Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Two days later, the steward of Cheng Xiao's family came to the Mo family and said that the Cheng family had prepared wine and food for that evening and invited everyone from the Mo family to come over to discuss who should be invited on the engagement day and the specific arrangements for that day.

The Mo family was overjoyed. The Cheng family's emphasis on the engagement showed how much they valued Mo Lan. How could they not be delighted? They all changed into new clothes, prepared gifts, and went to the Cheng family together.

The Cheng family was considered quite grand in the village, with red walls and gray tiles, several courtyards, and blue brick paving inside the courtyards, where many flowers were planted, making it look quite elegant.

The steward ushered everyone into the living room, where Scholar Cheng was already waiting. Cheng Xiao greeted them, and the men stayed in the living room for tea. The women of the Mo family were led to the inner courtyard by an old woman.

Upon entering the inner courtyard, Mo Lan saw two ladies sitting in the living room, drinking tea. Upon seeing the Mo family members, the lady at the head of the table stood up, a smile on her face, and said softly, "Auntie, my two sisters-in-law, you've all arrived. Please, please sit down. I, Xu Shi, was truly impolite not to come out to greet you."

Mo Lan glanced at her and figured this must be Cheng Xiao's mother.

She wore a dark brown brocade robe and a purple embroidered jacket. Her hair was styled in a bun with a red gold hairpin and red gold earrings. She had a fair complexion, a round face, and a friendly smile. She looked very prosperous.

The other lady didn't get up at all. She was about the same age as Madam Xu and dressed very richly. However, she was more beautiful than Madam Xu, but her brows revealed arrogance, which clearly showed that she looked down on the Mo family.

After exchanging a few polite words, Wang and Xu led their two daughters-in-law to sit down, while Mo Mei and Mo Lan stood behind Qiu.

"And who is this?" After exchanging pleasantries, Madam Wang asked softly about the identity of Madam Xu, the wife of Scholar Cheng.

“That’s my sister-in-law from my maternal family. She brought my niece to visit me this time. My brother from my maternal family is an official in Zhongyang Town, so my sister-in-law didn’t bow to you, Auntie. Please don’t take offense, Auntie,” Xu explained with a smile, but a hint of arrogance was revealed in her eyebrows, clearly showing her pride in her maternal family.

"How dare I! It's all my fault, my niece-in-law is actually the wife of an official, it's truly impolite. Please don't take offense." Wang said politely, without getting up to bow to Xu's sister-in-law.

Xu and her sister-in-law from her maternal family exchanged glances. Surprisingly, the other woman did not rise to greet them. Shouldn't they be afraid of the officials?

After the pleasantries were over, an old woman came to announce that the meal was ready and invited everyone to take their seats.

Two tables were set up for the banquet. Xu and her sister-in-law from her maternal family, along with Wang, sat at one table.

At the other table were people from the Mohist school, along with two of Xu's sisters-in-law who had come to keep them company. Cheng Yueqing and Xu's niece did not come out to join the guests.

While eating and chatting, Madam Xu didn't bring up the engagement between Mo Lan and Cheng Xiao. Instead, she kept asking about the Mo family, inquiring about the three young masters of the Xue family, and also talking about her own family.

Madam Wang raised an eyebrow. The Cheng family hadn't invited any outsiders to today's banquet, saying they were there to discuss the marriage of their two children. This seemed rather unusual.

As she was pondering this, she suddenly saw an old woman rush over and whisper a few words in Xu's ear.

Madam Xu's smile froze slightly. She waved her hand, signaling the old woman to leave.

After a while, Madam Xu smiled and told Madam Wang that she had drunk too much and needed to relieve herself, then led her maid away.

"Mother, you all eat, I've had too much water. I'll go downstairs." Mo Lan said to Qiu Shi with a slightly flushed face.

"Go on, go on, or should your mother go with you?" Qiu was chatting with a woman from the Cheng family in the village when she saw her daughter's expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"No need, I'll go by myself." Mo Lan nodded to everyone and took her leave.

"Girl, Grandma is going down too, help me with me." Madam Wang also stood up and stretched out her hand to Mo Lan, afraid that her granddaughter would run around alone and get hurt.

"Mother, I'll go with you." Liu stood up and went to help Wang.

"No need, you two chat, Lan'er and I will be back in a bit." Wang waved her hand, gesturing for Liu to sit down.

A maidservant came forward to lead the two of them.

Seeing that someone was leading the way, Liu and Qiu felt relieved and continued their conversation.

Mo Lan and Madam Wang followed the maid. Mo Lan glanced at the path and felt to herself that this wasn't the way to the outhouse; the maid was probably leading them to see something else. She didn't expose her, wanting to see what the maid's intentions were!

"You unfilial son, how could you do such a thing? How am I supposed to explain this to your uncle! How could you face your cousin? I might as well beat you to death."

A sharp, deliberately lowered voice rang out. The maid stopped in her tracks. Wang Shi and Mo Lan exchanged a glance. Judging from the voice, it sounded like Xu Shi's. The rebellious son she was referring to must be Cheng Xiao. The maid who had led the way was gone. They were now in a position where they could clearly see the source of the voice. The person there was wearing a lantern, and they couldn't easily spot them.

Madam Wang tightened her grip on her granddaughter's hand. It was true! She hadn't been wrong. The wealthy families loved using such tactics. If they didn't want a marriage alliance with her family, they could have just refused outright; why go through all this trouble? Of course, if they refused, they were afraid Cheng Xiao would cause a scene, so they deliberately staged this whole drama today!

"Mother, I was wrong. I didn't know my cousin was here. I didn't mean it! I didn't intend to molest her. Mother, I really didn't do anything," Cheng Xiao pleaded.

Mo Lan closed her eyes briefly. No wonder she had felt something was off; it turned out they were putting on a play for their family! But this play was so old-fashioned and unoriginal!

"Aunt, please don't blame Brother Xiao. It's Yan'er's fault. Brother Xiao really didn't do anything. He just hugged Yan'er. Yan'er doesn't blame him. Aunt, please don't blame Brother Xiao. The ground is cold. Let him get up." A delicate female voice came from behind. It seemed that the owner of this voice was Cheng Xiao's cousin.

"You unfilial son! You still need Yan'er to plead for you. Fine, for Yan'er's sake, I'll let you off this time. But you must apologize to your aunt tomorrow and marry Yan'er. Otherwise, I will not let you off easily!" After saying this, Madam Xu had someone pull Cheng Xiao up.

"No! Mother. You can't do this! I want to marry Lanlan! Didn't you already send someone to propose? Aren't we supposed to be engaged in a couple of days? I can't marry Yan'er. I've always considered Yan'er my sister. I can't marry her!" Cheng Xiao looked incredulous upon hearing Xu Shi's words. How could his mother let him marry his cousin? He and Lanlan were about to get engaged! He argued vehemently.

Upon hearing Cheng Xiao's words, Madam Xu angrily pointed at his nose and scolded, "You unfilial son! Are you trying to anger me to death? If you marry that girl Mo Lan, what will happen to your cousin? Now that you have tainted your cousin's reputation, how can she face people? How can I, as her mother, explain this to your uncle and aunt?"

"I didn't mean to. My cousin lost her footing, and I helped her up. I didn't do anything inappropriate. Mother, please don't force me. I will marry no one but Lanlan!" Cheng Xiao's face was pale. He couldn't accept what was happening.

He was having a drink with the Mo family in the front hall when a servant came to secretly report that Lanlan was waiting for him in the backyard and had something to say to him. Without thinking much about it, he came over.

When he arrived at the backyard, he found it was dark. A woman was standing among the flowers. He walked up to her and called out, "Lanlan."

The woman called out shyly, "Brother Xiao!" He recognized the voice as his cousin, Xu Yan'er. He had a good relationship with his cousin, and she was kind to him. So he started chatting with her. After a few words, he rushed off to find Mo Lan, but his cousin suddenly cried out in pain. He hurried over and saw that she had sprained her ankle. Then she fell into his arms. Just then, his mother arrived with others. He... he really couldn't explain himself!

"Aunt, please don't blame my cousin. Since he doesn't have feelings for Yan'er, I won't force him. Just let him marry his Lanlan. Yan'er's life is short; we'll meet again in the next life." After saying this, Xu Yan'er turned to run out, seemingly intending to commit suicide.

"Quick, grab her!" Madam Xu shouted, and Xu Yan'er was pulled back. Then she glared fiercely at Cheng Xiao.

Seeing his cousin with tears streaming down her face, Cheng Xiao felt a pang of guilt and heartache. It was all his fault, he had let her down.

"You unfilial son! Your cousin wanted to commit suicide because of you, have you lost your heart? Have you forgotten how much your maternal grandparents and uncle doted on you when you were little? Fine, since you insist on marrying that girl, I won't stop you. I'll go back to your maternal grandparents' house with your aunt and Yan'er. You can do whatever you want here." After saying this, Madam Xu looked heartbroken, as if she was furious with her son.

"Mother, no! You can't leave. I'll marry my cousin, or I'll marry her as my concubine!" Cheng Xiao hurriedly knelt down and hugged his mother's legs, not letting her go.

"A secondary wife? Haha, Xiao'er, what is your uncle's status? How could he allow his precious daughter to agree to be our secondary wife? You must be dreaming!" Madam Xu laughed angrily, her teeth itching with hatred. What kind of bewitching potion had that girl given her son, making him so devoted to her!

"What should we do? I must marry Lanlan. I must give her the position of wife. I cannot wrong her." Cheng Xiao said firmly.

"Aunt, let Brother Xiao marry Sister Lan. Yan'er doesn't want to enter the family. If Father blames me, I'll cut my hair and become a nun." Xu Yan'er looked miserable, her little appearance so pitiful.

With a sharp "slap," Madam Xu slapped Cheng Xiao across the face, cursing, "How could you be so heartless? I raised this son for a thousand days, only to raise such a disobedient and unfilial ingrate! You don't want your mother, you don't want your cousin, you're determined to have that wretched girl, aren't you? Fine, I'll go with Yan'er. Go marry that wretched girl. I'll pretend I never raised you as my son." After saying this, Madam Xu pulled Xu Yan'er away.

"Mother, I was wrong, I am unfilial. I will marry my cousin Yan'er, but I will also marry Lanlan. How about I make Lanlan my equal wife? Mother, I beg you!" Cheng Xiao hurriedly kowtowed and admitted his mistake. The crime of being unfilial was too great for him to bear.