Chapter 127 August Fifteenth (Three)

  Take this opportunity to thoroughly cut off her thoughts and let her marry Xie Fu Lin, which is not a bad idea!

  But how can this girl be so muddle-headed and say that it's just a "misunderstanding, coincidence!" It's really infuriating!

  "Is it just a misunderstanding?" Old Master Xie's gaze swept across several people involved.

  "Yes, indeed!" Xie Fulin and Xu Wantong both hastened to express their views.

  Three Miss Xie looked at me and I looked back at them. We all nodded in agreement: "It was indeed quite good at the time."

  "Madam Xu, what do you think?" Old Master Xie saw that Madam Xu was about to speak but hesitated, so he asked her again. Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, he wanted her to express her attitude clearly. After all, she is the elder sister-in-law of the eldest daughter-in-law, and they can't let this affect their relationship with each other.

  Jiang's expression turned solemn and he hesitated for a moment before saying: "My daughter Yu'er is after all just a lady from a boudoir..."

  A young lady, even if the social atmosphere is more relaxed now, it's still not proper to be so intimate with a man in public. The man should also show some restraint!

  "Well, what does Mrs. Xu mean by this? How should we handle it?" Mr. Xie remained calm and composed, his tone becoming increasingly gentle and sincere, as if to say that whatever she said, they would do accordingly.

  Jiang's eyes widened in shock.

  How? Of course, she will marry into the Xie household! But after all, she is a woman of virtue and it's her own daughter, so it's not easy for her to say this herself.

  Mrs. Er couldn't help but get anxious, fearing that Jiang would say something and the old master would agree to it, so she couldn't bear to interrupt: "But we've already discussed the marriage with Lin's family! Next New Year's our new daughter-in-law will be entering our household!"

  Xie Erlaoye pulled his wife's sleeve hard and glared at her sideways: Don't be nosy!

  As expected, Jiang heard Xie's wife say this and immediately followed up by saying: "But I only have one daughter, Baochai. The reputation of this family can't just be like that..."

  "Daughter!" But Xu Wanting didn't let Jiang say any more, and she hastily shouted: "I've already said it was a misunderstanding, everyone says it's a misunderstanding, what do you mean by this?!" She simply went all out and proudly said: "I am clear and innocent with Third Brother, I won't marry Third Brother because of this, the one I want to marry is Eldest Brother!"

  A low hissing sound echoed through the hall.

  "You..." Jiang's footwork faltered, and her vision darkened for a moment. Fortunately, the quick-witted maid by her side swiftly steadied her with a supporting hand.

  Xie Fu Lin whispered "It's okay!", Xie Fu Yun faced the various gazes cast by all sides, like needles on his back. Yao Cun Jia's face was calm and steady, but his palms were tightly clenched. Yao Cun Hui was also stunned: She really went all out today! It's true, at this point, if she didn't go all out, she would forever lose the opportunity to speak up!

  Mrs. Xie was taken aback by Mr. Xie's gaze, her face turning bright red with embarrassment.

  Xie Lao's eyes flashed, his face slightly sank, and he pursed his lips in silence.

  Xu Wantong looked at Mrs. Xie with a gaze, and choked to Old Master Xie: "Auntie had once told my parents that I would be married to Big Brother as his first wife, please Grandpa fulfill this!" As she spoke, Xu Wantong bowed her head deeply and kowtowed heavily.

  "Shut up, cousin!" Xie Fu Yun was furious and tightly pinched Yao Cun Jia's hand, which was trembling with rage.

  "I'm not talking nonsense! My mother and aunt, uncle are all here, this was agreed upon many years ago, they can testify that I'm not talking nonsense!" Xu Wanting's face turned red.

  "It was agreed upon many years ago," Yao Cun Jia smiled slightly and said gently: "But is there a marriage certificate as proof? Although it's not the same as taking in a concubine, before I got married, our Yao family had never heard any rumors about this matter; after getting married, Master also never mentioned it half a sentence, could Wan'er's sister be mistaken?"

  Even if she was a concubine, Yao Cun Jia was already engaged to be married. Logically speaking, if this were true, the Xie family should have clarified things with the Yao family before the wedding, in order to avoid turning a union into a feud. After all, a wife is different from a concubine, and it's a matter of face!

  If Xie's family really made such arrangements behind Yao's back, it would be unkind and would invite criticism from others. Moreover, they would not be able to face the Yao family.

  "This was never going to happen!" Xie Fu Yun angrily swept his sleeve, looking at Yao Cun Jia with a resolute expression: "I, Xie Fu Yun, have only one wife, and that is you!"

  "Brother! How could you do this!" Xu Wanting cried out in anguish, sobbing: "We've been together since childhood, you've always been so good to me, it's clear that you like me, how could you hurt my heart like this?! I, Xu Wanting, will only marry you in this lifetime, only you!"

  "Wanyu, shut up for me!" Jiang's voice was stern, her eyes brimming with tears, her lips trembling.

  "Old Master, Old Mistress, what's going on here? You two tell me! Is what Wanyan said true?" Mr. Xie's face was cold and stern, as gloomy as iron.

  Flat wife, is it so good to permit this? How can there be two mistresses in one family? Isn't this clearly going to cause trouble at home? Whose stupid idea was this?!

  Xu Wantong was delighted in her heart, thinking that the old master was taking charge for herself. She clenched her fists tightly and looked at Mrs. Xie with tension and expectation.

  Mrs. Xie and Mr. Xie hastily stood up, facing the crowd of elders, juniors, and servants. The couple was both embarrassed and ashamed. Mrs. Xie couldn't help but secretly scold Xu Wanting: How could she be so reckless as to shout out loud in front of the old master and so many people? Isn't this clearly making things difficult for herself?!

  "In response to Old Master's words, his son had never heard of such a thing." Xie Old Master bowed and replied.

  Xu Wantong took a sharp breath, her eyes wide with shock, and then stared fixedly at Mrs. Xie.

  "Ah, well, that's...that's before our son and daughter-in-law got engaged. Our daughter-in-law thought it would be a good idea to have them get married since they're around the same age and get along well. Later on, Mother arranged for our son to marry his wife, and our daughter-in-law felt...felt sorry towards her brother and sister-in-law, yes, there was such an intention..."

  "Nonsense! This is no laughing matter!" Old Master Xie stamped his foot and gave her a stern glance. Mrs. Xie felt guilty and hung her head in silence.

  "So you really said that?" Old Master Xie frowned and coldly said: "You feel guilty towards your brother and sister-in-law, why don't you bring it up openly? What's the point of making promises in private? You're hurting the relationship between the Xie and Xu families by doing this. Look at yourself, Wan'er is not young anymore, yet she's still waiting for you. You've clearly delayed her youth! How can her parents feel?" Old Master Xie slapped the table in frustration.

  "Old Master, it's my family's Yu'er who is unfortunate!" Mr. Xie's words struck a chord in Jiang's heart, and her eyes welled up with tears as she felt a surge of sadness and acidity in her chest, unable to hold back the tears that fell.

  "It's the daughter-in-law who has been thoughtless! Eldest sister, it's my younger sister who owes you and eldest brother an apology, and also owes Yuanyuan an apology!" Although Mrs. Xie had been scolded by Old Master Xie, she knew that this was him giving her a way out, at least, the attitude of the elder sister-in-law had already softened, and the two families would not become enemies because of this matter.

  "Eldest sister, please allow me to recognize Wanyu as my adopted daughter. In the future when Wanyu gets married, our Xie family will definitely prepare a generous dowry for her and won't let her down! From now on, the Xie family is also Wanyu's maternal home!" Madam Xie said with tears in her eyes.

  Jiang only wiped away tears and remained silent, but in her heart she had already acquiesced. It's good that this matter has been brought up, it's also good to let Ruan Er thoroughly give up!

  Wan'er shouted like this, obviously, Xie Fu Lin would not be able to marry her either! Since she can't enter the Xie family's door, there will always be other good families under heaven. With the background of being a righteous daughter of the Xie family and having the support of the Xie family, no matter which family she marries into in the future, she won't suffer any losses!

  Thinking of this, Jiang felt a bit better in her heart.

  Everyone present also fell silent, thinking that the storm had finally passed. The second and third couples did not dare to take advantage of the situation to bully the eldest house, but instead pretended to be unaware, although they couldn't help feeling a little sour: after all, the old man was biased towards the eldest house! No wonder, they were the designated heirs!

  This is backed by imperial decree, and nothing can change it!

  Thank you, old master, seeing that things have come to an end, was just about to follow Mrs. Xie's idea and say a few words of comfort to comfort Jiang, give the Xu family a face, and then perfectly conclude the matter, but unexpectedly, Xu Wanting made another scene.

  Xu Wantong saw that her mother had tacitly agreed with her aunt's words, and her heart felt a chill. She turned to Old Master Xie and cried out: "No, no! Wantong doesn't want to be Aunt's adopted daughter, Wantong wants to be Aunt's daughter-in-law! I don't want to be a concubine anymore, I'd rather be a concubine for my cousin, is that not allowed?!"

  "Wan Er!" Jiang's chest was blocked, almost fainting! This child, how can she be so stubborn!

  Everyone was also stunned, staring at Xu Wanting with tears all over her face in disbelief. The gazes directed at her were varied, including shock, sympathy, emotion, disdain, and even ridicule.

  "Go, go get her, bring her back to me! Go!" Jiang's voice trembled as she barely managed to speak, giving disjointed orders to the servants and maids beside her.

  The two women looked at Jiang with worried eyes, softly responding, and stepped forward to pull Xū Wǎnzhú. But they couldn't hold her back! Xū Wǎnzhú desperately shouted "I'm willing to be a concubine", "Please, auntie, have mercy on Wǎn's foolish heart", "Wǎn will definitely keep her place" and so on. She suddenly flung open the servants' hands, rushed over and knelt at the feet of Xiè Fūrén, embracing her legs and crying pitifully.

  Xie's wife hastily bent down to persuade him, her heart aching so much that she almost shed tears.

  "Old master, old master, look——" Mrs. Xie was shocked in her heart, she knew that her niece had feelings for her son since childhood, but she didn't expect her to be so deeply in love, willing to become a concubine just to follow him! A woman would sacrifice so much for her own son, and this woman was one whom Mrs. Xie had loved and spoiled since childhood, the flavors in Mrs. Xie's heart were complex and mixed.

  "You deal with it yourself!" Old Master Xie also gave up. If Xu Wanting was really willing to be a concubine, what else could others say?