The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 15: The Fierce Wang Daya

No matter how domineering the Wang family’s old lady was at home, she couldn’t bring herself to say that they wouldn’t return the silver in front of so many villagers. Nor could she say that they wouldn’t cancel the engagement.

According to Wang Shishi’s instructions, the main purpose of canceling the engagement was to tarnish Xu Zhizhi’s reputation. But now, everyone was pointing fingers at the Wang family, accusing them of being ungrateful and unreasonable.

The Wang family’s old lady was now unsure whether to cancel the engagement or not. It seemed pointless either way. In a fit of frustration, she stiffened her neck and said, “The Xu family’s Zhizhi has been rejected, and her reputation is ruined. How could my Daya possibly marry into such a family?”

Xu Zhizhi was furious. “I ask all of you to judge this fairly. For years, I’ve worked tirelessly to take care of Auntie Jin. My father earned money, but instead of sending his own son to school, he spent it all on Jin Zijun. Now that he’s passed the imperial exam, he’s gone off chasing after some beauty, leaving me with no dignity. If we don’t cancel this engagement, where will my dignity be? Is it a crime to encounter an ungrateful wretch? Tell me, does this make any sense?”

“That’s right! What does this have to do with Zhizhi? It’s not her fault she met an ungrateful wretch. This wouldn’t hold up anywhere,” said Auntie Hua.

“Exactly, the Wang family is really something else. Xu Dahu did nothing wrong,” added Auntie Ma.

“…”

Now, everyone was accusing the Wang family of being ungrateful wretches too.

“Is there no justice in this world? Your Wang family’s daughter stole our Xu family’s future son-in-law, and now you have the nerve to act like you’re in the right? This engagement must be canceled, and you must return the silver to us immediately!” Second Aunt Xu said angrily.

“Yes, you must return the silver!”

Xu Dahu had been listening for a while. He already felt that his cousin had been wronged, and now hearing the Wang family’s old lady trying to tarnish Zhizhi’s reputation made him furious. But he couldn’t say much because he still needed to marry. His cousin had told him that they would build a big house in the future. He whispered a few words to his father.

Second Uncle Xu walked up to the Wang family’s old lady and said loudly, “Are you trying to follow Jin Zijun’s example by canceling the engagement but not returning the silver? It looks like you didn’t bring any silver. Fine, we’ll consider ourselves unlucky. No more excuses—everyone here knows the truth. Granny Wang, please return the betrothal letter, and I’ll go get your Daya’s betrothal letter for you.”

“Hahaha!”

“This is hilarious! Some people really have no shame and will do anything.”

“You should go back and tell your sons and daughters to stay far away from the Wang family’s children.”

Wang Daya thought about how, just yesterday, when she mentioned her grandmother’s intentions, Xu Dahu had been very upset and reluctant to cancel the engagement, saying he couldn’t bear to part with her. If Granny Wang insisted on canceling the engagement, there was nothing they could do.

Wang Daya complained that her cousin was useless and couldn’t keep Jin Zijun.

Xu Dahu was furious, saying that his cousin had done nothing wrong. After the engagement, she had worked tirelessly to take care of Jin Zijun’s blind mother, helped their family with chores, and even gave them money.

It was the Wang family’s daughter who had ruined his cousin’s marriage. Now they were using this as an excuse to cancel the engagement. The two of them parted on bad terms.

With things turning out like this, was there still any hope for their marriage? Wang Daya now deeply resented Wang Shishi.

Ever since Wang Shishi came to live with their family, she had acted like the mistress, treating the sisters like maids and the brothers like servants.

She often bought silver jewelry to please their grandmother, and now she was even trying to ruin Wang Daya’s two-year engagement. Listening to the aunties’ words, would she even be able to marry in the future?

Wang Daya didn’t understand why Wang Shishi wanted to tarnish Xu Zhizhi’s reputation or why she was using her own engagement to do so.

Didn’t Wang Shishi refuse Jin Zijun’s proposal? Why was she rejecting him?

Wang Daya, who had lived in the mountains for all her fifteen years, couldn’t figure it out.

But now, the only thing she knew was that she couldn’t cancel the engagement. If she did, she might never marry.

She walked fiercely to the front of the crowd, crying as she spoke. “Our family never wanted to cancel the engagement. It was Wang Shishi who gave my grandmother money to do it. My father and mother don’t even know about it!”

Wang Daya was somewhat pretty, though a bit dark-skinned. But everyone in Qili Village was dark-skinned, from the old to the young. Seeing her cry so bitterly, everyone felt sympathy for her.

Now, the blame shifted to Wang Shishi. Unfortunately for Wang Shishi, the meat she had sent yesterday was wasted—her reputation couldn’t be salvaged now.

“No way! Who would’ve thought Miss Wang could be so wicked? First, she broke up Jin Zijun and Xu Zhizhi, and now she’s trying to ruin Xu Dahu and Wang Daya. Will she break up every couple she sees?” said Third Aunt Xu.

Third Aunt Xu was the smartest of the three Xu women. When she heard yesterday that Daya’s family wanted to cancel the engagement, she was worried that Xu Zhizhi’s canceled engagement might affect her own daughter. Now, it seemed like her worries were being addressed.

She had to seize this opportunity to eliminate any future problems. She couldn’t let anyone tarnish Zhizhi’s reputation, especially since Xu Zhizhi had promised last night to help her brothers earn money in the future.

Wang Daya urgently said, “It’s true! I overheard it clearly. Wang Shishi said she wanted to cancel the engagement to tarnish Xu Zhizhi’s reputation.” Now, she had to stand with the Xu family. She had to marry Dahu. She didn’t care about the Wang family anymore—let her grandmother deal with it.

Under her and Third Aunt Xu’s deliberate guidance, the villagers were outraged. This was unacceptable.

They had thought the Wang family was trying to marry Daya off to a distant relative who was an official in the city. If that were the case, even their village chief wouldn’t be able to intervene.

But now, it turned out that canceling the engagement was just a ploy to tarnish Zhizhi’s reputation. That wasn’t right. Despite being rejected, Zhizhi had been working hard and even smiled at them yesterday. Someone suggested calling the village chief.

“Our village has always been harmonious. How did things get so messy after Miss Wang arrived?”

“Will our village’s young men and women still be able to marry in the future? Miss Wang looks so pretty and gentle—how could she have such dark intentions?”

“Maybe Miss Wang was rejected in Luocheng and that’s why she’s hiding in our mountain village.”

“Even if we don’t work today, we need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Yes, call the village chief.”

“Someone’s already gone to get him.”

“Could Miss Wang have some kind of illness? First, she broke up Jin Zijun and Xu Zhizhi, and now she’s rejecting his proposal.”

“What kind of illness is this? Will she ever marry? What a pity for such a beautiful young lady.”

“If this illness isn’t just about breaking up couples, could she also bite people?”

Xu Zhizhi was laughing inside. Wang Shishi wasn’t ill—she was just very shrewd! What she was doing was necessary.

First, she was tarnishing Xu Zhizhi’s reputation to ensure Jin Zijun wouldn’t consider rekindling their relationship. If he later passed the provincial or imperial exams, she could marry him.

Second, she was creating discord among the Xu brothers, making them believe everything was Xu Zhizhi’s fault, so that Xu Zhizhi would struggle within the family and be trampled on by everyone.

The rest wasn’t as important. After all, Wang Shishi had come from a wealthy household. Her tactics were advanced, which was why she had driven the original host to death and still managed to get Jin Zijun to help her. He was even eager to marry her!

(End of Chapter)