New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

The Ye family of Guangling.

Inside the back courtyard side hall with the gate tightly closed, the patriarch Ye Shuo, with a gloomy face, sat upright in the main seat, with Madam Shen, the eldest wife of the Ye family, sitting beside him.

Ye Zhao, a handsome young man in a blue robe, sat at the lower end of the table. Opposite him was a girl in red who was pouting and not speaking, her two willow-leaf eyebrows already furrowed into a fleshy knot. She was Ye Qingmiao, the second young lady of the Ye family and the mistress of the young lady Chuxia.

Seeing that their daughter was still angry, Ye Shuo and his wife, Madam Shen, exchanged a glance and shook their heads at the same time.

"You must have heard the news that Chu Xia just gathered: that boy from the Tang family is now married, and he's marrying Princess Shunde of the Great Song Dynasty. Since this is a fait accompli, in my opinion, our Ye family shouldn't get involved. Do you really intend to make the princess divorce Tang Qian?"

Ye Shuo's words were reasonable. Putting aside whether Tang Qian could return from Youzhou alive, his current status as the son-in-law of the Song Dynasty meant he couldn't even take a concubine, so how could he possibly marry his own daughter?

“My daughter doesn’t care about these things. Qingmiao only knows that I have a marriage agreement with Tang Qian. How can he marry someone else? Even if he has his own reasons, I will be the legal wife in the future.”

"You have quite the nerve, the Song Dynasty hasn't even been established yet..."

Ye Shuo slammed his hand on the table, nearly knocking over the teacup beside him. He wanted to scold his daughter, but then suddenly realized that what he was saying would be a great disrespect to the royal family. Although there were no outsiders present, if the servants in the family overheard, it would be a capital offense punishable by death for the entire family. He suppressed the urge to speak out, took a few deep breaths, and kept reassuring himself that this was his own daughter. Only then did he regain some composure.

"Your engagement with Tang Qian was rather hasty to begin with. Now that he has married the princess, it's a case of each going their own way. Why do you need to get involved in this mess?"

Thinking of the absurd thing the two younger generation had done when they were young, Ye Shuo felt a headache coming on. Back then, for the sake of his daughter's reputation, the Ye family had been forced to enter into a marriage agreement with the Tang family. Some time ago, Tang Qian's mother, Qiu, took her daughter back to Guangling, ostensibly to visit relatives, but in reality, to avoid trouble. The news of the Jin army besieging Tokyo had already spread like wildfire throughout Guangling. Did they think he didn't know?

The Tang family was originally a small family in Guangling City. It was only after Tang Huan passed the imperial examination and became an official that they began to rise in status. If the family had any resources, how could they have married Shen, who came from a merchant family?

Now that the mother and daughter have escaped back to Guangling City, the Tang family is clearly at their wits' end. If they don't break off the engagement now, are they really planning to send their daughter into a fire pit?

"In any case, Tang Qian and I have already gone through the engagement ceremony, so we are considered engaged. As long as I don't give in, the Tang family can't stop me from marrying into their family."

What kind of talk is this? Where is the dignified demeanor of a well-bred young lady in Ye Qingmiao's eyes? Does she still expect the Tang family to send a bridal sedan chair to fetch her?

Ye Shuo finally couldn't help but glare at his wife beside him: "It's all thanks to you that we have such a fine daughter."

Although the Ye family of Guangling was not a prominent family, it was still a branch of the Ye family of Suzhou a hundred years ago. Ye Shuo always claimed to be a fifth-generation descendant of Ye Qingchen, but he never expected that his daughter would be so ill-mannered and spout such nonsense.

However, it seems that Ye Qingmiao and Tang Qian, who is known as a good-for-nothing, are a perfect match.

With a soft sigh, Madam Shen began to comfort her: "I have met Tang Qian's mother before. I heard that Tang Qian is currently trapped in Youzhou and his fate is unknown. She also felt that you should not be delayed because of this, so after discussion, the two families decided to cancel the engagement." Then, she took out an envelope from her sleeve. "This is your birth date and time. Tang Qian's mother has returned it to the Ye family. The two families are no longer related, so you don't need to dwell on this matter anymore."

"Tang Qian is still alive and well, how could his life be in danger? Aunt is not the head of the family, how can she just say she wants to break off the engagement? What's even more infuriating is that you actually agreed to it, Mother, do you have no respect for the Ye family?"

Ye Qingmiao stood up from her seat and snatched the envelope from her mother, Madam Shen's, hand. "No, I'm going to ask Auntie why she's trying to break up this loving couple."

"What aunt? Qiu Linghua and I are beyond the fifth degree of kinship, not even cousins, so don't call me that." While Madam Shen was still nagging, Ye Qingmiao had already left the side hall with her birth date and time, seemingly intending to have a serious talk with Tang Qian's mother. She hurriedly called out to her son, Ye Zhao, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and pull your sister back!"

The apple of the eye of the Ye family, she's eager to become someone else's daughter-in-law, or even a concubine in the Tang family. This is truly embarrassing for the Ye family.

Ye Zhao glanced at her parents but did not get up to chase after her sister: "Given Qingmiao's temperament, how could I stop her? Let her make a fuss. Who in the whole of Guangling City doesn't know that our second young lady is determined to marry Tang Qian? If we break off the engagement now, Qingmiao will really never be able to get married."

Ye Shuo couldn't help but roll his eyes. The Ye and Tang families originally kept this matter a secret and did not intend to spread it. If Ye Qingmiao hadn't taken the initiative to leak it, how could things have turned out like this?

Well then, daughters grow up and leave home. Since Qingmiao is willing to become a concubine in the Tang family, and may not even have a formal title, then let her have her way. Ye Shuo felt really tired.

Seeing that neither the father nor the son was willing to get involved, Madam Shen could only slap her thigh and say, "Fine, I raised my daughter. I'll go talk to my cousin and see how to resolve this matter. Is that alright? I really don't know what sins I committed in my past life to have given birth to such a troublesome child."

She took a few steps to the door of the side hall, called out to the nanny and maid who were guarding outside, and the group chased after the Second Miss and Miss Chuxia in the direction they had left.

A group of people rushed out of the courtyard, leaving only Ye Shuo and his son in the side hall. Ye Zhao then lowered his voice and asked, "Father, is the news from the capital true? Tang Qian's father really was dismissed from his post?"

Ye Shuo snorted coldly: "He pointed his finger at the new emperor in court and cursed him as a tyrant. It's already a great favor that he didn't lose his head for it. You should give up the idea of ​​him recommending you for a government position. You can't count on the Tang family."

Ye Zhao had studied diligently for over ten years and had even passed the county-level imperial examination. However, he failed the imperial examination several times in the capital. That's why he thought that after his younger sister married Tang Qian, he could be recommended for a government position by Tang Huan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. With some money from his family, this matter wouldn't be difficult to arrange.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Who would have thought that after serving as an official for so many years, Tang Huan would still lose his temper and roar in the palace hall?