Noble Lady

The news that Xue Chenyu received an invitation to the flower viewing banquet spread, causing an uproar in the city.

No one could have imagined that Xue Chenyu, a divorced woman who had been the subject of much discussion, would actually receive an invitation to the flower-viewing banquet in the palace.

Apart from anything else, this invitation alone is enough to shut up those chatterboxes.

Moreover, the words "Princess of Anping County" were specially added to the invitation sent from the palace. Nanny Fang delivered it personally and read it aloud at the gate of Marquis Wu'an's Mansion.

"The Empress Dowager personally selected Miss Xue's name on the roster for the palace's flower viewing banquet. Marquis Xue served his country with loyalty and made great military achievements. Miss Xue is kind-hearted and helps the people in need. The Empress Dowager is very pleased with her!"

The Empress Dowager was telling the world that the person she invited was the eldest daughter of Marquis Xue, Miss Xue, who had saved countless lives and was personally conferred the title of Princess Anping by His Majesty.

It not only gave Xue Chenyu dignity, but also enhanced the dignity of the royal family.

In addition, most of the unmarried noble ladies of the right age from aristocratic families in Shengjing received invitations to the flower viewing banquet.

Oh, except the Han family and the Cui family.

Excluding the girls from the Han and Cui families from the list was equivalent to the Queen Mother directly sentencing both families to guilt.

Ordinary people may not understand this, but the nobles can understand the key if they think about it a little.

The Cui family was excluded from the flower-viewing banquet held for Prince Cheng by the Queen Mother because they spread rumors and slandered the Marquis of Wu'an, his wife, the Princess of Anping, and the great scholar Mr. Lu.

Why was the Han family excluded?

That was of course because the previous rumors and slander against the Wu'an Marquis Mansion and Mr. Lu were not only done by the Cui family's East Mansion, but the Han family was also involved.

As for why even the Cui family’s West Mansion couldn’t receive the post after what the Cui family’s East Mansion did?

That is naturally because the Queen Mother does not recognize the distinction between the East and West Mansions of the Cui family at all - since they are brothers, they should share the honor and disgrace.

This directly pushed both the Han family and the Cui family to the forefront.

Especially the four or five girls of marriageable age from several branches of the Han family. They used to be sought after by hundreds of families, but overnight, no one cared about them and they were even avoided like the plague.

The Cui family was not much better off. A son and a daughter from the East Mansion were taken away, but the Cui family had many descendants in the West Mansion.

Regardless of whether they were legitimate or illegitimate, there were seven or eight daughters.

Moreover, the ages of these girls are not much different. Only the two older ones are married now. The five or six younger ones are all of marriageable age, except for the youngest who is just ten years old.

In addition to the girls, there are also several young men. Some of them have been engaged in marriage, and some have exchanged marriage invitations.

After the incident of Mr. Cui being sent to prison, all the marriage proposals came to an end.

Once the invitation to the flower viewing banquet came up again, all the invitations were returned.

The wrong things done by Mr. Cui have made it difficult for all the children in the Cui family to get married.

So, Mr. Cui and Mrs. Cui from the Cui family's west mansion, as well as Mr. Cui's and Mr. Cui's second master's biological mother - Mrs. Cui's mother, also scolded the second son.

"You blind bastard, you only cause trouble for the family!"

"Back then, I disagreed with him wanting to marry the princess. I even advised him that women from the royal family were not easy to get along with, so if he married her, he shouldn't regret it."

"He swore to himself that he would win the heart of one person and stay with her till old age, but in the end he couldn't control his own flesh and blood and caused such a disaster!"

"It would be fine if he just brought his own death upon himself, but he even implicated so many unmarried young men and women in the first house. If I had known he was such a disaster, I would have drowned him in the toilet when he was born!"

But at this point, no matter how much the old lady of the Cui family scolded, it would be of no avail. The matter was done and could not be reversed.

No matter how much Mr. and Mrs. Cui tried to comfort her, they couldn't calm her anger.

She was so angry that she ignored her advanced age and went to the Dali Temple prison to scold Mr. Cui.

She even threatened to sever the mother-son relationship with him, "If you sign and seal this document, I will pretend that I never gave birth to such a rebellious son like you!"

"It's better than having a brilliant life and ruining my reputation in my later years because of a jerk like you!"

Although Mr. Cui is not a good person, he is still filial.

When he heard his mother say that she wanted to cut off all ties with him and would not allow him to be buried in the Cui family's ancestral tomb even after his death, he panicked and kowtowed continuously in prison.

"Mom, it's all my fault for being blinded by greed! I was also being ordered around by someone!"

Mr. Cui Erye spoke, and officials from the Dali Temple arrived soon.

Shen Yuheng, the lawyer who had represented Cui Hua in suing He Minzhi for murder, and Yu Zhijian, the fourth son of Yu Ge Lao's family who had been idle, one went to the Ministry of Justice and the other to the Dali Temple, and they joined forces to try him.

And also pried some unspeakable secrets out of his mouth.

However, this is all a story for another day.

……

While the Cui family was in turmoil because they didn't even get an invitation to the flower-viewing banquet, the Han family was also in a turmoil.

The Queen Mother openly slapped the Han family in the face, which made the entire Han family lose face, and even the Queen in the palace was embarrassed.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Queen Mother had long disliked the Han family and the Queen, and the invitation to the flower-viewing banquet was just an excuse to stir up trouble.

So that they can see clearly: Who owns this world? Don't forget your own position.

"Originally, even if the girl from the Han family hadn't been chosen as the Crown Prince of Cheng's consort, she would have been able to get married in the future if she had received the invitation from the palace. But now, because of that idiot's repeated self-willed actions, the Han family has been put in such a terrible situation!"

"With this mess, how will people outside talk about my daughter from the Han family?"

Old Madam Han was furious this time. In a rage, she ordered Han Hongyue to be "invited" over!

As a result, when the servants went to his yard, they found out that he had sneaked out of the house last night to drink and have fun.

Madam Han shouted angrily, "Search! Send out some people and search! Search every brothel and house in Shengjing City until you find the person!"

If it were the same situation in the past, Madam Han and I would have ordered people to go quietly and find the person, so as not to affect the image and reputation of the Han family.

But this time she didn't seem to care. As long as she found the person, it would be fine. She didn't care if it would cause a big fight or if it would become known to everyone and make people laugh at her.

Finally, the Han family dispatched dozens of maids, servants and guards to finally shake the brothel girl's belly.

The two female descendants were still young and had just experienced sex for the first time. They were both nearly dead after being played with by him. If the Han family's servants had arrived a step later, the Han family would have suffered another murder.

Old Madam Han was furious and had him tied up and brought back. He was only wrapped in a layer of underwear and thrown into the hall, where he squirmed like a maggot.

"Mother, what are you doing? I am the head of the Han family after all. You ordered someone to tie me up and bring me back in front of so many servants to accuse me. If this gets out, how will I save my dignity? How can I stand firm in the Han family in the future?"

"If you have no face left, I will find someone with face. If you can no longer stand in the Han family, I can always replace you with someone who can. It's not a difficult thing."

Madam Han changed her angry expression, skimmed the tea foam lightly, and looked calm.

"Mother, do you want to destroy me?" Han Hongyue reacted and became furious.

"Mother, I'm not the three-year-old child I was back then. You can establish me if you want, and abolish me if you want. Do you think you still have the final say in the Han family today?"

"Do you really think that the Han family is under the control of a fool like you?"

Han Hongyue sneered.

Before Madam Han could figure out the meaning of the smug look on his face, a rope suddenly strangled her neck.

She accidentally knocked the teacups and snacks off the table, followed by the sound of porcelain breaking.

She pulled the rope with all her strength and turned her head to look back.

The one who was pulling the rope to strangle her was none other than Mother Zhou, whom she had kept by her side for so many years and whom she trusted very much.

"You, how could you..."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." Mother Zhou said expressionlessly.

Han Hongyue said proudly, "Well done, Caiyun. After this is done, as soon as I divorce the piece of wood that old woman asked me to take, I will bring you home in a sedan chair carried by eight people, and let you be the general's wife in glory."

"Thank you, General." Mother Zhou lowered her eyes and saluted.

Although the rope in her hand was strangling Madam Han, she did not use full force to strangle her to death immediately. Her purpose was very clear, which was to control her in order to achieve some unspeakable secrets.

At this time, a servant came forward and untied the ropes on Han Hongyue.

He just stood up in such a swagger that a servant even helped him put on his coat.

The situation reversed instantly.