Chapter 280 Seeking Death
Chapter 280 Seeking Death
"Do you have the documents for taking a concubine?" Xie Lan frowned, full of suspicion. How could the Song family have the documents for taking a concubine? If Mr. Song wanted to take her as a concubine, he had to seek the consent of her father Xie Changting first according to the law.
But given her father's opportunistic nature, who only wanted to use her to climb up the social ladder, how could he possibly promise her to the Song family as a concubine?
Although her father was greedy for money, he was more interested in rising in the official career. As an imperial merchant, Mr. Song had a rich family fortune, but he had no power.
Promising her to Mr. Song as a concubine would not help Xie Changting's career at all.
"Of course. Our master is not the kind of bully who would force women to be his concubines. Without the documents for taking a concubine, how dare we come here to welcome the bride?" Steward Song raised his chin slightly, with a look of complacency on his face.
Xie Lan's eyes narrowed. "Manager Song, to be honest, I know nothing about this marriage. I wonder who signed the document for taking a concubine with the master of your house?"
When Manager Song heard this, his expression froze. He had thought that if he showed the document of taking a concubine, Miss Xie would be terrified, uneasy, and even scared to tears.
By then, he would only need to use a little coercion or inducement to easily trick her into the bridal sedan.
However, I never expected that Miss Xie would be so calm and collected, without showing any sign of panic.
"I hope you will forgive me, young lady. I am not aware of this matter. Although I am the manager of the Song Mansion, such a private matter as the master taking a concubine is not something I, a servant, can inquire about."
Seeing that Manager Song clenched his teeth and refused to reveal a single word, Xie Lan's face instantly turned gloomy, like the sky before an approaching rainstorm.
Her eyes were frosty, and she said coldly: "As far as I know, my father never betrothed me to your Song family, and I myself never agreed to be your Master Song's concubine.
Why are you coming here with such fanfare to welcome the bride now?"
Xie Lan paused, and looked at Manager Song with a sharp gaze, his words becoming more and more sharp: "Could it be that your Song family is relying on some power to come up with such dirty thoughts?
Are you attracted by my beauty and trying to trick me into marrying you by such a despicable means? I advise you to give up such a ridiculous idea as soon as possible.
Nowadays, the laws of the Zhou Dynasty are strict. For those who commit marriage fraud, the lightest punishment is a fine and flogging. Those with serious circumstances will be imprisoned and exiled!
Although my father is not a high-ranking official, he is at least the chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department. I am the daughter of an official, not the daughter of a poor family who has no one to rely on and can be bullied at will.
You dare to cheat me. If I report you to the Dali Temple, even if Master Song is an imperial merchant, you will be in big trouble."
Manager Song's face was as gloomy as if it was stained with ink. He really didn't expect that Miss Xie was not like those weak girls in the boudoir who were frightened and confused.
Instead, he calmly used the laws of the Great Zhou to suppress himself.
If there were no outsiders present, he could have asked the maid to take her directly into the bridal sedan. But now, there were people everywhere who had heard the news and rushed to watch the fun, so how could he dare to act recklessly?
He could only suppress his anger and said, "Miss Xie, please don't talk nonsense. Our Song family has always been law-abiding, and Master Song has never done anything that violates the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
As for our Master Song taking you as his concubine, it was also agreed by your Xie family, and everything is in accordance with the rules and etiquette, it is not a marriage fraud.
If Miss Xie doesn't believe it, you can check the concubine document."
Seeing Manager Song take out the document for taking a concubine from his sleeve pocket, Tiechui beside him suddenly pushed the matchmaker away, stepped forward to take it, and quickly handed it to Xie Lan.
Steward Song looked at Xie Lan's angry face after she finished reading the document of taking a concubine, and couldn't help but snorted coldly: "Miss Xie, I advise you not to think of destroying this document and not getting on the bridal sedan. I'm not afraid to tell you that this document of taking a concubine has already been registered and filed with the government. Even if you burn it, we can always go to the government to get a new one."
Xie Lan's heart sank. She did not doubt what Manager Song said. Since he dared to say that he had registered with the government, it couldn't be false.
Moreover, the document on taking a concubine does have the official seal.
Xie Lan originally suspected that it was Liu who had secretly promised her to the Song family as a concubine, but she was quite surprised to see that the signature on the concubine document was Xie Changting.
"Miss Xie, since you have read the documents for taking a concubine, you should know that this marriage is real. Please get on the bridal sedan as soon as possible. If you have other questions, you can ask our master in person after you enter the Song family." Steward Song said with a wry smile, a hint of impatience in his eyes.
Xie Lan ignored what Manager Song said and directly ordered Tiechui, "Go to the government office and invite my father back."
The hammer did not move. She did not want her daughter to be taken away by the Song family after she left. She glanced around and pointed at a servant in Xie Changting's yard and said coldly, "Go to the government office quickly and invite the master back."
The servant was stunned for a moment, but soon came to his senses, "Miss, the master is not in the government office. He left the capital yesterday."
Xie Lan frowned. Her father was the chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department and had to go to the government office to work every day. How could he suddenly leave Beijing?
"Do you know why the master left Beijing?"
"I don't know the details, I just heard that the master was sent out by the higher-ups to do some work."
Such a coincidence?
Since her father was not at home, she could only look for the old lady. She wanted to see who dared to make the decision to marry her off to the Song family.
"Madam Zhang, go and ask the old lady to come over."
Just as Nanny Zhang was about to agree, Wang Po suddenly said, "Young lady, the old lady went to the Great Compassion Temple to worship Buddha yesterday and was not in the mansion."
"The old lady is not in the house either?" Xie Lan raised a cold smile, which was icy and piercing. "Humph, this is really a coincidence. What about the second and third masters? Where are they now?"
Seeing Xie Lan's cold smile, Wang Po regretted that she couldn't control her mouth just now. She shrank her head and said tremblingly, "The second and third masters went out early this morning. I don't know where they went."
"Did Liu and Peng go out as well?"
Seeing Xie Lan's face getting colder, Mrs. Wang nodded reluctantly, "Yes, the first wife went back to her parents' home yesterday. The second wife took the children to the street."
If Xie Lan was just suspicious about her betrothal to the Song family, it was most likely Xie Donghai and Xie Dahe who were behind it. But now she was almost certain that this matter was absolutely inseparable from those two worse than pigs and dogs, and it was even possible that the old lady was involved.
Otherwise it wouldn’t be such a coincidence that none of them are in the mansion.
Xie Lan had originally planned to use this period of time to find a way to bet on more jade to absorb spiritual energy and secure his life.
But since the mother and her two children were determined to rush towards death, how could she justify their painstaking plan if she did not help them in their "destructive cause"?