Yuan Qingling racked her brains, what exactly was Yuwen Hao's weakness?
Yes, Chu Mingcui, but she was also his inverse scale. Grasping his weakness while touching his inverse scale would have serious consequences.
"Forget it, I'll find another way. If nothing works, I'll meet this Marquis of Huiding myself." Yuan Qingling left the table angrily.
Yuwen Hao scoffed. She would personally meet the Marquis of Huiding? She didn't have the guts. He wouldn't even consider her worthy to tie his shoes.
It wasn't because he looked down on people. It was just that no one from the Marquis Jing Manor dared to provoke anyone from the Chu family.
Yuan Qingling was a woman of action. The next day, she asked Lv Ya to deliver a visit card to the Marquis of Huiding. However, the Marquis clearly didn't take the visiting queen from the Marquis Jing Manor seriously. He directly rejected it, saying the Marquis of Huiding was not in the manor these past two days.
When Lv Ya returned to the manor, she was very angry. In front of Yuan Qingling, she said, "The Marquis of Huiding is too disrespectful to you. He was clearly in the manor. I saw the gatekeeper go to report to him when he was in the corridor."
"Lv Ya, don't say too much!" Her wet nurse scolded.
Yuan Qingling said indifferently, "He is a popular young marquis. It is normal for him to put on airs or look down on me."
"He didn't even look at the Prince in the eye."
"Of course, the Prince used to be under his command." Who would look at their former subordinate in the eye? Especially one who had offended him before.
Yuan Qingling was at a loss.
Under normal circumstances, if the Marquis of Huiding respected the Marquis Jing Manor, he would at least meet his future sister-in-law. However, his outright rejection indicated that he did not actually respect the Marquis Jing Manor.
In other words, this marriage was unequal.
"Your Majesty, why don't you ask Marquis Jing for help?" Lv Ya said.
"Asking him would be useless than asking the Jade Emperor!" Yuan Qingling said coldly.
"Then let's ask the Jade Emperor for help." Lv Ya thought Yuan Qingling was serious. When one was helpless, one could only pray to the gods.
After thinking for a moment, Yuan Qingling said, "Help me get ready, I'm going back home for a bit."
"Didn't you say it was useless to ask the Marquis?" Her wet nurse asked.
"For big events like marriage, parents make the decisions. Father is already unconscious. I hope Mother can think for her own daughter. Her persuasion would be better than mine." Although Yuan Qingling said this, she felt a little blindly optimistic.
The facts also proved her thoughts right.
Mrs. Huang's mind was completely brainwashed by Yuan Balong.
When Mrs. Huang heard Yuan Qingling's opposition to this marriage, she even flew into a rage and pointed at Yuan Qingling, yelling, "What's wrong with you? Your sister has a rare opportunity to marry into a marquis manor. Instead of being happy for her, you oppose this marriage?"
Looking at the hideous face in front of her, did she even look like a mother?
"Mother, you know the Marquis of Huiding's Third Madam died, right?" Yuan Qingling felt there was still room for salvation. As a mother, she wouldn't just watch her daughter walk to her death. As a woman from a distinguished family, maybe she didn't know what kind of person the Marquis of Huiding was.
Mrs. Huang glared with wide eyes. "So what? It was Third Madam's fate to die early. Who can be blamed? Blame her shallow fortune for not being able to enjoy such wealth and status. As the marquis's madam, she doesn't need to worry for the rest of her life."
"Mother was also a marquis's madam." Yuan Qingling said indifferently.
Mrs. Huang ground her teeth. A string of angry words spewed out, "How can the Marquis Jing Manor compare to the Marquis of Huiding Manor? The Marquis of Huiding's surname is Chu, and he is currently a hot military general. Even the Emperor values him greatly. I'm warning you, don't try to ruin your sister's marriage. Otherwise, I won't let you off easily. I haven't scolded you yet. Your father worked hard to arrange a marriage for you into the Prince's manor. What have you done for the family after marrying into the Prince's manor? You're just a debt collector, unable to accomplish anything. No wonder your father is angry with you."
Her words were the same as Yuan Balong's - birds of a feather flock together.
Yuan Qingling didn't want to waste time with her. "I'm leaving."
"Stand there!" Mrs. Huang yelled. "Don't think I don't know you want to ask your grandmother for help. I'm warning you, the Second Madam doesn't like people disturbing your grandmother. You'd better not go. It would be futile anyway."
Yuan Qingling smiled. "Thanks for the reminder. I wouldn't have remembered I could ask Grandmother for help if not for you."
But what did she mean by the Second Madam not liking people disturbing Grandmother? She was the granddaughter. Visiting her critically ill grandmother was perfectly normal.
Mrs. Huang was so angry she felt dizzy. "You're going to anger me to death. None of you ever learns or behaves."
Yuan Qingling ignored her and walked straight out.
She almost bumped into someone as soon as she stepped out of the door.
She quickly took a step back and saw a handsome young man in green scholar robes standing in front of her. She blurted out, "Big Brother!"
This was Yuan Qingling's elder brother Yuan Lunwen. He was an imperial scholar.
He used to be the pride of the family, but after offending the Chu family with radical words, he was now an idle nobody in the Imperial Academy.
"Clumsy." Yuan Lunwen said sternly.
"I have something urgent. Excuse me." Yuan Qingling didn't have a good impression of the Yuan family and was too lazy to ponder what kind of person Yuan Lunwen was.
Mrs. Huang's scolding could be heard from inside. Yuan Lunwen grabbed Yuan Qingling's arm, "What made Mother angry again?"
"She just loves to get angry."
"Don't be rude!" Yuan Lunwen's face hardened as he angrily scolded her.
Yuan Qingling already had a stomach full of anger. Unable to vent it on Mrs. Huang, seeing Yuan Lunwen's stern face made her anger surge up. "Rudeness is still better than heartlessness."
"What heartlessness?" Yuan Lunwen said angrily.
"Marrying one's own daughter to an evil man like the Marquis of Huiding. Isn't that heartless?" Yuan Qingling said coldly.
"Who's marrying the Marquis of Huiding?" Yuan Lunwen's face changed drastically.
Looking at him, Yuan Qingling said, "Big Brother doesn't know? Father wants to marry my second sister to the Marquis of Huiding to establish ties with the Chu family."
"Absurd!" Yuan Lunwen was furious, his handsome face turned pale.
Yuan Qingling didn't expect there would still be someone sensible in the Yuan family. She said, "Big Brother also opposes it right? Please advise Father properly. If my sister marries into that family, it will likely lead to her death."
Without another word, Yuan Lunwen said, "You go find Grandmother, I'll go find Father. This has to be stopped."
After saying that, he hurried away.
Watching his retreating figure, Yuan Qingling felt slightly relieved. At least someone was sensible.
She went with Lv Ya towards Grandma's courtyard, but before they arrived, they were stopped by Second Madam's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Luan, and her servants.
Mrs. Luan looked at Yuan Qingling with a mocking smile. "Oh, the Princess is back!"
"Sister-in-law!" Seeing her sinister face, Yuan Qingling didn't want to argue. "I'm going to visit Grandmother. Excuse me."
"What's the rush?" Mrs. Luan blocked her with one hand, lifting her mocking face. "Your grandmother is critically ill and shouldn't see people. Princess, please go back."
"Grandmother is critically ill. As her granddaughter, it's perfectly normal for me to visit her. What right do you have to stop me?" Yuan Qingling asked coldly.
"Visit her?" Mrs. Luan sneered. "I know what you're up to. Don't dream. Even if you begged Granny, it would be useless. Granny is useless now. Even the servants don't listen to her, let alone the Marquis. Princess, just give up."
Yuan Qingling suddenly realized that when the entire manor schemed for the same purpose, it was a very powerful and twisted force.
