Chapter 309 Broken Engagement
Old Madam Xie was properly settled, and after Xie Yunqing secretly went to see his mother, his mood finally eased a little.
Shen Ning breathed a sigh of relief about the family affairs. The next day, she made an appointment with Xiao Nanchen to go to the Li family to pay her respects.
Li Yushi's father, Lord Li Chengmu, was about to be buried. Shen Ning was too busy to handle everything in the past two days and felt that it would be a bit perfunctory to take the time to go there in a hurry. In addition, the matters on Mrs. Xie's side were more urgent. After all, the old lady was weak and the longer she stayed in prison, the more dangerous she would be. So she hurried to deal with the matters here.
Today I can finally go over and pay my respects.
The Li family's house is more remote than the Xie family's. After all, the Li family mainly relies on Li Chengmu's salary, and they cannot afford a good location in the capital city where every inch of land is valuable.
Two days ago, after hearing Yuan Yue say that there was no one to help with the Li family's funeral, Shen Ning asked Su Lianyi to arrange someone to help Li Yushi early. Today, when she arrived at the Li family's house, she found that there were still some people in the yard.
In fact, it is also conceivable that if the prince became a traitor, then Lord Li Chengmu, who had shed blood in the Golden Palace to stop the prince, would become a loyal minister who died to prove his loyalty.
Old friends who had been worried about being implicated no longer had any concerns and came to pay their respects.
In front of the mourning hall, Li Yushi was kneeling in mourning clothes, burning paper. Her face was pale and she looked much thinner.
Shen Ning also saw that Pei Yuanzhou was in the yard, but those who helped with the housework ran to ask Ye Heng outside the mourning hall when they encountered problems. Instead, no one went to find Pei Yuanzhou, the future son-in-law.
Pei Yuanzhou was not with Li Yushi either.
Shen Ning remembered the news Yuan Yue had mentioned to her, saying that after Lord Li died, the prince did not allow him to be buried. Li Yushi seemed to have gone to find Pei Yuanzhou, but later left the Pei family alone.
At this time, Shen Ning saw a person coming out of the kitchen and hurried to Pei Yuanzhou, pushing him... After a while, Shen Ning recognized that it was Pei Yuanzhou's mother Fan Ru.
After not seeing him for so long, she almost forgot about him.
"Go and greet the guests. You need to show up more often at times like this, okay?"
Fan Ru kept pushing her son.
Even though Fan Ru was an illiterate village woman, she could understand that Lord Li Chengmu had a very good reputation after his death. After the crown prince fell, all the court officials admired this censor who had fought against the crown prince with blood on the throne.
Even the Minister of Personnel came in person, and Lord Xu also asked the eldest uncle of the Xu family to come... At this time, if Pei Yuanzhou, the future son-in-law of the Li family, performs well and takes the opportunity to show himself, it will naturally be of great benefit to his future career.
If Fan Ru could think of it, how could Pei Yuanzhou not think of it? He smiled bitterly.
A few days ago, when the Li family fell into trouble and Li Yushi was alone and helpless and wanted to bury her father, he did not show up. Now that there is no one short of help and he is no longer needed, if he rushes forward again, he will really have no shame at all.
Pei Yuanzhou is not a noble person, but he still has some sense of shame.
Shen Ning glanced at them and then withdrew her gaze and walked in with Xiao Nanchen... The next moment, the officials in the yard were extremely surprised and came forward.
"His Royal Highness King Ding, King Beihai..."
"Greetings to the two princes!"
Xiao Nanchen had no expression on his face. He nodded slightly and walked towards the mourning hall with Shen Ning.
When Ye Heng saw them, he quickly came forward and said, "Master, His Royal Highness Prince Ding."
Shen Ning patted his shoulder and walked into the mourning hall. Li Yushi looked up at her, her eyes suddenly red.
Chen Ning said, "Prince Ding and I are here to burn some incense for Lord Li."
Chen Ning and Prince Ding both hold high positions now, so it is impossible for them to kneel down as a junior, but both of them have solemn expressions. After burning incense, they bow respectfully to Lord Li Chengmu... Beside them, Li Yushi kowtowed in return with red eyes.
When they went out, Li Yushi stood up and followed them out to the corridor.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for sending people to help with the funeral arrangements. Otherwise, I really don't know where to start..."
Before the crown prince was executed, even if Ye Heng wanted to help, the Ye family would not allow it, let alone others.
It would be fine if he quietly helped with the burial, but if he openly came out to help the Li family with the funeral, that would be a slap in the face of the prince.
The neighbors also knew that Lord Li had offended the prince, and even though they felt sorry for him, they did not dare to risk their own lives and property to do good deeds.
Just when Li Yushi was filled with sadness and helplessness and didn't know what to do, the people arranged by Shen Ning arrived.
Li Yushi knelt gracefully and said, "You are such a great person. I will never forget you."
Shen Ning sighed: "You and I are old friends. You helped me in the past. Now that Uncle Li is in trouble, I should lend a hand... What's more, I am also your nominal master, so why be so polite."
She helped Li Yushi straighten her slightly crooked hairpin and said, "If there's anything in the future and Ye Heng can't come out, you can come find me. I will definitely help if I can."
Li Yushi felt a bitter and complicated feeling in her heart.
Who would have thought that she and Shen Ning were at odds with each other back in that small mountain village...but now, Shen Ning has become one of her few friends.
After a moment's silence, Li Yushi spoke in a hoarse voice, "Now, there is something I really want to ask Your Highness... Ningning for help."
Shen Ning nodded: "Just say it."
"I want to cancel the engagement. Please let Ningning be a witness."
Shen Ning was stunned for a moment: "Cancel the engagement?"
She knew how much Li Yushi liked Pei Yuanzhou. She had accompanied him all the way from Pingning to the capital, all the way to where he is today... But when she thought about how the Pei family stayed indoors when something happened to the Li family, Shen Ning understood.
This is unacceptable to anyone.
She nodded: "Okay..."
Facing Chen Ning's gentle eyes, Li Yushi felt that her originally somewhat uneasy mood suddenly became much firmer.
She no longer felt uneasy and took advantage of the fact that there were still people around who could serve as a witness. She turned around and walked towards Pei Yuanzhou.
She made it clear in front of these people, so that Pei Yuanzhou's mother, who was confusing right and wrong, would not slander her and throw mud at her later.
Now that she has no one to rely on, she has to make more plans for herself.
"Mr. Pei..."
When Pei Yuanzhou saw Li Yushi coming, he subconsciously took a step forward, but when he heard Li Yushi's name, his heart sank and he suddenly had a premonition.
Fan Ru hurried forward and tried to hold Li Yushi's hand: "Yushi, your aunt is here for you. She will be with you and make decisions for you. Good children, don't be afraid..."
But before he could finish his words, Li Yushi calmly pulled her hand away and spoke slowly, "Now that my father has passed away, Yushi has to mourn for him for three years. However, Master Pei is old and cannot afford to delay. In order not to delay Master Pei's life, the engagement between our two families will be cancelled..."
Pei Yuanzhou's heart sank, and he was filled with complexity and helplessness.
In the past, if Li Yushi suddenly realized that she wanted to break off the engagement with him, he might be happy, but now, she abandoned him because she was disappointed and indifferent to him after she fell into trouble.
This feeling was really bad, but Pei Yuanzhou knew in his heart that with Li Yushi's tolerant nature, since she proposed to cancel the engagement, she had already made up her mind.
He took a step forward and bowed deeply to Li Yushi. "It is Pei who has let Miss Li down. If Miss Li decides to cancel the engagement, Pei will not object. I will always remember the kindness we have shown you. In the future..."
"Can't retreat!"
Fan Ru screamed, "How can we cancel the engagement? Lord Li's body is still warm, and Yu Shi is completely helpless. How can our Pei family cancel the engagement at this time? Leaving an orphan like her alone and helpless? How can we still be humane?"
Li Yushi actually understood Fan Ru better than anyone else. She quietly looked at the anxious woman and curled her lips, "After all, we've known each other for a while. There are some things and some words that your aunt understands better than I do. There's no need to tear them apart and make them look ugly."
Fan Ru's eyes flickered, and she didn't know how to turn things around. She even stretched her neck and said, "Marriage is a matter of life and death, and it's up to the parents and the matchmaker..."
"Master Pei, please ask your mother to be careful with her words."
Chen Ning stepped forward and said, "Master Li is now buried here. If Madam Pei insists that Master Li come to you to break off the engagement, then you can go find him."
Seeing the determination in Li Yushi's eyes, Chen Ning raised his chin and said, "I am Miss Li's master's grandmaster, and I can barely be considered an elder. Since the Pei family wants the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, then I will come forward and make the decision. I order your Pei family to return the engagement letter immediately and cancel the engagement. Do not bother."
Pei Yuanzhou lowered his eyes and bowed: "Yes."
As soon as he let go, Fan Ru got the chance and immediately screamed, "You decide? What right do you have to decide? Don't you think I don't know that you, Chen Ning,..."
The blood color on Pei Yuanzhou's face instantly faded, and he showed a look of horror.
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind Xiao Nanchen.
A cold light flashed, and Fan Ru was stunned for a moment, then she covered her mouth with her hands, blood gushing out from between her fingers... Half of her tongue fell to the ground with a plop.
Everyone else in the yard was also stunned. The next moment, Fan Ru let out a wail that was not like that of a living person and fell to the ground.
Chen Ning looked down at the shrew on the ground and said to Pei Yuanzhou expressionlessly, "If Master Pei really wants to fulfill his filial duty, then don't bring a shrew like your mother who has no respect for her parents and speaks without restraint into public, lest she bring disaster upon you one day."
Pei Yuanzhou also broke out in a cold sweat and knelt down directly: "Thank you, Your Highness, for showing mercy."
He pulled his mother up. Fan Ru was still wailing. Pei Yuanzhou gritted his teeth and whispered, "If mother wants to kill you and me, then go ahead and make a scene here."
When his mother first arrived in Beijing, Pei Yuanzhou had repeatedly warned her that Chen Ning was now a prince and was not someone they could offend.
Given their current status, any offense would result in death.
His mother had agreed to it well at the time, and he had been behaving well these days, but unexpectedly, he went crazy without any warning and called Shen Ning, who was now the King of the North Sea, by his name...
Fan Ru seemed to have just come to her senses. She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes filled with fear. Pei Yuanzhou supported her. She endured the pain worse than death and hurriedly stumbled out with her son...
Someone silently picked up the half tongue on the ground and threw it away.
Li Yushi smiled bitterly: "I almost got the prince into trouble."
Shen Ning shook her head: "Don't pay attention to that ignorant woman. Just take care of your uncle's funeral. If you need anything, just come to me."
When it was time to leave, Ye Heng and Li Yushi escorted Chen Ning and the other person out of the yard...
Xiao Nanchen walked to the side of the carriage and stretched out his hand. Shen Ning's hand fell into his palm, and then he grabbed her hand and helped her onto the carriage.
When Xiao Nanchen got into the carriage and sat down, a voice was heard outside.
"Your Highness, His Majesty has crowned the Second Prince as King..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
