readytorunbook Chapter 172 Demanding the Marquis Return His Dowry
Chapter 172 Demanding the Marquis Return His Dowry
Standing behind the gate, the Marquis of Yongyi was so angry he almost fainted. He never expected that Su Yinyin and the others would dare to ram the gate.
"Father, what should we do?" Su Jianguo asked anxiously. He was afraid of angering Su Yinyin.
He already said he would return everything Su Yinyin wanted to her. But her father insisted on fighting with Su Yinyin. He even said, "I am her biological father, and she can't do anything to me." But doesn't he consider that Su Yinyin even dared to hit him?
Unable to bear his father's foolishness any longer, Su Jianguo suggested, "Father, open the door! Let's settle this right here at the front gate, in front of everyone. She still respects the law and wouldn't dare to use torture on her own!"
Just then, the door suddenly opened from the inside, and Marquis Yongyi stood in the doorway with a gloomy expression. "You're causing a disturbance! Have you no regard for the law?!" he roared.
The Duke stepped forward. "The law? When you abandoned your own flesh and blood to seize the dowry, did you ever think about the law?"
Marquis Yongyi turned his head away guiltily, "These are all slanders. What gives you the right to make baseless accusations?"
Su Yinyin sneered: "You killed my own brother, then my mother, and then my twin sister. And now you want to pretend nothing happened?"
Marquis Yongyi, enraged and humiliated, declared: "You should never have existed in this world."
Su Jianguo shouted, "Father, what nonsense are you talking about?"
After Su Jianguo stopped the Marquis, he bowed deeply to the Duke and said, "Uncle, I should have gone to pay my respects to you, but unfortunately, I am in poor health and I am afraid of passing on my illness to you, my grandmother, and my aunt. I hope you will forgive me."
The Duke rolled his eyes at Su Jianguo: "Get lost. You're not my nephew, yet you keep trying to claim kinship with me."
"Uncle, when you were in the capital, you treated Jianguo like your own son. Why didn't you believe Jianguo's words, but only believed Yinyin's?"
"Who do you think you are, to compare yourself to Yinyin? You're just a bastard of unknown origin."
Upon hearing the Duke's words, Marquis Yongyi's face turned pale and then red. He pointed at Su Yinyin and the others and cursed, "You unfilial daughters, you have humiliated me like this today. You will surely be punished!"
Su Jianguo tugged at the Marquis's sleeve, "Father, can't we talk this out? We're all family, why make things worse for both of us!"
Su Jianguo then turned to the Duke, knowing that the Duke was the key figure today. He believed that if the Duke spoke, Su Yinyin and the others would give him face. Therefore, he tried to persuade the Duke to trust them.
“Uncle, I understand you’re upset. After all, Mother was so young, and yet…! Even now, I can’t get over it. Although Father mentioned the mistress later, and although the mistress was very caring towards us, she wasn’t my biological mother!”
Su Yinyin couldn't stand it anymore: "Does spouting this nonsense prove that you are my mother's son?"
"Yinyin, we share the same blood. Why are you being so aggressive?"
"Very well, I, the princess, will now give you a chance to prove that you are your mother's son."
"Yinyin, what you've done...!"
Seeing Su Yinyin forcing Su Jianguo, the Marquis felt a pang of heartache: "Alright, what is your purpose in forcing Jianguo? Su Yinyin, you are a rebellious daughter. I regret that I should have just watched you die before throwing you into the mass grave!"
The Marquis's vicious words left everyone present in disbelief. They were all stunned for a moment.
Inside a carriage not far away sat an elderly woman with white hair. She was trying hard to suppress her emotions.
Sitting to the side, the younger woman was holding the older woman's hand, offering her the greatest comfort.
Su Yinyin was not afraid at all and stepped forward, saying, "My lord, it's no use regretting it now. Today we'll get to the bottom of things one by one."
Why have I brought my sisters to the Marquis's mansion today to retrieve our mother's dowry?
First, this Su Jianguo isn't even my mother's son. My mother's own son died very young. As for his death, Lord Marquis knows perfectly well. It was because my brother stood in the way of your mistress, Su Jianguo. So my good father personally plotted to have my brother die young.”
The old woman in the carriage was shocked when she heard this. She had been somewhat suspicious at first, but she never expected it to be true.
Upon hearing this, the Marquis flew into a rage, "You unfilial daughter, you're making baseless accusations against me! What are your ulterior motives?"
Su Yinyin smiled and continued, "My lord, no rush, I haven't finished speaking yet."
Secondly, you allowed that concubine to poison my mother and let her kill her. You even tacitly approved of her substitution of the child, and then, while my mother's body was still warm, you promoted her to the position of mistress of the Marquis's mansion.
Third, you remained indifferent to your woman and Su Yinhan framing me for having an unplanned pregnancy. Then, you had me beaten sixty times.
I had just given birth less than an hour ago. And he ordered my child and me to be thrown into a mass grave. What a good father you are!
"Yueyue, Nian'an, come forward and let our father see you, so that you can fulfill your wish for a father."
Su Yue and Su Nian'an glared coldly at the man in front of them. They wished they could skin him alive.
He killed his brother, his mother, and he was going to kill them both.
Lord Yongyi looked at the identical twins before him, feeling nothing at all. It was as if he were looking at complete strangers.
That's true. If a man doesn't love his own mother, how can he possibly love his children?
This spirit was fully embodied in the Marquis of Yongyi.
Su Yinyin said, "My lord, since neither Su Jianguo nor Su Yinhan are my mother's biological children, why don't you return my mother's dowry to her biological daughter?"
Marquis Yongyi gritted his teeth: "Don't even think about it. That dowry has long been spent. As for the crimes you mentioned, they are baseless."
Su Yinyin sneered, "My lord, don't play dumb. Can you say that you had nothing to do with what happened to my mother back then?"
Marquis Yongyi slapped his chest and stood up, "Stop talking nonsense!"
At this moment, Su Yue produced a piece of evidence, which consisted of fragments of letters from that year. Marquis Yongyi's expression changed.
Marquis Yongyi's eyes darted away. "Hmph, that's all in the past. The dowry has long been spent. As for you, it's your own misconduct."
Su Yinyin sneered, "What you're saying, Lord Marquis, is truly laughable. Misconduct? It's clearly someone deliberately framing you."
The surrounding crowd erupted in another uproar. Marquis Yongyi, enraged and humiliated, shouted, "Stop your nonsense and leave now!"
Su Yue said loudly, "We will not leave unless the Marquis returns my mother's dowry to us."
At this moment, an old man suddenly stepped out from the crowd. "My lord, I remember that your dowry was very generous. How could it have been spent so easily?"
Marquis Yongyi glared at the old man, "And who are you? How dare you meddle in my business!"
The old man was not afraid. "I just can't stand the Marquis's distortion of the truth."
Marquis Yongyi was speechless for a moment, and the situation remained deadlocked. Taking the opportunity, Su Yinyin looked at the crowd and said, "Fellow villagers, today we only ask for justice."