Tianliangyuan

Chapter 402 Your mother and I have reached an agreement

Xu Zhaozhao knew that Li Shun had taken it all to heart, so she had no intention of saying anything more to him. Whether he would understand or not was up to him to figure it out.

Xu Zhuzi led the people out of Jinxiu Garden, carefully avoiding a path frequently used by the young ladies of the mansion, since Li Shun's current condition made it unsuitable for him to be seen by others.

As he was about to leave, Li Shun finally composed himself.

"Thank you for your help, Steward Xu. Today's matter was my dereliction of duty. Please tell the county magistrate that I will handle this matter properly. Otherwise, I will have no face to come and pay my respects to the county magistrate again."

Seeing that he understood his master's intention, Xu Zhuzi smiled and said, "Lord Li, I will certainly pass on these words. You are a civil official, and this Duke's mansion also started out as a military family. Not to mention others, just take our young master, who is now a Lieutenant General, for example. He also followed the path of a military officer. You are a civil official, and the third young master of our Marquis of Anxin's mansion is also a civil official."

Li Shun understood that if he wanted to advance his career as a civil official, he would need the support of the county princess, not the Duke's mansion.

"Our county magistrate's maternal uncle's family is also mainly composed of civil officials. I'm not afraid to tell you, anyone who catches our county magistrate's eye has a promising future. Do you know who the former and current magistrates of Lantian County were?"

Li Shun stared wide-eyed, eager to learn.

"The man in front of us was promoted to an official position in the capital because he gained the trust of our county magistrate. The current magistrate of Lantian County is a relative of one of our Marquis's cousins. You should inquire about some things first, and then think about them carefully. You'll eventually discover something different."

This is already a blatant reminder.

Li Shun quickly thanked him, as he still needed to personally handle the Qian family's matter.

The Qian family was just an ordinary family, and in terms of status, they were even lower than ordinary families. After all, Mr. Qian used to be a merchant.

Li Shun rushed to Lantian County, where he found the Qian family divided into two factions arguing their case.

Because Qian Yaozu had an adoption certificate, and after Mr. Qian passed away, Qian Yaozu stayed by his side to keep vigil, and he was also the one who broke the basin and carried the funeral banner at the burial.

In folk tradition, whoever breaks the basin and raises the banner is the next heir of the family.

So this is tantamount to telling everyone that he is Mr. Qian's son.

Now that Qian Yaozu has discovered that Xiao Zhoushi dared to sell some properties in private, he naturally has to report it to the clan.

That's why all the members of the Qian clan gathered around.

Li Shun was a seventh-rank official, and he did not wear official robes when he came out today, but his demeanor was so imposing that no one dared to underestimate him.

With him handling things fairly and justly, the elders of the Qian family could naturally feel much more at ease. However, Xiao Zhou was relentless and even complained that her nephew was an ingrate!

But she dared not say these words out loud, knowing that her greatest reliance at this moment was this nephew.

In her desperation, Madam Zhou disregarded her daughter's reputation and shouted, "My dear nephew! Your mother promised to let you marry Pan'er into the family."

what?

Not only the Qian family, but even Li Shun was stunned.

What is all this?

Qian Yaozu was somewhat flustered. No matter how rich the Qian family was, they dared not fight against the officials.

While Li Shun was stunned, Xiao Zhou shouted for help, claiming that she had Li's mother's support and that the two of them had finalized the details.

This is an attempt to pin the blame for Qian Pan'er on Li Shun.

Li Shun came in a hurry, so he only brought one attendant. Moreover, he was still young and had never seen such a scene before.

Because they were confused, their reaction was naturally a beat slower.

A young man who had been hiding in the crowd shook his head slightly, then deliberately took a step back and shouted.

"Nonsense! Lord Li is clearly engaged to the seventh young lady of the Duke of Huguo's mansion. His wife hasn't even entered the household yet, how could he possibly take a concubine first?"

Sure enough, the crowd started talking again.

"That's right, Lord Li is an official. How can he take a concubine before marrying a wife? That's against the rules!"

"Who knows if this Zhou family member is just talking nonsense?"

"I think she's deliberately trying to frame Lord Li in order to embezzle those private assets."

With the chaos below, Li Shun was finally able to react.

“Aunt, please watch your words! I am getting married this year to the seventh young lady of the Duke of Huguo’s mansion. Everyone knows this. We have a matchmaker and the elders’ consent. The marriage cannot be faked! Besides, my uncle has passed away. According to the law, my cousin should observe three years of mourning. Why would you say such things to ruin her reputation?”

Li Shun naturally also thought of the custom of holding a wedding after a hundred days of mourning.

But he dared not admit it.

If it's the legal wife, then things are a bit easier to talk about.

But his fiancée is not Qian Pan'er, so he absolutely cannot admit to this.

At this point, he understood the county magistrate's intention, or rather, he realized that the Qian family mother and daughter were not benevolent people.

To protect their private property, they even resorted to using their reputation, and the worst part is that they even tried to use other people's reputations, which is going too far.

Li Shun was an official appointed by the imperial court. If he really broke the rules, he would be impeached by the censor.

He simply distanced himself from the matter, but how could Little Zhou do as he wished?

“Nephew, your mother and I have already discussed this matter. You don’t want your uncle to be restless in the afterlife, do you? We only have this one biological daughter, and all he wants is for her to live a peaceful and carefree life!”

Li Shun squinted, recalling the county princess's assessment of his mother as 'compassionate and kind'.

Soft-hearted and lacking in discipline!

Indeed, a sword has two edges, and a person has two sides.

Now, isn't my mother's soft heart being completely taken advantage of by this aunt?

"presumptuous!"

Li Shun slammed his fist on the table, clearly enraged.

“Madam Qian, I have repeatedly avoided you because of our kinship, but you have been so rude. I have repeatedly stated that we are engaged, how could I do such a treacherous thing? You keep saying that you discussed it with my mother, but why has my mother never mentioned this matter? Furthermore, I am an official of the court, I have never married, how could I take a concubine? Are you trying to put me in a position of being unrighteous and immoral?”

Li Shun's anger finally terrified Xiao Zhou Shi.

His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

She had previously used her older sister to suppress her eldest nephew.

Never made a mistake.

Unexpectedly, this time, they miscalculated.

Not only did they fail to hold Li Shun accountable, but they might also ruin their daughter's reputation.

Qian Yaozu could also see that the other party had no intention of getting involved in the Qian family's affairs.

It's likely that Li Shun made this special trip to resolve the matter properly, so that the mother and daughter wouldn't cling to the Li family again.

Upon receiving a hint from his elders, Qian Yaozu immediately stepped forward and bowed.

"Please calm down, Lord Li. My mother only misspoke because she loves my younger sister. Please forgive her."