146 Extortion

Mrs. Hu was no idiot.

She quickly noticed that Zhao Meilan wasn’t completely indifferent toward Hu Yiming.

Realizing it, she immediately changed the topic.

There were things that couldn’t be rushed after all.

If her son liked Zhao Meilan, then she, as his mother, would do her best to help her son.

Although Zhao Meilan grew up in the village, her personality and attitude were much better than Zhao Meijuan’s.

Besides, she didn’t like the fact that Madam Zhu had no table manners. She was very disgusted by that.

The reason Mrs. Hu came to Lengshui Village was to call off the engagement between Hu Yiming and Zhao Meijuan.

No mother would be happy to let her son become like a bargaining chip that was tossed around by others.

Mrs. Hu took the chance to change the topic. Seeing how Zhao Guitang and the rest refused to accept the compensation, she decided to leave Zhao Guitang’s home with her husband. They headed to Zhao You’s home to meet with Madam Zhu so that they could call off the engagement.

Zhao Meilan entered the kitchen with her face turning red.

“Chuchu, you heard everything from the conversation just now, right?” she whispered to Zhao Chuchu.

“Yes. I heard everything. Why? Is there something you need?” Zhao Chuchu could already tell what Zhao Meilan wanted to ask her, but as a listener, she just had to listen.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Meilan struggled to say, “I-I think Hu Yiming’s parents are pretty nice people… What do you think?”

“Their son, who had the mind of a child, has become such a decent person. That says a lot about their personality, right? Also, you can tell that they are sensible people from the way and the things they talk about. Other people would’ve just forced you to marry Hu Yiming on the spot.”

Zhao Chuchu did not deny the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Hu were trying to set up Zhao Guitang and his family.

However, they did that out of good intentions. In the end, Hu Yiming was hurt in the head, but it wasn’t something that couldn’t be cured.

And it wasn’t a bad idea for Zhao Meilan to marry Hu Yiming, either.

The reason was simple. Hu Yiming was not the type of person who would go crazy after his brain was injured. Instead, he was just like a little boy and the type who was obedient at that.

“Meilan, you shouldn’t ask other people whether you should marry Hu Yiming or not. The only person you should ask is yourself. Deep down in your heart, do you think you can accept such a husband? As an outsider, I can tell you that Hu Yiming is a good person. However, it’s clear that your life might not be an easy one if you marry him because he’s pretty much clueless about everything.”

Zhao Meilan remained silent for a while after that.

If Hu Yiming was like the way he was because of a genetic disease, then Zhao Chuchu would’ve stopped Zhao Meilan from marrying the childlike man. That was because she had no ability to cure such a disease.

On the contrary, she had confidence that she could cure Hu Yiming. That was the main reason why she suggested that Zhao Meilan consider marrying Hu Yiming.

It would’ve been sinful for her to suggest that Zhao Meilan marry a person with mental illnesses. She wouldn’t do that, especially when Zhao Meilan had not done anything wrong.

“I-I don’t know, either. I can’t decide… Yiming has treated me well all the time. Whenever he comes to Lengshui Village, he would sneak good food for me. He never goes crazy in front of me and has never bullied anyone either.”

“Then, do you like him?”

“I don’t know…”

Zhao Chuchu grinned and patted Zhao Meilan’s head.

“Everything will be fine. Things will work themselves out in the end.”

“Chuchu, can you cure him?”

“Will you marry him if he’s cured?”

“No… I don’t think that I’ll be a good wife for him if he’s cured. I’m not good enough for him. Still, I really hope that he can return to normal. I heard that before his brain was fried, he was a smart person. It’s a waste for a person with such a bright future to live the rest of his life like this…”

Zhao Chuchu had no idea if Zhao Meilan was kind or just innocent.

“Well, I’m sure you can start thinking about what your decision is going to be. It’s clear that Hu Yiming likes you. They will come here again.”

“Huh?”

“Trust me.” Zhao Chuchu winked.

Although she did not meet with Hu Yiming’s parents, she could tell what their intention was from their conversation.

As for Zhao Meijuan, Zhao Chuchu couldn’t make any comment. It had been two months since she was transmigrated to the Wei Dynasty and she had yet to meet Zhao Meijuan.

There was only one explanation as to why Zhao Meijuan had been avoiding people and how Old Madam Ma had been so arrogant. It was as if she was sure that the young master of the He clan would definitely marry Zhao Meijuan. Zhao Chuchu could guess that Zhao Meijuan was already pregnant.

That was the only reasonable explanation for their confidence.

After hearing what Zhao Chuchu had said, Zhao Meilan was able to make her decision.

What Zhao Chuchu did not expect was that Old Madam Ma was extremely greedy.

They were the ones who were forcing Zhao Meilan to marry Hu Yiming. But when the Hu clan went to call off the engagement between Hu Yiming and Zhao Meijuan so that their son could marry Zhao Meilan, the old lady kept saying that Hu Yiming had tricked the Zhao clan. For now, they wanted the parents to pay 100 silvers as compensation to Zhao Meijuan, or else they would not call off the engagement.

Despite being far away, Zhao Chuchu could still hear the yells of Old Madam Ma clearly. “Huh? Why do I have to accept it? Do you think you can call off the engagement whenever you want? Have you ever thought about how much that would embarrass my granddaughter? You guys want to force her to kill herself, don’t you?”

Hu Yiming’s parents were dumbfounded. They had never, in their entire lives, met such an unreasonable person.

Mrs. Hu was so furious that her body was shaking. “What do you mean by that? You guys were the ones who tricked my son first! How dare you ask for compensation from us?”

“Well, if you don’t pay up, then we are not calling off the wedding. Your son is the one who wronged our Meijuan first!” Old Madam Ma put her hands on her waist and yelled. “If you want to make a scene, then let’s make it big. Let’s see who’ll laugh to the end. People will see how arrogant a scholar family like yours is!”

“Y-you! How can you be so unreasonable?”

“You guys were the ones who forced us to do this. 100 silvers! Nothing more, nothing less. Our Meijuan is now sick because of what your son has done. Isn’t it common sense for you to compensate us?”

Mrs. Hu looked at Madam Zhu unbelievably. “Even you agree to this?”

The two of them grew up together and were really close friends.

However, after Mrs. Hu married Mr. Hu through an arranged marriage, their relationship thinned out.

Thinking of how close they were in the past, Mrs. Hu agreed to the arranged marriage of their children when the kids were still babies.

She never thought that her old friend would stab her in the back like that.

“We aren’t lying about what Yiming did. A lot of people saw it! There’s no way Meijuan could accept that. She always considered you as her aunt. You can’t just watch her kill herself, can you?” Madam Zhu said as if her reason was viable.

Mrs. Hu looked at Madam Zhu only to realize that her childhood friend was gone.

She was extremely disappointed.

The mother of Hu Yiming thought that if the marriage didn’t take place, they would still be friends.

But from the current circumstances, she had no choice but to ruin that friendship.

Although 100 silvers were not a lot of money for them, Mrs. Hu could not accept the fact that they were demanding money for her son’s freedom.

“I’m not giving any money. If that’s what you guys want, then we are not calling the wedding off anymore,” Mrs. Hu replied determinedly.

“What did you just say? Did you just say that you are not giving us money?” Old Madam Ma glared at the mother. She glared so hard that it looked as if her eyes were poking out of the sockets. It just showed how much greedy she was. “I’m warning you. Either you give us 100 silvers now or else… You guys were the ones who wronged our Meijuan first!”

Mr. Hu finally could not hold his anger back any longer. “Is that so? There’s no point in talking with them anymore. Let’s go.”

The man grabbed his wife’s hand and walked toward the exit.

Old Madam Ma reacted almost immediately. Before the married couple could even leave, she shut the door tight and stopped them from leaving.

“I don’t care. We’re getting this settled today!” Old Madam Ma wasn’t even worried. As she wouldn’t be able to get the betrothal present if the wedding was called off, that was the best time for her to extort the Hu clan and fill her pocket now.

Mr. Hu’s expression got even darker. He tried to charge his way out.

Zhao Guiqing and his two younger brothers immediately tried to stop the leaving couple.

In the midst of their struggles, Mr. Hu was pushed back by Zhao Guiqing. He fell and hit his head hard against the edge of the well in the garden. His head was injured and blood started to gush out as he fell unconscious.

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