readytorunbook Chapter 339 Where did the silver come from?
Chapter 339 Where did the silver come from?
Madam Lin had just recovered from an illness and had only recently come to see her daughter. A few days ago, the Yang family sent word that their daughter had been having an affair just two months into her marriage. After discovering that the affair had been exposed, she eloped with her lover overnight. Madam Lin was so enraged that she fell ill on the spot.
How could she not know the truth about the daughter she raised herself? It's obvious that something's fishy about the Yang family. It's pitiful that her daughter still doesn't know where she is.
Madam Lin had just fainted once, and Jiang Xun tried to persuade her to go back first, but she refused. Jiang Xun had no choice but to send a servant back to fetch some medicine.
Before she could even recover from her shock, she heard Madam Zhang's shameless words and angrily retorted, "You're talking nonsense! You're utterly talking nonsense!"
I almost fainted again.
Fortunately, the servants brought the pills in time, and Jiang Xun hurriedly put them into Madam Lin's mouth. After taking the medicine, Madam Lin felt a little better.
She angrily pointed at Liu Xiang, who was still kneeling on the ground: "Bring your son out here! Today I'm going to ask him what he promised me when he asked my daughter to marry him. Is this his promise? Now that this prostitute has come knocking on our door, he still has the nerve to hide!"
"And hand over my daughter right now! What have you done to her? If you don't hand her over today, I'll report you to the authorities. I want to see if there's any justice left in this world, that you can just slander my daughter with your bare words!"
Madam Zhang's eyes flickered, and she raised her chin disdainfully, saying, "Slander? Everyone in our household saw it with their own eyes, and you still call it slander? Our two families are old friends. It's one thing for you to raise such an unfaithful daughter, but to actually dare to marry into our family, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet! You want to report it to the authorities? Fine, go ahead and report it. Let the entire Jiangnan Prefecture see what kind of slut has been produced in the dignified Governor-General of Jiangnan!"
More and more onlookers gathered. They never dreamed they would witness the most distinguished ladies of Jiangnan Prefecture arguing, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"Didn't the Jiang family and the Yang family just get married two months ago? How come they're arguing like this already?"
"They say that the Jiang family girl is unfaithful and eloped with someone after only two months of marriage. If this gets out, it will be the biggest joke in the entire Jiangnan Prefecture!"
"That young master of the Yang family isn't innocent either! Oh my, that's Liu Xiang from the Red Sleeve Pavilion! She's more precious than a gold nugget! Have you heard? Fifty thousand taels of silver! Even a single hair of hers would be worth several taels of silver! The Yang family is truly wealthy!"
"What's so special about this? The Jiang family and the Yang family are practically royalty. A mere 50,000 taels is nothing! Miss Jiang's aunt is said to be a princess in the capital, and Young Master Yang's cousin is the emperor's son. Aren't they a perfect match?"
"It is indeed a good match, but right now... oh dear, I wonder if that Jiang family girl really eloped with someone?"
"I think it's probably true. Otherwise, where else could a married woman like her go if she didn't go back to her parents' home?"
"..."
"Impossible!" Madam Lin interrupted Madam Zhang sharply. "My daughter would never do such a thing! Let me tell you, if anything happens to my daughter, I will never let you off the hook!"
Madam Zhang scoffed, "Oh, the Governor's wife, what a show of power! I advise you to hurry back and slink away. If I really produce evidence, your Jiang family will lose all face for ten generations. Have some self-respect; you still have daughters to marry. For the sake of our in-law relationship, I've already done more than enough! Don't be so ungrateful!"
"Who's being so shameless! Get Yang Chengfeng out here! Explain this to me clearly! Before the marriage, you swore a thousand times that your son was always virtuous and didn't even have a maidservant. Yes, you didn't have a maidservant, you sent him to a brothel, is that it! You keep saying my daughter is immoral, then what about your son? I bet you're all worried about things being exposed, so you deliberately hid my daughter and are even slandering her!" Madam Lin never dreamed that Zhang Shi could twist the truth like this. She was now increasingly certain that this family had done something to her daughter!
"Fine, you insist on forcing me, huh? Very well, I'll make you give up..." Madam Zhang smiled sneer and beckoned to Granny Xing beside her.
Jiang Xun's expression changed slightly, and he raised his voice, "Aunt Yang! There is something I don't understand and would like to ask you about."
Mrs. Zhang scoffed, "What are you trying to say?"
"When the Yang family and my Jiang family became related by marriage, the betrothal gifts were 64 taels of silver and 6,000 taels of silver, totaling less than 20,000 taels. When you visited, you said that Uncle Yang had passed away early and the family relied entirely on the support of the clan and your dowry, which was really unfair to my sister. You promised that you would treat her like your own daughter after she married into the family. Therefore, our family did not object to the betrothal gifts and returned 120 taels of silver and 12,000 taels of silver as dowry. The betrothal gift list and the dowry list are all clearly recorded. Auntie, do you still remember them?" Jiang Xun asked.
Madam Zhang didn't understand what he was trying to say for a moment, and asked coldly, "What do you mean? Are you trying to argue with me about the dowry? Your sister did such a shameful thing, how dare you ask for the dowry back?"
Jiang Xun shook his head: "I don't want to argue with you about the dowry, Aunt. I want to ask you, since the Yang family has to rely on the clan's support and your dowry, may I ask where Young Master Yang got the 50,000 taels of silver to support a famous courtesan? Where did this money come from?"
Madam Zhang's eyelids twitched violently, and she instinctively shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? What fifty thousand taels of silver? I don't know? There's no such thing! Stop talking nonsense! Who knows who this woman is, coming here to slander my son? I'll go and have someone find the prefect to arrest her and interrogate her properly!"
Liu Xiang knelt on the ground, her beautiful face deathly pale, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked up at Madam Zhang: "Madam, everything I have said is true, I would never dare to lie. Feng Lang and I have been in love for three years. When he paid my mother to take me in, there was a written agreement to prove it. How could I lie? When Feng Lang took me in, it cost him fifty thousand taels of silver. He agreed with my mother to give me ten thousand taels of silver a year, totaling thirty thousand taels over three years. Adding that to the fifty thousand taels, it's a total of eighty thousand taels of silver, and there are receipts for all of it. Feng Lang also secretly gave me twenty thousand taels of silver for my own use, which I have kept carefully."
Liu Xiang pulled an envelope from his bosom. "All the proof is here, bearing Fenglang's seal and handwriting as proof. Everything I've said is true. Madam, Fenglang and I are truly in love, and he promised to marry me after our wedding. But a few days ago, someone from the manor came to say he wanted to break off our relationship. How could that be? I don't believe it, I really don't believe it! I'm already pregnant with Fenglang's child! I beg you, please let me see Fenglang! My sincerity towards him is unquestionable. Unless he tells me himself that he wants to break off our relationship, I will never leave him!"