Meanwhile, Luo Fu was still chatting with her sister-in-law when her sister-in-law's eyelids twitched, and she said worriedly, "My heart keeps pounding, and I don't know if things will work out."
Luo Fu laughed and said, "You know how beautiful Yan'er is. There are probably few men in the world who could resist being offered to them. Besides, the Prince has been waiting for so long because the Princess is pregnant. He must be impatient. Sister-in-law, just wait for the good news!"
She was confident, as was her father, and as were her two husbands. Men rarely consider a woman's wishes, even when his wife is bearing his child; he can still comfortably have affairs. This is simply because, since ancient times, the power of speech has been in the hands of men.
They say it's common for men to have multiple wives and concubines; they say pregnant women shouldn't serve their husbands, and if a woman doesn't provide him with a concubine to relieve his thirst, she's considered jealous; they say...
In short, they can do whatever they want. It's just sleeping with another woman outside; why should they need to explain it to their wives at home?
"If Yan'er can make this happen, I'll have to thank my sister properly!"
The two were chatting happily when, at that moment, the maid Luo Fu had sent out rushed back. The maid had been held captive by Xie Liwei's men and exposed to the scorching sun for a long time. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was stuck to her face with sweat. Coupled with her flustered expression, she looked extremely disheveled.
"Young Madam! Something terrible has happened!" The maidservant knelt on the ground with a thud, tears streaming down her face. Had she failed in her mission? Would the young madam punish her?
"What is it!" Luo Fu saw that something was wrong and thought of the reputation of the Prince of Xiaoyao. She panicked. What if her niece was killed by the Prince of Xiaoyao? How could she explain it to her brother and sister-in-law?
The maid stammered, and a male voice sounded behind her.
Song Qingyuan's face turned ashen. "I want to take Luo Yan as a concubine, and also make this maidservant my personal maid."
Luo Fu's pupils contracted. "What did you say?!"
Her sister-in-law also hurriedly stood up, "Brother-in-law, what are you saying!"
Luo Yan rushed in, sobbing, and hugged her mother, bursting into tears.
"Do I have to spell out what you did?!" Song Qingyuan's face flushed red as he pointed at Luo Fu's nose and cursed, "Marrying you is the worst thing that ever happened to me! You actually did such a disgraceful thing at my second brother's wedding, you have no shame whatsoever!"
Seeing her niece crying incessantly, Luo Fu assumed that the carefree prince had taken advantage of her and was now refusing to acknowledge his wrongdoing. She sneered, "What? How can a prince like him sleep with someone's daughter and then not take responsibility!"
"Shut up!" Song Qingyuan showed no mercy and slapped her across the face. "Do you think the Prince of Xiaoyao is that stupid! It's you, you self-righteous fool! The Prince of Xiaoyao locked Luo Yan in a room with me, and he even invited my second brother and mother. If Luo Yan doesn't want to be my concubine, then she can just kill herself!"
Luo Fu looked at her niece in disbelief, and her sister-in-law was equally astonished.
Luo Fu quickly grabbed the kneeling maid and demanded sharply, "Is what the young master said true?"
The maid nodded tearfully, "Yes! Yes!"
"You wretch! Why didn't you come and inform us sooner!" She slapped the maid twice, leaving the maid dazed.
Song Qingyuan sneered: "You did such a stupid thing yourself, and now you're blaming others for being useless?"
Luo Fu refused to believe what she was hearing. How could this be? Why wouldn't the Prince of Xiaoyao accept Luo Yan? Was it because he didn't like her appearance?
"The prince didn't even step into the house. All your efforts have been wasted. You've lost both your wife and your army." Song Qingyuan sneered repeatedly. "You dared to attack him without even knowing what kind of person he is. Do you think you're exceptionally clever?"
"Brother-in-law, only our two families know about this. For Yan'er's future marriage, I beg you to..." Before her sister-in-law could finish speaking, Song Qingyuan interrupted her.
"The prince said he would act as matchmaker for me and Luo Yan. After my second brother's wedding, I will send someone to the Luo family to bring Luo Yan away."
"No! You can't do this to me!" Luo Fu screamed. "Song Qingyuan, have you no shame?!"
The fact that an aunt and niece share a husband will only be condemned as a disregard for human ethics if word gets out!
"Hmph!" Song Qingyuan sneered, "Of course I have a sense of shame. If it weren't for the fact that today is my second brother's wedding, I would have divorced you and thrown you out of the mansion today!"
Luo Fu's pupils contracted; Song Qingyuan wanted to divorce her!
"No! You can't divorce me!"
No matter how much Luo Fu argued and made a fuss, Song Qingyuan ignored her. He ordered his men to lock Luo Fu inside, claiming that she had heatstroke and could not go out.
Luo's sister-in-law harbored resentment towards Luo Fu because of this. It was one thing for her good daughter to marry into the royal family as a concubine, but to marry into the impoverished Song family as a concubine was simply a disgrace to the family!
What was thought to be a wonderful thing has now backfired!
After the commotion subsided, Song Hanzhi had already ridden out of the mansion to fetch his bride.
Song Yaozhu got up and had someone do her hair and makeup, then listened to Caijin recount what had happened that afternoon. Xie Liwei looked like he wanted to praise her, practically holding his chin up to the sky.
"Aren't you afraid people will say you forced a woman into becoming your concubine?"
"How did I force her? Wasn't she quite willing to be my concubine? I was just fulfilling her wish to be a concubine."
Song Yaozhu raised an eyebrow; she didn't pity Luo Yan at all. If Xie Liwei stepped into that house, it would be her and Xie Liwei who would be forced to take in other people.
"He brought it on himself." With that, she stood up. "Let's go, let's wait in the front hall. The small gift we prepared for my second brother should be on its way."
Xie Liwei immediately got up to help her.
They had previously placed the gold they had taken from the vault into the dowry for the Lu family, and today they were going to get it back.
Meanwhile, at the Lu family's place, there was a lively scene. Lu Yujie looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was so thick that she couldn't see her true face. It was as if the person getting married wasn't the real her, but someone else.
"The veil is on, the groom is here!"
Before Lu Yujie could react, her head was covered with a veil, and she was pushed out of the room.
Thinking of what her mother had said, she felt both anticipation and apprehension about her future married life.
She was completely stunned when she was escorted to the bridal sedan chair.
Firecrackers crackled and popped outside the bridal sedan chair, and everyone wore a joyful expression.
"Lift the sedan chair!" With a shout, the sedan chair was lifted, and the group swayed and headed towards the Song family.
Song Hanzhi rode a tall horse, full of vigor and high spirits.
However, just as the wedding procession reached a corner, another wedding procession suddenly cut in.
The alley was narrow to begin with, and the two groups of people quickly became confused.
The musicians playing music don't even know which band they're with, but they can get paid no matter which band they're with, right?
The sedan bearers were also dizzy from being jostled, only able to watch the grooms walk by. However, the backs of both grooms looked very familiar.
Song Hanzhi never expected that another family would be having a wedding today, and that they would be walking on the same road as her.
Furthermore, the wedding procession is all about "grabbing," with neither side wanting to be outdone by the other, so they push and shove to get ahead.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the other person turn the corner at another bend.
As the bridal sedan chairs separated, he glanced back and wondered why the two groups of people were dressed so similarly.
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