New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Seeing the crowd at the dock showing no pity or sympathy for the mother and daughter who had been left behind, and all returning to the pleasure boat, Tang Qian patted Ye Zhao on the shoulder: "These two are in your hands now."

Ye Zhao nodded at first, then looked troubled: "What about the property left in the mansion by the Jiang and Bai families..."

These two families have monopolized the lacquerware and jade business in Guangling for so many years, how could their accumulated wealth be so small? Tang Qian originally intended to dig up this money by sealing off their ancestral home, but now that the Jiang family has left people in the city, this matter is not so easy to handle.

Tang Qian chuckled, clearly not intending to easily let go of these two pieces of meat that were already within his grasp: "Brother Ye, have you perhaps forgotten the saying 'a woman follows her husband wherever he goes'? Although Jiang Siyu is the third young lady of the Jiang family, if she marries you, won't she become Ye Jiangshi? She herself will be yours, and all her belongings will become her dowry?"

"This... seizing by trickery and force, isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Although Ye Zhao had never heard the proverb Tang Qian mentioned, she could still understand its meaning.

"You're quite principled." Tang Qian and his five cousins ​​walked down the city wall with a smile. "Don't worry, if Miss Jiang really becomes a member of your Ye family, we definitely won't go too far. After we defeat Wanyan Xieye, she might even be granted the title of Lady of the Imperial Decree. It's much more comfortable than staying in the Jiang family as an illegitimate daughter."

Qiu Miao, who was lagging behind, pushed Ye Zhao away: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go down to settle your mother-in-law and your little wife."

Pushed by Qiu Miao, Ye Zhao could no longer control her legs and walked to the dock below the city gate in a few steps.

He really wanted to ignore worldly opinions and hold Jiang Siyu in his arms to comfort her, but his remaining rationality made him suppress this impulse.

The two gazed at each other with such tender affection that the Jiang family patriarch, standing at the bow of the boat, snorted coldly and stormed off.

"Indecent and immoral."

As the pleasure boats filed out of the city, the two seemed to have no more obstacles. Jiang Siyu bowed gracefully to Ye Zhaoying and said, "I hope Young Master Ye will take good care of me in the future."

"Of course, of course." The usually dashing young master of the Ye family blushed deeply at Jiang Siyu's bow. He reached out to help her up, but then felt it was inappropriate, so he pulled his hands back. After several attempts, he finally decided not to touch the third young lady of the Jiang family. Instead, he helped Jiang's mother, who was still in a daze, to her feet. "This is not the place to talk. Let's go back to the Jiang family mansion first."

“No.” Jiang Siyu shook her head, her face full of determination. “I’m not going back.”

As a concubine's daughter, her status was already lowly. Her mother was merely a maidservant to the matriarch of the Jiang family. The two were only married off through a family alliance and had no feelings for each other. Her father doted on his second wife, Madam Wang, so she, the third young lady, had even less of a status.

Now completely abandoned by the Jiang family, Jiang Siyu would rather sleep on the streets than return to that courtyard where she has no fond memories.

"If the city lord wants to seal off the courtyard, he can just send someone to put up a seal. I won't go back to guard the courtyard for them."

“That’s true, but Tang Qian just said that he won’t touch your Jiang family’s courtyard.” Ye Zhao scratched his head. “But now is not the time to talk about this. Since you don’t want to go back, you can stay at Yuelai Tower for a few days. I will go back to Bingming’s home and then bring you and your mother back to the Ye family.”

No matter what, Ye Zhao is the eldest son of the Ye family patriarch and the eldest grandson of the Ye family. He didn't dare to mention this matter to his father before because of the discord between the two families. Now that Jiang Siyu has severed ties with the Jiang family, can't he make his own decisions?

At worst, I'll just follow my sister Ye Qingmiao's example. What's the harm in it? It'll just leave me with a bad reputation. They'll just gossip behind my back. I'll just ignore it.

On the way to take Jiang Siyu and her daughter to Yuelai Restaurant, Ye Zhao appeared quite tough, but when he returned home and faced his father Ye Shuo, he felt his body tremble slightly involuntarily.

"I've heard from the servants that your relationship with that illegitimate daughter of the Jiang family is ambiguous. I didn't expect you to actually plan to bring her home."

Ye Shuo was speechless. Neither of his children was easy to deal with. He had spoiled Qingmiao, but his eldest son, Ye Zhao, was starting to become unruly, which gave him a headache as the father.

Unlike the Qiu family, the Ye family is not large enough, and he has not taken any concubines. He only has one son and one daughter. Ye Zhao will definitely inherit the family business in the future. If he marries Jiang Siyu, a concubine's daughter, as his legal wife, wouldn't he become the laughing stock of the entire Guangling City?

But thinking about it, it's best to let it go. The Jin army will arrive in Guangling City soon, and it's still uncertain whether the city can be held after this battle. If the city falls, those of them who support the city lord's mansion in defending the city will not have a good fate.

Rather than leaving his son with regrets, it's better to grant his wish now and focus wholeheartedly on resisting the Jin army.

"That's enough. The feud between the Ye and Jiang families didn't start with you and that girl. Now that they've lost their support, and I'm not a heartless person, if you two are truly in love, then just choose an auspicious day to bring her into the family."

"Thank you for your kindness, Father." Ye Zhao was overjoyed that Ye Shuo had agreed. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. "But with a formidable enemy at hand, and Tang Qian saying he'll postpone his wedding to my sister, wouldn't it be...?"

"The Jiang family is gone, how can that girl compare to your sister? Do you intend to let them live in the inn and be gossiped about forever?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhao was immediately alarmed. Jiang Siyu was now all alone and helpless, and she was her only support. She could not let her suffer any more grievances.

Watching his son rush off in a hurry, Ye Shuo couldn't help but flick his sleeves and turn to his wife, Shen Xiangyue: "Where did that girl Qingmiao go again?"

Shen Xiangyue rolled her eyes at her husband: "Where else could she go? If she didn't know about the illogical magic, she would have been planning to stay at Qiu Linghua's little courtyard all the time."

Feeling a piercing pain, Ye Shuo pressed his temples. What sins had he committed to give birth to such a shameless daughter?

"That kid Tang Qian is really cunning. He hasn't given Qingmiao any official status yet, but he's already dragged the Ye family onto his bandwagon."

It's all because their own daughter is too unreserved, but this is also a high-stakes gamble that the Ye family is betting everything on.

Since the Qiu family dared to bet on Tang Qian, why wouldn't he? If he won, he would rise rapidly in rank, completely shedding his identity as a merchant and becoming a nobleman of the Song Dynasty.