Xiao Hongyu and Su were very angry about the incident between Ruan Mingyu and Zheng Yiyang. After this incident, the relationship between the three families would be very delicate even if they did not become enemies. Especially since the Xiao family was protective of their own shortcomings, Xiao Hongyu was already thinking about how to teach the Zheng and Ruan families a lesson while minimizing the harm to his beloved daughter.
Xiao Yunrou followed Xiao Yunya to her private room and could no longer hold back her frown. Although Xiao Yunya was a little unhappy, she did not look sad.
"Sister, why do you have to get angry over someone who has nothing to do with you? Don't get angry and make yourself sick. I realized early on that Zheng Yiyang is not my ideal match. It's a blessing in disguise, isn't it?"
Hongluan brought a plate of lychees, and Xiao Yunya peeled one for Xiao Yunrou herself. Seeing her smiling face, Xiao Yunrou sighed helplessly and said worriedly:
"But after all, breaking off the engagement will damage your reputation, and it won't be good for your future."
Xiao Yunrou hated Ruan Mingyu and Zheng Yiyang to the core, and waved her hand to let the servants leave.
"The Ruan and Zheng families don't take us seriously, especially Zheng Yiyang. You and he have already set a wedding date, but they still did something like this. This is clearly bullying you. If you swallow your anger today, everyone will be able to step on you after you get married."
Xiao Yunrou strongly supported Xiao Yunya's decision to break off the engagement. She knew very well that the Zheng family was not a good place to go, and she would never let her sister fall into that fire pit.
"Let's not talk about the Zheng family. Even the Ruan family is my father's subordinate. They let my daughter humiliate you like this. I don't know what they did behind my father's back."
When she thought of this possibility, Xiao Yunrou narrowed her eyes and a gleam of light flashed in her eyes. Xiao Yunya also realized it later and frowned tightly.
"Sister said..."
"My father must have thought of this after many years in the government, but I have to vent my anger."
Xiao Yunya thought for a moment before saying, "Ruan Mingyu is only a concubine's daughter, and Madam Zheng will not agree to her being her daughter-in-law. But this matter has caused such a big fuss in front of the family, and I'm afraid that all the prominent families in the capital know about it. The most they can do is to allow her to be a concubine."
If she was even more ruthless and refused to acknowledge Ruan Mingyu, she would not be able to save the child and would have to send her to the family temple. Thinking of what Mrs. Ruan had said to Su just now, perhaps not only the Zheng family, but also the Ruan family would not tolerate her. Mrs. Ruan's legitimate daughter was one year younger than Ruan Mingyu and was also of marriageable age. Now she was dragging down the reputation of the Ruan family's daughters. Mrs. Ruan was so angry that she wanted to hang her with a white silk.
"Having the guts to do something like this before getting married has consequences."
A cold light flashed in Xiao Yunrou's eyes, and she looked at Xiao Yunya with a distressed expression.
"Don't go to those banquets these days. Wait until things calm down."
Xiao Yunya nodded in agreement. Although it was not her fault to cancel the engagement, it also made her lose face. She might as well stay at home to avoid being in the spotlight and avoid being affected by gossip.
After returning to the Marquis' Mansion, Shen called Xiao Yunrou over. Xiao Yunrou did not keep Shen waiting for long and went to the main courtyard as soon as she got off the carriage.
After entering the main room, Xiao Yunrou looked at Shen, who was sitting at the head of the table, spinning a Buddhist rosary. She smiled and walked forward to greet him, saying, "Mother."
Shen looked at Xiao Yunrou, whose expression was calm and flawless, and the uncontrollable feeling came up again. She had no choice but to suppress the discomfort in her heart.
"I heard that someone came to the Su family with a big belly. Has your sister's marriage changed?"
Xiao Yunrou didn't expect the news to spread so quickly. Shen Shi had heard the news in the backyard, and she was afraid that the whole capital would know about it by now. Xiao Yunrou was worried about whether she should let Xiao Yunya go somewhere to relax and avoid the limelight.
"Yes, that girl... Anyway, my father and mother were very angry and have already broken off the engagement with the Zheng family."
Xiao Yunrou showed a trace of worry, and Shen also frowned. Although she didn't like Xiao Yunrou, she still felt a little sympathy for her when this happened.
"Your sister has suffered an unexpected disaster. I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to get married in the future. In my opinion, the Zheng family is not well-off. You should not have arranged a marriage with them in the first place. There is no rules at all."
Xiao Yunrou pressed her forehead as she listened to Shen's words. She did not respond to her words, but just said, "I just pity my sister."
Being well matched does have certain advantages. At least a truly wealthy family would never cause such a scene before the legitimate wife even gets married, and make such a scene so loud that all three families lose face.
On the other hand, Mrs. Ruan and Mrs. Zheng parted ways unhappily. In the end, for the sake of the face of both families, Mrs. Zheng agreed that Ruan Mingyu could marry as a concubine after Zheng Yiyang got married. However, the baby in her belly would never be recognized, and it was Mrs. Ruan's business to decide how to deal with it.
When the two families were discussing, Mrs. Zheng's sharp eyes kept scraping at Ruan Mingyu. Even Zheng Yiyang looked unhappy. Thinking of how Xiao Yunya was determined to break off the engagement with him, he felt uncomfortable and angry.
After returning to the Ruan family, Mrs. Ruan asked someone to prepare an abortion drug and even ordered someone to secretly put a sterilizing drug in it. She felt relieved when she saw with her own eyes Ruan Mingyu being held down by two maids and forced to drink the drug. She would never let Ruan Mingyu, who had ruined the reputation of the Ruan family girls, have an easy time.
"You little bastard, stay at the farm. If you are still useful, I would hang you to death today! You should behave yourself for the next few days. If you commit a crime again, you can go and apologize to the ancestors of the Ruan family with a white silk."
Mrs. Ruan didn't care that Ruan Mingyu had a seizure after drinking the medicine. She called a tight-lipped doctor over and only told him not to let her die. She then ignored him. After the doctor left, she didn't even ask anyone to pack Ruan Mingyu a change of clothes or jewelry. She just put her in a carriage and sent her to the manor.
The story of Ruan Mingyu had not yet spread to the Ruan family's backyard. Everyone only knew that Ruan Mingyu was punished by Madam Ruan but did not know the whole story. So Ruan Mingyu's biological mother, Aunt Bai, ran to the main courtyard to plead for mercy. Unexpectedly, she was so frightened by the truth told by Madam Ruan that she almost fainted and quickly knelt down.
"Madam, the second young lady is young and ignorant. She was just confused for a moment and was deceived by sweet words. Please forgive her this time. I will teach her well when I go back and will never let her make the same mistake again. Madam, please forgive her this time. If you go directly to the manor after giving birth, it will kill the second young lady. Please forgive her this time..."
Aunt Bai kowtowed so hard that blood soon oozed from her head. But Madam Ruan didn't even raise her eyelids and said coldly:
"Do you know that this little bastard has offended the Xiao and Zheng families? Who knows, he might have also offended the Zhenyuan Marquisate and the Su family, who are related to them. What do you want me to do in the officialdom? Lord Xiao is my boss!"
Mrs. Ruan's words made Aunt Bai's face turn pale. She knelt on the ground limply. She knew that her only daughter was really finished and would never be able to turn over in her life.
On the other side, the Su family.
Madam Su was so angry after hearing the rumor that she got very mad at Su Qingmo and Su Qingyun who were drinking tea with her. But after she got angry, she thought of something and turned her eyes around, staring at Su Qingyun intently, which made Su Qingyun's hair stand on end.
"Qingyun, what do you think of your cousin Yunya?" Madam Su asked with a smile.
Su Qingyun nodded blankly. He had not had much contact with Xiao Yunya, but he had a good impression of her after meeting her once or twice. However, he did not understand why Madam Su asked this question. He just had a feeling that it was not a good thing.
"If I hire Cousin Yunya as your daughter-in-law, would you be willing?"
Su Qingyun's eyes widened, and after finally digesting the news, he shook his head like a wave drum.
"Aunt, my cousin is very nice, but I can't marry her."
Mrs. Su was furious when she heard this and asked, "What are you talking about?"
If her youngest son wasn't one year younger than Xiao Yunya, she wouldn't have let Su Qingyun have such a chance! Now she's complaining about it?
"No, no... I... I only treat my cousin as my sister... Aunt, please don't mess with me, there is no way my cousin and I can be together!"
After Su Qingyun said this, he quickly slipped away, which made Madam Su angry and amused. She had just had this thought: Xiao Yunya is beautiful, generous, and has a very good temper, but that brat Su Qingyun doesn't like her?
Madam Su shook her head helplessly, but Su Qingmo on the side spoke.
"If mother is worried, why not go and see her tomorrow? I'm sure aunt is also worried about my second cousin."
Madam Su agreed without thinking, and also instructed Su Qingmo to help Xiao Yunya keep an eye out for young talents of the right age, who must be ten or a hundred times better than those in the Zheng family.
The next day, Meng Yushi presented a proudly written memorial to the emperor, impeaching Minister Ruan. In addition to the accusation of corrupting public morals by teaching his daughter badly yesterday, there were more than ten other charges, including allowing his servants to injure people and seizing the property of civilians. The emperor was furious when he heard the accusation.
The emperor was also very depressed. This year, this matter has not stopped. It was not easy to dissipate the anger of the flood in Jiangnan, but Minister Ruan bumped into him again. Minister Ruan wanted to deny it, but Meng Yushi took out the iron evidence he had collected earlier, which was clearly written down one by one, so that he could not deny it.
Because the evidence was conclusive, Ruan Shilang confessed in court. The emperor immediately stripped him of his official position and his whole family was imprisoned. Even Ruan Mingyu, who was sent away just yesterday, did not escape and was captured from Zhuangzi.
In fact, Minister Ruan did more than that, but the evidence presented by Meng Yushi only took responsibility for him. Although his crime was not punishable by death, he would not get off easily. At least he would be sentenced to confiscation of property and exile.
Just yesterday, the marriage between the Xiao and Zheng families fell through because of the Ruan family, and today the Ruan family was in trouble. The ministers looked at Xiao Hongyu differently, especially Lord Zheng, who was not particularly clean. There was a bit of fear in his eyes when he looked at Xiao Hongyu, fearing that the Zheng family would become the next Ruan family if the little braid was caught.
Xiao Hongyu knew what everyone was thinking by looking at their eyes, but he really didn't do it. He wanted to teach the Ruan family a lesson, but the Ruan family was gone before he even submitted his memorial. He felt very aggrieved.
Xiao Hongyu looked at Meng Yushi, who was smiling like Maitreya Buddha. The two families were somewhat related by marriage. He thought that maybe he could test them after leaving the court to find out who was the culprit.
The author has something to say: (￣ー￣) Guess who made the move?