Women dressed as men: powerful officials

Xu Yuan let go when he heard the voice and looked at Song Xiujing who was sobbing softly beside him.

This voice should be Cheng Jie's father, Cheng Tiankun.

She didn't have much impression of Cheng Tiankun, she only knew that he was an extremely cunning and daring businessman.

Tianqi's official appointment only reached the level of county magistrate.

The Cheng family is a well-known wealthy family in Chengjia Township. However, in Sishui County, having money is not enough, you also need power.

Therefore, in the early years, the Cheng family married their eldest daughter to the county magistrate as a concubine, in exchange for an official position in the township.

Although the official position was not high, it greatly enhanced the reputation of the Cheng family.

Xu Yuan didn't know whether Cheng Tiankun was treacherous or not.

But there are certainly some who are extremely daring, as can be seen from the fact that the Cheng family dared to collude with the Grand Marshal's Mansion in the capital behind the county magistrate's back.

Compared to the young and ignorant Cheng Jie, Cheng Tiankun is definitely more difficult to deal with.

However, if used well, it might be possible to kill two birds with one stone.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan stood up, threw the bag to Song Xiujing, and said, "There are my clothes in the bag, you change into them first. With me here, no one can harm you today."

Song Xiujing held the bag that Xu Yuan threw to her, and the tears that had been lingering in her eyes seemed to have opened the floodgates and started falling down.

Perhaps feeling that this was a bit rude, Song Xiujing wiped away her tears and whispered, "Thank you."

Xu Yuan didn't have time to comfort Song Xiujing. He just nodded slightly, then lowered the bed curtain to make sure that the couch could not be seen from outside, then stood in front of the bed with his hands behind his back.

Seeing this, Cheng Jie snorted and sneered, "Xu Yuan, you are bragging and you are not afraid of hurting your waist. My father is here. Do you think you can leave the Cheng family today? What a joke!"

"You should worry about yourself first." Xu Yuan also sneered.

To be able to rise from a concubine to the third emperor's consort, or even to be the crown princess' consort, Song Xiujing must have her own abilities and extraordinary character.

However, Song Xiujing hasn't grown to that stage yet.

Outside the door, footsteps were heard, followed by several servants entering together. Cheng Tiankun walked out from the middle, looked around, and finally looked at Xu Yuan.

"You just want to make a wish?"

Cheng Tiankun heard Cheng Jie's wailing and also heard the name Cheng Jie called out.

While Cheng Tiankun was looking around, a maid came in with clothes and gave them to Cheng Jie.

Similarly, seeing Cheng Tiankun looking at him, Xu Yuan also looked at Cheng Tiankun.

Cheng Tiankun is old, has a full beard, and has the same fierce look as Cheng Jie.

He is tall and fat, with a waist as thick as a doorpost. He doesn't look like a very smart person.

Cheng Jie quickly put on his clothes, straightened himself up, and then walked to Cheng Tiankun, bowed and said, "Dad, he made a wish. If he sees me like this today, he must not let me live, just kill me directly."

Cheng Jie raised his fingers to his neck and made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"Cheng Jie, do you think your father is as stupid as you?" Hearing this, Xu Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What do you mean?" When Cheng Jie heard Xu Yuan's words, he became angry and was about to rush forward with clenched fists.

Cheng Tiankun raised a hand to block Cheng Jie and scolded him, "What are you doing? Someone, take this ignorant kid away and beat him to death!"

After Cheng Tiankun finished speaking, servants came in one after another.

Xu Yuan watched coldly, his fingers gently touching his waist, and only spoke after he was ready for a life-and-death fight: "The Cheng family is just a small merchant. If someone is killed, can you servants take the responsibility?"

After hearing Xu Yuan's words, the four servants were stunned for a moment, and then stopped.

Xu Yuan is not a servant of the Cheng family and is not bound by a contract. Unlike them, he cannot be beaten or scolded at will.

If he really died, who would take responsibility for this case?

Seeing the servants hesitating, Cheng Tiankun touched the ring on his thumb and said, "What are you dithering for? Are you waiting for the board?!"

Several servants looked at each other, still hesitating and not daring to step forward.

Seeing through the fear of several servants, Xu Yuan smiled and said, "Master Cheng, you are not the one who took a life, so you are not afraid, but..."

The ending of the sentence changed. Xu Yuan looked back at the bed curtain and said slowly, "Aren't you afraid that the county magistrate will investigate the cause of my death and find out the origin of this girl?"

"You're so slow." Cheng Tiankun was a little impatient: "I'm going to die, you're useless..."

"Song Xiujing, the concubine's daughter of the Song family in the Taiwei Mansion."

Xu Yuan interrupted Cheng Tiankun's words. Seeing Cheng Tiankun's expression suddenly change, her tone became more and more sarcastic: "Cheng Tiankun, how capable do you think you are to get close to the Song family who hold a large number of troops?"

As soon as the three words "Taiwei Mansion" came out, Cheng Tiankun's face changed.

After hearing what Xu Yuan said, Cheng Tiankun felt cold sweat on his back.

Because of the Song family, because of Song Xiujing's identity, and because Xu Yuan knew the woman's identity so clearly.

As for Song Xiujing's identity, Cheng Tiankun only knew that she was an unfavored concubine's daughter in a large family.

When he received the secret order, he felt that the Cheng family had a chance to rise to prominence, so he immediately sent people to the capital to inquire about the Song family.

News came back on the way that the woman was of unusual status and that the master would soon send servants to pick her up.

After that, the news stopped.

Guessing that the person who inquired about the matter had been killed, Cheng Tiankun thought of going all out and getting the marriage done first.

This can be considered as being connected with a wealthy family. After all, the smallest family in the capital is stronger than his Cheng family.

Who would have thought that the woman was actually the concubine's daughter of General Song.

Moreover, if Xu Yuan knew this, could it be that he was not the only one who knew about the secret order, or someone leaked the news?

Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the smile on Cheng Jie's face froze instantly. Looking at Cheng Tiankun, his legs were shaking crazily, and he said tremblingly: "Dad, you didn't tell me that the woman was from the capital, or from the Taiwei Mansion. This is a life-threatening thing!"

"What are you afraid of?!" Cheng Tiankun shouted. He took a deep breath and cursed at him: "I'm still here, you can't die, she's your woman, what are you afraid of?!"

"You are not afraid."

Xu Yuan smiled and said, "Master Cheng, you don't understand all those twists and turns. I'll just say it directly. A big family in the capital sent their concubine's daughter to a country house thousands of miles away, and now they are going thousands of miles to bring her back. Why do you think this is?"

Xu Yuan didn't say everything. After all, Song Xiujing was still behind her, and basically anyone with a brain could understand what she said.

Moreover, if she had said directly that Song Xiujing was going to marry the third prince but was now defiled by Cheng Jie, Cheng Tiankun would probably be frightened and would kill her to silence her.

Hearing the words of wishing, Cheng Tiankun thought about it and his face turned pale.

Why else?

It must be for marrying off a daughter.

A concubine's daughter of the Taiwei Mansion, at the very least, would be the legitimate wife of an official family. If she did better, she could become a member of the royal family or a marquis' mansion...

By then, let alone his small Cheng family, even the governor of Shuozhou County would probably not dare to breathe.

Cheng Tiankun was still trembling with fear.

Xu Yuan chuckled and said, "Master Cheng, you have to think carefully. It's not easy for the Cheng family to be where they are today. Do you want your family to be destroyed and ruined forever because of me?"

"If I kill you, won't no one know about her? Besides, she was defiled by you. My Cheng family killed you to protect Miss Song."

After Cheng Jie finished speaking, he couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up for his cleverness.

So, he straightened his back and said to Cheng Tiankun: "Dad, let's make the wish come true, and this matter can be blamed on him."