Chapter 224: A Harsh Slap in the Face

Chapter 224: A Harsh Slap in the Face

Of course, the matter didn’t end so easily.

The emperor punished everyone in the Dali Court who was responsible for the management of the blank imperial edicts, either by demoting them or reducing their salaries, and all the blank imperial edicts outside the palace were retrieved.

This time, the Wang family discovered the issue in time and immediately reported it to the Imperial Palace by beating the drum, which prevented any potential disaster. Otherwise, several people would have been brought down, or even lost their heads.

Luo Lin managed to save his life and was only demoted by three ranks, which was already incredibly fortunate and a great display of imperial grace.

However, his official career was completely over. He would never be able to rise again, and because of him, the entire Dali Court was implicated, offending almost everyone. His future in the Dali Court would be exceedingly difficult.

Additionally, there was a minor issue that seemed insignificant: all of Jiang Qianzhu’s betrothal gifts were confiscated by the Imperial Palace.

There were sixty-eight palanquins of betrothal gifts, filled to the brim, a truly sincere and substantial amount, but now, all were gone.

At this point, Luo Lin had no interest in these betrothal gifts, and even if he did, he had no face to ask the emperor for them.

No one in the family cared about these gifts, but Jiang Qianzhu did!

Those were her betrothal gifts!

Now, they were all gone!

Even worse, after this incident, all the blame was directed at her.

Her mother first grabbed her by the hair and took her to a separate estate, where, after a beating, she learned about the scheme Jiang Qianzhu had concocted with Madam Yang.

It turned out that Madam Yang agreed to marry her son to Jiang Qianzhu on one condition: that she secretly hide the blank imperial edict in the Wang family’s home.

"Aunt Yang said that the blank imperial edict wouldn’t be of much use. Even if it were discovered, the emperor wouldn’t exterminate the entire family; he would only dismiss Aunt Jiang and her husband’s family from their positions, making sure they could never recover," Jiang Qianzhu explained.

"She planned to time it so that after I hid the edict, she would come over the next day, claim it was lost, and lead a search of Aunt Jiang’s home, ensuring that we wouldn’t be implicated!"

Upon hearing her daughter’s explanation, Liu Shi was so angry that she slapped her several times.

"You’re so stupid!"

"How did I give birth to such a fool!"

Her brother looked at his sister with utter disgust, as if she were brainless. "Mother, we don’t have such a fool in our family. Disown her from the Jiang family and let her fend for herself!"

"Brother!" Jiang Qianzhu cried out in desperation, "I did it for the good of the Jiang family! Don’t you want to see Aunt Jiang’s family suffer? Don’t you want to see them as prisoners, begging for mercy?"

"But not like this!" Liu Shi was furious and slapped Jiang Qianzhu several more times.

She disliked her younger sister’s family living a good life in the Imperial City and secretly wished for their downfall, but she would never dare to act on it.

One wrong move could implicate the entire family!

Moreover, this time, they almost set the fire on their own heads.

It was even fortunate that Madam Jiang discovered the edict in the dowry in time; otherwise, the entire Jiang family might have been dragged down by the Luo family!

The more Liu Shi thought about it, the angrier she became.

The Luo family clearly wasn’t just tricking the Wang family; they were also tricking their family! From the beginning, they had no intention of truly marrying their daughter into their family, only using them to trick both families!

"Mother, don't hit me anymore. I’m getting married to the Luo Family in three days."

"And you still dare to mention the Luo Family!" Liu Shi gritted her teeth in anger and beat Jiang Qianzhu even harder.

That Luo Family was the one her own daughter was so eager to marry into. How could she be so foolish!

"The Jiang family doesn’t need a daughter as foolish as you! If you want to marry him, then go ahead. From now on, your life or death is no longer our concern! You’re officially disowned from the Jiang family."

After saying that, Liu Shi immediately left the Imperial City with the others, including Jiang Qianzhu's brother, during the night.

They left Jiang Qianzhu behind in the villa, abandoned and alone.

"Mother!"

"Brother—"

"How can you abandon me like this? I'm your daughter and sister. We're family, after all."

Beaten and sobbing, Jiang Qianzhu wailed alone in the room, feeling utterly betrayed.

She couldn't understand why, as her own family, they would treat her like this.

Aren’t they my own family?

How could they treat me like this, their own flesh and blood?

The next day, when Lu Lingyun arrived at the Wang family’s home, she saw Jiang Qianzhu, bruised and swollen, kneeling at the Wang family's door, begging for them to take her in.

The Wang family's door was tightly shut, and no one opened it.

Seeing Lu Lingyun, Jiang Qianzhu, forgetting her earlier resentment, crawled over and begged, "Sister Lu, please help me. My mother and brother went back home yesterday and abandoned me."

"I know I was wrong. Please, help me speak to my aunt. Ask her to take me in. I'll be forever grateful to you."

Lu Lingyun: "......"

I don’t dare to accept her gratitude.

At that moment, the Wang family's door opened, and Madam Jiang emerged, followed by several people.

As soon as Jiang Qianzhu saw her, she rushed over, "Aunt! I truly realize my mistake now. I know now that you're the only one who truly cares about me. Before, I was so stupid, so blind, mistaking fish eyes for pearls. I truly understand now."

She continued to slap herself while crying and begging for forgiveness.

Madam Jiang looked at the sobbing and regretful Jiang Qianzhu with a cold expression.

Ha!

"Before, didn't you say that everything I did for you was humiliating?"

"No, no, no! Aunt, you truly cared for me! It wasn't humiliating!"

"Before, didn't you say I was selfish and hypocritical, that I never put my heart into helping you?"

"No, no, no, Aunt, you've always been sincere and devoted to me!"

"Didn't you also call me an ungrateful person, who repays kindness with hatred?"

"No, no, no! I’m the ingrate, I, I... repay kindness with enmity."

Her voice faltered, and her entire face, still bruised from the beating, throbbed with pain.

She couldn’t tell if the pain came from her mother’s beating or the harshness of her own words.

Madam Jiang had once been so kind to her, but now, by colluding with outsiders, she had betrayed that kindness...

How could she show her face after this?

Madam Jiang glanced down at Jiang Qianzhu, who was red-faced and pitiful, and let out a cold humph.

"Lingyun, let's go inside."

Without sparing Jiang Qianzhu a glance, she gripped Lu Lingyun’s hand tightly and led her inside.

Jiang Qianzhu lunged forward and clung to Madam Jiang’s leg, "Auntie, you can’t just abandon me! My mother and brother have left, they don’t care about me anymore, if you don’t take care of me, how will I survive? You’ve watched me grow up, Auntie; I’m your own flesh and blood!"

Madam Jiang, losing patience, glanced down at her and sighed one last time, "I’ll arrange a carriage to send you back to the Jiang family."

Before she could finish, Jiang Qianzhu shook her head fiercely, "I refuse to go back to the Jiang family!"