Zheng Lin gradually calmed down, his face gloomy, pacing back and forth in the hall, at a loss for what to do.
Wang watched him pace back and forth, feeling extremely flustered, but she dared not make a sound to disturb him, and could only watch him anxiously.
"No, no..." Seeing her parents like this, Zheng Qing'er's usually firm heart wavered a little. "The prince must want to marry me because he likes me, not because of my family's money."
Zheng Qing'er recalled the look of amazement in Prince Cheng's eyes when they met. At that time, Prince Cheng didn't know who she was or whose daughter she was. Her identity was revealed by her own person.
Why would a king like that be after his own family's money?
Zheng Qing'er was distraught, but no one paid any attention to her.
After a while, Zheng Lin finally spoke, "Ziyao, take your cousin back to her room and keep an eye on her. I don't care if she marries someone else or Prince Cheng, as long as her affairs are not settled, she cannot be allowed to go out!"
Huang Ziyao suddenly understood what Zheng Lin meant; her uncle was preventing her cousin from seeing Prince Cheng.
"Master!" As soon as Madam Wang saw Zheng Qing'er being helped away by Huang Ziyao and disappearing into the hall, she immediately spoke up anxiously, "What should we do? Are we really going to watch Prince Cheng marry Qing'er?" If Qing'er were to marry into the family and become either a princess or a concubine, she would be willing, but if Prince Cheng was after their family's wealth, then she would not be happy. She would have no money left, and no matter how powerful her son-in-law was, it would be useless.
Zheng Lin couldn't help but resent Wang Shi. It was all because of this woman that her daughter had dragged their whole family down.
But in front of the child, Zheng Lin still remembered to give some face to the woman who had been with him for decades. "Go back first and keep an eye on Qing'er. Make sure she doesn't mess things up. Also, ask Qing'er if anyone else knows about this besides us. This matter cannot be told to anyone."
Wang nodded, her face pale.
Seeing that Wang had left, Zheng Lin sat down. He looked at Huang Yi'an and, seeing that Huang Yi'an was still standing, raised his hand to gesture for Huang Yi'an to sit down. "Yi'an, please sit down."
Huang Yi'an obediently sat down, waiting for Zheng Lin to speak. He knew that Zheng Lin must have a lot to say to him, but he was very confused and didn't know what to say.
Huang Yi'an was not in a hurry and gave Zheng Lin plenty of time.
When Zheng Lin finally gathered his thoughts and looked up, he saw his stepson staring at him, as if trying to see right through him. Zheng Lin couldn't help but ask, "An'er, what do you think about your sister's situation?"
Huang Yi'an knew that Zheng Lin was not asking about his younger sister Huang Ziyao, but about his cousin Zheng Qing'er.
Huang Zi'an didn't rush to answer, but instead asked Zheng Lin, "Hasn't Father already made a decision?"
Zheng Lin was taken aback, then nodded. "That's right, I have indeed made a decision." Angry as he was, Zheng Lin was the kind of person whose temper flared up quickly but also subsided just as fast. In just a short while, he had completely calmed down and had already figured out what to do.
Huang Yi'an said, "Although Prince Cheng came for our family, it is not a bad thing to let Qing'er marry him. Princess Cheng has been married to Prince Cheng for many years and has only one daughter, Princess Lingyu. As long as Qing'er is able to give birth to a son for Prince Cheng, and with our help from outside, we will be meritorious when Prince Cheng achieves great success. Then the things that Father is worried about will naturally not happen."
If Prince Cheng becomes the Crown Prince, Qing'er's son will naturally be the Crown Prince's eldest son. When Prince Cheng ascends the throne, he will naturally not do anything to his son's maternal family. Therefore, all their actions will be more beneficial than harmful.
“If Father doesn’t want to lose all of this, then we can just lose to Master Hu. We shouldn’t participate in the imperial merchant competition either,” Huang Yi’an said slowly.
Zheng Lin nodded. "That's right, Yi An, you're absolutely right. That's what I think too."
"So how did the father make his choice?"
“Qing’er will naturally marry Prince Cheng!” Zheng Lin stroked his beard. “Prince Cheng is powerful and not someone we merchants can shake. After all, Qing’er has already pledged her life to him, and he has already spoken out. If we were to marry Qing’er off to someone else, we would really be embarrassing him. We cannot afford to be angered by the lords. But we will also lose to Master Hu. I am old and cannot compare to him.”
Huang Yi'an understood. His father wanted everything, not only power but also the family fortune, and planned to push Hu Mingmei out.
Meanwhile, Bai Nuo and the others were completely unaware of all the events that had transpired in the Zheng family, and how they had been targeted. When Bai Nuo returned home with Hu Mingmei, she was already asleep and didn't even know when Hu Mingmei had left the room.
Inside the study, Hu Mingmei sat behind her desk, quietly listening to Xia Donglai recount the entire incident.
An hour was more than enough time for Xia Donglai to investigate everything.
"You mean, Zheng Qing'er has never liked Madam, so she took advantage of Huang Ziyao to lure Madam into the woods and tried to push her off?"
"Yes!" Xia Donglai nodded. All the talk about accidentally falling, or the branches and loose soil on the cliff, was all for the purpose of getting rid of Bai Nuo. Zheng Qing'er first had Huang Ziyao lure people here, and then she loosened the branches and soil on the cliff. Zheng Qing'er knew that Bai Nuo would definitely come with Mudan and the others. If Bai Nuo went to help, it would only end up on Mudan. So Zheng Qing'er made her move on Mudan first. No matter if Mudan stepped on the unstable soil or accidentally grabbed a loose branch, she would fall. Bai Nuo and Mudan had a very good relationship. If Mudan was in trouble, Bai Nuo would naturally not ignore it. So, Bai Nuo would also go to the edge of the cliff.
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