Chapter 58: Breaking Off the Engagement

  Call off the engagement

  "I originally heard you say that it was the young master of the Song family who owed money to the Yuanguo government office and was reported. I have a good relationship with Old Guogong and Xiling, so I thought about mediating, but it's really not worth damaging our friendship over money matters. Moreover, my relationship with General Song is such that if his family is temporarily short of funds, it's only natural for me to lend a hand."

  "Master Hou is absolutely right." Chen Niang brought up the tea and Yin Haicheng took a sip, feeling refreshed. "What happened next?"

  "Hmph, I only found out after inquiring that the ones who took him away were from the Dali Temple, and the one who informed them was from the Imperial Censorate." Yin Haicheng's face showed a look of indignation. "The Imperial Censorate has always only been responsible for supervision, and they would only work together with the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to investigate major cases. How could they have made such a big fuss over something as trivial as owing money?"

  "Ah?" Although Chen Niang was just a woman, she also knew that the Da Li Temple was not a good place to go. When she heard that the Song family's affair had actually reached the Da Li Temple, she felt even more anxious about the golden bangle on her wrist, and if possible, she would have liked to take it off and throw it into Madame Song's arms right away. "How could this be?"

  "It's a good thing that the imperial censor and I are quite familiar with each other in court, and he also heard that I'm going to be a future relative of General Song, so he told me." Yin Haicheng said, his face showing a hint of embarrassment. "If I had known earlier about the kind of scheme that little beast from the Song family was cooking up, how could I have mentioned such a relationship!"

  "Master Hou, what's going on, after all?"

  Aunt Chen was anxious to death, really couldn't wait to know what had happened immediately, and see if there was still any room for maneuver.

  "Did you know that the old lady of the Song Mansion has passed away?"

  "It's only natural." Chen Yiniang nodded. The Song and Zhenjiang Hou families had been friends for many years, and with the engagement, it was only natural that they would have informed the Hou family.

  "That little beast from the Song family, during the mourning period he actually went in and out of brothels, and even redeemed a courtesan to raise outside." This was what Yin Haicheng could not accept. He had heard that Song Zirong was warm and elegant, and only agreed to this marriage because he didn't want his daughter to suffer. But he never expected that Song Zirong would be a lustful ghost, and just two months into the mourning period, he would do such dissolute and unscrupulous things.

  "Ah? How dare this young master of the Song family be so bold." Chen Niang called out in a low voice, but in her heart she was somewhat pleased. The marriage between the second miss and the Song family could be considered a lowly match, originally not worth Chen Niang's envy. However, thinking that the second miss, a legitimate daughter of a marquis household, would marry into the Song family, they would have to hold their heads high in respect. Adding to that, seeing Ruiqin's generous dowry, it was likely that Ruiqi wouldn't be any different either. The only question was whether her two daughters had this kind of fate.

  "If it were in his own house, others wouldn't know and that would be the end of it. But he kept her outside, and now there's trouble. The courtesan originally had a buyer, but was brought back by Song Zirong. The family then sent someone to cause trouble at the Song household, which led to a big commotion, resulting in an arson case and two deaths."

  "The more Master Hou spoke, the stranger it became; this concubine of his had actually caused loss of life."

  "How did you know that Madame Song was afraid of being exposed for her son, Song Zirong's, frequent visits to the brothel and his concubine, so she foolishly sent someone to set fire to the outer house, intending to burn the courtesan to death. Who knew that her subordinate didn't do a good job, the courtesan didn't die, but instead two innocent maids died tragically. The courtesan risked her life to stop the carriage of Prince Ze and reported the crime. Only then did the Dali Temple arrest people in a big scene."

  "This Mrs. Song is really muddled and cruel. Her own son did something wrong, but she wants to kill others to silence them. That courtesan may be a woman of the wind and dust, but her life is bitter enough." Madam Chen felt a pang in her heart, thinking that she must not be implicated by this Mrs. Song.

  "Filial piety leads to taking a concubine, arson and murder... these crimes are already not light, unexpectedly..." Yin Haicheng was heartbroken and indignant.

  "What's going on? Is there another charge?" Chen's mother-in-law was stunned, what kind of family is this Song family, actually being so absurd.

  The little beast from the Song family was brought to the hall, not knowing what crime he had committed. He only said that the money would definitely be returned and that it was the Drunken Flower Pavilion that had cheated him. He would get back the money and then return it. The great temple's Year Grandmaster happened to need a witness, so he pretended to agree and sent someone to arrest the old madam of the Drunken Flower Pavilion. Yin Haicheng sneered, "The little beast was very happy, but didn't know that he had fallen into their trap. Not only did they have the testimony of the old madam from the Drunken Flower Pavilion, but they also sent someone to the Yu Guo Gong Fu to retrieve the IOU as evidence. The little beast, in order to borrow money, had even written on the IOU what the money was used for."

  "That official of Sichuan is also muddled. How can this kind of money be borrowed?" Madam Chen sighed.

  "The money in the Yu Guo Gong Fu was borrowed by the precious grandson of the national public, but he didn't do anything wrong with borrowing that money. At that time when the money was lent out, the old lady hadn't passed away yet!"

  "This..." Aunt Chen was a bit confused, "Was this flower girl also redeemed before?" The crime name was slightly reduced.

  "Little? That money was borrowed for several months, but it was redeemed after the old lady left. The old procuress said that the person had wanted to redeem it a few months ago, but Song Zirong said that he didn't have the money at the time and delayed it for two months. The person was kept all along and wasn't sold to anyone else, so the one who came to ask for money must be a swindler." Yin Haicheng said with a cold smile, "The two of them started arguing, and the old procuress insisted that Song Zirong himself was short on money and had extorted from himself. He wanted to get the person without spending any money. The young scoundrel from the Song family was instigated by the old procuress and forgot his identity, and he actually let it slip...

  "What did you say?"

  "He actually said he lent money outside!" Yin Haicheng slammed the tea bowl in his hand to the ground, "This matter of lending money is a big deal, how dare he!"

  "Master Hou, Master Hou, please calm down and take care of your body." Chen's wife heard the list of crimes read out and felt uneasy in her heart. Originally, she had thought that if Madame Song was all right, she could still keep it a secret. Now that she heard about the situation at the Song house, she didn't dare to get involved anymore, kneeling down on both knees and crying uncontrollably.

  "What are you doing?" Yin Haicheng frowned, his face suddenly changing, "Are you also lending money outside?"

  "No, no, no, how dare I." Chen's wife was startled and hastily waved her hand. Seeing the gold bangle on her hand, her face turned pale as she quickly took it off and handed it to Yin Haicheng with a trembling hand.

  "What's this for?" Yin Haicheng looked at Chen Niang in puzzlement, taking the bangle that woman had used and giving it to him for no reason.

  "This, this is what Madam Song brought today... She insisted on giving it to me." Chen Niang and Yin Haicheng exchanged a glance, hastily lowering their heads. "I didn't want to accept it at first, but that Madam Song insisted..."

  "So you've given up?" Yin Haicheng retorted.

  "Hmm..." Chen Yiniang looked rather pitiful.

  "Get up." Yin Haicheng sighed. "What you've done is extremely inappropriate. Not to mention my relationship with General Song, even the relationship between the two mansions, you can't be greedy for small gains and be looked down upon by others. Have someone send this thing back to the Song Mansion later!"

  "Yes, thank you, Master Hou, for not blaming me." Chen Yiniang stood up, wiping away her tears and forcing a smile. But in her heart, she was thinking that Rui Shu was indeed capable, having even anticipated how Master Hou would speak. But how did she know that something like this would happen at the Song residence?

  After leaving Chen Yinniang's place, Yin Haicheng went to Ruiqi's place again.

  Rui Qi has been in a bad mood these days, and none of the servants or maids know what's going on.

  Yin Haicheng had already made up his mind as soon as he encountered this matter with the Song family today, and the marriage between him and the Song family could never be accomplished!

  General Song is a good person, and it's fine to be friends with him privately. However, looking at the behavior of Song Zirong and Madam Song, even if this incident didn't happen, something else would have happened in the future. It's not just that I would be implicated for no reason, but also that my daughter's lifelong happiness would be affected - this is absolutely unacceptable!

  Yin Haicheng sat in the outer hall, letting the maid call out his daughter. The father and daughter faced each other without a word.

  Yin Haicheng didn't know how to face his daughter, previously he had praised Song Zirong as a rare talent in the world, now that something like this happened, where could he put his old face.

  Finally made up his mind, Yin Haicheng opened his mouth, "Qier, Song Fu's marriage..."

  "Dad, as for the marriage with the Song family, I'm afraid I won't be able to obey!" Before Yin Haicheng could finish speaking, Ruiqi hastily opened her mouth, and the expression on her face looked even more indignant.

  "What did you hear, Qier?" Yin Haicheng thought it was unlikely that anyone would find out about this matter today, let alone a young lady from a secluded family.

  "Dad......" Rui Qi gritted her teeth, "I've heard that the young master of the Song family is not as you described. He often goes to that brothel, how can I marry someone like that?"

  "What? Who told you?" Yin Haicheng didn't expect his daughter to actually know.

  "It was... it was Ruo Fei, last time he came back, told his daughter that he saw the young master of the Song family coming out of Pingkang Lane. But he was too young and didn't know what kind of place it was, so he came back to ask his daughter. His daughter didn't know either, so she asked a servant boy to inquire, but unexpectedly it turned out to be that kind of dirty place."

  " Pingkangfang!" Yin Haicheng nodded heavily, that Pingkangfang was indeed the place, if a few years old child, naturally did not know, Ruiqi was a deep boudoir lady, naturally also did not know, this matter seemed to be heaven did not allow this marriage to succeed.

  Thinking of this, Yin Haicheng comforted his daughter with a few soft words and solemnly promised to go back on the engagement, only then did his daughter show her face again.

  "Qí ér ah, zhǐ shì zhè tuì qīn de míng shēng, què yě bù hǎo." Suī rán shì nán fāng guò cuò, dàn shì zhè shì dào duì nǚ zǐ jiù shì kē kè, zài cì dìng qīn shì bì xū shòu dào yǐng xiǎng.

  "Dad, don't worry, with my looks and family background, I won't end up with someone bad. Even if the family is slightly worse off, can it be worse than the Song family?" Ruiqi heard this and would definitely back out of the engagement, a smile spreading across her face, and her words became more confident. Moreover, her younger brother Yufei had comforted her quite a bit, even if other families weren't suitable, couldn't her aunt's son be a good candidate?

  This remark really moved Rui Qi's heart. Although she is older than her cousin's son by a few months, the two have met many times since childhood and this time they spent several months together. Although there are restrictions on getting too close between men and women, that feeling of being on the same wavelength was what moved her heart. Moreover, her cousin had intentionally or unintentionally mentioned before that he envied his future brother-in-law, now thinking about it, he must have had intentions towards her early on.