Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 313 - 311

Chapter 313: Chapter 311

The men from Landlord Tian’s side ran to the village entrance just in time to see Mrs. Lan and Shen Yuzhu scrambling onto a carriage.

"Quick, they’re over there!"

"Hurry, coachman, hurry! Don’t let them catch us!" Mrs. Lan saw that they had been discovered and rushed the driver.

The coachman, seeing that people were chasing after his passengers and noticing they were dressed identically, immediately realized they were the serving staff from some wealthy family. Fearful that trouble was brewing, he saw an opportunity to make money. "Madam and Miss, it might be faster if you run yourselves. My horse is old and just completed a long ride. It hasn’t had enough rest, it can’t run any faster now!"

"Just do your job, if we lose them, I’ll give you a tael of silver." Damn, what nonsense about his horse being unable to run! This was clearly an attempt to raise his price!

The coachman grumbled. If his horse broke from being overworked, what use was each tael of silver?

Mrs. Lan saw that they were about to be caught up with. She and Shen Yuzhu wouldn’t be able to outrun them. She absolutely couldn’t let Shen Yuzhu be captured! She gritted her teeth and said, "Ten taels, outpace them and take us to town, and I’ll give you ten taels!"

The coachman perked up at the mention of ten taels. That was a significant sum! He would normally have to make many trips to earn so much.

"Alright, we have a deal for ten taels! Not one coin less."

"I won’t shortchange you, here are five taels first, now hurry!"

"Giddyup!" Satisfied with the arrangement, the coachman spurred the horse, and they were off.

The people who were just about to catch up were quickly left behind.

But their delay allowed Manager Tian to catch up, having ridden his horse. His horse being superior and unburdened by a carriage, he quickly overtook the carriage and blocked its way.

The coachman quickly reined in his horse. The sudden halt jostled Mrs. Lan and Shen Yuzhu inside the carriage, causing them both to hit their heads against the wooden boards, tears sprang to their eyes from the pain.

"Young Mistress, be smart and come out on your own. If not, I will have no choice but to offend. That will be ugly!" Manager Tian’s threatening voice called out.

"I’m not your young mistress, move aside. Good dogs don’t get in the way." Shen Yuzhu massaged her painfully throbbing forehead, and gathered her strength to retort.

Insolent! Rejecting a toast only to drink a forfeit!

"Hurry and get the Young Mistress off the carriage, we can’t miss the auspicious hour!"

"Yes, sir."

Upon hearing these words, Shen Yuzhu clung onto Mrs. Lan in fear. "Sister-in-law, what should we do?"

Mrs. Lan tightened her grip on Shen Yuzhu’s hand and forced herself to remain calm. "Listen here, Yuzhu is the betrothed of the younger brother of Mr. Tan, an official from the Imperial College. If you dare to take her away, just try to see what happens!"

The betrothed of the younger brother of Mr. Tan from the Imperial College? Were they trying to break the engagement by climbing up higher branches?

Unfortunately for them, the Tian family’s Second Master also has connections in official circles!

"You’ve already accepted the Tian family’s gift for the betrothal, and the Young Mistress’s pledge of marriage is solemnly offered at the ancestral hall. She is our Young Master’s betrothed wife! How could she be Mr. Tan’s younger brother’s betrothed? Even if this matter is brought up to the government, we are in the right. Although Mr. Tan is an official, can he be unjust?"

"Quickly bring down the Young Mistress. If we miss the auspicious hour, who will compensate our Young Master with a wife?"

Hearing this, the servants no longer hesitated. The thought of their Young Master being without a wife was simply terrifying.

Seeing the servants’ hands reaching into the carriage, Shen Yuzhu screamed in fear, kicking with her legs uncontrollably.

"Hold it! If you reach in again, I’ll cry out for help! My daughter is betrothed to the son of the Minister of the Left, and I am related by marriage to the Minister! You people should think about this, do you want to offend both Mr. Tan and the Minister of the Left?" Mrs. Lan finally played her trump card.

Manager Tian raised his hand to halt the servants upon hearing these words.

The main branch of the Shen family was now related by marriage to the Minister of the Left? How was that possible – what merit or capability did they have?

Upon recalling that the third branch of the Shen family was now the Marquis Shengping, could it be that the rumor that the two branches maintained distant relations was false? No, the investigation from their Second Master would never be mistaken. Otherwise, they would not have agreed to this marriage in the first place!

Even if the Marquis Shengping had not cut off ties with the two branches, it was impossible for their daughter to marry the son of the Minister of the Left! The difference in social status was too vast!

Perhaps this woman simply made up a story to scare them off! Marrying the son of the Minister of the Left? The thought of it was absurd!

Upon reaching this conclusion, Manager Tian stated, "Madam, I apologize for any offense. We are following orders, and today, we must bring back the Young Mistress."

Mrs. Lan couldn’t believe that even with her mentioning the Minister of the Left, this man was still not afraid. Did his ignorance know no bounds?

Shen Yuzhu grew angry at this man’s stubborn insistence that she marry the ghost groom. "Don’t call me your Young Mistress, I’m not your Young Mistress! My parents no longer agree to the marriage, so it’s off! The match was made by my second older brother, so go and make Shen Bei’er your Young Mistress. She’s my older brother’s daughter. She can have all the marriage gifts! I don’t need them!"

Mrs. Lan’s eyes lit up at these words. "Exactly, exactly! Our second branch duped us. If we had known it was a ghost marriage, we would never have agreed! Since that’s the case, you should go and ask them for a Young Mistress to replace her. Just let Shen Bei’er be your Young Mistress. In this way, your Second Young Master would not need to marry a country girl out of necessity."

Manager Tian pondered over these words. It had always been a temporary solution for the Second Young Master to marry Shen Bei’er. Having Shen Bei’er marry the First Young Master and freeing the Second Young Master from marrying that vulgar Shen Bei’er was indeed the most perfect solution.

"Where is Shen Bei’er now?"

"Here, here!" Mrs. Shen dragged out sobbing Shen Bei’er.

"I don’t want to... I don’t want to marry a dead man! Wahhh... Father, Mother, come back quickly... save me!" Shen Bei’er wailed.

Mrs. Shen slapped Shen Bei’er across her face. "Shut up! If you’re not getting married, then who is! This is the marriage that your parents caused! If you’re not marrying, who is!"

Attempting to enjoy the wealth and prestige by stepping over her daughter’s dead body, Mrs. Shen hadn’t that much good fortune!

Shen Chengzong and his wife had learned that there will be some commotion today, so they hid themselves and didn’t dare to show up, warning their children who were staying at their maternal grandmother’s house not to come back.

As Shen Bei’er knew some people would come to take Shen Yuzhu for the ghost marriage, she couldn’t help but fantasize about Shen Yuzhu’s misery for all those years under the guise of being the ’little aunt’, and how now it was payback time. Hence, she couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at Shen Yuzhu’s forthcoming pathetic situation.

She had been very cautious, hidden away, didn’t even dare to expose her head, but still was spotted by the eagle-eyed Mrs. Shen, and now she regretted it.

With her hair dishevelled and traces of tears all over her face, Shen Bei’er’s face was red and swollen from Mrs. Shen’s continuous strikes from earlier.

Upon seeing this, Manager Tian frowned and gestured to the sturdy old women with him to take Shen Bei’er up the flower bridge.

Though Shen Bei’er grew up in a farmhouse, she was always lazy when it came to doing chores, therefore, had no strength. She couldn’t even free herself from Mrs. Shen’s grasp, let alone from two strong older women. Despite her struggles, she was forced onto the flower bridge.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.