She sniffled, as if she had been holding back her grievances for too long, and sobbed softly for a while before stopping.
The Minister of Rites' gaze darkened as he looked at Li Shiyue: "Princess, have you thought this through? This is not a joke."
Li Shiyue turned her head and wiped the tear stains from her cheeks with a handkerchief. Her eyes were red, making her look more like a little white rabbit.
"Yan Yan knows the weight of these words, but the adults saw and heard what I just said. These things can be found out as long as you go to Yunzhong County and put in a little effort. Yan Yan would not dare to say such a rebellious lie in front of the adults to frame them."
“Since Father no longer wants me as his daughter, I don’t need to make him worry about me every day. Let the adults witness today that all of Yan Yan’s upbringing and marriage will be decided by the Rongguo Duke’s Mansion. No one but my maternal grandmother can make decisions for me.”
"No!" The Earl of Yunyang stood up almost instantly. How could this be? He was hoping to marry his daughter off to a good man so that he, as the Duke of Taishan, could establish himself firmly in the capital and not return to Yunzhong County.
Xu Yunci's eyes flashed with disdain: "Why not?"
These were his first words after sitting down, and his second words after entering the room. His eyes showed disdain, and the half-smile on his lips seemed to be mocking Yunyangbo.
Sweat streamed down Yunyangbo's forehead. He was clearly intimidated by Xu Yunci, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Of course not."
“No, it was Yunyang Bo himself who said that no one can interfere with my cousin’s affairs; only she can make the decision herself.” Xu Yunci’s eyes showed a hint of impatience, and a touch of barely perceptible ruthlessness.
He originally thought that the Earl of Yunyang had only gone too far by favoring his concubine over his wife, but the old lady Li had given birth to him and raised him, and was so angry that she vomited blood while bedridden, yet the Earl of Yunyang remained unmoved.
This not only differs from the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues he learned from childhood, but also violates his identity and responsibilities as a son.
I wonder how Madam Li managed to raise her cousin so well, allowing her to grow up safely in this environment without picking up any of Uncle Yunyang's bad habits. The old lady should really put in a lot of effort.
His attitude was clearest today. After speaking, he looked at Li Shiyue, as if he would obey her orders, as if he would do whatever Li Shiyue said.
Xu Huailou was clearly unprepared for this scene. His gaze fell on Xu Yunci, his usual composure remaining unchanged. Then he looked at Li Shiyue; since alighting from the carriage, she had been clutching the wooden box in her arms, never entrusting it to anyone else, clearly indicating that it was an extremely important item.
Seeing the Minister of Rites looking over, he made it clear that he was on Li Shiyue's side: "My brother is not here, but Li Shiyue is the same."
“Yan Yan has come of age now, and she can make her own decisions. As long as it’s Yan Yan’s own words, we will have no objections.”
The Earl of Yunyang was anxious. In fact, he knew very well that Li Shiyue did not want to go back to Yunzhong County with him at all. But when he thought of Xu Shi's dowry and Li Shiyue's dowry, and when he thought of the current deficit of the Earl of Yunyang's mansion, he was so eager to go back that he felt extremely uncomfortable.
He longed to return to the days of reckless extravagance, and it would be even better if the Yunyang Marquis's mansion could rise to a higher level through Li Shiyue's marriage.
His idea was truly wonderful, but little did he know that even the Minister of Rites, sitting at the head of the table, could see through it.
The Minister of Rites shook his head. He really didn't want to be a sinner. If his good daughter really went with the Earl of Yunyang and something bad happened to her, he was afraid that Old Madam Li and Madam Xu would come looking for him in the middle of the night to take his life.
"Since the county magistrate insists on this, why don't we, your humble servant, act as witnesses today and write down a contract to avoid causing the county magistrate any further trouble in the future?"
Li Shiyue raised the wooden box in her arms and, under the watchful eyes of several people, opened it and took out a contract inside.
The document clearly states in black and white that Li Shiyue's marriage and upbringing were to be handled by Madam Xu after the passing of Old Madam Li.
It also states that Xu's dowry and the dowry chests Xu prepared for Li Shiyue would all leave with Li Shiyue when she left the Yunyang Earl's Mansion.
Not only that, but it also included the names of Old Madam Li and Earl Yunyang. Earl Yunyang's own handprint and his personal seal were pressed on the three characters "Li Wenting," while Old Madam Li's name was marked with her own handprint.
While it's possible to forge a fingerprint, a private seal, in theory, cannot be counterfeited.
The Minister of Rites examined it carefully. The white paper was not produced in the last two years. Although it was well preserved in the wooden box, the four corners and edges had already shown some yellowing.
"I wonder if Your Excellency carries your personal seal with you?"
The Minister of Rites' gaze was very calm. The Earl of Yunyang was not the kind of person who could read between the lines, so even if he carefully observed the Minister of Rites' expression, he could not tell anything.
He had no choice but to take out his personal seal from his chest and hand it to the Minister of Rites, curious to see what was written on the paper in the Minister's hand.
But the Minister of Rites was unwilling to do so. He looked up at the approaching Earl of Yunyang, then dodged with his hands, preventing the Earl from seeing a single word.
The Earl of Yunyang had no choice but to shrink back, watching the Minister of Rites compare his personal seal on the paper, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
Li Shiyue saw this and said calmly, "Father, you don't need to look. That's a contract written by my grandmother. The contents are roughly about my marriage and upbringing. My grandmother has already clearly handed it over to my maternal grandmother. Including my and my mother's dowry, it will all be mine in the future."
“Father’s name and seal are on this document. Even if Father doesn’t acknowledge it, with this contract, I’m not afraid.”
Upon hearing this, Yunyang Bo was unwilling. He thought to himself how he would snatch it and tear it to shreds. Without evidence, he would be the father, and whatever he said would be law.
“Don’t you want to tear up this copy in front of you? This one is just a copy. My father and mother also have a copy. The one in my grandmother’s Shousong Hall is the one written in Madam Li’s own handwriting.”
Xu Yunci's deep gaze swept across Yunyangbo's face, easily revealing his thoughts completely.
Fearing something might happen, Madam Xu kept the copy written by Madam Li herself, while everyone else had rubbings.
Xu Yunci never expected that the document he had would actually come in handy one day.
The Minister of Rites placed the contract and private seal in front of the Earl of Yunyang: "It is indeed your private seal. Our dynasty has clear laws. With such evidence of the agreement between the two parties, it is valid even before the Emperor."
He was quite surprised. Li Shiyue had been holding this wooden box in her arms the whole time, so she must have known about this contract long ago.
For an unmarried woman to go to such lengths, she must have been driven to an extreme.
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