After being divorced, she overturned the capital and seized the empress's position!

The commotion on the street was quickly quelled, and the servants brought another horse. Song Hengchuan flipped over it, glanced back at the men carrying the betrothal gifts, and said with a grim face, "Hurry up, don't delay the time."

Urged on by Song Hengchuan, the betrothal procession set off again half an hour later.

The wedding procession also set off.

The two teams passed each other by.

By the time they arrived at the Shen family's gate, they were already a full hour late. Minister Shen and his wife were sitting in the main hall, waiting for news of Song Hengchuan, and their expressions were gradually turning grim.

"Here he comes, sir, Young Master Song has arrived."

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Hengchuan arrived and explained, "Father-in-law, I was delayed on the way. I apologize."

Seeing his sincere explanation, Minister Shen did not make things difficult for him. He gave Madam Shen a wink, and Madam Shen smiled slightly and smoothed things over, saying, "We are family, there is no need for apologies."

Next came the formalities. Song Hengchuan swore to the two that he would treat Shen Ruyun well, and the matchmaker then asked Song Hengchuan to hand over the betrothal gift list.

Madam Shen took the document and glanced at it. Her attitude immediately changed: "Since the Duke of Jingguo's mansion values ​​this so much, there's no need to say anything more. Go and see Yun'er. She's waiting for you in the backyard."

"Yes." Song Hengchuan respectfully bowed and withdrew.

When they arrived at the back garden, they found Shen Ruyun already waiting for them. Upon seeing Song Hengchuan, Shen Ruyun showed a shy expression.

"Like a rhyme".

Shen Ruyun nodded, staring at Song Hengchuan with her big, watery eyes, full of joy. But before she could say more than a few words, a maidservant hurriedly came to Shen Ruyun's side and whispered a few words. Shen Ruyun's expression changed instantly.

"How is that possible?" Shen Ruyun didn't believe it.

Song Hengchuan hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Ruyun raised her head and carefully examined Song Hengchuan. It was too early to conclude that this was his fault. Shen Ruyun said, "Let's go to the front hall first."

Seeing that she was unlikely to tell, Song Hengchuan's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly had a bad feeling, so he quickly followed her back to the hall.

Madam Shen, who had just been smiling at him, now had a gloomy face, and all the betrothal gifts that had been brought in were now open.

He frowned.

"Yun'er, why are you out here?" Madam Shen winked at Shen Ruyun: "This is none of your business, you should leave."

"Mother, I also want to know what happened." Shen Ruyun stood beside Madam Shen and refused to leave.

After thinking it over, Madam Shen figured that since it was a betrothal gift for Shen Ruyun, there was no harm in her being there and listening in, so she agreed to let her stay.

"Mother-in-law, what exactly is going on?" Song Hengchuan wondered if the Shen family was being unreasonable, thinking the dowry was too small and deliberately causing trouble.

Madam Shen cleared her throat and said, "You two are not officially married yet, so please address me as Madam Shen, Young Master Song."

She changed the subject, pointing to the boxes displayed in the hall: "Are these all betrothal gifts personally prepared by Young Master Song?"

Song Hengchuan was offended by Madam Shen's words, and his face showed a hint of displeasure, but he restrained himself out of consideration for the occasion. He nodded and said, "Yes."

Madam Shen laughed angrily: "According to the rules, these betrothal gifts should be recounted and put back into the warehouse, and then sent back to the Duke of Jingguo's mansion as part of the dowry in a few days. But your Duke of Jingguo's mansion is too insincere, actually using counterfeit goods to pass off as the real thing!"

"Impossible!" Song Hengchuan denied it outright, angrily saying, "Madam Shen, how could I, the eldest son of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion, marry Ruyun with a fake?"

Seeing that his anger seemed genuine, and knowing that Yuan Fuling was the one in control of the Jingguo Duke's mansion, Madam Shen became more cautious. She pointed to one of the boxes and said, "Go and see for yourself!"

Upon hearing this, Song Hengchuan strode to the box, bent down to examine it, picked up a celadon porcelain piece, examined it carefully, and then his face darkened. He went to another box, picked up a calligraphy and painting by a famous person, and found that the handwriting on it was all wrong.

You don't even need to look closely; you can tell it's fake at a glance.

"How... how is this possible?" Song Hengchuan was dumbfounded.

He couldn't understand why all of these were counterfeit.

“Young Master Song, the Shen family opened the chest in full view of everyone. There is absolutely no possibility of switching it. In my opinion, let’s call it off today.” Madam Shen ordered the chest to be locked and then carried back.

Song Hengchuan was so embarrassed that he turned around and left without even saying goodbye.

This was the first time Madam Shen had expressed dissatisfaction with Song Hengchuan.

“Mother, he seems unaware of the situation. Could he have been set up by someone?” Shen Ruyun asked.

Madam Shen frowned, her anger barely contained. She turned to Minister Shen and said, "My lord, about this matter..."

Minister Shen snorted coldly; "What's the rush? Wait for the Duke of Jingguo's mansion to come and apologize."

Since the Duke of Jingguo dared to trample on the Shen family's reputation, he has no reason not to turn ruthless.

……

Prince Jing's Mansion

Song Hengchuan carried the betrothal gifts back all the way, and many passersby were curious and stared at him. Song Hengchuan felt that he had never been so humiliated in his life.

We went directly to Ninghui Hall.

When the old lady saw Song Hengchuan return, she quickly asked, "I heard you had a rough journey. Are you alright?"

"Grandmother, the Shen family has returned the betrothal gifts." Song Hengchuan's eyes were red with anger, his fists clenched tightly: "When Madam Shen was counting the betrothal gifts, she found that most of them were counterfeit goods!"

"What?" The old lady's mind went blank.

Song Hengchuan continued, "Under the watchful eyes of everyone, I personally inspected it and confirmed that it was indeed a low-quality counterfeit."

The old lady didn't believe it. She supported herself and went to the outer courtyard. She saw sixty-six palanquins carrying the dowry laid out in the courtyard. She ordered them to be opened and examined them casually. The more she looked, the darker her face became: "Go, go and bring Yuan Shi here to me!"

Soon Yuan Fuling was brought in. When she saw the betrothal gifts in the courtyard, her eyelids twitched. Seeing the old lady's expression of wanting to tear her apart, she felt something was wrong: "Mother, what's wrong? Isn't today the day of the betrothal? Why haven't we set off yet?"

"Slap!" The old lady slapped Yuan Fuling across the face.

Caught off guard by the blow, Yuan Fuling's mind went blank. She covered her face and looked innocently at the Grand Madam: "Mother, what exactly happened?"

"These are all fakes! I ask you, how exactly did you handle this?" The Grand Madam was furious and regretted entrusting Princess Jia Hua's dowry to Yuan Fuling.

What a shallow-minded fool, daring to tamper with something like this!

Yuan Fuling was stunned and exclaimed that it was impossible to be wronged. She got up to check and was shocked by what she saw. Even she could tell that it was a fake, let alone the Grand Madam who had such discerning eyes.

"What, what's going on?" Yuan Fuling was dumbfounded.

Song Hengchuan frowned, his face clearly showing disappointment and resentment.

“Someone must be trying to frame me, Mother. I love Chuan-ge’er so much, why would I tamper with the betrothal gifts? Such a simple mistake would be noticed at a glance, and then it would be a disgrace to the entire Jingguo Duke’s Mansion. I wouldn’t be that stupid,” Yuan Fuling explained, crying.

Yuan Fuling raised three fingers and swore, "Mother, these betrothal gifts were all packed by my own hands. They could never be fake. Someone must have switched them."

The old lady scoffed, "Don't you dare say that Yue'er did it."

These days, Song Yue has been leaving early and returning late under her very nose. Besides, with so much dowry, it's impossible for her to change it on her own.

"Mother, that's not what I meant," Yuan Fuling said, forcing herself to speak. If she caught who was causing trouble behind the scenes, she would skin her alive!

After pondering for a moment, the old lady said, "Quickly choose another set of betrothal gifts and send them to the Shen family to apologize."

Song Hengchuan was taken aback: "Now?"

"Go quickly!" the old lady urged.