s.h.i.+ Qingxue looked at Wenren Chi's black face and kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to offend the furious man, although she hadn't figured out why he was angry after she had just retorted Jin Lianyi and made her speechless.

At the moment, the middle-aged servant Li came to report again, “Young Master, Third Prince has come.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was surprised and soon realized that he was talking about Mo Junjiu, but the s.h.i.+ Family didn't have contact with Third Prince's followers. Why did Mo Junjiu come to Wenren Chi?

“Big brother.”

Wenren Chi avoided Qingxue's worried gaze and smiled faintly. “His Highness came here, and I can't refuse to see him. I will tell Li to send you back home.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue pouted but didn't insist on staying here. She responded thoughtfully, “No, thanks. Xia Mang and Dong Shuang are waiting for me outside. I can go home by myself.”

After pondering for a while, she added worriedly, “It's cheerless here. Brother, come back when you are free.”

Wenren Chi answered in a low voice and watched Qingxue leave, standing still for a long time.

Li thought Wenren Chi was worried about Qingxue's safety, so he said, “Young Master, please rest a.s.sured. I saw King Rui's eldest son standing next to the two maids of Lady Qingxue at the gate. Now I know that he came to pick her up.”

Wenren Chi heard that and looked more serious, but he didn't say anything about it. He ordered, “Ask His Highness to come to the main hall.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue walked out of the Wenren Family's mansion and happened to meet Mo Junyang who was walking inside, but Mo Junjiu entered the mansion in a hurry, as if he hadn't seen her, which petrified her for a while.

“What's wrong?” Mo Junyang held Qingxue's arm and walked into the carriage with her, asking.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue thought for a while and finally told him what Wenren Chi had said to her earlier. Then she concluded, “Brother is so strange. I think something wrong happened to him, but he didn't want to tell me.”

She murmured the last words, so she didn't find that someone's cold face darkened when he heard that she was going to marry Wenren Chi.

Mo Junyang was clear that s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't have feelings for him for now and he was not anxious, but he didn't expect that Dong Hui wanted to marry off s.h.i.+ Qingxue to Wenren Chi.

“d.a.m.n it! I don't know why Wenren Chi hasn't agreed now, but I will make them give up this plan,” he thought.

Mo Junyang concealed his emotion. For the first time, he didn't hide the fact that he had also been reborn. “I remember that Wenren Chi is destined to marry s.h.i.+ Baoning. Are you going to steal your sister's fiancé?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue shook her head crazily and grabbed Mo Junyang's hand, explaining hurriedly, “No. I have never thought about it.”

Mo Junyang felt happy secretly but still remained calm. “Oh? Really?”

He asked in a weird tone, and s.h.i.+ Qingxue started to doubt herself. Remembering that she had thought it would be okay with her if her mother married her off to Wenren Chi, she felt guiltier.

She glanced at Mo Junyang cautiously and smiled, trying to please him. “I would never steal my sister's fiancé.”

In the beginning, she had the wrong thought. She believed that it was the best filial piety to obey her parents. But a little change would influence everything. She couldn't agree to marry somebody randomly. If she ruined others' happiness, she would be a sinner.

“Then I don't need to get married, right?” s.h.i.+ Qingxue scratched her head, feeling annoyed. Not until then did she realize that if she wanted to walk on a different way from her previous life, she would inevitably get married for the second time.

Seeing that s.h.i.+ Qingxue finally had the awareness, Mo Junyang nodded with satisfaction and said with concern, “You are wrong. Madam s.h.i.+ will surely find you a good husband.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue remained silent. She didn't want to marry somebody else's husband.

She looked at Mo Junyang to ask for help with tears in her eyes. “Is there any way that I won't marry somebody else?”

“Of course. Marry me, and then you don't need to marry somebody else!”

Mo Junyang answered in his heart. In order not to frighten his prey, he smiled innocently. “There is certainly a way, but…”

The prey fell into his trap. “Brother, just help me.”

Mo Junyang was excited but still pretended to be calm. “What can I get?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue blinked and offered sadly, “From now on, I will do anything you tell me to do.”

Mo Junyang heard her a.s.surance and nodded contentedly. “Okay. Don't break your word.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue nodded repeatedly.

“I will send you back home first.” Seeing that s.h.i.+ Qingxue was reluctant with tears in her eyes, Mo Junyang couldn't help but rub her nose. He said with a smile, “Don't worry. I am sure they won't think of you for now.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't understand what Mo Junyang meant at that time, but she understood after she came back home.

When s.h.i.+ Qingxue was in Ye City in the past few days, the family of Lord Zhao, the Minister of Revenue changed their att.i.tude and weren't as ruthless as before. They came to propose marriage and quickly finished the preparation before the wedding. They even promised to give s.h.i.+ Baojin the position as Second Young Madam.

Even if Mo Shujun thought highly of herself, she was satisfied with s.h.i.+ Baojin's marriage. She agreed to the Zhao Family's proposal without demur. Meanwhile, in order to prevent something disgraceful, they decided the wedding date, only two months later after the proposal.

s.h.i.+ Baojin knew that she was going to marry next month, and she felt happy yet annoyed at the same time. “Mother, I don't worry about my marriage as so many men want to marry me. Why did you decide the wedding date so soon? We don't have enough time to prepare.”

In such a short time, s.h.i.+ Baojin couldn't pick a perfect wedding dress.

Zhou Ruyu spent a lot of time on s.h.i.+ Baojin's marriage these days, and she was angry at her ungrateful daughter. She said coldly, “What do you want? The Zhao Family agree to let you marry their son, and you should thank G.o.d. Otherwise, before the issue is exposed, your grandmother would make you 'die of an illness'.”

s.h.i.+ Baojin didn't believe Zhou Ruyu's threatening words. “Mother, don't frighten me. Grandma loves me so much, and Father is her favorite son. She can't bear to see me suffer.”

Zhou Ruyu sneered. She looked around and found n.o.body, so she stopped s.h.i.+ Baojin's daydream without mercy. “Huh! Your grandma pays much attention to the rules. You did such a shameful thing. She wants to kill you in person. How would she love you?

Stop daydreaming. Haven't you seen the few dowries from the mansion? If they are sent to the Zhao Family, you would never be respected in that family.”

s.h.i.+ Baojin paused for a while and still didn't believe it. “No. I have checked in the storehouse. I have 64 dowries. Grandma won't treat me unfairly.”

Zhou Ruyu poked s.h.i.+ Baojin's head crossly. “First Master's Family gave you only 32 dowries. I added the rest for you from my own savings.”

64 dowries were common for the n.o.ble ladies in the capital. If s.h.i.+ Baojin couldn't have so many, she didn't need to live in the n.o.ble circle.

“No way!” She denied subconsciously but knew that Zhou Ruyu wouldn't lie to her.

s.h.i.+ Baojin got nervous and was about to risk her life to fight with First Master's Family. “They have gone too far. I am going to get my dowries back.”

Zhou Ruyu stopped her hurriedly. “What are you doing?”

“They are my dowries. I won't endure it or let First Master's Family graft them.” s.h.i.+ Baojin was furious.

Zhou Ruyu snorted. “Without your grandma's suggestion, how could First Master's Family be so arrogant? And they are perfectly logical and reasonable. You are not Duke s.h.i.+'s daughter, and your father is just the Rank-5 Director of Labor Ministry. Even 32 dowries are special treatment for you. How could you ask for more?”

s.h.i.+ Baojin was rebuked and couldn't reply, but she believed that the s.h.i.+ Family owed her. She gritted her teeth and said angrily, “I don't care. They are mine. They can't grab anything from me. I will get my dowries back!”

She planned to run out regardless of everything. Zhou Ruyu couldn't stop her, so she slapped her in the face out of anger.

“Clap!”

The clear sound resounded in the room. And both of them were stunned.

s.h.i.+ Baojin glared at Zhou Ruyu in disbelief, with tears in her eyes.

Zhou Ruyu got soft-hearted and rubbed her eyebrows tiredly. She advised her daughter patiently, “What's done cannot be undone. Can you please make less trouble for me and stop!”

s.h.i.+ Baojin choked and held her head high. “Are we just letting First Master's Family bully us? It must be s.h.i.+ Qingxue who did it. She always dislikes me. She must have kept my dowries.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue became the scapegoat for no reason.

Zhou Ruyu thought so, too, but she was more reasonable than her daughter. She sighed helplessly. “Even if she did something, what can you do? She knew your secret. If she tells somebody else what you have done in the brothel, you won't have the face to survive.”

“I didn't sleep with somebody else. I gave my virginity to Second Young Master Zhao. It's not shameful.” s.h.i.+ Baojin still didn't think she had done something wrong.

Zhou Ruyu was disappointed and patted Baojin on the shoulder gently. She knew that it was too late to say anything at this time, so she said, “Well, I don't care how resentful you are. It has been decided. You are the future Second Young Madam Zhao. The only thing you need to do now is prepare for the grand wedding ceremony and get married in one month.”

Since s.h.i.+ Baojin still looked displeased, her mother stressed, “If you are lucky and carry the eldest legitimate grandson of the Zhao Family, you would do whatever you want to show your power after you stabilize your position. Just bear with it now.”

s.h.i.+ Baojin had wanted to marry into the royal family in the first place, but she had slept with Zhao Liang by accident, so she didn't feel contented. “Although Zhao Liang is favored in his family, his father is just the Minister of Revenue. Can he do something to turn the world upside down?”

Zhou Ruyu rolled her eyes at s.h.i.+ Baojin and thought she was short-sighted. She lowered her voice and taught her. “What do you know? Lord Zhao is just a Rank-2 official indeed, but can we look down upon the person above him? Your father is stupid and insists on supporting Fourth Prince, but he can't see that Third Prince is in the ascendant now.”

s.h.i.+ Baojin didn't get Zhou Ruyu's hint but complained, “I am not going to marry Third Prince.”

Zhou Ruyu was speechless. She wanted to teach her more, but Qiong Zhi was knocking at the door. “Madam…”