MTLNOVEL Chapter 448: The Wan Family's Downfall
We absolutely cannot annul the marriage, we mustn't!
Scholar Wan knew that if this arranged marriage were annulled, it would be the end of his Wan Family.
A vicious glint appeared in his eyes as he said to Gu Dafu, "Come here, I have something to tell you. If you refuse to come over, and something irreversible happens, then don't blame my Wan Family."
Third Grandpa said, "Da Fu, go and listen to what he has to say."
"Eh." Gu Dafu approached Scholar Wan and squatted down, "If you have something to say, out with it."
Scholar Wan lowered his voice and said, "Gu Dafu, if your family dares to annul this marriage, within a day the whole town will know that your daughter's chastity has already been ruined in the hands of my family's Brother Fang!"
Like father, like son, their threats were identical.
Gu Dafu knew that Gu Yumei was still pure, but seeing how the Wan Family shamelessly intended to ruin his daughter's reputation, he was so furious that he kicked Scholar Wan on the spot.
Thud~
Scholar Wan was kicked and rolled twice before coming to a stop, trembling and pointing at Gu Dafu, "Your Gu Yumei is ruined!"
"Ptui, it's your Wan Family that's ruined." Gu Dafu spat at him and wanted to rush up and beat Scholar Wan, but Third Grandpa stopped him.
Third Grandpa looked at Scholar Wan and said, "Old man, I know what you told Da Fu. Sadly, your Wan Family isn't without its weak spots either."
Xiao Yu had already anticipated that the Wan Family would use Sister Mei's matter to threaten them into not annulling the marriage, and had told him the countermeasure the night before.
Third Grandpa walked up to Scholar Wan, looked down at him on the ground and said, "Annul the marriage, write a confession of your own faults, and the Wan Family will bear all the blame. Then we will not take you to the government office for your lack of personal morals. If you refuse to annul the marriage, the petition paper accusing your family of marriage deception and your improper conduct will be delivered to the Lord County Magistrate today."
He added, "You know our relationship with County Magistrate Xu. Apart from County Magistrate Xu, our family owes a lifesaving debt to the granddaughter of County Captain Jiang. Several of our boys are on official duty at the Military Office and county government. Weigh your options carefully."
Xiao Yu said that what Scholar Wan cared about most was his title of Scholar, which was his Achilles' heel. By holding onto this weakness, they could force him to compromise.
Indeed, after hearing this, Scholar Wan was so angered that he almost coughed up blood; he could no longer threaten Gu Dafu's family and had to let Ms. Ni go fetch the marriage certificate and tokens of betrothal.
Ms. Ni, being greedy, was reluctant to return the golden ring to Gu Dafu's family. Supported back to her room by Mrs. Ni, she pretended to search for a while before coming out and saying, "There's only the marriage certificate, the tokens are gone."
As soon as these words were uttered, everyone present, including Scholar Wan, was shocked.
Scholar Wan, with blood at the corner of his mouth, cursed her, "Foolish woman, don't disgrace me. Go get the betrothal tokens. Otherwise, I'll divorce you, cough cough~"
Mrs. Chen charged over and clawed at Ms. Ni, "You shallow thing, you can't even pretend to withstand a northwest wind and now want to pocket the betrothal tokens belonging to my family, which are the keepsakes stored away by our elder sister-in-law. You want to pocket those? Go ahead, let's see if my elder sister-in-law doesn't come seek your life tonight!"
People of Great Chu believe in these things, and Ms. Ni was no exception; hearing these words, she was startled.
Scholar Wan roared, "Go get it, if you bring shame to me again, I'll give you a divorce paper today and send both you and your niece back to the Ni Family."
If this marriage wasn't cleanly annulled, he would be sued by Gu Dafu's family. Once sued, he would lose his title, and without that, he might as well not live.
Ms. Ni, seeing Scholar Wan's murderous look, could only go back and retrieve the golden ring. Upon her return, she intended to throw the golden ring on the ground, but Mrs. Chen jumped and scolded, "Damn old hag, dare to throw it and see, I'll bite a bloody hole in your face!"
Mrs. Chen held Gu Yumei's mother in the highest esteem and couldn't bear to see Ms. Ni treat her legacy with such disrespect.
Ms. Ni, frightened by Mrs. Chen, hastily handed the golden ring to Mrs. Ni.
Mrs. Ni immediately took the golden ring to Gu Dafu.
After Gu Dafu received it, he carefully wiped the golden ring, wrapped it in a cotton handkerchief, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his jacket before saying to Scholar Wan, "Have Lifang write a confession of guilt."
Scholar Wan had no choice but to ask Old Ni to fetch ink, brush, paper, and inkstone and have Lifang write the confession on the spot.
Lifang still wanted to pursue an official position and was reluctant to write such damning evidence, but he hesitated only a moment before Gu Dexing kicked him in the back: "Hurry up and write, list all the shameful things you've done with the Ni surname, if you dare not write, I'll chop off your hand."
Scholar Wan, bearing the acute pain all over his body, roared: "Write, hurry up and write so the Gu Family People can leave. Aren't you ashamed enough?"
Lifang had no choice but to write down the confession. Fearing that the Gu Family would take the confession to the government office and accuse Scholar Wan, resulting in the loss of his aspirations, he detailed his affair with Ni Ruiniang.
Upon seeing that Lifang had been entangled with Ni Ruiniang since the end of the previous year, Gu Dexing was so furious that he kicked him again: "Liar!"
He had been involved with Ni Ruiniang for more than two years and still dared to propose marriage to his sister.
After the confession was written, Lifang and Ni Ruiniang were forced to press their fingerprints on it.
Third Grandpa instructed Gu Dafu to collect both marriage certificates and later take them to the government office to be burned, ensuring that not one was left for the Wan Family, lest they cause further trouble.
As for the affair between Lifang and Ni Ruiniang, Mrs. Chen did not intend to cover up for the Wan Family; she began crying in the streets as soon as she left the Wan household gate.
While crying, she exaggerated the story of Lifang's scandal with Ni Ruiniang, also implicating Ms. Ni as an accomplice to the cover-up.
When the townspeople heard Mrs. Chen's words, they were all shocked and inquired: "Mrs. Gu Chen, are you telling the truth? Is the Wan Family really that despicable? A family with scholarly pursuits, especially since Scholar Wan emphasizes propriety so much, couldn't possibly manage their household to be so filthy, could they?"
"Wuu wuu wuu, you still don't believe it, look at this confession; it was written by Lifang himself, conceding his guilt to our family after we discovered his affair with Ni Ruiniang. Look, look, all the vile things that the young beast of the Wan Family has done are written here."
"I can read, let me see." The Cloth Shop Manager rolled up his sleeves and came over, took the confession, and read it aloud on the spot.
The confession was very detailed, and the townsfolk were so astonished they exclaimed: "Oh dear Lord, that lad from the Wan Family is such a beast, utterly disgusting."
"Stop listening, stop listening, let's go back to your mother's home, if you listen to more, you lad might learn such beastly ways, and then our family will have no face to live in this town." A mother, tugging on the ear of her young son, dragged her child back home.
The town was abuzz with this matter for a long time, and people would inevitably ask when they gathered: "Hey, have you heard about the Wan Family's affair?"
"How could I not have heard, it's all over the place. Such a shame, that young lad from the Wan Family, quite the player, who would have thought Scholar Wan could raise such a son."
"If Scholar Wan can't even teach his own son properly, how could he teach the students in his private school? We don't want him to produce a bunch of little beasts concerned only with their base desires."
Following this remark, parents of students at Wan's Private School came to withdraw their enrollments en masse, demanding refunds.
Fearful for his own reputation and official position, Scholar Wan dared not refuse the refunds and had to sell twenty-acres of land to gather enough silver coins to reimburse the students' families.
After being beaten, becoming the laughingstock of the town, losing his private school, and forfeiting a large sum of money, as he watched his family fortune completely collapse, Scholar Wan fell seriously ill.