Chapter 417: Completely Breaking Away from Old Pei’s House (4)_1
Even when pressured, the main house had no choice but to contribute some effort. Qian Wanxiu negotiated with Lady Zhu, proposing not to cancel the marriage arrangement with the Zhao family, but to replace Pei Qin with the main house’s Pei Wenlee. This solution would benefit both families, and later it could simply be said that the Zhao family had coveted Pei Qin and secured a marriage alliance with the main house, yet attempted to deceive and coerce a marriage through forgery. They would not fall into ill repute.
However, this would enrage the Zhao family, and Pei Wenlee would have no good days after marrying into their family. Moreover, the Zhao family had previously disagreed and stated they looked down upon Pei Wenlee.
"Their previous disagreement was based on leveraging their slight influence at home, but what do they have now? Zhao Yaocheng has been chased out by the Government Office and investigated. There’s no one clean of scheming within the Government Office. If Magistrate Wu is determined to investigate him, he will certainly find something! Zhao Junchao’s future career prospects are doomed as well, and their reputation is already tarnished. Which reputable family would wish to marry into theirs now?" Qian Wanxiu did not care whether Pei Wenlee lived or died after marrying into their family, as long as the current situation was resolved first.
Lady Chen strongly opposed and disagreed with marrying Pei Wenlee to the Zhao family.
"We can’t let others say that Pei Wenli’s Scholar title was obtained by selling his cousin sister! If the in-laws were willing to support and help each other, it might be possible. Everyone in Yuanyang County knows about your relationship with Pei Qin, yet you profit from her to attain scholarly honors. What would people say?" Qian Wanxiu’s gaze was cold as she looked at her.
"This mess was created by your second house!" Lady Chen said through gritted teeth.
Qian Wanxiu was shrewd. She did not mention how much money and effort had been spent on helping Pei Wenli with his studies, only commenting, "Does sister-in-law think that, given our family’s current reputation, Pei Wenlee could find a better match than the Zhao family?"