The merchant's rebirth led to the complete downfall of the Marquis's mansion.

While Qin Yao was lying in the sun at home waiting for good news from Granny Zhao, the old lady of the Marquis's mansion fainted again.

And coincidentally, the people who went to find the Crown Prince also brought Jiang Su back.

After Liu stayed with the old lady for a while, Jiang Su went straight to her as soon as he returned.

Before Liu could even tell her son about the annulment of the engagement, she was already overwhelmed by the good news her son brought.

Great news! The Vice Minister's eldest daughter is going to marry into our family.

Liu was overjoyed; this was an incredible stroke of good news!

She was neither a merchant's daughter nor a concubine's daughter, but a legitimate daughter!

Regardless of whether this legitimate daughter was elevated from a concubine's daughter, the main thing is that the title sounds good!

Now, Liu no longer disliked Xia Qiutang's seductive charm and happily prepared to arrange the marriage.

Jiang Su assumed Qin Yao was willing to become a concubine, and Liu Shi felt that since the engagement had already been called off, the two hit it off immediately and didn't feel anything was amiss.

The old lady is still asleep, but such a good marriage cannot go wrong!

So the two of them decided not to wait for the old lady anymore, since it was great news that she had woken up!

So the two of them went directly to a matchmaker to discuss their marriage.

Qin Yao was well aware of what the two were going to do, and thoughtfully, without her having to give any instructions, her subordinates had already spread the word about the engagement between Prince Jiang and Xia Qiutang.

But by the time the old lady woke up, it was too late.

Not only is the marriage already arranged, but the entire city already knows about it, so it won't matter if she faints a few more times.

"You wretched child! You wretched child!" The old lady trembled with anger, slamming her fist on the bed.

But the situation was already set in stone, and she was powerless to change it. It would be inappropriate to break off the engagement now, and she would also offend the Vice Minister.

After all, she was marrying as the legitimate daughter of a noble family, so the Marquis's mansion had no choice but to treat her with utmost respect.

Qin Yao's side was even more impressive; the gifts from the annulment ceremony were accepted by the Marquis's mansion!

Aside from playing the emotional card, this seems like a dead end.

The marriage was arranged with the Xia family, and now that the emotional appeal is no longer working, what else can be done?

The old lady clutched her chest, feeling as if she was about to die. She and her son had chosen this man with great care, hoping to restore the Marquis's mansion to its former glory!

The wedding was ruined just like that!

What fine sons and grandsons of the Marquis's family!

"Madam!" The old nanny looked worriedly at the old lady who was leaning against the edge of the bed.

Having always been by the side of the matriarch, she naturally knew the significance of Qin Yao to the Marquis's mansion. Like the matriarch, she was filled with worry about the future of the mansion.

"It's alright! It's all fate! I'm old, what's done is done, what else can I do?"

The old lady closed her eyes, not wanting to speak anymore. The things her grandson did when Miss Xia fell into the water last time were already very bad, and now he's gone too far. He doesn't want Qin Yao, but he wants her to become his concubine.

How dare she say anything more!

It seems that the Marquis's mansion has truly run out of luck.

The next day, everyone in the Marquis's mansion, except for the old lady, was in high spirits and had even begun making preparations.

This time, Liu made the decision herself, without even consulting her ailing mother-in-law, and directly set the wedding date.

Let's use the same day that the old lady mentioned marrying Qin Yao last time.

Although both families were in a hurry to exchange betrothal gifts and present the betrothal gifts, they were both keen to get married as soon as possible and didn't mind too much.

The betrothal gifts were readily available; the old lady had prepared them for Qin Yao and sent them directly to the Vice Minister's residence.

The old lady walked out with the help of her nanny. When she saw the red decorations all over the room, and especially when she heard what Liu had done, she was so angry that she almost choked.

Fortunately, the nanny was experienced and quickly helped her catch her breath and sit down, which made her feel much better.

"Don't be angry! Your health is important," the old lady's nanny comforted her.

The old lady's wrinkled face was pale and weak, and she waved her hands repeatedly at the nanny.

"It's out of control, it's out of control!"

She had assumed that the marriage of the Marquis's heir would have to go through her.

She was prepared to first appease Qin Yao, and then get the Qin family to manage the remaining properties of the Marquis's mansion.

If that doesn't work, we'll have to find someone with a good family background to help our grandson.

As a result, Liu actually bypassed her!

The old lady, whose health was already poor, felt even more listless and went back to her room with the help of her nanny.

Although she said she couldn't control it, the old lady couldn't really ignore it, so before lying down, she still instructed the nanny to go find someone.

"Go find the second wife and have her give her opinion!"

The nanny helped her tuck the blanket in and quickly left the room.

The madam is unreliable, and the old lady has fallen ill; now we can only ask the second madam for help.

Since it concerned the future of the Marquis's mansion, the second wife, Madam Chen, did not refuse. Although her family background was not prominent, she was mentally sound, and the old lady still thought highly of her.

Madam Chen had already heard about the Marquis's family's affairs and was worried that the changes in the Marquis's family would affect them, so her husband and son came along with her.

With the help and suggestions from the nanny, Madam Chen probably knew what to say.

As soon as the group entered the Marquis's residence, before they could even sit down, Madam Liu received the news and sent someone to say that she was too busy to entertain them.

The group looked at each other, then sat down calmly.

Mrs. Chen sighed, her sister-in-law was still as clueless as ever.

The maid who delivered the message didn't understand the intricacies of the situation. Seeing that they had sat down again, she hurriedly ran to find Liu.

Liu was naturally not in a good mood. She scolded the maid and then called out her personal nanny to chase her away.

In the end, it was the old lady's maid who stepped in and used filial piety to pressure her, and only then did Liu reluctantly come out.

Liu was riding high, managing the household well, and her son was about to marry a legitimate daughter; she walked with an air of superiority.

Upon arriving in the living room, she immediately adopted the airs of a Marquis's wife, slowly walking forward with the help of her maid.

"Sister-in-law, I'm already swamped with Su-ge's wedding preparations, and you're just adding to the chaos! And my brother-in-law, why don't you offer some advice?"

Liu was extremely pleased with herself and spoke contemptuously to her younger brother and sister-in-law, who usually looked down on her.

She'll have the Vice Minister's family as her in-laws in the future, which is much better than having nothing at all, like her second brother's family. So what if she has some property? So what if she's smart?

Is she as glamorous as him?

In preparation for what she was about to say, Ms. Chen politely apologized first.

"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you."

She continued, "We are also doing this for the Crown Prince's marriage!"

At his mother's prompting, Chen's son, Jiang Che, had already left to find Jiang Su.

The husband sat silently to one side, letting Chen speak.

But before Chen could even get started, Liu interrupted her impatiently.

"The wedding arrangements are already made. My sister-in-law can just come to the wedding banquet."

In Liu's view, the Chen family had already separated and certainly couldn't get involved.

Even if you come here to benefit from her services, you should still ask her opinion first.

“Sister-in-law! I came at Mother’s behest. The matter between the Marquis’s mansion and the Xia family is causing quite a stir outside. The marriage needs to be reconsidered. The marriage with the Qin family has been called off, but the two families still have business dealings. We also need to appease Qin Yao.”

So hasty! They just dropped the Qin family girl, immediately arranged the marriage with the Xia family, and are about to get married. They're utterly humiliating the Qin family.

The people of Kyoto must be so angry that they'll drown out the Marquis's mansion!

What benefit would this bring to the reputation of the Marquis's mansion?

"Also, my mother asked me to choose a few concubines who could be helpful to the young master..."

"Pah!" Liu stood up unhappily. "Qin Yao is just a businesswoman, how dare she! Why give her face? And what else! My daughter-in-law, what are you looking for? Can't I find one myself?"

Liu hated Chen's overstepping her bounds, and she didn't hold back when confronting her.

Before the family was divided, Chen was even more favored by the old lady. Even after the division, she still acted arrogantly in front of her, which she could tolerate.

"I have other things to do, so I won't see my second brother and sister-in-law off!"

Liu left without looking back.

"Madam, Madam!" The old lady's maidservant chased after her, only to be turned away at the gate outside Liu's courtyard.