Finally, the engagement was called off.
Fu Zhi Qiao noticed the words he used and raised an eyebrow: "Who wants to marry you?"
Xie Zhuo's lips curled up slightly, his eyes softened, and he didn't hesitate at all: "You, you want to marry me."
Fu Zhi Qiao knew that Xie Zhuo used this tactic because he didn't want to ruin Yu Ya Dan's reputation. She didn't say anything on the surface, but she was actually very gratified. She was happy that she hadn't misjudged him, and she was also happy that Xie Zhuo hadn't pushed all the blame onto Yu Ya Dan for his own selfish desires.
In terms of hiring someone to commit murder alone, Yu Yadan's crime is unforgivable.
She will find a chance to get back at Yu Yadan for the harm she caused.
However, the engagement and subsequent annulment of Xie Zhuo and Yu Yadan's engagement is a matter between their two families, and all the responsibility cannot be attributed to Yu Yadan alone. If the Prince's Mansion has no intention of forming a marriage alliance, the Yu family will not be able to cause any trouble.
“There shouldn’t have been so much involvement between us. It was my mother’s attitude that gave her futile hope. As things have developed, she bears responsibility, and so do I. As a man, I shouldn’t put all the blame on a woman. She may have had feelings for me, but the final decision on the engagement was made by our two families’ elders. She was just following her parents’ wishes.”
"The worst thing Yu Yadan did was hurt you," Xie Zhuo added. If it weren't for the interference of both families' parents, he would never have gotten engaged to Yu Yadan, and Fu Zhi Qiao would not have been hurt.
Fu Zhi Qiao agrees with this point. If Yu Ya Dan hadn't taken such an unconventional approach, she wouldn't have suffered so much.
In this matter, no one is completely innocent except for Fu Zhi Qiao. She was implicated by him from beginning to end. After Yu Ya Dan hired someone to kill him, Xie Zhuo finally understood why Fu Zhi Qiao had always wanted to leave him.
He dared to say that if the person beside him today wasn't Fu Zhi Qiao, but any other woman from a prominent family, Yu Ya Dan wouldn't have acted this way. The reason was simply that she saw Fu Zhi Qiao as someone of low status and thought she was someone she could suppress at will.
A barely perceptible sneer appeared at the corner of Xie Zhuo's mouth.
Hearing Xie Zhuo's words, the heavy weight on Fu Zhi Qiao's heart completely disappeared.
Xie Zhuo is a man who respects women. Fu Zhi Qiao feels lucky to have met such a person in the patriarchal society of Wei.
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao's thoughtful expression, Xie Zhuo worried that she might misunderstand, "Don't misunderstand, I have absolutely no romantic feelings for her."
Being jilted hurts the woman more.
A real man stands tall and upright; he couldn't let Yu Yadan, a woman, bear all the consequences. But when he thought about what Yu Yadan had done to Fu Zhiqiao, Xie Zhuo felt a lump in his throat, unable to swallow the anger in his heart.
His statement that he is not targeting Yadan personally does not mean he will not take his anger out on his family.
He didn't want to ruin a woman's reputation, but he felt perfectly justified in ruining the reputation of the Minister's mansion.
Since the marriage between the two families is going to be called off anyway, why shouldn't the Yu family bear the bad reputation?
By taking the initiative to break off the engagement, the Yu family could not only put Xie Zhuo in a weaker position, but also tarnish the reputation of the Yu family as faithless and ungrateful. For an official like Hao Ying, who held a high position and wielded great power, being branded as unrighteous and unable to gain a foothold among his colleagues would be the biggest blow.
Fu Zhiqiao was intelligent and immediately understood Xie Zhuo's meaning.
He used his infertility as a starting point to give the Yu family a reason to annul the engagement.
But Yu Haoying wasn't stupid. He couldn't possibly bring up the matter of breaking off the engagement at this critical juncture. Xie Zhuo simply gave him a push. He had the evidence that Yu Yadan had hired someone to kill someone, and forced the Yu family to come and break off the engagement.
Once the Yu family takes the initiative to annul the engagement, the Wang family will naturally take control of the public opinion.
It's better to break faith than to be labeled a murderer. In order to prevent Yu Yadan from being stigmatized as a murderer, Yu Haoying and Guo Sulan had no choice but to back down and take the initiative to break off the engagement at the Prince's Mansion.
To outsiders, it was the Yu family who broke their promise first. They disliked Xie Zhuo's inability to have children and therefore proposed to annul the engagement. The Wang family's agreement to annul the engagement was merely a helpless act and a matter of going with the flow.
In the end, apart from Xie Zhuo himself bearing a bad reputation, it had no impact on the overall reputation of the Prince's Mansion. The Yu family was different; in a family, everyone prospers or suffers together. As a member of the Yu family, Yu Yadan naturally couldn't avoid facing the criticism and gossip from the outside world.
*
Just as Xie Zhuo had guessed, Yu Haoying did not agree to go to the Prince's Mansion to annul the engagement.
He didn't want people to say he was a treacherous person who had approached the Prince's Mansion to propose marriage when it was thriving, but now that the mansion was declining, he had turned his back on it. The thought of such a reputation being pinned on him made Yu Haoying's beard stand on end with rage. What would the officials in the capital think of him? What would the Emperor think of the Yu family?
But he had no choice; he had no other option but to annul the engagement.
Three days later, Yu Haoying and Guo Sulan took the initiative to visit the Prince's Mansion.
Xie Chi wore a dark robe embroidered with subtle patterns, and a small pearl the size of a thumb was inlaid on the jade belt at his waist. Zuo Murui wore a splendid crimson silk dress, elegant and dignified. She and Xie Chi sat at the head of the table, one on each side, while Yu Haoying and Guo Sulan sat at the foot of the table.
A servant came to serve tea. The tea used to entertain guests at the Prince's residence was pre-rain Longjing tea. The tea leaves were boiled in boiling water, and a light and delicate tea aroma wafted in the air, which smelled very pleasant.
As the saying goes, no one visits a temple without a reason. It was rather unusual for Yu Haoying and Guo Sulan to suddenly come to visit together. In addition, with so many things happening recently, Zuo Murui glanced at the couple sitting upright opposite her and felt a little uneasy.
Yu Haoying hesitated and felt uneasy about having to bring up the matter of announcing the engagement, and the atmosphere in the main hall became somewhat quiet.
After a long while, Yu Haoying picked up the tea beside him to moisten his throat, calmed himself down, and put on a troubled look: "I am here today to discuss an important matter with Your Highness and Your Highness. My daughter, Yadan, has suddenly fallen ill and I am afraid that she will not be able to fulfill the marriage agreement as promised."
The teacup in Zuo Murui's hand fell directly to the ground and shattered.
"What did you say?"
Yu Haoying guiltily avoided her gaze and repeated what she had said.
Zuo Murui opened her eyes wide and cast a questioning look at Guo Sulan. Guo Sulan kept her eyes down, not daring to meet her gaze.
The two families had already agreed to postpone the engagement, so why did the Yu family suddenly change their minds? Could it be that they disliked Zhuo'er because he couldn't have children? Thinking of this, Zuo Murui's face turned ugly.
Yu Haoying, who was standing to the side, was still explaining that Yu Yadan was suffering from a serious illness and would soon be sent to Futu Temple to recuperate.
Futu Temple is a small temple located at the foot of Tianfeng Mountain. Tianfeng Mountain is more than a hundred miles away from the capital. It can only be reached by passing through Jingyang County and going around the Jinan River.
The food, clothing, and daily necessities in the temple were very simple, consisting of plain tea and simple meals. Yu Yadan, who had been pampered since childhood, eating delicacies and using fine silks and satins, would never have been able to adapt to the austere life in the temple.
It's less about going to recuperate and more about going to suffer.
Moreover, Yu Haoying was truly determined to send her daughter to a Buddhist temple a hundred miles away to suffer as winter approached.
Yu Haoying originally wanted to send Yu Yadan to the estate, but Guo Sulan strongly objected: "Master, Yadan is our only child, how can you bear to send her to the estate!"
"Wouldn't it be better to send her to a country village? Without rules, there can be no order. Going to the village will be a good opportunity to temper her temper!"
“People are flexible, rules are rigid. How can I bear to send my delicate daughter to that remote estate? Yadan is your own flesh and blood, how can you be so heartless!” Guo Sulan wiped away her tears and pleaded, “Master, can’t we go to the temple instead of the estate?”
Guo Sulan knew in her heart that Yu Yadan would definitely be sent away, but sending her to a temple to recuperate was completely different from sending her to a manor to recuperate. The former had a much better reputation than the latter. If she was sent to a manor, it would be obvious that she had made a mistake and was sent there to reflect on her actions.
Ultimately, it was her own flesh and blood, and Yu Haoying finally relented.
If a son is not properly taught, it is the father's fault. If Yu Yadan becomes a murderer, then he, as her father, will not be any better.
For now, he can only send Yu Yadan away to silence the gossip and bring her back once the storm has passed.
*
Zuo Murui snapped out of her shock, a surge of anger rising within her. Her tone was harsh: "What kind of acute illness has that child contracted that's so serious? Should we have the Prince send for the imperial physician to take a look?"
As a seasoned veteran in officialdom, Yu Haoying could easily detect the sarcasm in the words. His face turned pale and then red: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I have already consulted a doctor, who said that Yadan may have contracted rubella and should not be exposed to wind at the moment."
People who get rubella will develop light red rashes on their skin, along with symptoms such as vomiting, headache, runny nose, and cough. In severe cases, they may also experience fever and fainting.
Rubella is contagious, but it is not as virulent as smallpox.
Zuo Murui gave a forced smile: "Oh, that's really unfortunate."
"The Buddhist temple is a quiet place, perfect for my daughter to recuperate. Please forgive me, Your Highness and Your Highness." Yu Haoying's voice lacked confidence.
At this moment, whether Yu Yadan was really sick or not was not important. What was important was that the Yu family was determined to break off the engagement. Zuo Murui never expected that the other party would turn their back on her so easily. She was silent for a moment before saying, "Then you must take good care of her."
Xie Chi, standing to the side, also looked displeased. It was already a great show of courtesy that he hadn't kicked the person out outright.
Xie Zhuo was poisoned and unable to have children, and Yu Yadan suddenly fell seriously ill. The timing of this is too intriguing, making people suspect that the Yu family deliberately made an excuse to break off the engagement.
Initiating an annulment of an engagement and being annuled are two completely different concepts.
Xie Chi snorted coldly, his face almost turning extremely gloomy.
The woman's initiative to annul the engagement meant that she was the one who was abandoned, and the Yu family's move was a severe slap in the face to the Wang Mansion.
When has the dignified Prince Duan ever suffered such an insult?
"Lord Yu, what do you take my Prince's Mansion for?" Xie Chi's eyes were filled with hostility, and he was very dissatisfied with Yu Haoying's statement. Although he was a leisurely prince, he had an imposing aura when he was angry.
He's just a mere minister, yet he dares to look down on his son.
Besides, even if it's a matter of breaking off an engagement, it should be initiated by the man. What kind of behavior is it for the woman to come to his door to break off the engagement?
If the news of the Prince Duan's heir being jilted by a woman were to spread, the Prince Duan's mansion would lose all face, and how would they ever be able to hold their heads high in the capital again?
Upon hearing this, Yu Haoying forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, opened his mouth, and finally said in a low voice, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I only hope that matters between the younger generation will not damage the friendship between our two families."
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