"First Jia Yucun, then Hanlin Mei—they're both ungrateful wretches."
Liu Zhong said, "I'm a scholar too. Don't judge everyone by those two."
Jia Yuanchun stuck out her tongue and said, "I misspoke. Please forgive me, my lord."
Liu Zhong chuckled. "That depends on how you behave."
They spent the night tangled in the sheets. The next day, Liu Zhong left for work in high spirits, while Jia Yuanchun slept until well past sunrise.
After work, Liu Zhong didn't go home. Instead, he met Jia Hu for a drink.
As they drank and chatted, Liu Zhong mentioned the Mei Family's situation.
Although Jia Hu wasn't directly related to Xue Baoqin's branch of the Xue family, after Xue Baoqin had taken Lady Wang as her godmother, she could be considered Jia Hu's younger sister in name.
He couldn't possibly let the Mei Family bully his sister.
Jia Hu believed the information Liu Zhong had given him. He knew how capable Jiqiu was at gathering intelligence.
When Jia Hu returned to Rongguo Mansion, he sent for Xue Ke.
Xue Ke was nothing like Xue Pan. He was a diligent, honest, clever, and capable young man.
Jia Hu admired Xue Ke and had considered bringing him into his service and helping him advance.
When Xue Ke heard from Jia Hu what the Mei Family was planning, his face flushed with anger.
Jia Hu said, "Go back and discuss with your mother and sister how to handle this engagement. In my opinion, the sooner it's dealt with, the better."
Xue Ke thanked Jia Hu and returned to the Xue family, his mind weighed down with worry.
When Aunt Xue and Madam Xue the Second saw his expression, they were deeply concerned. They hurried to call him over and ask what had happened.
When Xue Ke saw his sister watching him with a worried expression, his anger only grew.
He drew a deep breath and told them about the Mei Family's scheme.
Aunt Xue and Madam Xue the Second were furious, cursing the Mei Family as a bunch of ingrates.
Xue Baoqin's face was pale, but she was the calmest person in the room.
She even had the presence of mind to be glad that Xue Pan wasn't home and hadn't heard the news. With his fiery temper, he would surely have charged over to the Mei Family's house and caused a huge scene.
Then, even though they were in the right, they would end up in the wrong.
Xue Ke said, "Elder Cousin Jia asked us to discuss what to do about this engagement."
"What is there to discuss?" Aunt Xue said. "The Mei Family hasn't left the capital yet. We should hurry over and make them honor the engagement and bring Baoqin into their family."
Madam Xue the Second nodded in agreement.
Xue Baoqin and Xue Ke both frowned at her words.
"If my sister marries into the Mei Family like this, I'm afraid she'll have a hard time," Xue Ke said. "Madam Mei will surely make her suffer, and Mei Eldest Son already has a son by a concubine..."
Prompted by her son, Madam Xue the Second imagined what might happen to her daughter and grew worried. "That's right. The Mei Family might have wicked designs and arrange for Baoqin to die quietly in their back courtyard. They're leaving the capital, too, and will be a thousand miles away from us. We wouldn't even be able to stand up for her."
As a woman who had prevailed in the inner quarters, Aunt Xue knew all too well the ways women could be eliminated from a household.
"Then she won't marry into the family," she said.
Madam Xue the Second nodded repeatedly, but then sighed in worry. "But if Baoqin breaks off the engagement, how will she find a good family in the future?"
Society was deeply unfair to women. Even when a woman wasn't at fault for a broken engagement, people still assumed there must be something wrong with her.
A woman whose engagement had been broken was unlikely to find a good match.
She would either have to become a second wife or settle for a family of poor circumstances.
Aunt Xue patted the back of Madam Xue the Second's hand. "That's still better than letting the girl suffer in that den of wolves and tigers."
Xue Ke went to see Jia Hu and, through him, obtained proof that Mei Eldest Son had set up a second household and fathered a son by a concubine before marrying.
Xue Ke and Xue Pan—after learning that the Mei Family had tried to break off the engagement, Xue Pan had been so furious he'd wanted to rush over and beat them up, but Xue Ke had stopped him. Xue Ke promised he had a way to deal with the Mei Family and that Jia Hu would help. Only because Xue Pan feared Jia Hu did he refrain from running over to beat them—brought a group of servants to the Mei Family's gate in a grand procession. They loudly demanded to break off the engagement and shouted that Mei Eldest Son had taken his cousin as a second wife and fathered a son by her before marrying.
The onlookers were delighted by the spectacle and condemned the Mei Family as a household with no sense of propriety.
How could they take a second wife and have a son by her before the principal wife had even entered the family?
They called themselves a family of scholars, yet they were worse than merchants.
No wonder the bride's family had come to break off the engagement.
The Mei Family was trapped inside, unable to leave. The people around them criticized them until their faces burned with shame.
Master Mei felt that his reputation had been utterly ruined.
He didn't reflect at all on how he'd tacitly approved his wife and son's ungrateful attempt to break off the engagement. Instead, he blamed everything on his wife.
His son's second wife was his wife's niece, and his wife had insisted on protecting her and letting her give birth to the illegitimate eldest grandson.
He had clearly told his wife that the boy's birth would affect their son's engagement and future. She had said she would keep it well hidden, and only then had he tacitly agreed.
Yet the Xue family had found out, and now they had exposed it.
From then on, every powerful family in the capital would know that his son already had an illegitimate son. Who would marry a daughter of good family to him now?
Master Mei scolded Madam Mei. "This is all your doing. You've ruined Cheng'er's future and his chances of marriage."
Madam Mei was shocked. "How could that be?"
"Everyone knows Cheng'er has an illegitimate eldest son now. Would any powerful family marry their daughter to him? They certainly won't help him advance, either. I could even be impeached by the censors and suffer the consequences. You foolish woman!"
Master Mei grew angrier with every word. If he hadn't been physically weaker than Madam Mei, he would have wanted to beat her.
Madam Mei was aghast. She had never imagined this would affect her husband's and son's futures!
"It's all Xue's fault," Madam Mei said furiously. "That woman is a jinx. She doesn't deserve to enter the Mei Family."
Master Mei said coldly, "Even if you begged her to marry into the Mei Family now, she wouldn't. The Xue family made this scene because they're determined to break off the engagement. Find the betrothal token from back then and have someone take it out to return to the Xue family. End the engagement and send them away. We can't let them keep making a scene at our gate."
Madam Mei seethed. "If only I hadn't thought of breaking off the engagement. I should have brought Xue into the family first and tormented her to death, then found Cheng'er a good wife."
Master Mei snorted. "It's too late to say that now. Go find the betrothal token."
Madam Mei was furious, but there was nothing she could do. She could only sullenly find the betrothal token the Xue family had given the Mei Family and have a servant woman take it out. She and the other members of the Mei Family stayed inside.
Xue Ke didn't care. The Mei Family's reputation was already ruined, so it didn't matter whether they showed themselves or not.
He took out the token the Mei Family had given the Xue family and exchanged it for theirs.
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