Shipin Dalizheng

Butler Tao didn't know how to persuade her, but he knew that the Madam was just an ordinary clan elder, not to mention that even the Crown Prince's grandmother could not make the decision for him.

"Madam, please remember this. You must not make your own decisions. In our uncle's mansion, the true master is the prince. Whether to cancel the engagement or not is up to the prince. If he wants to cancel it, then do so. If he doesn't, the mansion will happily arrange for her to be married off. You can just relax and have a cup of tea with the elders and give her a red envelope."

This was almost a warning, and Rong Xiu understood it very well. She was dazed for a moment and her face turned pale.

But she still had an idea in her mind, "I'll ask Concubine Rong for advice."

She didn't give up the idea.

Steward Tao felt bitter. The Madam was so confused. Did she want Concubine Rong to suppress the Crown Prince? Did she even know who the master was?

At that time, he wanted to rush to Rongjia Village to report, but he suddenly received a report from below that the owner of the pen and ink shop, one of the only eight shops left in the Bo Mansion, suddenly resigned, so he hurried to deal with the matter.

Neither Jin Shizhao nor Yang knew anything about business. These four shops, located on Qianmen Street, enjoyed a prime location and commanded high prices. They were bestowed upon the old uncle by His Majesty, and were closely tied to his title. Therefore, the Liang family didn't dare buy them, so they kept them. However, business in these shops was dismal, with losses year after year. Since the changes at the uncle's mansion, they had been semi-closed. The shopkeeper spent more time on leave than on the job, and had never met the new owner.

Steward Tao knew from the beginning that the shopkeeper didn't want to do this anymore and was looking for another employer. If he couldn't keep him, then so be it. He would wait until the prince had time to reorganize things and maybe even start a new business.

Just like that, after Butler Tao finished the handover with the owner of the pen and ink shop, he finally had time to rush to Rongjia Village to discuss things.

As soon as Tang Tiantian and Ruier entered Rongjia Village, they felt that the atmosphere was different. The villagers seemed to be very busy, and they walked in a hurry, as if they were in a hurry.

Seeing outsiders entering the village, two half-grown children suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shouted, "Who are you looking for? We don't allow outsiders to enter our village casually."

Rui'er said, "We are from the Tang family, and we are looking for Master Rong."

The two older boys were none other than the eighth grandfather's grandsons, Mancang and Mangu. They had almost finished their housework and were going to the courtyard to take an assessment and earn a few cents.

The marriage between Rong Shi and the Tang family was not widely publicized even in the capital city, and the villagers knew even less about it. Of course, no one knew what "Tang family" meant.

Mancang said, "You can't walk around randomly. Mangu, go to the compound and see if Prince Tang is at home."

"I know where Prince Tang is. He went to the new workshop. Sister, please wait. I'll go and tell him that Prince Tang wants to see you before you go. If not, you can only return the way you came."

Rui'er had no choice but to tell Tang Tiantian. The carriage pulled over and the master and maid stood under a tree to enjoy the cool air.

Tang Tiantian's appearance is a little strange in the eyes of ordinary people, but she is really pretty, like a person in a painting, so beautiful that people can't take their eyes off her.

At one point, two aunties carrying vegetable baskets passed by and began pointing and saying, "Don't you think this young lady is pretty? If Daya had even a fraction of her looks, Hong Tongsheng's family wouldn't want to cancel the engagement."

When Tang Tiantian heard someone talking about her appearance, she subconsciously wanted to hide back in the car, but another woman rushed out from the side. She was wearing clothes that were different from those of the villagers. Her clothes were a little thicker, and looked like the clothes that ordinary people who went to Beijing a month or two ago wore. They were incompatible with the short and thin summer shirts that the villagers wore now.

The woman put her hands on her hips and shouted, "What are you talking about? What are you talking about? What's wrong with Daya? Don't talk about Daya."

The two women were startled, and one of them said, "Ma, what are you crazy about? We were just passing by, and what's wrong with complimenting this young lady from outside? Is that enough for you to jump out and howl? Besides, aren't you hot?"

Of course, Ma was hot, but her heart was even hotter, with her blood boiling.

"I'm the director of women's affairs. The prince said I'm here to protect women and girls. I don't care if you praise others, but please don't criticize Daya. The prince said that all the girls in our village are precious and will marry good men in the future. What's wrong with breaking off an engagement? If the old one doesn't go, the new one will come. There's no guarantee that Daya's next husband won't be a scholar or a juren."

Another woman also said, "You are the only one who can use a chicken feather as a token of authority, talking nonsense. Whatever you say, it has a different meaning, as if Daya is breaking off the engagement because she despises the poor and loves the rich. Okay, we don't mean anything else, we just said it like that. We have a daughter at home, and we know our limits. The engagement is broken off, it's not a big deal. We can talk to her about the family some other day."

Ma added, "The prince said that we cannot get engaged early."

Seeing how serious she was about implementing the prince's new rules, the two women lost their temper, waved goodbye and walked away.

After listening for a while, Tang Tiantian felt like she was listening to a mystery and her mind was a little confused.

She called out to Ma, "Aunt, come and talk to us."

Ma said, "I'm the Women's Director of Rongjia Village. I hold a high position and am very busy..."

Rui'er touched a small string of copper coins and gave it to her. Ma took it quickly with a smile on her face.

"Miss, feel free to ask anything you want, but don't ask about the secrets of our village. I won't tell you even if you ask."

Tang Tiantian was not sure what the secret of Rongjia Village was, so she asked, "What happened to Daya breaking off the engagement? Can you tell me, aunt?"

What's wrong with that? They broke off the engagement in a big way, and the news spread to all the villages. As someone who had lived in the uncle's house and learned the rules and education of a noble family, Ma knew very well how to make words worth a string of copper coins.

After a lot of babble, Hong Tongsheng of Dahong Village became an unforgivable sinner, and Daya was a poor child who was badly bullied. Their backbone, the prince, could not bear to see the girls in the clan being wronged, so he asked the villagers to cancel Hong Tongsheng's marriage.

Tang Tiantian followed up with a question, "What if a married girl in your village is wronged by her husband's family?"

"Then what else can we do? We'll definitely beat him first. If he doesn't change after one beating, we'll beat him twice. If he still doesn't change, we'll beat him to death."

Ma was a talkative person, and the more she spoke, the more outrageous her words became.

Tang Tiantian frowned beautifully, "What if someone is beaten to death? Can't we just get a divorce?"

Ma rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Of course, our prince said that as long as the villagers don't make any mistakes, he will cover for any problems. If they can't live together, they can just divorce."

Mancang couldn't stand it any longer and shouted, "Auntie, stop talking nonsense. The prince never said that."

Ma's expression remained unchanged. "You little kid don't understand. This is what the prince means. Anyone who dares to hit his wife will be left alone for life. Otherwise, I'll be the director of women's affairs in vain."

"I made you the director of women's affairs to protect the aunts and girls who were bullied, not to instigate divorces. I'm going to tell Prince Tang."

"Hey, you little brat... Miss, I'm leaving now."

As soon as Ma left, Mancang came to persuade Tang Tiantian, "Miss, don't listen to her nonsense. She has a very bad mouth."

However, the expression on Tang Tiantian's face was already calm.

Butler Tao's carriage drove past them. Everyone in the village knew the carriage, so no one stopped it and let it go west.

Not long after, Man Gu also came over, "Prince Tang wants to see Miss Tang."