bestfiction Chapter 419 The toad wants to eat swan meat
Chapter 419 The toad wants to eat swan meat
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence, as if the air itself had frozen.
Shen and Yunxi were completely bewildered, their minds blank, and for a moment, they couldn't even remember who "Li Zhuoyue" was.
Yu Wan was the first to react.
Anger surged into her heart instantly, and her face flushed red.
She stood up abruptly, almost blurting out a curse.
But at the moment she was about to speak, she forced herself to swallow it back, and instead, it turned into:
"He's like a toad trying to eat swan meat! Forget about being a concubine, even a proper marriage is absolutely impossible!"
Before Shen Shi and Yun Xi could refuse, Yu Wan angrily told the servants, "Just throw that damn steward out with a broom. Don't worry about the Li family. We don't need to give them any face."
The servant agreed, and upon reaching the gate of the mansion, he immediately grabbed a broom and began to beat the steward of the Li family.
The butler was still mentally preparing how to intimidate the Yun family mother and daughter when he entered the Yun family home, when suddenly a broom hit him in the face.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
He yelled at the top of his lungs, "What does the Yun family mean by this?!"
The servant remained silent, his hands still moving, continuing to wield the broom, beating the steward until he fled in terror.
He was a secret guard, so beating a steward was a piece of cake. No matter how the steward of the Li family dodged and weaved, he couldn't escape the fierce broom attack and was soon beaten dizzy and disoriented.
Even though the steward of the Li family was full of resentment, he could only leave dejectedly.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to utter a harsh threat: "I'll remember this humiliation today. Your Yun family just wait and see!"
Shen Shi and Yun Xi heard everything clearly from inside the mansion gate.
The two had already realized what was happening. Madam Shen's face was extremely pale, and she clenched her robes tightly.
"Li Zhuoyue is simply outrageous! What does he take our Yun family for? Xi'er is an innocent and pure girl, and he actually dares to try to make her his concubine!"
When Li Zhuoyue came to the Yun residence to offer condolences that day, Yunxi noticed that his gaze towards her was different, but she had seen such gazes many times before and did not take it to heart.
Unexpectedly, Li Zhuoyue actually took a liking to her.
Yunxi bit her lower lip, but unlike Shen Shi, she wasn't angry. Instead, she looked at Yu Wan with concern, "Sister-in-law, will Li Zhuoyue send someone to visit again?"
That's what she's worried about.
Li Zhuoyue comes from a high-ranking family, and the Li family is not one they can afford to offend—at least not openly.
Now everyone thinks Yun Shang is dead, and only she and her daughter are left in the Yun family. Li Zhuoyue probably assumed that she would not dare to refuse because of this.
Yu Wan noticed Yun Xi's worry, reached out and gently touched her hair, and said softly, "It's okay, I'm here."
Yunxi pursed her lips. "But right now, the Duke of Anguo's mansion and the Yun family have already 'broken ties' in the eyes of outsiders. Sister-in-law, how will you help me?"
Yu Wan told her not to worry, "Leave this to me. You and your mother-in-law should stay home for the next few days and try not to go out."
Madam Shen always trusted Yu Wan, and as soon as she spoke, Madam Shen immediately agreed: "Okay, Yu Niang, you must be careful."
Yunxi wanted to say something more, but was gently tugged by Madam Shen.
Madam Shen looked at her lovingly and said softly, "Xi'er, don't be afraid. With your mother, your brother, and your sister-in-law here, we will never let you suffer any injustice."
Upon hearing this, Yunxi's eyes immediately reddened.
She could no longer maintain her composure and buried her face in Shen's arms, sobbing softly.
Yu Wan sighed inwardly.
She's just a teenage girl; how could she possibly remain calm and composed in the face of something like this?
Because of the incident orchestrated by Li Zhuoyue, Yu Wan returned to Anguo Mansion and asked the Duke of Anguo for several people to guard the Yun family.
She told the Duchess of Anguo about Li Zhuoyue's desire to take Yunxi as a concubine, and the Duchess of Anguo frowned upon hearing this.
Seeing that her mother didn't look well, Yu Wan quickly asked, "Mother, is something wrong?"
Lady Anguo's brows furrowed with worry. "Wan'er, you've only been back in Shengjing for a short time. You may not know that as long as the Li family changes Yunxi's household registration, Yunxi will have to become Li Zhuoyue's concubine even if she's not happy about it. Otherwise, it would be a violation of the law."
Yu Wan's eyes widened. "Isn't this blatant coercion?"
Lady Anguo sighed helplessly, "The power of aristocratic families is too great. They can even change the records kept in the county government at any time. You haven't been in Shengjing for long, so you probably don't know that many such things have happened before."
“Some daughters of minor officials or merchants would be targeted by scions of powerful families. If they refused, the scions of powerful families would directly change the women’s household registration records and then spread rumors that these women were runaway concubines.”
“If these women’s families do not obediently send them over, they will be imprisoned by the government for the crime of ‘harboring a runaway concubine,’ their property will be confiscated, and they will be driven out of Shengjing.”
"Those with a temper took the scions of noble families to the authorities, but the scions bribed the officials to frame them with fabricated charges. Not only that, the noble families, angered by their resistance, would incite public sentiment and make these victims 'criminals'..."
The common people are kind-hearted but easily deceived, and thus they are manipulated by these powerful and wealthy families.
Yu Wan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
The original book didn't write enough about these things; she had no idea about them at all!
No wonder even emperors were forced to keep a low profile; the power of these aristocratic families was far greater than she had imagined.
There is no bottom line either.
Yu Wan was so angry her eyes were practically spitting fire. "This is outrageous! In broad daylight, these aristocratic families are acting so recklessly. They're treating Da Zhao like their own backyard!"
Lady Anguo shook her head helplessly: "Most of the powerful families in Shengjing are arrogant and domineering, and they don't respect the common people. Li Zhuoyue's father, Li Guan, is now very powerful, and Li Zhuoyue himself is also quite capable. If he really wants Yunxi, I'm afraid he won't let the Yun family go."
Yu Wan started to have a headache.
I wonder if Yun Shang knows about this.
But she certainly couldn't just stand by and watch Li Zhuoyue scheme against Yunxi. Yu Wan looked intently at the Duchess of Anguo, "Mother, do we have any connections in the Ministry of Revenue?"
In the Great Zhao Dynasty, the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of population registration and was responsible for the statistics and control of the national population.
Yun Shang was originally the Minister of Revenue, but he is now 'dead', and the position of Minister of Revenue is vacant. The court officials recommended several people, but Emperor Wenjing did not agree to any of them.
Yu Wan could probably understand what Emperor Wenjing meant.
If the powerful families won't cooperate with him, then he won't cooperate with them either. They'll just wait and see who can outlast whom.
Currently, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of two vice ministers. Unfortunately, one of these vice ministers is a man of the Prince of Qi, and the other is a man of the Prince of Jin. Neither of them is a man of the Prince of Chen.
Suddenly, Lady Anguo reached out and tapped Yu Wan on the head.
Yu Wan was suddenly tapped on the head, looking completely bewildered.
Lady Anguo said, "It seems you haven't paid any attention to your own family. Have you forgotten that your cousin is now working in the Ministry of Revenue?"
Yu Wan looked bewildered. "My cousin?"
Who is it?
Seeing that she really didn't remember, the Duchess of Anguo tapped her again and said irritably, "Last time, Jingyao was promoted and sent you an invitation to the promotion celebration. You were too busy at the time, so you only sent a gift. Have you forgotten?"
Now that you mention it, Yu Wan finally remembered.
Xie Jingyao also entered officialdom. He started in the Ministry of Revenue. Because of his outstanding abilities and the fact that many officials died that year, he was promoted to a member of the Ministry of Revenue's Langzhong (a mid-level official).