Chapter 159 Taking advantage of the situation
Ye Ningshuang glared at Shen Zhi with a pale face, then squeezed out of the crowd in shame.
When the crowd saw that the troublemakers had left, they all dispersed.
Yang Wantang stayed until the end, pulled Shen Zhi aside, and whispered, "Xiao Zhi, you have to be careful of Ye Ningshuang, she is ugly and mean. Her father is the county magistrate, and it is said that she has the support of officials from the capital."
Shen Zhi nodded, "Thank you, Sister Wan Tang."
Shen Zhi returned to the private room, and Zhan Xiao came over quickly, "Are you okay?"
Shen Zhi glanced at Zhan Xiao and said jokingly, "She is your childhood sweetheart. She has already announced in public that she is your fiancée."
Zhan Xiao was furious and said, "I don't have such a fiancée. Don't worry, besides Zhan Liu, I have secretly sent people to investigate. Ye Ningshuang's father is just a small county magistrate, but Zhan Liu found that he had a secret relationship with Minister Gu."
"Minister Gu, I remember that he was dismissed by the emperor?" Shen Zhi asked puzzledly.
Zhan Xiao looked at the little girl in front of him and smiled, said, "It's very simple, she has been reinstated. Things in officialdom change rapidly, and someone may be dismissed one second and reinstated the next. Minister Gu's legitimate daughter, Gu Qingying, is now the emperor's concubine. It won't be difficult to do it with her influence. Don't worry, I will take care of it." Zhan Xiao touched Shen Zhi's head and smiled at her lovingly.
Ke Meng was watching from the side and shaking his head. Zhan Xiao stabbed him with a cold knife, so he quickly found a corner and sat down like a quail.
Shen Zhi blushed and slapped Zhan Xiao's hand away, "Who's worried about you?" Then she turned and walked to the corner and sat next to Ke Meng.
Zhan Xiao smiled helplessly and sat down too.
"The most urgent thing now is to find out what the Ye father and daughter are planning." Ke Meng, the top scholar, analyzed with a serious face, "Also, since Ye Ningshuang dared to announce her relationship with you in public, there must be a follow-up to this matter."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Zhan Xiao agreed.
"In that case, why don't we take advantage of their trick?" A hint of cunning flashed in Shen Zhi's eyes.
"Take advantage of the enemy's tactics? How do you mean?" Zhan Xiao and Ke Meng asked in unison.
Shen Zhi smiled faintly and whispered a few words in their ears. The two looked at each other and then laughed out loud, as if they had seen that the plan of Ye father and daughter had failed.
The next day, the whole street was filled with rumors that the daughter of County Magistrate Ye and General Zhan had been engaged since childhood.
"I heard that Miss Ye announced it in person at the Memory Photo Studio yesterday, and many ladies from wealthy families heard it."
"No way, General Zhan is a hero who defends his country. He is mighty and brave, and has an outstanding appearance. Miss Ye's pancake face is not worthy of him."
"Who says it's not true? General Zhan has no choice but to be engaged like this."
"But I heard that although Miss Ye is ugly, she is a blessed person, otherwise why would General Zhan agree to this marriage."
All kinds of discussions filled the streets.
At this time, Zhan Xiao, Ke Meng and Shen Zhi were sitting together, listening to their subordinates reporting on the situation outside.
"Haha, interesting. Let them pass it on for two more days." Shen Zhi smiled with his eyes curved.
Zhan Xiao smiled complacently, "Next, we just need to wait and see what happens."
Sure enough, when the Ye father and daughter saw that no one came forward to stop the rumors, they thought that Zhan Xiao tacitly agreed to the matter, and that as long as he was willing to acknowledge the marriage, everything would be fine.
Ye's father and daughter frequently visited the villa where Zhan Xiao lived, but were always turned away by the doorman.
It's just that whenever Ye Ningshuang appeared in a store on the street, she would always meet Zhan Xiao. Although Zhan Xiao did not communicate with her every time, she still self-righteously believed that Zhan Xiao was deliberately creating opportunities for her to meet, and she felt sweet in her heart.
At the same time, Zhan Qi returned from Suyang, the ancestral home of the Zhan family. Most of the old servants of the Zhan family stayed in Suyang many years ago. There was a loyal servant beside the old general Zhan, and everyone called him Uncle Zhong. After the death of the old general Zhan, Uncle Zhong volunteered to stay in Suyang to guard the tomb.
Zhan Qi learned from Uncle A Zhong that the old general Zhan had indeed arranged a marriage for General Zhan as a child, and even the engagement letters were exchanged at that time.
The object of the child marriage was the daughter of Ye Mingyuan, a distant relative of Zhan Xiao's maternal family. Zhan Xiao was kidnapped by bad guys to Qingzhou Prefecture when he was young, but was rescued by a man. Ye Mingyuan happened to appear there and said that he risked his life to save Zhan Xiao. Seeing that he was covered with wounds, General Zhan thought he was Zhan Xiao's savior and regarded him as a distinguished guest, responding to his requests. But Ye Mingyuan was too greedy. He came to the general's mansion every now and then, and always took away a lot of good things when he left. In a few years, Ye Mingyuan gave birth to a daughter, Ye Ningshuang. Ye Mingyuan spread the news that his daughter was declared to be blessed by the monk. Moreover, he went to the general's mansion again and again, asking the general's mansion to repay the favor and make an engagement with Ye Ningshuang. Although General Zhan did not like Ye Mingyuan's character later, he always repayed the favor. Despite his wife's opposition, he made a child marriage with the Ye family and even exchanged the Geng Tie.
But later, Zhan Xiao accidentally met a hunter in the mountains, and the memory that he had lost due to the shock was restored. He recognized that the hunter was the one who saved him, and Ye Mingyuan was with the people who kidnapped him. Ye Mingyuan was severely beaten by the thugs of the gambling house because he owed gambling debts. Later, he and the gambling house hit it off and kidnapped Zhan Xiao together to cheat some money. Unexpectedly, the arrival of the hunter scared the people in the gambling house and they all ran away. The hunter also thought that Ye Mingyuan, who was bruised and swollen, was someone around Zhan Xiao, so he went to chase the people in the gambling house without worry. But when the general's mansion came over, Ye Mingyuan directly took the credit and claimed that he was Zhan Xiao's savior. But he was always uneasy because Zhan Xiao had seen his face when he was kidnapped. But not long after, he heard that Zhan Xiao didn't remember anything after waking up.
After General Zhan learned the truth, he cancelled the engagement without hesitation and returned Ye Ningshuang's engagement letter, and also asked for Zhan Xiao's engagement letter. However, the Zhan family gave a jade pendant bestowed by the emperor as a token of engagement. Ye Mingyuan insisted that the jade pendant was lost and refused to return it. General Zhan also searched the Ye family from top to bottom, but found nothing. Even so, the Ye family could not escape the charge of participating in the kidnapping of Zhan Xiao, but when the government came to the door, the Ye family was nowhere to be found, so the matter was shelved.
Zhan Xiao was furious after hearing Zhan Qi's report. They had escaped a disaster, but they were not satisfied. Now they had the nerve to come over. This was because he knew that his father was gone and there was no evidence. He would use the imperial jade pendant as a token to force him to marry Ye Ningshuang.
Ke Meng stepped forward at this time. He wanted to help the man who would become his brother-in-law in the future.
"I think we should still play along, but change our strategy slightly."
After hearing what Ke Meng said, Zhan Xiao and Shen Zhi came over. The three of them chatted for a long time, and that night, a carrier pigeon flew out.