"Hit me!"
More than a dozen guards rushed forward. They were all experts selected by the emperor. It took only ten seconds for Zhong Jianmin to go from being confident to running away in panic. In the end, he was beaten to the ground and couldn't get up.
Yun Yuan stepped on his right hand and crushed it.
"Don't show up in front of me, disgusting!"
Zhong Jianmin's eyes were bloodshot and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He heard the sound of a door closing and the dissatisfied voice of a woman.
"What a pity for my pair of shoes, Xinghua, bring me new ones."
Zhong Jianmin used all his strength to get up and stumbled towards the general's mansion. He was pointed at and talked about along the way. He was angry and ashamed, and vowed to make Yun Yuan pay the price.
There is no shortage of gossipers in any era.
Ever since they knew Yun Yuan lived in Lihua Lane, in order to get first-hand information, people who loved to watch the fun secretly gathered at the entrance of the lane. When they saw Zhong Jianmin, their eyes flashed with brilliance, and they hid in the dark and watched the whole process.
They didn't dare to offend Zhong Jianmin openly, so they hid at a distance. However, Zhong Jianmin spoke loudly, so they only listened and guessed, and they were almost right.
They left contentedly, and there was more gossip to go around while drinking tea today!
General Zhenwei wanted to take his original wife back as his concubine, but she refused and beat him up!
The news in the capital was spreading like wildfire, and the emperor was preparing for Yun Yuan to enter the palace.
The empress dowager took the initiative to suggest that her mother's family adopt Yun Yuan as an adopted daughter and record her in the family tree. The emperor agreed, and Yun Yuan let them arrange everything for her and learned cooking at home every day.
As spring came and flowers bloomed, Yun Yuan planned to go to the flower market to buy some fresh and beautiful flowers to decorate the garden, but she was stopped after taking a few steps.
The person who came was wearing a red flower on her head and had a big black mole on her face. She was dressed like a typical matchmaker. When she saw Yun Yuan, her eyes lit up and her face was as beautiful as a flower.
"Sister, I'm Qian the Matchmaker. The scholar from Kushui Lane asked me to be your matchmaker. Although he's dirt poor, he doesn't mind your uncleanness or your age. He has three children at home. If you marry him, you'll enjoy happiness. You won't have to suffer and you can become a mother. In the future, his three children will honor you."
Seeing Yun Yuan didn't say anything, she continued, "If you don't like this one, look at something else. Lord Qi lost his wife in middle age and wants to marry a second wife. I think you are quite suitable. Although he has many concubines and a lot of illegitimate children, the older he is, the more loving he is."
"There's also the wealthy businessman He. His wife hanged herself after discovering he had a mistress, leaving behind a son, a daughter, and three other children from his mistress. He wants to marry a virtuous and sensible woman to take care of the household and give his mistress a legitimate status. I think you're just the right person."
Yun Yuan laughed at this and said, "Other matchmakers only say good things when introducing people, why do you always expose their shortcomings?"
Matchmaker Qian glared at her.
"To tell you the truth, it was General Zhenwei who asked me to come. I didn't dare not come, but I was also afraid that you wouldn't understand and jump into the fire pit. You are so beautiful, so be careful when you go out in the future and don't trust people too much."
Yun Yuan took out a tael of silver and handed it over: "Thank you for the reminder, big sister."
Matchmaker Qian happily took the silver and said, "Actually, I have a few high-quality men..."
Yun Yuan interrupted her: "I have something to do today, so I'll leave first." After that, she pulled Chunyu and left quickly.
Matchmaker Qian shouted from behind: "Hey! Why are you running? Don't be shy."
Yun Yuan walked faster.
The Taifu family sent out invitations to everyone to attend the ceremony, and General Zhenwei's mansion also received an invitation.
Zhong Jianmin said to Wu Yishu, "The old Taifu was the teacher of the late emperor, a veteran of three dynasties, and the grandfather of the empress dowager. His children and grandchildren are all very successful, with many retainers and deep roots in the court. I heard that the emperor and the empress dowager will also be attending this banquet. I will take you there to show your face."
Wu Yishu nodded. She heard that the adopted daughter was from a common family like her, but she was lucky enough to help Madam Wen, so she was valued by Madam Wen and adopted as her adopted daughter.
If only that person were me, she thought.
Since the reputation of General Zhenwei's Mansion was ruined, in order to draw a clear line with Zhong Jianmin, the ladies in the capital did not invite Zhong Jianmin's family to their banquets. Even Zhong Erlang's friends no longer played with him. Zhong Xiaomei returned to her parents' home and cried, saying that her husband Si Gou was ridiculed outside, and beat him when he got home, and wanted to divorce her.
"This is outrageous!" Mrs. Ge was furious. "He spends all day out playing with chickens and dogs. He's uneducated and doesn't even hold an official position. If you didn't like him, I would never let you marry him. Now, you've led Erlang astray, and you still want to..."
"There's no point in saying this now." Zhong Xiaomei said, "Let's think about how to solve this problem. We can't just get divorced."
Zhong Xiaodi whispered, "I also want someone to go to Yu Hanlin's house to propose marriage..."
Wu Yishu's belly grew bigger. She touched her belly and said coldly, "Once divorced, her reputation will be ruined. My son can't have a divorced aunt who goes home."
Zhong Xiaomei was so angry that she retorted: "We don't know whether it's a boy or a girl yet, what if..." She was caught off guard and slapped. She said in disbelief: "Brother, what are you doing?!"
Zhong Jianmin's face was grim: "It must be a boy!"
Zhong Xiaomei was stunned, touching her face without saying a word.
She didn't understand why it had to be a boy. If the first child was a girl, they could just have another one. Or was it that her eldest brother was just like the other families in the village who favored boys over girls?
Wu Yishu was also stunned. Although she hoped that the baby in her belly was a boy, she couldn't guarantee that it would be a boy. If it was a girl... she couldn't imagine it.
Mrs. Ge glared at Zhong Jianmin. Although she also preferred a boy, she still felt sorry for her daughter. She said, "Your sister is right. Only after the child is born can we know for sure whether it is a boy or a girl. You are still young, so why bother with this one?"
Zhong Jianmin's face was so gloomy that it looked like water could drip from it. He kicked the stool and left without saying a word.
Those who stayed looked at each other in bewilderment.
They also discovered in the past few days that Zhong Jianmin had changed a lot after returning from the disaster relief work, not only in appearance, but also in personality. He became gloomy and irritable, and would turn his face away if he disagreed with someone.
Maybe life is not going well.
Ge thought that she must persuade Yun to come back. She had even lowered her face to beg her, so Yun would not be ungrateful. Yun was soft-hearted and easy to manipulate. More importantly, her dowry was generous, much better than Wu Yishu's.
"Well, don't forget you still have a son and a daughter. The divorce is just Si Gou trying to scare you. Besides, with his temper..." Ge said, "The Minister's Mansion won't let him do anything wrong."
Zhong Xiaomei calmed down. Yes, she still has a son and a daughter. They are still young and cannot live without their mother. She felt confident again.
When she returned to the courtyard of the Minister's Mansion, Si Gou was already waiting for her. Seeing Zhong Xiaomei, he stretched out his hand with an impatient look on his face and said, "Give it to me."
Zhong Xiaomei was originally very happy, but she was stunned when she heard this: "Wha...what?"
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