Huo Tong was stunned after hearing Qingyou's words.
She grabbed Qingyou's hand. "Sister-in-law, you said that Jiwen has another woman outside and wants to break off his engagement with Yue'er?"
Qingyou nodded with red eyes, "Yes, it's like she's possessed, she won't listen to anything I say."
Huo Tong felt uncomfortable. "Is my sister-in-law here today to break off the engagement?"
With only six months left until the wedding, what will happen to her daughter after this?
Qingyou shook her head and said, "I didn't come here today to break off the engagement."
"I only found out about the merchant woman's existence a few days ago when Ji Wen said he wanted to break off the engagement."
She looked at Huo Tong with a sincere expression and said, "I truly regard Yue'er as my daughter, so I just wanted to tell you this. I don't want to keep it a secret."
"Otherwise, regardless of whether the engagement is called off in the end, it won't be good for Yue'er."
"If she hadn't broken off the engagement and married Ji Wen, but he still had his heart set on that merchant girl, Yue'er would have been left alone in her room. Having a husband would be no different from having a husband, and it would only cause her heartache and physical harm."
"If Ji Wen breaks off the engagement first, it won't be good for Yue'er's reputation, and I'm afraid it will hinder her from getting married again in the future."
Qingyou felt that since they were already engaged, the Qiao family had the right to know.
In the original owner's life, the Qiao family was terribly harmed because they were unaware of this matter.
Huo Jiwen and Shi Lingqiao secretly met and kept their engagement a secret from everyone.
Although the original owner found out, she didn't want to air her dirty laundry in public. She thought that as long as she didn't agree to annul the engagement and could win back her son, she could marry Qiao Xinyue normally.
But unexpectedly, Qiao Xinyue was kidnapped by bandits and lost her innocence.
The Qiao family investigated and found that Qiao Xinyue and her friend had happened to encounter bandits who were robbing several civilians. Qiao Xinyue's close friend came from a military family and naturally could not stand such a thing, so she ordered the servants and guards to stop them.
Who knew that being defeated by the bandits would instead implicate her and Qiao Xinyue?
The girl survived when she was rescued, but she committed suicide out of guilt towards Qiao Xinyue.
Although Qiao Xinyue did not die, the once lively girl became taciturn and stopped going out.
Because of this incident, the Qiao family took the initiative to break off the engagement. Huo Jiwen even listened to Shi Lingqiao's advice and pretended to tell the Qiao family that there was no need to break off the engagement. He said that although his cousin had lost her innocence, he would still marry her.
The original owner was relieved to see her son's attitude toward the Qiao family and therefore had no doubts.
The Qiao family would never do such a thing. Qiao Xinyue was traumatized and became even more unwilling to get married.
Moreover, Qiao Xinyue has always liked Huo Jiwen, so she didn't want to harm him and asked her parents to refuse.
Because of Huo Jiwen's actions, the Qiao family not only didn't have any bad intentions towards him, but also helped him a lot in the imperial court.
Six months later, Huo Jiwen married Shi Lingqiao, the daughter of a merchant, which initially surprised and puzzled everyone.
Huo Jiwen then came out and said that he was heartbroken because of his cousin's situation and had not originally intended to remarry.
However, he was injured while hunting and was rescued by Shi Lingqiao. In addition, his mother hoped that he could have an heir, so he married her to repay her kindness.
Everyone felt that he still had feelings for Qiao Xinyue, and that he only married his benefactor to appease his family's pressure to get married and have children. They all thought he was a man of affection.
This earned him a good reputation, and people didn't have much of an opinion or resistance towards him marrying a merchant's daughter.
I just felt that this female merchant was lucky.
Shi Lingqiao's reputation was not damaged in the slightest, and she was even envied by many people.
Therefore, the Qiao family did not blame Huo Jiwen for remarrying only half a year after the annulment of the engagement; on the contrary, they felt somewhat sorry for him.
Later, Shi Ling discovered that the Qiao family had a silver mine in a barren mountain, so she asked Huo Jiwen to go to the Qiao family to buy it.
The Qiao family saw it as just a barren mountain and gave it to Huo Jiwen without even asking for any money.
Huo Jiwen then gave it to Shi Lingqiao.
Shi Ling cleverly used these silver mines to allow the Shi family to secretly mine them, accumulating a large fortune. This enabled them to buy several ships carrying imported goods and make a huge profit in the capital.
With more money, he bought medicinal herbs all over the country for Shi Lingqiao to use, so that she could make a lot of pills and sell them at high prices, which greatly enhanced her reputation.
As a result, the Shi family became imperial merchants and also served as the fourth prince's moneybags, ensuring he had no worries about money during the struggle for the throne.
This incident successfully disgusted Qingyou once again.
The Qiao family was nothing but a great victim and cannon fodder from beginning to end.
Moreover, Shi Lingqiao felt this was only right, because she believed it was something the Qiao family owed her and her family, and that it was interest.
Qingyou couldn't understand the thought process of someone like Shi Lingqiao.
Shi Lingqiao's family was exiled not because they were wronged; her father was indeed guilty of massive corruption and had colluded with officials in the south to embezzle most of the funds allocated by the court for dike repairs, resulting in a shoddy project.
When floods come, they easily destroy the dikes, causing countless deaths, injuries, and displacements.
Because of this incident, Shi Lingqiao's father was implicated and sentenced to exile.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Lord Qiao, was simply upright and selfless. He did not let the Fourth Prince's intervention lead to a lighter sentence, which incurred the deep resentment of the Shi family and the Fourth Prince.
It was a completely undeserved disaster.
This time, Qingyou certainly wouldn't let the Qiao family be the victims of a tragedy again.
Huo Tong was initially very uncomfortable, thinking that his sister-in-law had come to break off the engagement because of Huo Jiwen.
But after hearing his sister-in-law's words, the anger that had been rising within him lessened considerably.
She never expected her nephew to be so heartless, wanting to abandon her daughter for the sake of a merchant's daughter.
Huo Tong pursed her lips and said, "They grew up together. Ji Wen used to be quite protective of Yue'er. Is he really going to be so heartless?"
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