.
The Xie family changed the subject, "But for the Lu family's second young lady saving Ah Zhan back then, our Xie family is extremely grateful. We beg the Lu family to give us a chance to make amends."
As he spoke, Xie Mingtang pushed the box on the table over. The box opened slightly, revealing a stack of silver notes. Each note had a denomination of one thousand taels, a thick stack that looked to be worth around twenty or thirty thousand, equivalent to half the dowry of a daughter of a wealthy family. The Xie family truly was generous!
"Here is a thirty thousand tael silver note, a token of our Xie family's love. Please accept it on our behalf, elders."
The Xie family never leaves anything to be criticized in this regard. This money is also Xie Zhan's life-saving money, how could the Xie family give less? Giving less is just mocking Xie Zhan for being worthless.
"I hope that even though our two families are not destined to become in-laws, we can part ways amicably."
Lu Desheng pushed the wooden box back.
His action made Mrs. Xie's face change slightly. She thought that they looked down on such a small amount of money and wanted to make more money.
Xie Mingtang was surprised. Did the Lu family refuse such a large sum of money?
Xie Zhan also looked over.
"We don't want the banknotes! If the Xie family is really sincere, just convert them into grain for us." Lu Desheng stated his request directly.
Thirty thousand taels of silver worth of grain?! Xie Mingtang and Xie Zhan, father and son, exchanged glances, and then Xie Mingtang asked Lu Desheng, "What do you need so much grain for?"
Lu Desheng's eyes flashed. The Xie family didn't say they didn't have any food, they just asked why they needed so much food.
Xie Zhan's eyes flickered, and he quickly added, "We don't have that much grain." Currently, the price of one dan of grain fluctuates between four and six qian of silver. Thirty thousand taels of silver for grain would require sixty to seventy thousand dan, right?
Lu Desheng didn't believe it. His daughter had been reading books in his study recently and was intentionally collecting information about the Xie family. She must have a basis for making this request.
Lu Desheng made a move to stand up. "It doesn't matter. If you're willing to give the grain, then give it. If not, forget it." They could discuss compensation, but they only accepted this form of compensation. Anything else was out of the question. For example, they wouldn't accept the banknotes.
As soon as Xie Zhan spoke, Xie Mingtang also reacted.
The father and son of the Xie family looked at each other. The Lu family's request was either a confirmation that the Xie family had so much grain, or a confirmation that they had channels to raise grain. No matter which one it was, Xie Zhan's heart was beating fast. When did the Lu family know so much about the Xie family?
Can’t give it to me! The father and son conveyed this thought to each other in their eyes.
"I wonder what Uncle Lu wants so much food for?"
"I set up a tent to give out porridge, to help disaster victims and refugees, and to accumulate virtue and do good deeds for my daughter. I hope that one day she can meet a good doctor who can cure her health, so that she can get married and have a child." Lu Desheng said very simply.
These words were quite touching, and the reason was well chosen, making it impossible to refute. Under the premise that Emperor Kangcheng believed deeply in the cause and effect of Buddhism and Taoism, the Xie family could not say that doing good deeds was useless.
The Xie family meant, "Can't you just take the silver and buy it yourself?"
Xie Zhan, on the other hand, was thinking further. The Queen Mother had just granted the Qin and Lu families a marriage, and it was hard not to think that the Lu family's request was to raise food and fodder for the Qin family. The thought of this made him sour. The marriage had just been granted, and they were already so eager to consider the in-laws?
Jiang stood up and said, "Forget it, forget it. Since your Xie family has no sincerity, what's the point of continuing the discussion? Master, let's go back."
Xie Zhan quickly said, "Aunt Lu, our Xie family is very sincere in compensating Miss Lu, but your request is too embarrassing. We in the Xie family really can't do it. How about trying something simpler?"
Lu Desheng was extremely displeased. His daughter had been right. The Xie family would never give up tens of thousands of dan of grain. He had never imagined that the Xie family actually had so much grain stored!
Jiang readily changed her request, "Okay, let's change to something simpler. We want your Xie family's 100 hectares of land in Changshi Village, Longcheng, Liaoxi County."
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