Chapter 111
Chapter 111: I Agree
Master Qiao had not expected Xia Meng Yan to threaten him. After the shock came a flood of anger. He lowered his voice and warned, “This is not the capital. If you think you can threaten me, forget it. You had better marry into the Qiao family, or I will make the Lin family suffer.”
Xia Meng Yan knit her brows. In Man Lin City, the Qiao family could not even rank in the top five, yet he dared to threaten the Lin family. Who gave him such courage?
Second Madam moved to stop him, but Master Qiao slapped her aside: “Useless thing, how dare you bring her to your brother. If she had not meddled, your brother would not have died.”
Tearstreaks covered Second Madam’s face. She bit her lip and forced herself to endure: “Father, this is not the time to talk about that. Your daughter still has to live in the Lin family. Please…”
“Be quiet. Because you are weak and useless, you shamed the Qiao family,” Master Qiao said viciously, glaring at Xia Meng Yan before turning to Third Madam. “Does the Lin family look down on the Qiao family?”
Third Madam’s face sank. The Qiao family had invited someone from the Lin family to mourn, yet she was not truly a Lin family member.
Xia Meng Yan gathered her thoughts and said, calm and cold, “There are no outsiders here. Master Qiao, speak plainly.” The Qiao family acting so strangely meant someone was coaching them. Whoever it was, since they had dragged her into it, she would have to fix it.
Enduring the pain in her face, Second Madam took a deep breath: “Father, state your terms. Meng Yan is the two elders’ treasure and she is already with child. It is impossible for her to marry into your house.”
Master Qiao narrowed his eyes and said to the attendants, “Leave us.” The servants lowered their heads and closed the door. White mourning couplets outside cast shadows on the floor, drawing a hard line across it.
“Master Qiao, you should already know how it happened,” Xia Meng Yan said as she eased herself into a seat, one hand on her belly. Even heavy with child, she still carried pressure. “Since the Qiao family wants to make trouble, fine. The Lin family will go with you to the end. But I must ask: is the Qiao family ready to start over from nothing?” If they wanted to fish chestnuts out of the fire, they had to be ready to lose everything.
Third Madam had not spoken since entering, but now, seeing Xia Meng Yan’s presence, she felt oddly at ease. She was not truly a Lin family member, but outside she represented the Lin family. That was enough.
“The Qiao family is a clay tile, the Lin family is glazed. At worst, we both shatter,” Master Qiao said with a sneer. He found it funny that a young girl thought she could threaten him. He was older by many years and had eaten more salt than she had eaten rice.
Xia Meng Yan laughed softly. Her long, rounded fingertips touched her red lips, adding a hint of charm. To Master Qiao’s eyes, it looked like madness. He snapped, “What are you laughing at?”
“I laugh because you are too naive,” she said. “You believe whatever outsiders tell you. Who sets fine glaze out in the open? Even when displayed, it sits in a brocade case. Why would you think the Lin family would fight you to the death?”
Master Qiao froze. Great houses valued their names most. To outsiders, Qiao Shan’s matter might not seem much, but if it blew up, it could smear the Lin family and strip off a layer of their skin. But it was only one layer. What then, when the Lin family recovered?
Seeing his face shift, Xia Meng Yan knew he was wavering. Smart people have one advantage: give them a loose thread and they can pull out a whole ball of yarn. She added, “To this day, the people who egged Qiao Shan on have not been found. Has it crossed Master Qiao’s mind that the one giving you advice might be the same group?”
“Impossible,” he blurted out. The moment the words left his mouth, he realized she had led him and his face filled with anger. “No matter what, Qiao Shan died in the Lin family. The Lin family must take responsibility.”
“And the Lin family’s losses,” Xia Meng Yan asked mildly, “how does Master Qiao plan to repay them?” He knew he was in the wrong. Slapping his daughter at the door was meant to suppress the Lin family’s momentum, but Xia Meng Yan did not buy it at all.
“Qiao Shan cannot die for nothing. As long as you marry in, our two families will still be kin,” he said.
Xia Meng Yan let out a small cold laugh inside: [His brain must have a hole if he thinks he can still use Qiao Shan’s death to threaten the Lin family after all this.] “All right,” she said.
The room went so quiet it was frightening.
“You agree?” Master Qiao asked in disbelief.
“I agree.”
Second Madam felt a rush of joy but kept worry on her face: “Meng Yan, don’t speak out of anger. This is no small matter.”
“Meng Yan, adoptive Father and Mother will never agree,” Third Madam urged. She understood her place and knew Xia Meng Yan’s weight in the two elders’ hearts. The Lin family would not pay a low-ranked Qiao family with their maternal granddaughter.
Xia Meng Yan knew the two women had their own thoughts and did not call them out. She glanced down at her belly with a touch of pride. Her voice stayed gentle and even, as if marrying into the Qiao family was not such a hateful thing: “If Master Qiao values me, he likely knows my past. I came to Man Lin City to give birth and to avoid marriage.”
All three of them stared. Avoid marriage?
“In the capital, those who like me line up from the Xia family gate to ten miles out,” she said. “At the top is Heir Apparent Duan Yi Chen of Marquis Xuan Ping’s household, and also the Lu family’s eldest son, whose aunt is Consort Ping in the Imperial Palace. Master Qiao should know both names, right?”
Master Qiao felt as if a lump of cotton clogged his chest and he could not breathe. If those two truly liked Xia Meng Yan, how could the Qiao family dare to marry her?
As if she had not noticed his bluff crumble, Xia Meng Yan looked him in the eye and said, “The child in my belly is Lin Ye Lan’s. Lin Ye Lan is Marshal Huo’s right-hand man. If he learns that we, a mother and an unborn child without a man in the house, are being bullied, do you think the Huo family will take it out on the Qiao family? But it is fine. If Master Qiao truly wants to marry me in, you will be able to protect me, right?”
“You… you are a jinx,” Master Qiao panted, almost fainting.
Xia Meng Yan’s eyes slanted with quiet scorn. If the Qiao family had the power to stand against three noble houses, she would write her name backward.
Second Madam broke into a cold sweat. She had never expected that one Xia Meng Yan could draw out so many noble houses. The Qiao family could not even rank in Man Lin City; in the capital, they were nothing. If Xia Meng Yan really married into the Qiao family and those people came knocking, the Qiao family would be finished.
Third Madam clenched her handkerchief. No wonder the two elders favored Xia Meng Yan; so many people stood behind her.
“I am a jinx carefully chosen and gifted to the Qiao family, am I not?” Xia Meng Yan said with a light smile.
Master Qiao lifted his teacup and took a sip: “You are spouting nonsense.”
Xia Meng Yan laughed inside: [Keep pretending.] When she mentioned Marquis Xuan Ping’s household and the Lu family, he had been angry; only when she mentioned the Huo family did a trace of disdain flash in his eyes. That meant it was the Huo family pushing this marriage.
“Master Qiao, you are counted as a figure in Man Lin City. How did you fall to being someone else’s chess piece?” she said. “Let me give you a word: if you run with wolves, you only end up eaten. Take the Lin family’s compensation and run the Qiao family well. You are still young; you can have another son. But if you turn against the Lin family, you know better than I do what the result will be.”
Without noticing, his straight back had bent. He gave a bitter smile: “What hope does the Qiao family have left? Shan’er was my only son.” He did not love his first wife, true, but his son had been the apple of his eye. Now that the boy was gone, starting again would be hard.
“The living must keep living,” Xia Meng Yan said as she slowly stood and bowed. “I will not disturb Master Qiao and Second Aunt. I will wait outside.” She had laid out the gains and losses. The rest was up to him. Sometimes things you care about are not so important in a different moment.
Third Madam hurried after her and helped her out. Once they were far enough away, Third Madam whispered, “Meng Yan, I did not expect you to be so formidable. A few words and you scared Master Qiao.”
Xia Meng Yan gently drew her hand back, her face calm: “Third Aunt, between you and me, you are the elder.” Third Madam froze, wondering if Xia Meng Yan was blaming her for watching coldly just now.