Although Lei Ting's opinion was objective, the reputation of the Ren family was bound to be damaged. Old Master Ren could not tolerate the reputation he had worked hard to build for decades being ruined.
Old Master Ren didn't think his decision was wrong. Although he wanted the victim to change his confession, he would compensate him financially, allowing both parties to gain what they wanted. Furthermore, the incident itself stemmed from the coal warehouses he had entrusted to the second wife, so he wasn't wrong to try to get the second wife to bear the blame. Old Master Ren also discovered Ren Yongxiang's connections with the Han family, and he punished his traitorous brother with a beating to death.
Because of the difference in concepts, Mr. Ren could not understand Lei Ting's painstaking efforts. He felt that the Lei family did not want to put their best efforts in this matter. Moreover, something had happened to the Ren family now. Mr. Ren was very worried that the Lei family would cancel the engagement with the Ren family.
It happened that at this time, a guest came to the Lei family. Someone from Lei Ting’s original wife’s family came to seek refuge.
Lei Ting's late wife, Qiao, was from Jiangnan. Her family was not prominent, and there were not many people left in her family. Qiao had a younger sister who was originally married in Yuezhou, but unfortunately her husband died not long after the marriage, and little Qiao became a widow at a young age.
The customs in Jiangnan differed from those in Yanbei. Back when Yanbei was a nation of soldiers, women were forced to marry early to ensure a stable population, and widows were encouraged to remarry. While there are no laws today that force women to marry, there is no discrimination against remarrying women, and the customs are relatively open. Jiangnan, on the other hand, has always upheld the Cheng-Zhu school of thought, with women taught to be faithful to their husbands. To reward loyal women, the imperial court would issue chastity arches and bestow generous rewards on these families.
Xiao Qiao was only in her early twenties. She was beautiful and had been confined to a remote courtyard in her husband's household, never seeing the light of day. However, less than a year after her father-in-law passed away, her mother-in-law fell seriously ill. With her mother-in-law's passing, only her brother-in-law and his family remained. Her brother-in-law was a heavy drinker, and her mother-in-law, fearing a scandal after her death, decided to kill him. She arranged for her servants to strangle Xiao Qiao after her death, declaring to the public that she had fulfilled her duty to her parents-in-law and committed suicide out of love for her husband. Perhaps she would even be crowned a heroine by the imperial court and receive some benefits.
However, the people around Xiao Qiao's mother-in-law were not very secretive, and Xiao Qiao knew about this matter before her mother-in-law died. She finally found an opportunity to escape. Xiao Qiao's family was no longer in her family, and she did not dare to stay in Jiangnan for fear of being caught. So she fled to Yanbei and sought refuge at her late sister's husband's family.
The Ren family got the news from somewhere, and also heard that Xiao Qiao was not only very beautiful but also looked a lot like her sister. Old Mrs. Ren thought that since the Lei family had kept her, Lei Ting might take Xiao Qiao as his concubine in order to justify his actions.
If he had taken another woman, the Ren family wouldn't have minded Lei Ting having one or two more women. But since Lei Ting had been willing to mourn his late wife, he must have had feelings for her. Plus, there was Lei Pan'er... having his own aunt to take care of him was definitely better than having anyone else, so the Ren family naturally had their own thoughts.
Ren Yaoqi frowned upon learning of the sudden appearance of Xiao Qiao in the Lei family. The timing of Xiao Qiao's appearance was too coincidental, forcing her to ponder. Furthermore, was it really that easy for a chaste woman, confined to the ancestral hall all day, to escape from the inner courtyard, evade her husband's pursuit, and successfully seek refuge with the Lei family thousands of miles away?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com