Chapter 438: Chapter 438: Becoming a Joke_1
The next day, early in the morning, the Crown Prince from the Marquis Xuanping Residence paid a visit with his entourage.
What the Wei Family feared most was about to come true, the Crown Prince was here to call off the engagement.
He argued that Miss Wei from the Wei Family had the fate of a husband-killer and a cause of sterility, which endangered the lives of him and his siblings as well as Marquis Xuanping, and demanded the return of the betrothal gifts, thus seeking to end the engagement.
The Crown Prince was adamant in his decision, effectively shutting down all attempts at persuasion by the senior Duke.
In the end, the Wei Family had no choice but to acquiesce to the Marquis Xuanping Residence’s request to break off the marriage and return all the betrothal gifts they had received.
As a result, Wei Ruo instantly became a laughing stock and a hot topic of discussion among the wealthy aristocratic circles in Capital City.
Despite her past accomplishments in Taizhou Prefecture and the praise she had received from the Emperor, there were no longer any nobles in Capital city willing to marry her.
###
At Wei Qingwan’s courtyard.
“Miss, finally, the eldest Miss has received her comeuppance! According to this servant girl, it was she who spread the rumors about you back in Taizhou Prefecture. And now, she herself has been ruined by rumors and become a star of calamity who can’t get married!”
Cuihe, with a face full of joy, delightedly gossiped about Wei Ruo in front of Wei Qingwan.
“What goes around comes around, the wheel of karma turns, every act is observed by Heaven. She harbored ill intent towards me, so it’s not surprising that she’s receiving retribution now and has no one else to blame.” Wei Qingwan said calmly.
“Yes, Miss, you are correct. In my opinion, she’ll be lucky if she can even marry a poor scholar now. When I went to the kitchen to fetch some bird’s nest soup for you, I overheard people saying that the old Duke is planning to find an honest farmer from the manor and arrange for the eldest Miss to marry him as soon as possible.”
“The intention of my grandparents should be to get her married before me.”
“Indeed, now that the eldest Miss’s reputation is so poor and time is pressing, they certainly won’t be able to find a good family for her.” Cuihe could not help but smirk.
A smile also emerged on Wei Qingwan’s face.
###
At the main house of the Wei Family.
“Useless girl! She just carelessly ruined a good marriage!” Wei Minghong cursed.
Wei Minghong was both worried about the fate of his daughter from the third branch of the family and frustrated that Wei Ruo had failed to secure the advantageous marriage with the Marquis Xuanping Residence.
Mrs. Mo stayed silent by his side.
Wei Minghong cursed again, “The key thing is that once the engagement is broken, it’s hard to find another suitable match. Is this useless girl expecting the Wei Family to feed her for the rest of her life?”
“Well, it won’t come to that, I think Ruo is quite clever and she was born beautiful— it’s still possible for her to marry into an ordinary household,” Mrs. Mo softly replied.
“Marry into an ordinary household? Wouldn’t the Wei Family still have to provide a dowry for her?” Wei Minghong snorted.
Again, Mrs. Mo fell silent.
Continuing, Wei Minghong exclaimed, “If I had known this would happen, I would have never recognized her as a member of the family. She’s completely useless!”
###
At the second branch of the Wei Family.
“A perfectly good marriage ruined, it’s bad luck!” Wei Mingyong grumbled irritably.
Mrs. Bai remained silent. After quite a while, she suddenly said to Wei Mingyong, “My lord, we used to tolerate her because she was useful to us and the elders indulged her. But now that she is useless, do we still need to give her face?”
Wei Mingyong looked at Mrs. Bai, “Do you have something in mind?”
“Those two jars of thyme! Have you forgotten about them? Weren’t you planning to take them to send as a gift earlier this year?”
WeI Mingyong’s eyes lit up: “You have reminded me!”
“Not just that, she also has a lot of valuable items in her room!” Mrs. Bai was clearly harboring intentions.
Wei Mingyong considered this for a moment and said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let her bring out her things; this can also be considered as her contribution to the family.”
###
Changchun Garden.
With the matter of calling off the engagement settled, Wei Ruo was in good spirits.
She is sitting at her desk, planning her shop for rouge and face powder.
While solving problems, she also needed to continue earning money.
During the times when she was cooped up in Changchun Garden and unable to venture outside, Wei Ruo did not stay idle. She planned the work here so that she could implement it quickly whenever she had an opportunity to go out.
Setting up a shop selling rouge and face powder was not a simple matter, Wei Ruo had the funds, but the real challenge was setting up a workshop to produce rouge and face powder.
Mass production was more difficult than her previous small-scale preparations of a few boxes of cosmetic cream.
She could handle small quantities personally, but for large-scale production, a consistent and stable production line was necessary, as well as setting up a complete supply chain to ensure the supply of raw materials and control costs.
The first thing Wei Ruo needed was manpower.
Zhao Hai and Zhao Xun, brothers from the Zhao Family, had already arrived in the Capital City. Before she left Taizhou Prefecture, Wei Ruo asked Xiumei to inform them that apart from postponing the proposal, they were to come to the Capital City.
The reason she chose the Zhao brothers was because Zhao Xun had also become a scholar and was to participate in the next stage of the official examinations in the spring. Arranging for the Zhao brothers to come to the Capital City at this time was undoubtedly killing two birds with one stone, it was convenient for Zhao Hai to take care of his younger brother and it also allowed Zhao Hai to work for her.
They had also brought along several villagers from Stone Village. These were villagers who wanted to venture out and make a living, so Wei Ruo asked Zhao Hai to bring them along. As newcomers to the capital city, it would have been difficult for the Zhao brothers alone to manage everything. Having more reliable hands would make it easier to set things up.
As Wei Ruo was busily working at her desk, Mrs. Bai arrived.
Mrs. Bai appeared with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, arriving in front of Wei Ruo like a gust of wind.
Wei Ruo had already covered her account book and asked in an unruffled manner before Mrs. Bai got near her, “Second aunt, is there something you need?”
“Ruo, your second aunt knows that you’re upset after all this has happened,” Mrs. Bai began to comfort her.
“Thank you for your concern.”
Upset? No, her mood couldn’t be better right now!
Mrs. Bai took Wei Ruo’s right hand and soothed her, “Your second aunt knows you’re heartbroken, but what’s done is done, and you have to move on. Life still has to go on.”
“Don’t worry, second aunt. I’m taking it pretty well. After all, I still have to get married someday, right?”
“Yes, yes, of course, you’ll get married someday. I believe your grandparents will arrange another good marriage for you,” Mrs. Bai replied.
Observing Mrs. Bai’s heartfelt manner, Wei Ruo guessed that she must have something else to discuss.
“I presume there’s another reason for your visit today, second aunt?” Wei Ruo queried.
“The most important thing is of course to comfort you, Ruo, but there are other matters as well. Ruo, you received two jars of thyme from a friend in Huzhou Prefecture, didn’t you? Back then, you said you wanted to keep those two jars of thyme as part of your dowry, but since the Marquis Xuanping Residence has already called off the engagement…”
Wei Ruo smiled slightly, it seemed that she had indeed come for her possessions.
“Although the engagement with Marquis Xuanping Residence has been called off, I will still have to marry someone else in the future, right? The Wei Family can’t possibly provide for me for the rest of my life, right, second aunt? ” Wei Ruo asked.
