Not long after Lei Ting's visit to the Xianwang Residence, Ren Yaoqi received news concerning Ningxia.
Regarding Lei Ting's actions in dealing with Zeng Kui, Ren Yaoqi had learned of it from the Yanbei Prince's Mansion on the very day Ren Yaohua returned. It was precisely this incident that gave Ren Yaoqi a new understanding of Lei Ting as a person.
Shortly after Lei Ting left with Ren Yaohua, the Zeng family found Zeng Kui, who had already fallen into a coma due to excessive blood loss.
The people sent by Zeng Pu to search for Zeng Kui were furious upon seeing his miserable state. They immediately began searching for those who had inflicted such harm on Zeng Kui, based on the descriptions provided by the few men who had been with him at the time. Eventually, the Zeng family found several of those "bandits" left behind to care for the wounded in a nearby farmhouse. Two individuals, said to be the leaders, were severely injured and were hacked to death on the spot by the Zeng family.
As for the woman who had been abducted by the other bandits, she managed to jump from the carriage and escape midway. Coincidentally, she encountered General Min, who was returning to Yunyang City, and he secretly arranged for her to be sent back to Yunyang City. The Zeng family had limited manpower on this search mission and dared not confront Min Wenqing, so they took Zeng Kui—who had already received some medical treatment—back to Ningxia first.
When Zeng Pu saw his only son carried back, now a cripple who could no longer carry on the family line, he nearly collapsed from rage. In the end, none of the attendants who had accompanied Zeng Kui met a good fate.
The first words Zeng Kui spoke to his father upon regaining consciousness were: "Father, I want that bitch Wu Yiyu to die a horrible death!"
Zeng Pu also hated Wu Yiyu to the core, wishing he could cut her into a thousand pieces. This was especially true after he later confirmed that it was indeed Wu Yiyu who had orchestrated Ren Yaohua's kidnapping to lure Zeng Kui to Yanbei. Naturally, Zeng Pu did not readily believe his subordinates' reports, so he sent people to investigate further. The results revealed that Wu Yiyu had bribed many martial artists during this period and even publicly declared her intention to castrate Zeng Kui so that "a toad could not feast on swan meat."
Zeng Pu said fiercely, "Don't worry, I will definitely avenge this!"
On the second day after Zeng Kui returned to Ningxia, news spread throughout the region that he had been castrated by the eldest daughter of the Wu family. Many people simply dismissed it as a joke, as similar rumors had circulated before. However, some busybodies still went to ask Wu Yiyu about it. Unaware of the impending disaster, Wu Yiyu sneered and said, "I did offer a large sum of money, just waiting to see the Zeng family cut off their lineage."
This statement immediately discouraged certain families who had been considering marrying Wu Yiyu to take over the Wu family's influence. In fact, this was precisely Wu Yiyu's goal in causing such a stir. She had no desire to marry Zeng Kui, nor any other prominent young master in Ningxia. In her eyes, none of them could compare to even a single finger of Yun Wenting—they were all toads.
The Zeng family, on the other hand, believed that Wu Yiyu had deliberately spread the rumor to scare off those who sought to marry into the Wu family.
It was no secret in Ningxia that the eldest daughter of the Wu family was infatuated with Eldest Master Yun. Wu Yiyu had once publicly berated a man—said to be the most handsome and talented scholar in Ningxia—who had tried to get close to her, claiming he wasn't even fit to carry Yun Wenting's shoes. Because of this, the Zeng family's hatred for Wu Yiyu grew even deeper.The world assumed that with matters having escalated to this point, the marriage between the Zeng and Wu families would likely face complications. Even Xiao Wei discreetly sent someone to investigate whether Zeng Kui had truly been injured.
Surprisingly, however, the Zeng family not only did not cancel the engagement but also proposed to the Wu family that the wedding date be moved forward. Previously, to placate Wu Yiyu, Xiao Wei had arranged her engagement to Zeng Kui, but the wedding was scheduled for two years later. Now, Zeng Pu approached Xiao Wei with a request to hold the wedding as early as the eighth month. Even Zeng Kui, who had always been at odds with Wu Yiyu, did not object.
This made Xiao Wei hesitate. She suspected that the rumors circulating outside—that Zeng Kui had been injured in a certain area—were true. Though she coveted power, she did not want her only daughter to live a life of widowhood, so her attitude became evasive.
The Zeng family, however, laid out their terms: if Wu Yiyu agreed to marry, they would petition for her to be granted the title of Commandery Princess. With the status of a Commandery Princess and as the legitimate daughter of the Wu family, she would inherit the forces originally under Wu Xiaohe’s command. Zeng Pu would then assist Xiao Wei and Wu Yiyu, mother and daughter, in securing their positions and driving the Di family out of Ningxia.
If these conditions were not enough to convince Xiao Wei to sacrifice her daughter’s marriage, the Zeng family’s subsequent offer—handing over the seal of the military governor’s office and the five thousand troops Zeng Pu had painstakingly gathered as betrothal gifts for Wu Yiyu—finally swayed her. The fact that five thousand troops were given away so casually also indirectly demonstrated the Zeng family’s current strength and Zeng Pu’s capabilities.
Xiao Wei personally visited the Zeng family, bringing a physician along under the pretext of having the doctor examine her prospective son-in-law to ensure he would be fully recovered by the wedding day, as illness during the ceremony would be inauspicious. It remains unclear how the Zeng family managed it, but after examining Zeng Kui, the physician declared him perfectly healthy and fit to marry in the eighth month.
Thus, Wu Yiyu and Zeng Kui’s wedding date was set.
Upon learning of this, Wu Yiyu threw a tantrum. Feeling somewhat guilty toward her daughter, Xiao Wei made another request to the Zeng family: if Wu Yiyu wished to return to her maternal home after marriage, the Zeng family must not obstruct her.
Zeng Pu inwardly sneered but outwardly agreed readily.
At this moment, someone secretly sought out Wu Yiyu.
This person claimed to be the brother of a certain Jianghu figure whom Wu Yiyu had once hired to go to Yanbei. He had come to demand payment from Wu Yiyu. According to the drunken words of his brother, who had already fallen victim to the Zeng family’s schemes, Miss Wu had hired someone to castrate Zeng Kui during his secret trip to Yanbei, intending to have him killed. Wu Yiyu was now required to pay them ten thousand taels of silver as promised.
The man spoke with such conviction that he even presented Wu Yiyu with a bloody, ice-box-preserved lump of flesh, allegedly Zeng Kui’s severed manhood, and pointed out that Zeng Kui had a large mole near the base of his thigh.
Because the Zeng family had suppressed the news, and neither the Lei Family nor the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion had publicly confirmed the incident involving Zeng Kui, the rumor that Zeng Kui had become a eunuch remained just that—a rumor, with few truly believing it. The man who came to see Wu Yiyu explained that his brothers had either died or fled, and they were still being hunted by the Zeng family, making it impossible for them to come to Ningxia. Even his visit to Wu Yiyu had been extremely difficult, which was why outsiders remained unaware of the truth.
Wu Yiyu was utterly disgusted by the bloody, ice-preserved lump of flesh that was supposedly Zeng Kui’s manhood, but she couldn’t help but suspect that Zeng Kui had indeed suffered some injury.However, in the end, Wu Yiyu chose to temporarily hold her ground. To thoroughly intimidate those who had designs on her, she came up with a particularly malicious plan, spurred on by certain individuals' deliberate provocations.
Thus, Xiao Wei noticed that Wu Yiyu, who had previously been causing a fuss over her marriage, suddenly quieted down and even stopped resisting her own engagement to Zeng Kui.
Xiao Wei thought her daughter had grown up and come to her senses, feeling quite relieved and even relaxing her supervision a little. Fortunately, Wu Yiyu caused no trouble right up until the wedding date approached.
Not long after Ren Yaoqi received these scattered pieces of news from Ningxia, Lei Ting made his move again. This time, he sent a matchmaker directly to the Ren Family to propose marriage.
Apart from the elderly couple of the Ren Family in White Crane Town, Third Master Ren and Madam Li in Yunyang City also received the news at the same time. Naturally, Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua learned of it as well.
Madam Li was both shocked, delighted, and somewhat troubled. She was shocked that the head of the Lei Family would suddenly propose to Ren Yaohua, delighted because Lei Ting was handsome, capable, and perfectly matched the conditions of Ren Yaohua's "destined person," but troubled because Ren Yaohua would be marrying as a second wife.
Third Master Ren had met Lei Ting several times. Coming from a prominent family, Lei Ting was both scholarly and martial, with refined speech. Third Master Ren held no ill feelings toward him, so his attitude toward him becoming his eldest son-in-law was neither approval nor opposition.
As for Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren, they were completely overjoyed.
After having their birthdates and horoscopes matched, Old Madam Ren grew even more delighted, as the pairing of their eight characters indicated a perfect and harmonious marriage, a match made in heaven.
Thus, the Ren Family quickly agreed to the Lei Family's marriage proposal.
Ren Yaohua, one of the parties involved, was left bewildered by the successive waves of news.
When she first learned about the Lei Family's proposal to the Ren Family, Ren Yaohua was as surprised as everyone else. She wondered why Lei Ting would want to marry her. After all, none of her previous encounters with him had left a favorable impression.
Later, Ren Yaohua inevitably recalled the time Lei Ting had held her while riding a horse, carried her into a farmhouse, and bandaged her wounds. She thought, was it because of these incidents that Lei Ting wanted to marry her? He was an upright and honorable man—it must be for such reasons, right?
Somehow, Ren Yaohua suddenly felt unhappy again.
Later, Madam Li learned that Old Madam Ren intended to have Ren Yaohua and Lei Ting's horoscopes matched. Upon hearing this, Ren Yaohua grew nervous. Having suffered several setbacks in matters of marriage, she had thought she could leave things to fate, but now she found herself involuntarily concerned about the outcome.
When the results came out, even Madam Li was overjoyed, and her last remaining reservations vanished. Compared to her daughter's safety and happiness, whether she would be a second wife or not became less important.
And Ren Yaohua herself secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
During this time, Ren Yaoqi had been closely observing Ren Yaohua. She thought that if Ren Yaohua showed even the slightest reluctance to marry Lei Ting, she might try to disrupt the engagement. The tragedy of Ren Yaohua's previous marriage had always been a heavy burden on Ren Yaoqi's heart, so she hoped more than anyone that Ren Yaohua would marry a good man and live a happy, fulfilling life.However, although Ren Yaohua had seemed somewhat awkward and conflicted these past few days, she showed not the slightest hint of aversion toward Lei Ting or this marriage arrangement. Ren Yaoqi even felt that the reason for Ren Yaohua's awkwardness and inner conflict was precisely because she cared deeply about this marriage.
Once the marriage was finally settled, Madam Li began busily preparing Ren Yaohua's dowry.
Old Madam Ren also sent someone to Yunyang City to fetch Ren Yaohua back to White Crane Town, saying there were matters to discuss.
The late-night author has arrived... 〒_〒.
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