Early the next morning, Ma Jiu drove a mule cart to the matchmaker's house, pulled her into the cart without any explanation, and took her straight to the second room of Li's house to talk.
When she heard that she was going to break off the engagement with the Chen family, the matchmaker's pockmarked face couldn't help but tremble and her eyes blinked even harder.
"Gao, Gao Madam, I'm sorry, I have been a matchmaker countless times in my life, but, this matter of breaking off the engagement... this, this, this has really never been done before. How about you find another matchmaker to talk about it?"
It would be better to demolish a temple than ruin a marriage. Breaking off an engagement is a big taboo among matchmakers!
If the marriage is successful, it is because of your merits and hard work as a matchmaker, especially since Li and Chen are from official families, it is even more honorable for the matchmaker.
But if you want to break off the engagement, if others think it is unlucky in the future, who will be willing to take care of your business?
Furthermore, it is said that the marriage is a matter of two good things, and breaking off the engagement will offend one of the parties.
If the Chen family is pardoned and released in the future, the worst offender will still be the local squire. Offending one family is equivalent to offending ten families. Isn't this a loss-making business?
Therefore, the labor matchmaker is in trouble and is not willing to take the lead.
"Sister-in-law of the Lao family, look, they are all women, I wonder what you think?" The silk fan in Gao's hand was beating slowly.
The man who worked as a matchmaker was a former tenant of the Gao family. Later, Gao's father appreciated him and transferred him to a shop in the city to work as a rice store manager, so Gao called her "sister-in-law."
"I understand you don't want to go, but... you don't want me to make this trip for you, right?" After finishing speaking, Gao raised his eyes and glanced at her.
"This..." Beads of sweat oozed from the forehead of the matchmaker. She wiped it with a handkerchief and said softly: "Well, let me give you a reminder. There must be a reason for breaking off the engagement, right?
Although her man was convicted, but... there is nothing he can do about it..."
Gao said: "Isn't this easy to handle? During the national mourning period, the students of Yingtianfu School were causing mischief, so of course Chen Shi'an must bear the responsibility as a tutor.
How can such an immoral family marry me, Mrs. Li? Isn’t this a ready excuse?"
"Oh, oh, then... shall I try it?" Matchmaker Lao couldn't say it, and she didn't know whether she was crying or laughing.
"Second Grandma, it's not good!" A maid suddenly ran in and called.
"What's going on? It's shocking!" Mrs. Gao yelled, "What kind of panic is this?"
"It's Wu Lang." The maid was alarmed to find that there was someone else in the room, and hurriedly made up for the gift.
He lowered his voice and said: "Wulang was angry when he heard that grandma sent the eldest sister of the Chen family back. Now the door is closed and no one is allowed in. He is slashing and smashing the ground with a sword. Grandma, go and have a look.
Bar!"
"This, this is not easy to worry about!" When Mrs. Gao heard that her son was in the house and had a sword, her soul suddenly flew away.
She didn't care about bothering the matchmaker, so she hurriedly picked up her skirt and ran out. Several maids had to chase after her.
The matchmaker sneered in her heart, thinking that she didn't dare to leave before she finished speaking, so she simply went over to watch the excitement.
It was only a few dozen steps from the main house with the second bedroom to the small courtyard where Li Shuo lived. The courtyard was not very big but rather long and narrow.
The small building where Li Shuo lives is at the top. There are four wing rooms under the west wall. There is a wisteria trellis coming in from the Aquarius Gate. From here along the east wall to the bottom of his study window are all kinds of flowers and plants.
This is Li Shuo's daily hobby. There is only a foot wide between the flowers and plants and the west wing, and now there are many maids and servants standing there, making noise and giving Gao a headache.
Someone shouted: "Second Grandma is here!" Everyone immediately fell silent and bowed their heads to make way for a passage.
"Son, what are you doing?" Gao stood on the steps and shouted anxiously.
"Mother, didn't I say that I didn't agree to break off the engagement? Why did you still send Hui'er back? Then what did Mrs. Lao do here?" Li Shuo said in the room with a tearful voice.
"Hey, it's not for your own good!" Mrs. Gao said and walked inside.
But he saw Li Shuo viciously appearing at the door with a dagger and shouting: "How can I behave like this if you do this? I might as well die to avoid being looked at by others!"
After saying that, he put the sword across his neck.
Mrs. Gao was so frightened that she sat down on the ground and cried loudly, "Son!" and "Oh my God!", and the yard suddenly became a mess.
Some went to help the Gao family, some wanted to rush up and seize the weapon from Li Shuo's hand, and a few "smarter" boys turned around and ran out to report the news to the eldest master and the third master.
"What happened here?"
The one who was leading the way out was suddenly grabbed by his collar. When he looked back, he realized it was Li Dan. He gesticulated and told him: "Sanlang, go quickly. The fifth brother put a sword on his neck and wanted to kill himself."
Miles!"
"Nonsense!" Li Dan walked away from the man and walked in. He pushed aside the people who were in the way and came to the front. Li Shuo was about to retreat into the house.
"Fifth brother, what are you doing?"
Li Shuo was stunned when he heard Li Dan's voice. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw two young men walking outside the door.
The one walking in front was wearing a Confucian shirt, and the one behind was wearing a short brown dress, and was holding a soft bow in his hand.
"Xiaowu, what are you doing with a sword? Put it down quickly!" The young man in Confucian shirt stepped forward proudly with his hands behind his back and ordered directly without even looking at Li Dan.
Li Dan stepped back when he heard the voice behind him and sneered: "Hey, second brother is here so soon?" He looked back and said: "Hey, there is still fourth brother?"
"Well, I was shooting arrows and saw my family running around. They said something happened here, so I came to take a look." The fourth child, Li Qin, was honest. He still held an unfired arrow in his hand.
He was stocky and the shortest among the brothers, so he stood on tiptoes to see clearly what was ahead.
"Oh!" Li Dan turned to Li Jin: "Second brother is also here to watch the fun, who doesn't want to read?"
Li Jin rolled his eyes: "Uncle, the third uncle has gone out, and the eldest brother is not at home, so naturally I should come over and see what happened."
"Okay, then please ask the second brother to come forward. The younger brother is all ears." Li Dan turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation.
Just after taking half a step, Li Jin took it back again.
He looked at Li Dan suspiciously, shook his head with his hands behind his back and said, "As the saying goes, 'A gentleman does not build dangerous walls,' I think it is better for my third brother to handle this kind of thing."
"Hey, brothers, how long has it been since then and you are still standing here being polite? No matter who it is, you should hurry up and talk to Wulang and ask him to put down his sword first, okay?" Gao clapped his hands aside angrily.
Skirt says.
Li Shuo, who was looking at his brothers blankly, heard this and remembered that he was going to "kill himself". He quickly changed the sword to another hand and put it on the other shoulder.
Li Jin looked around and suddenly lost interest: "Oh, okay, we don't care about this matter. Sanlang, I'll leave this to you, I'd better go back to study!" He turned around and left.
When Li Qin saw him, he shouted: "Second brother, wait for me!"
"Fourth brother is leaving, please help us take everyone in this yard away!"
Li Dan grinned widely, watching Li Qin drive the people out of the yard, turned around and bowed: "Mom, please go back first, I will put my fifth brother here, don't worry."
Mrs. Gao knew that Li Shuo always listened to his third brother, and when he saw him coming, he felt half at ease.
He hurriedly called the maids to support him and walked out slowly. When he got under the wisteria shelf, he turned back and stared at Li Shuo with resentful eyes before going out.
Li Dan asked the servants of the court to go back to their own rooms, then walked up the steps and held the door frame, looked at Li Shuo who retreated into the room and said with a smile: "I said yesterday that they will go their own way, and you also know that this will be the result.
What’s all the fuss about?”
"I'm not making a fuss. I want to teach my mother a lesson so that she can't just treat me like a child in the future!" Li Shuo said angrily.
"Okay, okay." Li Dan nodded, suddenly moved his feet and came to his side, and waved his hand quickly.
Li Shuo felt that his third brother had arrived in front of him somehow, and he was stunned and the sword in his hand was gone.
"Remember from now on, if you really want to scare your mother, find a sharp sword. This kind of thing hanging on the wall for admiration is of little use!" Li Dan said with a smile, and threw the dagger away casually.
On the coffee table far away.
Li Shuo was stunned. The weapon he had brought to scare his mother was handed over by Li Dan like a toy.
"Third brother, my sword is an antique from the previous dynasty!" He pointed helplessly at the coffee table and said.
"Bullshit!" Li Dan sneered disdainfully: "This kind of thing looks good on display, but it is vulnerable on the battlefield. Can it be called a weapon? It can only be used to scare mother!"
When Li Shuo heard that he had reduced his beloved things to nothing, he curled his lips, put his hands in his hands and stood there without saying a word.
"What are you standing for?" Li Dan sat down on the chair in front of him and asked Li Shuo to find a chair to sit on too.
Seeing the cherries that had been knocked over on the table, he stretched out his hand, grabbed a handful, selected one and threw it into his mouth.
"Sister Hui has been sent back. There is nothing we can do about it." He spat out the seeds and said, "I asked you to see her yesterday, but you did? What did she say?"
Li Shuo blushed and hesitated for a long time before saying: "I went to her door last night, but she refused to open the door and only said a few words through the window.
He held the hem of his clothes in his hand, lowered his head and wiped his eyes: "She said that since ancient times, marriage has been dictated by parents' orders. Since her mother decided to break off the engagement, she had no choice but to obey."
He also said that luck is like this, there may be luck but no chance. Let me live my destiny and don't blame others and others."
Li Dan glanced at him and understood that this boy had actually become cold-hearted about the marriage after listening to Chen Hui's words, but today's quarrel was just to show his refusal.
Having said that, if he didn't make such a fuss, he would be really shameless among the scholars if it spread, and the spitting of those Confucian scholars would also hurt him a lot!
Originally, a teenage boy had just graduated from elementary school in his previous life. What did he know about feelings and love? That was all he had to do with his young master's temper.
"It's best if you think clearly. Mother is doing this for the sake of your future. Don't make her sad or worried anymore."
After Li Dan finished speaking, he paused: "This incident has made the Chen family worse. With the reputation of being annulled, it will be difficult for Sister Hui to marry into a good family unless she is pardoned or the emperor vindicates Uncle Chen."
"Ah?" Li Shuo straightened up after hearing this: "Well, brother, let's go to the front together and ask mother to take back her life!"
"It's too late!" Li Dan shook his head: "Sister Hui was sent back, which means that her mother may have talked to her, or sister Hui herself went to her mother to express her willingness to cancel the engagement."
"How is this possible? How could Sister Hui agree to break off the engagement?"
"How is it impossible?" Li Dan asked back: "You just think it's best for Sister Hui to marry you, but you never thought about what she would choose?
If it were my choice, it would be right to take the initiative to agree to break off the engagement at this time, which can not only protect you, but also prevent your future husband's family from being implicated in the slightest.
Silly boy, do you think Sister Hui will only think of escaping to the Li family to avoid this unnecessary disaster? Then you are looking down on her!
There may have been some initial panic and avoidance, but after calming down, she probably agreed to go back on her own.
This is what the daughter of the Chen family has done. She is a woman raised by what her mother said was an immoral family and is not worthy of our Li family!"
"Third brother, what you said...doesn't it mean that we are so sorry to the Chen family?" Li Shuo's eyes were red and he lowered his head again.
"What do you think?" Li Dan asked coldly.
"I, I..." Li Shuo muttered, not knowing what to do.
"Alas!" Li Dan stood up and walked over to pat him on the shoulder: "If, as Zhou Dutou said, Uncle Chen was sentenced to exile, the crime would not affect his family members.
At most, the Chen family is under residential surveillance in their hometown. They report to the county government every few days and do some hard labor. With us taking care of them, they won't suffer much.
But this time the commotion was a bit big, and Zhou Dutou thought that the whole family might be exiled together. In that case, it would depend on where they were exiled, and they would not be able to go overseas. I think the farthest is Yazhou.
We can use some money to pay for errands, so that their family will suffer less on the road.
Also, whether you want to break off the engagement or not, ask your mother to exchange Sister Hui’s dowry into a banknote for them to carry with them, so that they can live frugally when they get there.”
"Hey, this is a good idea! I'll tell my mother later!" Li Shuo clapped his hands.
"Also, I thought about it last night. If the place of exile is not far away, such as in Fujian or Yue, we can even send a few brothers to accompany him all the way to protect him."
"Thank you, Third Brother, for the arrangements!" Li Shuo was overjoyed and even bowed.
Li Dan waved his hands repeatedly: "No need to thank me. In fact, you know, I am also here for Meng'er..." It's hard to say more at this point.
Mrs. Gao returned to her room, and because she was worried about her son, she stopped talking to Mrs. Lao about breaking off the engagement.
He quietly sent a maid to the yard to inquire, and when she came back she said that Sanlang had gone in, Wulang had also lost his weapon, and it seemed that the two of them were sitting and talking.
Mrs. Gao then took a breath, nodded and said, "Oh, it seems that this child still listens to his third brother, and even I, a mother, can't do it that well!"
"Why did grandma say that?" Chunfang, the eldest maid, was very eye-catching. She handed over the tea to cool down with one hand, took Gao's silk fan with the other hand, and said with a smile: "Wu Lang is your flesh and blood, and mother and son are naturally connected.
Sanlang is an elder brother, and it is his duty to assist his legitimate son. Wulang's ability to accept advice and listen to advice shows that he has a generous heart and is really a good candidate for officialdom. Your blessings are yet to come!"
This sentence made Mr. Gao burst into laughter and burst into laughter.
Chunfang quickly took the opportunity to remind: "Grandma, the matchmaker is still waiting outside. Do you think you should continue to call her in to continue what you just said, or ask her to go back and come back at another time?"