Chapter 016
Chapter 16: Selling Out the Family
Madam Lin had kept her anger pressed down all day. Seeing the stains on her daughter’s clothes, it burst into flame as she said: “Mother, what are you doing? You moved to strike without even asking. If you are angry, hit me. Do not drag Yan’er into it.”
No matter what she said, Old Madam Xia would not like mother and daughter. Why bow and scrape anymore?
Xia Meng Yan stepped forward to shield her mother and looked straight at her enraged grandmother as she said: “Grandmother, what did I do wrong to make you this angry?”
In her past life, her grandmother had used filial piety to press her father, forcing him to pull strings to get Second Uncle a post. Someone caught them by the handle, and her father was demoted. Afterward, Grandmother felt no guilt. She blamed Father for being incompetent and unable to settle such a small matter. Filial piety? Laughable. An empty shell. [What use is it.]
Old Madam Xia had not expected her usually gentle, soft-spoken granddaughter to stab at her in public. She pointed at Xia Meng Yan’s belly and shouted as she said: “You are carrying the Marquis of Ping An’s child, yet you accuse your husband of angering your mother-in-law into fainting. A woman like you should end yourself with a rope.”
Xia Meng Yan let out a short, cold laugh. She helped her mother sit as she said: “Grandmother, have you been chanting and fasting so long that your heart has turned hard? Next time, ask the Bodhisattva what the end is for people who twist facts and play favorites until it blinds them. We can prepare in advance.”
“You…”
Madam Wan saw Old Madam Xia’s face go pale. She rushed forward to steady her as she said: “Mother, do not be angry. Your health comes first.” Then she turned to Madam Lin and said: “Elder Sister-in-law, talk some sense into Meng Yan. How can she speak to her elders like this? She has no rules at all.”
Madam Lin was done with false harmony. For her daughter, she would tear every mask as she said: “Meng Yan’s rules are very good. She does not need to change them.”
Old Madam Xia jabbed a finger toward Madam Lin and snapped as she said: “Look at that. The daughter turned into this because of a low-born mother like you. A merchant’s daughter knows nothing. She has ruined a good girl.”
Xia Meng Yan answered with a cold smile as she said: “Yes, in houses of scholars, ‘knows nothing’ is always on their lips.”
“You…”
Xia Ping Yuan hurried in, surprised to see his mother out, as he said: “Mother, why did you come out?”
Old Madam Xia saw her son and flared up again as she said: “Did you know she was coming back, so you sent me to the meditation room? I am not dead yet, and you let this mother and daughter ruin the Xia family. Are you still my son?”
Xia Ping Yuan said firmly: “Meng Yan is my daughter. She was hunted down and almost died at the Northern Fortress Pass. What is wrong with me standing up for her?”
Old Madam Xia snapped back as she said: “She says she was hunted, and we should just believe it? The people from the Marquis of Ping An do not say that. They sent word that Meng Yan is jealous and narrow, and that she threw her weight around because she is pregnant with the Marquis’s child.”
Madam Wan panicked and tried to smooth things over as she said: “It is all a misunderstanding. There is no need to make it bigger.”
Ping An Marquis Manor had secretly sent that letter to her, and no one in the Xia house knew. To prove she was not lying, she had told Old Madam Xia. She had not expected the old lady to blurt it out and sell her off in one breath.
Xia Meng Yan’s eyes narrowed. No wonder Grandmother knew so fast. Someone had been leaking news to her. She looked at Madam Wan. In her past life, Second Uncle had ended up in the Ministry of War. She had thought it was Father’s doing. Now she saw there was a hand behind the scenes.
She said calmly: “Ping An Marquis Manor says whatever it wants, and you decide I am at fault without asking me anything. If that is so, why does Ping An Marquis Manor not step out to explain the rumors? Or is it that Ping An Marquis Manor promised Second Aunt some benefit and wants me to swallow the insult and bear it all?”
Madam Wan said in a small voice: “I did not. I only…”
Madam Lin cut in hard as she said: “Be quiet. This is not your place to speak. Second Branch eats and wears the Main Branch’s silver and cloth. When Ping An Marquis Manor came to you in secret, you should have had them thrown out. Instead, you coaxed Mother to make a scene at home. Madam Wan, I have never seen anyone sell out her own family like you.”
Madam Wan flushed with shame, but refused to admit fault as she said: “You cannot listen to just one side. I only wanted to understand the matter and ask Mother to make the decision for Meng Yan. How is that wrong?”
Xia Meng Yan did not bother to argue with her. It was better to add another log to the fire. She said: “Father, Ping An Marquis Manor bullies us too much. This morning they made me vomit blood. In the afternoon they sent a letter to Second Aunt to make Grandmother punish me. They clearly want to make us look bad. Since that is so, let us go to Ping An Marquis Manor today and have Grand Madam Lin write a Separation Letter for the Marquis. From then on, our two houses will not meet again.”
Old Madam Xia was stunned. Showing up in the middle of the night to force a separation? Was the girl mad?
Xia Ping Yuan scratched his head. If his daughter wanted the separation before the Marquis returned to the capital, yes, it could be done. Parents arranged the marriage; if both sets of parents signed a Separation Letter, it was allowed.
Old Madam Xia wailed as she said: “Sinners. How did the Xia family produce such a wicked child? You will throw away all my face. If you dare to make a scene at Ping An Marquis Manor, I will bang my head here and die.”
She was sure this was Xia Meng Yan being unreasonable. In other words, the girl had a good life and insisted on ruining it.
Xia Meng Yan and her father exchanged a look and quickly came to an agreement. But after this, her reputation would be destroyed. Such a fierce daughter-in-law, who would want her? It was killing the enemy at the cost of injuring oneself.
Madam Lin did not fully understand her daughter, but she knew her husband. She said without hesitation: “I will go with you. If the separation works, we move the dowry home at once.”
No one heeded Old Madam Xia. She almost fainted from anger. [How did it come to this.]
Father and daughter acted at once and took people straight to Ping An Marquis Manor.
Jian Ping got the news and rushed to inform the heir apparent.
Duan Yi Chen smiled with interest. Only Xia Meng Yan would dare to do such a thing. No wonder they were two of a kind. Jian Ping asked: “Heir Apparent, are you not going to stop them?”
Duan Yi Chen’s handsome brows eased as he said: “Stop what. That scum is better off dead.” He pulled on his outer robe and strode out as he said: “Let’s go support Meng Yan.”
Grand Madam Lin pressed her forehead while a maid knelt by the footrest to pound her legs. Madam Jiang sat nearby, sniffling in grievance. Lin Hong had heard the story and paced the room in anger as he said: “Even mud has some temper. Even if Ye Lan was wrong, the two families could ask His Majesty to allow a separation. How could they hit you.”
He swung on Madam Jiang as he said: “And you. Why did you go find Madam Wan? You even promised to get Xia Second Master into the Ministry of War. What happens if he fails?”
Madam Jiang raised her voice, hurt, as she said: “I was angry. Old Madam Xia looks down on Madam Lin, so I used her to vent some anger. The promises were only words. If anyone asks, we will say we lack the silver to smooth the way.”
Grand Madam Lin was both angry and annoyed. The Xia family was a house of scholars. How did it produce Xia Ping Yuan and his daughter?
She said: “Enough. Complaining changes nothing. Send someone to ask what is going on.”
This marriage was likely lost. The thought of the rich dowry made Grand Madam Lin’s heart ache.
Lin Hong sent someone to the Xia house, hoping Old Madam Xia could still be of use. The servant had just gone out when he ran back in a rush as he said: “Old Madam, Master, Xia Ping Yuan is outside the gate with his wife and daughter. They, they say they are here to move Miss Xia’s dowry out.”
Grand Madam Lin slammed her teacup into the floor as she said: “Outrageous. Do they think Ping An Marquis Manor cares about her? Elder Sister, write a Divorce Letter for your brother right now. Our manor cannot afford a daughter-in-law like that.”