"I can't help you with this, Young Madam Shang, please leave." Song Tantan gave the order to leave, gesturing for the maid to see the guest out.
"Miss Song, please listen to me..." Zhang Qingyu had never been so humble before. She felt extremely ashamed, but for her sister's sake, she kept begging in a low voice.
Seeing her like this, Song Tantan felt a little sorry for her. "Zhang Qingyu, you should go back. I know what you're thinking. You just want me to beg Ye Moxun, right? It won't work if you come to me. You should go to him directly."
"...If I go to him, will he see me?" Zhang Qingyu smiled bitterly, feeling somewhat resentful. She had begged him so much, yet Song Tantan still wouldn't budge.
"Just say that I told you to go find him." As for whether bringing her into the conversation will make a difference, that's not her concern.
After pondering for a moment, Zhang Qingyu curtsied and thanked Song Tantan before leaving. Once outside the Zhong residence, she went directly to the yamen to find Ye Moxun.
Coincidentally, Ye Moxun rarely went to the yamen, but he happened to be there today, and a clerk came to tell him that a man named Zhang Qingyu was looking for him.
"I won't see him." Ye Moxun had just sat down at his desk when an unrelated person came looking for him, and he refused to see him directly.
"The lady said that Song Tantan sent her to find you." The clerk added this sentence because Zhang Qingyu had just slipped him an ounce of silver.
"If Young Master Ye says he won't see me, please add one more sentence: that Song Tantan asked me to come and find him. Thank you."
Having money to bribe makes all the difference; the clerk, for the sake of the money, wasted a lot of breath.
Ye Moxun glanced at the clerk, making the clerk shiver. Although Young Master Ye was not the prefect, he had a stronger aura than the prefect. It was clear at a glance that he had accepted a bribe from the person who came.
The clerk was pondering whether to hand over the one tael of silver to avoid being fined. He wasn't having an easy time either; his monthly salary from the yamen was only one tael, and he had a group of family members waiting for him to support. Without earning some extra money, life would be very difficult.
Besides, he didn't do anything, just relayed a message, so it's not unreasonable for him to accept some money, right?
Ye Moxun merely gave the minor official a warning glance and didn't say anything more. This kind of phenomenon has always existed, and it's basically impossible to completely prevent it. He also had no interest in dealing with it.
Since Song Tantan sent someone, let's meet him.
When Zhang Qingyu heard from the clerk that Lord Ye had agreed to let her in, she took a deep breath. She knew that if there was anyone in the world who could make Ye Moxun make an exception, besides his uncle, it would only be Song Tantan.
So she first went to Song Tantan to plead for her, but Song Tantan was unwilling to get involved and pushed her to the side of the person in charge. But it didn't matter, as long as Song Tantan spoke up, the person in charge would definitely give her some face.
As soon as she entered, Zhang Qingyu knelt down in front of Ye Moxun with a thud. "Young Master Ye, I beg you." But she couldn't say what she was begging for.
Unlike Song Tantan, Ye Moxun won't play the victim with you; it might even annoy you and have you thrown out. So, to make a long story short, just tell him your purpose directly and hope he'll take pity on you and lend a hand.
"Tell me, what did your sister do wrong?" Ye Moxun's tone was relatively gentle, and he was unusually patient, perhaps because of Song Tantan.
"Here's what happened..." Zhang Qingyu began to recount the story.
When Song Tantan left Xifeng, it was already confirmed that Zhang Qingling's injuries had healed. So she dismissed the people who were taking care of Zhang Qingling, stopped providing her with food, only compensated her with ten taels of silver, and then stopped caring about her.
Zhang Qingling wanted to cause trouble for her, but she wasn't in Xifeng, so Zhang Qingling had nowhere to make a scene. She was very resentful. Having gotten used to being waited on hand and foot, the sudden absence of servants made her feel increasingly unbalanced.
Later, she spent all her time hanging around those so-called noble ladies, looking down on Xifeng's noble ladies while being jealous that they were living better lives than her.
During a flower-viewing banquet hosted by a noble lady, she happened to meet a handsome and talented young man. This young man, who was considered handsome and talented by the noble lady of Xifeng, was named Lian Qin.
The Lian family was once a prominent family in Xifeng, but it declined considerably due to frequent wars. However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, and besides, if the Lian family declined, wouldn't other families also decline?
In short, after the peace was restored in Xifeng, the situation of all the aristocratic families was roughly the same. Although they could not compare with their former glory, they were not much different from before when compared with each other.
He still holds the same status he had before, but his money, grain, land, and house have all been greatly reduced. He had no choice but to give them to Duke as a tribute. Although Duke later died, all his property was confiscated and there was no way to get it back.
That important figure was obviously many times better than Duke Qiang. He loved the people like his own children and was wholeheartedly dedicated to serving them. However, he was not so friendly to the powerful families. Although he would not oppress them, he would not give them any face either. He was a capricious person.
Xifeng has been peaceful for two years, but the prominent families still don't know this important figure, they can't even see him, let alone have any dealings with him.
Back to Zhang Qingling, when she met Lian Qin that day, she also felt that he was very much to her liking. After inquiring further, she learned that his family background was quite good, ranking at least fourth in Fengcheng, if not the top three.
With his family background and appearance, he was a suitable match for her. After searching for so many years, it turned out that her ideal man was waiting for her here. Zhang Qingling believed that this was God's arrangement and that she was destined to marry Lian Qin.
So she went to great lengths to strike up a conversation with the other party. After the banquet, Zhang Qingling followed the other party to find out where he lived so that she could catch him by chance in the future.
It is said that Lian Qin was a womanizer. He was indeed talented, but he also liked beautiful women and was somewhat promiscuous, accepting all comers.
Zhang Qingling had run into him several times, and he naturally noticed something amiss. He figured that this old maid had taken a liking to him. Lian Qin was also twenty-one this year, the same age as Zhang Qingling. Upon learning that she was unmarried and still a virgin, he began to have designs on her.
After the two became acquainted, they would occasionally meet up for tea, go for a walk in nature, and sometimes even go boating together. Zhang Qingling felt that the other person had fallen for her, and that if she put in a little more effort, she could become the young mistress of the Lian family.
Thinking this way, after Lian Qin coaxed her with sweet words, Zhang Qingling gave in to him and made the relationship a fait accompli in the house outside the Lian family.
At the time, she didn't feel like she had suffered a loss. She even thought that if she got pregnant, her family wouldn't be able to stop her from marrying into the Lian family. If she gave birth to a son, she could gain status through her son and live a life many times better than her sister.
Lian Qin, always seeking novelty, frequently invited her to his residence for meetings. Zhang Qingling, having tasted the pleasures of intimacy, also enjoyed doing it with him. Each time he invited her, she would eagerly come over. After more than a month, she successfully became pregnant.
Overjoyed, she quickly found Lian Qin and told him about her pregnancy, urging him to find someone to propose marriage and to get the wedding done before her belly became too big.
She thought Lian Qin would be just as happy as her, but when she heard that Lian Qin was pregnant, her expression immediately changed.
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