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Ch. 10: Then Annul It!\nEldest Master didn’t feel that he had just been slapped in the face. Everyone in the Li Family felt that it was only natural that the Third Master should work in the fields.\n
The Eldest Master shot Bailian a sharp and admonishing look, “How can a little girl make decisions?”\n
Ever since he had passed the civil exam, he felt himself to be very special and one-of-a-kind, a different type of breed altogether. He predicted himself to be a future high-ranking official, and with that in mind, he assumed a serious expression, one that might be seen among prestigious officials wearing in the imperial court.\n
“Since I can’t call the shots, then forget it!” Bailian grinned mischievously and then prepared to take the red card away.\n
“Hey, hey, hey! Forget it! How can you be so wishy-washy!” Widow Zhang, seeing that Bailian was just about to take away the red card, quickly interjected. She fixedly stared at the red card with bloodshot eyes, praying in her heart that Bailian would just leave the red card behind.\n
“Since that’s the case, then let’s annul this engagement.” Patriarch Li felt that it was useless to keep going back and forth between the two parties. A concubine-born was just a concubine-born after all, so unambitious.\n
He also felt that the little girl was really ignorant, not even bothering to greet him, and dared to throw around her words as if she was the Master instead! Bailain’s actions had ruffled this old man’s feathers and he was very vexed.\n
“Then I’ll just accept this silver!” The miserly Matriarch Wang hurriedly clawed the silver taels into her hands and put them in her sleeve.\n
Matriarch Wang was giddy at the sight of the situation. That year, the Zhang family’s betrothal gifts had been lackluster, and the Li Family had felt they had suffered quite a loss.\n
Now that they earned two taels of silver, the Matriarch Wang slyly thought that if she could sell the Fifth girl in the future, then…\n
“Matriarch!” Grandmother Li Ciying impatiently cried out, “This engagement can’t be annulled ah!” \n
Bailian reassured her Mother and Grandmother with a brilliant smile and then directed her next words at Widow Zhang: “It’s good that the engagement was annulled, I never fancied Scholar Zhang, but the Third Branch does not want any silver or any of your compensation. From now on, the Third Branch has no connection with the Zhang Family whatsoever!”\n
After Bailian calmly finished, she handed Zhang Youen’s birth card over to Widow Zhang. She also didn’t forget to take her own birth card from the table. \n
Pulling the stupefied Madam Zhao and dazed Grandmother Li Ciying, Bailian headed to the exit of the main hall. Pausing at the last step in front of the doorway, she looked back and added, “Don’t bother trying to make up for it, deciding marriage matters was always our right!”\n
Widow Zhang was stunned, just what was wrong with Bailian?\n
Swiveling to face Matriarch Wang, didn’t the Third Branch not want the silver…\n
“Humph! We raised and fed her for so long, this silver is just a gift of filial piety!”\n
Matriarch Wang gleefully squawked, took the taels, and sneakily went back to her room, fearing that Widow Zhang would ask for the silvers back.\n
Widow Zhang smiled awkwardly, her heart aching at the sight of seeing her two silver taels disappearing from sight. The Zhang Family was not very wealthy, and Zhang Yoeun’s studies were very expensive. But just for the sake of successfully annulling this engagement, she had painstakingly taken out two taels of silver, just to ensure block any of the Li Family’s gossiping mouths. She couldn’t have anyone slandering her family!\n
She didn’t think that Bailian would act this way though!\n
After Bailian, the atmosphere in the main hall turned awkward and unpleasant, but even after several minutes of sitting in silence, Patriarch Li made no move to return the money to the very embarrassed Widow Zhang.\n
This was because the Eldest Son of the Li Family also needed the money to study and take exams!\n
“Then…I’ll get going.” The corners of Widow Zhang’s twitched and she hastily walked outside with her now empty basket.\n
“Sister Zhang, I’ll walk you out.” The Eldest Master’s wife gently stood up and prepared to escort Widow Zhang.\n
“No need, no need.” Widow Zhang tightly clutched the red card in her hand and hurriedly waved her hands.\n
This Li Family was truly outlandish, it’s better to get out of here as quickly as possible!\n
“I should still see you out!” Liu Meijun put on a gentle and warming expression.\n
Patriarch Li observed his obedient and courteous daughter-in-law with a very satisfied expression. He was very content with the couple.\n
On the other hand, the Third Branch was currently facing a tragedy, both Madam Zhao and Grandmother Li Ciying had extremely depressed faces.\n
“Mother, Grandmother, it’s good that the engagement was annulled! Our family won’t have to be so submissive to the Zhang family. They didn’t want to sincerely marry me anyway! It doesn’t matter whether we agree or not, they were determined to annul this engagement no matter what!” Bailian analyzed and patiently explained the situation to both of them.\n
“If we hadn’t broken off the engagement, there would no assurance that Zhang Youen would treat me well in the future. It’s better if we didn’t marry!”\n
“It’s all my fault!” Grandmother Li Ciying bitterly bit her lip in frustration. She had already implicated her honest son and now she had even implicated her grandaughter.\n
If only you weren’t concubine-born….\n
“Um…” Bailian looked dumbfounded. She personally had felt extremely refreshed and light after breaking off the engagement. Why did this elderly granny still think it was her problem?\n
A person’s brain circuit was truly strange.\n
“My poor daughter ah!” Madam Zhao sobbed in her hands, tears flowed down like it cost nothing.\n
Bailian:…..\n
Was she the only one in a good mood right now?\n
“Mother, don’t cry, it’s not good for the child!” Bailian helplessly pointed at Madam Zhao’s belly.\n
Hearing this, Grandmother Li Ciying wiped her tears and quickly comforted the frail Madam Zhao, “Don’t cry, you’ll end up injuring yourself.”\n
Madam Zhao obediently nodded and wiped away her tears, but her heart still felt very distressed. \n
She felt that Bailian had felt unwilling to break the engagement in her heart, but she didn’t want to make things hard for the Third Branch as they really weren’t worth giving two silver taels too.\n
It was precisely because of this, that Matriarch Wang would agree and peacefully allow the engagement to be annulled. \n
“Ahem, now that think about it, we really did the right thing! Just look, that Scholar Zhang is just a talented scholar and wanted to break the engagement early on. If he were to become a high-ranking official in the future, I wouldn’t be able to divorce him then and my future would have looked very bleak ah!”\n
Bailian began to scare the two.\n
When Grandmother Li Ciying and Madam Zhao heard this, their crying faces turned stiff and they were stunned in awe when they heard Bailain utter the words “official”.\n
Hearing this line of reasoning, the two of them felt much better. That Scholar Zhang was indeed very talented, he even placed first in the county exam! They had only thought that their daughter would live the rest of her life in comfort if she married him but hadn’t considered if Scholar Zhang was willing to marry Bailian or not.\n
Grandmother Li Ciying felt the most remorseful at this turn of events. After all, if she hadn’t been saved by Patriarch Li from the very beginning and married an already married man, the Third Branch…\n
Thinking of this, Li Ciying’s eyes turned dim. If she hadn’t married him and wasn’t in such a difficult situation, how could her granddaughter’s engagement be broken off so succinctly!\n
It was the Zhang Family who had broken the engagement and any which girl didn’t want to keep their face? But Patriarch Li just broke off the engagement without a so much as a second word, how insulting and embarrassing!\n
In addition, after Matriarch Wang caught sight of those two silver taels, she didn’t even try to keep the engagement. How could one count on her when money was involved? \n
“Sigh…” Grandmother Li Ciying exhaled, thinking that in her heart she had to carefully look after her granddaughter and watch her live a good life. Otherwise, she would feel guilt-ridden for the rest of her life!\n
Madam Zhao, hearing Bailian’s reasoning, she also thought of Grandmother Li Ciying’s situation, and thought that her daughter was right. Even so, she still felt very sorry for her daughter.\n
After what happened at the banquet yesterday and now with the engagement broken off, her daughter’s future looked grim….\n
Thinking of this, her heart painfully throbbed for her daughter.\n
However, they didn’t have the time to keep worrying and cry as they had to hurry back to work. Only the Third Master was working in the fields, so they had to quickly complete their chores so that they could help him later.\n
Bailian watched them head out to toil and labor under the hot sun again, but saw that her aunt, the unmarried maiden of the Li Family had not even gotten out of bed yet. In addition, in the main hall, Patriarch Li and the Eldest Master were still relaxedly discussing philosophies and scholarly matters without another worry in the world.\n
Bailian shook her head and then slipped her birth card under the threadbare blanket on top of the red. There were no cabinets or dressers in the room and even Zhang Youen’s birth card from before had been placed there to safekeep.\n