Chapter 327 Confrontation
"Yanniang, you..."
"Mr. Qian has condescended to come to the Salt Administration for inspection. Why didn't he send someone to the government office to inform me in advance?"
After receiving the news that his daughter was sent to the government office urgently, Deng Tongzhi ran over here at the speed of wind. As soon as he entered the gate, he heard this guy dare to call his fierce wife by her maiden name. Lord Deng was so angry that a sneer appeared on his face.
Qian Chongli cursed inwardly several times, turned his head, raised his hand to salute in a gentlemanly manner, and greeted the visitor politely.
"Uncle Deng, I am just a commoner now. How can I casually come to the government office to deliver information and disturb your official duties? Please don't embarrass me, Uncle."
Humph, you're still concerned about your family's reputation! If you were so shameless, how could you have the nerve to come to Dongling Mansion to stir up trouble?
Deng Tongzhi took a few steady breaths, walked calmly in square steps, and spoke with a sarcastic laugh as he walked towards his wife and daughter.
"Your Excellency the Prefect is indeed very busy with official duties, but I, an official with no serious duties, have plenty of free time to accompany you on a few walks around this prefecture.
After all, our two families have some ancestral connections. Even though we haven't visited each other often for a long time, there's really no need to be so distant with me, right?"
The old man is so cunning. He knows what kind of person the other person is, but he still speaks and deals with him in this way.
Bah, hypocrisy!
These two men are not good people!
Zhao Youyan curled her lips, and then she saw the old man rushing towards her and reaching out to try to snatch her kitchen knife.
She glared angrily.
Old man, what are you doing?
What do you think I do?
Deng Heng stared at his wife's eyes expressionlessly, and the meaning was very clear.
Give me the knife!
Why should I give it to you?
I'll keep it for you.
No need!
The couple pulled each other back and forth for a few times. Deng Linlang, who knew that her stepmother and biological father did not get along well, quickly stepped forward and whispered to persuade them.
"Mother, the Qian guy is here to see how lively our family is!"
Zhao Youyan quickly let go, watching her most effective weapon disappear between her husband's wide sleeves. She glared unwillingly. Then she turned her head and glared at the bastard opposite who was indeed watching the fun.
Qian Chongli's smile was quite interesting.
"Master Deng and his wife are truly in love. Knowing that you, Yanniang, are doing well, I can finally put my worries to rest."
"It's none of your business..."
Zhao Youyan was unmoved and was about to retort, but her husband moved sideways and blocked her behind him.
"I know that the young master of the Qian family has nothing to do on weekdays, so I can't help but feel a little worried. But my husband and I are elders after all. What do you mean by being so ignorant of etiquette?
The Qian family is a great, hereditary clan, and until now, we've heard that poetry and rituals are passed down through the generations. Why is it that when it comes to you, it seems to me that the situation is not the same?
Is this rude behavior due to your Qian family's habit of seeking fame and reputation, or is it just your own eccentricity, Qian Chongli, taking advantage of my Deng Heng's weakness?"
The last few words almost trampled on the Qian family tradition and humiliated it. Qian Chongli, who always had a gentle smile like a noble gentleman, finally changed his expression.
"Uncle Deng, please be careful with your words!"
"Then please be careful, Mr. Qian!"
Neither side gave in. Although they weren't wielding swords like crude warriors, the atmosphere was even more tense. The Qian family guards even touched the hilts of their swords and took a step forward.
"Deng Heng, do you know that your Deng clan leader has gone to great lengths to arrange a marriage with my Qian clan?"
"I've heard a little bit about it. Coincidentally, my daughter was already promised to a young man from the Wang family of Taiyuan by the Empress. All I can say is that marriages are destined by heaven, and how can human nature go against it?"
The old man raised the banner with extraordinary ease. Qian Chongli stared coldly at this blind man. After a standoff of more than ten breaths, he raised his hand to say goodbye and snorted.
"Then I, Qian, wish Deng Tongzhi success in climbing the eastern wind and ascending to the sky. Farewell!"
Deng Tongzhi also bowed, and his tone remained as gentle as his personality, and he replied slowly and unhurriedly.
"Goodbye, I won't see you off."
Qian Chongli left with his entourage in a decisive manner. Seeing that the leaders had retreated, the group that followed him realized that they wouldn't be able to gain any advantage by staying here. So the sons of the wealthy families bowed to the Tongzhi and said goodbye, while the men from the small farming families kowtowed and ran away.
Two thin, furtive figures, inconspicuously mixed in with the crowd, were walking quickly out, but were stopped by a clear female voice.
"Big Brother, Third Brother, are you leaving now? Without even saying hello to my parents?"
Deng Ziming and Deng Ziting cursed Deng Linlang in their hearts at the same time, then turned around and walked back with a grim expression.
"Second uncle, second aunt."
"Second uncle, second aunt."
No matter how they curse the second wife behind her back, they must never give her any ground for criticism in public.
The others saw that something was wrong with the Deng family, and then looked at Tongzhi Deng's dark face. The smart ones quickly said goodbye, and the stupid ones were forcibly taken away from the scene.
"Humph, all of you come back with me!"
Old Deng and his family returned home. At the main hall gate, Zhao Youyan parted ways with her old husband without any sense of loyalty. She leisurely returned to her own yard to rest, too lazy to care about the basket of trivial matters in Old Deng's family.
I've been jumping up and down for most of the day and I'm almost exhausted!
Deng Linlang looked at her father's obviously angry face, and quickly bowed, then followed her stepmother without saying a word.
The two entered the main courtyard one after the other.
"Why did you follow me?"
"Come and hide. I see my father is really angry today. I don't think anything good will happen to the eldest wife. But grandfather will probably make a big fuss. Sigh, I don't know if my filial father can stand up this time."
"Oh, I'm used to it!"
Zhao Youyan picked up the teapot on the table and poured herself a cup of warm tea, which she drank in just a few gulps. Deng Linlang was no stranger to it either, and she also poured herself a cup of tea, sighing as she drank.
"Don't scold my father all the time. Filial piety is the most important thing. What can he do? The old man is used to being partial. Grandmother has been worn down into turning a blind eye. What can my father do?"
"Stop speaking for that old man!
If you really want to deal with the old man, there are plenty of ways to do it. He has been timid and cowardly for half his life, so he deserves the bullying he endures!
Anyway, I'm not the unlucky one."
"Please be gentle with your words, mother."
"That's quite lenient. If you want to hear something good, go to the street and spend two cents to ask a blind fortune teller to tell you."
Deng Linlang sighed again.
"Never mind, as long as you're happy."
The relationship between this stepmother and stepdaughter is neither good nor bad; it's rather strange at the moment. It's definitely not a loving mother-daughter relationship, but there's no hatred either.
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