There is a god in the sky

Chapter 293 The Broken Engagement Scandal 8

The Zhao family study.

Zhao Kaizhi stared blankly at the young man before him.

He knew this young man was good at investigating cases, and he also knew he was intelligent and decisive.

But unexpectedly, one day his intelligence would be used to deal with the Zhao family.

"Wangchuan, I've watched you grow up since you were a child, and I've placed high hopes on you, even more so than on my own sons. Is this how you repay me?"

The charges Xiao Ji laid out before him could all lead the Zhao family down a path of no return.

"Uncle, please forgive me. I didn't want our relationship to come to this point, but Miss Zhao's actions have caused me a lot of trouble."

This marriage is good for the Xiao family, but for me, I cannot accept that my wife is a vicious woman who disregards human life.

Zhao Kaizhi looked at the evidence laid out before him and was filled with rage.

"It's understandable for a woman to lose her mind for the person she admires. She's still young and hasn't married into the Xiao family yet, so there's still a chance to train her. Why ruin the relationship?"

Suppressing his anger, he said frankly, "Our two families have been friends for many years, and no one has ever opposed this marriage. You want to abandon Xuan'er for an outsider and even use this evidence to threaten me. You just want to sever ties with the Zhao family. Are you sure you won't regret it?"

He invited Xiao Ji to his door today because he wanted to give him some advice.

It's common for young people to make mistakes because of what they love.

Xiao Ji was extremely disappointed that the engagement was being called off for the sake of a lowly coroner, but he still wanted to salvage the situation.

"Uncle, you have seen these things too. If my will were not firm, I would never dare to place these things in front of you."

But please believe me, Uncle, there's only one of these items, and I have no intention of harming the Zhao family.

Zhao Kaizhi sneered and threw the so-called evidence into the brazier.

"Everyone has their private matters. The fact that you were able to obtain this evidence shows that you are capable, but young people shouldn't act too impulsively."

"Thank you for your guidance, Uncle."

“Nephew, now that you’ve left the Zhao family’s gates, it will be difficult for you to return in the future.”

"I wouldn't come to the temple without a reason, Uncle, please rest assured."

Zhao Kaizhi waved his hand, "Alright, there's nothing more to say. You can go now. The procedures for annulling the engagement are complicated. I will discuss it with your father in detail another day."

The surprise Xiao Ji gave him today was so sudden that he didn't even have time to react.

Having been forced into this situation by a junior, Minister Zhao's willingness to allow him to leave safely is already the greatest act of mercy.

After Xiao Ji left, Minister Zhao swept everything off the table and roared, "Someone, bring the eldest young lady here!"

Xiao Ji walked out of the Zhao family's gate and realized that his back was already soaked with sweat.

He wasn't entirely confident in confronting an old fox like Zhao Kaizhi.

The evidence he presented was actually insufficient; none of it would be enough to bring down the Zhao family.

He was simply expressing his attitude.

After this incident, the Zhao family broke ties with the Xiao family, and his situation in the court would become even more difficult.

"Sir, shall we return to the yamen or the mansion?" Sui Feng asked worriedly.

"Go back home."

Just as Xiao Ji mounted his horse, a pebble was thrown at him, but Sui Feng swiftly deflected it.

Looking towards the wall, Xiao Jia saw Zhao's youngest son pointing a slingshot at him.

"Bad guy! Humph! I'll beat you to death!" The little boy, holding a slingshot and aiming at Xiao Ji, was pulled down from behind before he could even fire.

Xiao Ji shook his head inwardly. Perhaps because he disliked Zhao Xuan, he also didn't like any of the Zhao family's children.

"My lord, how are you feeling?" Sui Feng asked cautiously.

With a flick of his whip, Xiao Ji spurred his horse and rode away at full speed, his spirits soaring.

He felt completely relieved after breaking off the engagement.

He may never be able to marry the woman he loves in his lifetime, but at least by not being engaged, he can get closer to her.

Upon returning to the Xiao family home, Xiao's father gave him a symbolic beating and then punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for one night.

He always had to give the Zhao family some face.

In the middle of the night, Shen Lan brought food to the ancestral hall to visit Xiao Ji and passed the food in through the window.

Xiao Ji had never been beaten since he could remember. He was the well-behaved child in other people's eyes and the pride of the Xiao family.

Holding the food in his hand, he said with some emotion, "Minister Zhao said that I gave up a great marriage because of a moment of impulse. He even explicitly told me that I could take a woman I liked as a concubine, and the Zhao family would never interfere."

So, do you regret it?

"No, I just feel that people really do need to make a fuss."

If you don't make a fuss, people will think you're easy to talk to and won't take your words seriously.

When you start making a real scene, they see your firm stance and begin to back down, hoping things will stay within their expectations.

“This doesn’t sound like something a judge from the Ministry of Justice would say. You’re not someone who makes trouble unreasonably.”

Even if you're right, you should still make a scene.

Xiao Ji understood that if he only went to the Zhao family to mention Zhao Xuan's harming people, no one in the Zhao family would care.

They all felt that Zhao Xuan's hatred stemmed from jealousy, which was understandable.

They all felt that he should forgive Zhao Xuan, otherwise he would be fickle and ungrateful.

If he rationally broke off the engagement, Zhao Kaizhi would have refused him with countless reasons.

He must demonstrate his stance and the means to make the Zhao family no longer trust him in order to extricate himself from this marriage arrangement.

"We're free tomorrow, so let's go to Yishan Academy and see how Fu Qingyan is doing there."

Shen Lan peered at him through the window and asked curiously, "Didn't you leave Suifeng at the academy before? Who's keeping him company there now?"

While eating, Xiao Ji replied, "The Marquis of Pingyang was worried about having my men take care of his son, so he sent his own men over, and Sui Feng returned."

"So, what are your plans..."

“Even a single follower can’t find any useful information. Let’s take it slow. Even if we find concrete evidence now, I wouldn’t dare to expose it. Making too many enemies will lead to my demise.”

Shen Lan closed the window. Behind the Xiao family's ancestral hall was a wall, and climbing over the wall led to the alleyway behind the back gate.

She left with light steps and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

The Zhao family was in chaos because Zhao Xuan had been beaten.

As the eldest daughter of the Zhao family, she was pampered from a young age, and even if she did something wrong, she would only be scolded a few times.

Even if Zhao Kaizhi knew everything she had done before Xiao Ji complained, he wouldn't have said anything.

"Do you know where you went wrong?" Zhao Kaizhi threw down the whip and asked Zhao Xuan with a cold face.

Zhao Xuan was also tough, sticking her neck out and saying, "The mistake was not seeing Xiao Ji's cold-blooded ruthlessness."

"You're wrong. You're wrong because you didn't hit the nail on the head, and you weren't patient enough."

Zhao Kaizhi analyzed for her, "If you are patient enough, and wait until you marry into the family before harboring murderous intent towards that woman, there will be countless easier ways to do so."

Even if you couldn't kill her, it would have been easy to ruin her reputation, but you chose the stupidest and most ineffective method.

Also, if you're smart enough, you should succeed the first time, instead of letting Xiao Ji repeatedly find fault with you.

Men dislike women who think they're clever; the more you lose to him, the more he'll admire Shen Lan.

Zhao Xuan retorted indignantly, "If he hadn't interfered, how could I have lost to Shen Lan?"